Mike Sargis, administrador de la ciudad de North Lauderdale, dijo que una cámara de vigilancia Ring grabó el video en una casa ubicada en Pebble Beach Road, cerca del Bulevar de los Campeones.

“La familia comenzó a hacerle RCP”, escribió Sargis en un comunicado el lunes por la mañana.

Personal de Bomberos y Rescate de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward y agentes de la BSO respondieron a la piscina de la vivienda alrededor de las 10:30 a.m. del domingo.

El niño fue trasladado al Broward Health Medical Center y su estado era crítico, según agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward.

“Lo último que supimos es que el niño estaba en condición muy grave”, escribió Sargis en el comunicado.

Al menos tres niños se han ahogado este verano en el condado de Broward.

Un niño de 2 años murió ahogado el 12 de julio en un lago de Plantation.

Cerca de ahí, una niña de 4 años murió ahogada el 5 de julio en un lago de Plantation.

Un niño de 4 años murió ahogado el 19 de junio en una piscina de North Lauderdale.

Niños de entre 1 y 4 años fallecen más por ahogamiento que por cualquier otra causa de muerte, según los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC) de Estados Unidos.

Algunas de las formas de reducir el riesgo incluyen clases formales de natación para los niños e instalar una cerca de cuatro lados de al menos cuatro pies de altura que rodee completamente la piscina de la vivienda.

La Cruz Roja cuenta con recursos educativos para los niños y sus cuidadores.

El Departamento de Salud de Florida en el condado Broward tiene un programa de vales para cubrir el costo de las clases para niños desde bebés hasta los 17 años. Para más información, visite esta página.

Área de Pebble Beach en North Lauderdale.

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The new daily route becomes the airline’s second connection between the U.S. and Venezuela and comes at a critical time, as Venezuela continues to recover from recent earthquakes and flights to and from Caracas (CCS) remain temporarily suspended.

According to airport officials, the flight will be operated by Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines, using an Embraer E-175 aircraft.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is expected to attend the event, along with Vice President of MIA Operations Juan Carlos Liscano and Miami International Airport Director and CEO Ralph Cutie for remarks ahead of the inaugural departure.

Click here for a list of locations where you can drop off donations for Venezuela.

La nueva ruta diaria se convierte en la segunda conexión de la aerolínea entre Estados Unidos y Venezuela, asimismo, llega en un momento crítico, mientras Venezuela continúa recuperándose de los recientes terremotos y los vuelos hacia y desde Caracas (CCS) permanecen suspendidos temporalmente.

Según funcionarios del aeropuerto, el vuelo será operado por Envoy Air, una subsidiaria de propiedad total de American Airlines, con una aeronave Embraer E-175.

Se espera que la alcaldesa del condado Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, asista al evento, junto con el vicepresidente de Operaciones de MIA, Juan Carlos Liscano, y el director y CEO del Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami, Ralph Cutie, quienes ofrecerán unas palabras antes de la salida del vuelo inaugural.

Haga clic aquí para consultar una lista de lugares donde puede entregar donaciones para Venezuela.

Los documentos judiciales más recientes muestran que el pueblo de Pembroke Park citó a la esposa de Jacobs, Angela Jacobs, para una declaración jurada y solicitó numerosos documentos como parte del proceso de descubrimiento de pruebas.

El pueblo también solicitó registros a varias terceras partes, entre ellas a Verizon Communications, la División de Elecciones del Departamento de Estado de Florida, el condado Broward y el Distrito Escolar del condado St. Lucie.

El descubrimiento de pruebas es la etapa de una demanda en la que ambas partes recopilan evidencia antes de que un juez decida los asuntos en disputa.

Los documentos representan el capítulo más reciente de una disputa que comenzó después de que una investigación de Local 10 News descubriera registros públicos que muestran que Jacobs y su esposa son propietarios de una vivienda en Fort Pierce, en el condado St. Lucie.

Local 10 News también informó que los registros públicos mostraban que la propiedad recibió una exención de vivienda principal de Florida y una exención de impuestos para veteranos con discapacidades permanentes y totales relacionadas con el servicio militar, lo que redujo el valor imponible de la propiedad en aproximadamente $535,000 USD.

Según la ley de Florida, esas exenciones generalmente solo se aplican a propiedades que sirven como residencia permanente del propietario.

Local 10 News también revisó documentos hipotecarios que muestran que la vivienda fue comprada con un préstamo respaldado por el Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos (VA). Los documentos del préstamo incluían una certificación de ocupación en la que el prestatario manifestaba su intención de ocupar la propiedad como residencia principal, de acuerdo con los requisitos de ocupación de la VA.

Tras el reportaje de Local 10 News, los registros públicos de la Oficina del Tasador de Propiedades del condado St. Lucie muestran que la exención para veteranos con discapacidad fue eliminada de la propiedad.

Jacobs ha sostenido de manera constante que vive en Pembroke Park y cumple con los requisitos para desempeñarse como alcalde.

Tras la investigación de Local 10 News, varios comisionados de Pembroke Park cuestionaron si Jacobs seguía cumpliendo con los requisitos de residencia establecidos en la carta constitutiva del pueblo y buscaron realizar una votación sobre su elegibilidad para permanecer en el cargo.

Antes de que esa votación pudiera realizarse, Jacobs presentó una demanda y obtuvo una orden de restricción temporal que bloqueó la reunión.

En marzo, la jueza del Circuito de Broward Shari Africk Olefson dictaminó que la comisión del pueblo no tenía autoridad legal para determinar la elegibilidad de Jacobs mediante una votación de la comisión.

En su orden por escrito, Olefson concluyó que la comisión “carece de autoridad legal para votar sobre la elegibilidad del alcalde”.

La jueza prohibió a la comisión votar sobre la elegibilidad de Jacobs y determinó que el asunto debía resolverse a través de los tribunales.

La orden no determinó dónde vive Jacobs ni si finalmente cumple con los requisitos de residencia para seguir siendo alcalde. En cambio, el fallo abordó quién tiene la autoridad legal para tomar esa determinación.

Tras el fallo, el pueblo de Pembroke Park cambió su estrategia legal.

En lugar de pedir a los comisionados que determinaran la elegibilidad de Jacobs, el pueblo presentó una contrademanda solicitando al tribunal una sentencia declaratoria sobre si Jacobs cumple con los requisitos de residencia establecidos en la carta constitutiva del pueblo.

Jacobs pidió al tribunal que desestimara esa contrademanda.

En mayo, Olefson negó la moción de Jacobs, permitiendo que la contrademanda del pueblo continuara.

Desde entonces, el caso ha entrado en la etapa de descubrimiento de pruebas.

Según los documentos judiciales más recientes, el pueblo presentó interrogatorios, solicitudes de producción de documentos y citaciones en busca de información que considera relevante para determinar la residencia de Jacobs.

Entre los documentos más recientes figura una citación que obliga a Angela Jacobs a comparecer para una declaración bajo juramento y presentar los documentos solicitados por el pueblo.

Los documentos judiciales también muestran que el pueblo busca registros relacionados con la propiedad de Fort Pierce, documentos de la exención de vivienda principal, correspondencia con la Oficina del Tasador de Propiedades del condado St. Lucie, registros hipotecarios, registros de servicios públicos y otros documentos que considera relevantes para la disputa sobre la residencia.

Los documentos por sí mismos no establecen ninguna irregularidad ni determinan dónde vive Geoffrey Jacobs. Más bien, reflejan la evidencia que el pueblo busca obtener a medida que el caso avanza hacia una decisión sobre el fondo del asunto.

Local 10 News contactó al abogado de Jacobs, Michael Pizzi, para obtener comentarios sobre los acontecimientos más recientes.

“Tenemos más confianza que nunca en que esta es una cacería de brujas interminable y con motivaciones políticas contra el alcalde Jacobs”, dijo Pizzi.

Pizzi también afirmó que no le preocupan los más recientes esfuerzos del pueblo durante el proceso de descubrimiento de pruebas.

“No nos preocupan las solicitudes más recientes de descubrimiento de pruebas porque el alcalde Jacobs siempre ha vivido en Pembroke Park y nunca se ha mudado fuera del pueblo”, afirmó.

Pizzi también criticó el litigio y dijo: “Algún día el pueblo tendrá que rendir cuentas por este desperdicio de dinero de los contribuyentes. El alcalde Jacobs seguirá sirviendo a la comunidad mientras algunos en el pueblo gastan dinero en política”.

La cuestión legal sobre quién tiene la autoridad para decidir la elegibilidad de Jacobs surgió antes de que se presentara la demanda.

En un memorando entregado previamente al alcalde y a los comisionados del pueblo, el abogado de Pembroke Park, Jacob Horowitz, escribió que “el foro adecuado para impugnar la elegibilidad de una persona para ocupar el cargo de comisionado del pueblo de Pembroke Park es el Tribunal del Circuito del condado Broward”.

Horowitz también escribió que, aunque la comisión podría celebrar una audiencia pública y considerar las pruebas, “el Tribunal del Circuito es, en última instancia, la autoridad legal facultada para determinar si un miembro de la comisión es elegible para ocupar el cargo”.

Olefson finalmente llegó a la misma conclusión cuando dictaminó que la comisión carecía de autoridad legal para decidir la elegibilidad de Jacobs mediante una votación.

Sin embargo, la cuestión de fondo sigue sin resolverse.

Meses después de que Local 10 News planteara por primera vez dudas sobre la residencia del alcalde mediante registros públicos, registros tributarios y documentos hipotecarios, los tribunales aún deben determinar la cuestión central que continúa dividiendo al pueblo: si Geoffrey Jacobs cumple con los requisitos de residencia para seguir desempeñándose como alcalde de Pembroke Park.

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The latest court filings show the Town of Pembroke Park has subpoenaed Jacobs’ wife, Angela Jacobs, for a sworn deposition and has requested numerous documents as part of the discovery process.

The town has also sought records from several third parties, including Verizon Communications, the Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections, Broward County and the St. Lucie County School District.

Discovery is the stage of a lawsuit in which both sides gather evidence before a judge decides the disputed issues.

The filings mark the latest chapter in a dispute that began after a Local 10 News investigation uncovered public records showing Jacobs and his wife own a home in Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County.

Local 10 News also reported that public records showed the property received a Florida homestead exemption and a tax exemption for veterans with total and permanent service-connected disabilities that reduced the property’s taxable value by approximately $535,000.

Under Florida law, those exemptions generally apply only to property that serves as the owner’s permanent residence.

Local 10 News also reviewed mortgage documents showing the home was purchased with a VA backed loan. The loan documents included an occupancy certification stating the borrower intended to occupy the property as a primary residence, consistent with VA occupancy requirements.

Following Local 10 News’ reporting, public records from the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser’s Office show the disabled veteran exemption was removed from the property.

Jacobs has consistently maintained that he lives in Pembroke Park and is eligible to serve as mayor.

Following the Local 10 News investigation, several Pembroke Park commissioners questioned whether Jacobs continued to satisfy the residency requirements contained in the town charter and sought to hold a vote on his eligibility to remain in office.

Before that vote could occur, Jacobs filed suit and obtained a temporary restraining order blocking the meeting.

In March, Broward Circuit Judge Shari Africk Olefson ruled that the town commission did not have the legal authority to determine Jacobs’ eligibility through a commission vote.

In her written order, Olefson concluded that the commission “lacks legal authority to vote on the Mayor’s eligibility.”

The judge prohibited the commission from voting on Jacobs’ eligibility and ruled that the issue must instead be resolved through the courts.

The order did not determine where Jacobs lives or whether he ultimately satisfies the residency requirements to remain mayor. Instead, the ruling addressed who has the legal authority to make that determination.

After the ruling, the Town of Pembroke Park changed its legal strategy.

Rather than asking commissioners to determine Jacobs’ eligibility, the town filed a counterclaim asking the court for a declaratory judgment on whether Jacobs meets the residency requirements contained in the town charter.

Jacobs asked the court to dismiss that counterclaim.

In May, Olefson denied Jacobs’ motion, allowing the town’s counterclaim to proceed.

The case has since entered discovery.

According to recent court filings, the town has served interrogatories, requests for production of documents and subpoenas seeking information it contends is relevant to determining Jacobs’ residency.

Among the latest filings is a subpoena requiring Angela Jacobs to appear for a deposition under oath and produce documents requested by the town.

The court filings also show the town is seeking records relating to the Fort Pierce property, homestead exemption documents, correspondence with the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser, mortgage records, utility records and other documents the town contends are relevant to the residency dispute.

The filings themselves do not establish wrongdoing or determine where Geoffrey Jacobs lives. Rather, they reflect the evidence the town is seeking to obtain as the case moves toward a decision on the merits.

Local 10 News reached out to Jacobs’ attorney, Michael Pizzi, for comment on the latest developments.

“We are more confident than ever that this is a never ending and politically motivated witch hunt against Mayor Jacobs,” Pizzi said.

Pizzi also said he is not concerned about the town’s latest discovery efforts.

“We are not concerned about any of the latest discovery requests because Mayor Jacobs has always lived in Pembroke Park and he has never moved out of the Town,” he said.

Pizzi further criticized the litigation, saying, “One day the Town will have to be accountable for this waste of tax dollars. Mayor Jacobs will continue serving the people while some in the Town spend money on politics.”

The legal question over who has the authority to decide Jacobs’ eligibility surfaced before the lawsuit was filed.

In a memorandum previously provided to the mayor and town commissioners, Pembroke Park Town Attorney Jacob Horowitz wrote that “the proper venue to challenge the eligibility of an individual to hold office as a Commissioner of the Town of Pembroke Park is the Circuit Court in Broward County.”

Horowitz also wrote that while the commission could conduct a public hearing and consider evidence, “the Circuit Court is ultimately vested with the legal authority to determine whether a commission member is eligible to hold office.”

Olefson ultimately reached the same conclusion when she ruled that the commission lacked the legal authority to decide Jacobs’ eligibility through a vote.

The underlying question, however, remains unresolved.

Months after Local 10 News first raised questions about the mayor’s residency through public records, tax records and mortgage documents, the courts are still being asked to determine a central issue that continues to divide the town: whether Geoffrey Jacobs satisfies the residency requirements to continue serving as mayor of Pembroke Park.

The shooting Monday during an immigration enforcement operation in the city of Biddeford marked the second time in a week that ICE used deadly force and at least the ninth death since President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said an ICE officer “fearing for public safety” shot and killed the driver while agents were watching the home of someone they believed was in the country illegally and had a final order of removal from the country.

The department said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop the vehicle driven by someone coming from the home, the vehicle attempted to flee and the officer fired his weapon.

That statement came hours after Maine Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him that the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against ICE agents.

King said Mullin also told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the person who was shot.

The officers involved didn’t have body cameras, leaving many questions surrounding the circumstances of the shooting in the coastal community south of Portland, Maine's biggest city.

It's not clear yet how close the officer was to the vehicle when the officer opened fire, whether officers told the driver to stop or how the public may have been in danger.

DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting.

The Maine attorney general’s office, which is also investigating, said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent. The office said the officer who killed him has been placed on leave.

Immigrant rights groups identified the man who was killed as a 26-year-old native of Colombia. The Colombian Embassy said it was in contact with U.S. authorities about the man's death and providing assistance to his family.

Maine's other senator, Republican Susan Collins, said Mullin told her that DHS' Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.

Video from a security camera at a nearby business, obtained by The Associated Press, shows a white vehicle approaching an intersection at a modest speed before making several slow circles. A law enforcement SUV blocked its path and two officers open the driver’s door and dragged out a limp body.

It isn't clear from the video when the shots were fired.

Daniel Boucher said he looked out his third-floor window after hearing a “pop, pop, pop” sound. He saw the SUV moving down the street until the SUV hit it.

“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said, getting choked up. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop.’”

At one point, Boucher said, the agent who shot the man walked close to him.

“I was emotional and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect,” Boucher said. “I don’t remember his exact words.”

Two advocacy groups — the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! — said the man who was killed was authorized to work in the U.S.

Mary Hayes, who lives close to the scene, said the man lived nearby with his wife and daughter.

“I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband’s dead body on the ground,” Hayes told the AP as she held a sign saying “No ICE Stop ICE.”

Just last week in Texas, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.

The two shootings come amid a Trump administration push to carry out its mass deportations agenda. Over five days at the end of June, ICE arrested more than 10,000 people.

The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, arrests are surging. The administration’s enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

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Willingham reported from Boston and Brook reported from New Orleans.

Buffett also said in his statement that he wants all of his remaining Berkshire Hathaway stock worth nearly $146 billion donated to charity by the end of 2034. Previously the plan was for his three children to distribute his remaining fortune within 10 years of the 95-year-old investor’s death.

“Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034,” Buffett said in a statement. “The goal is to have the grants grow annually to each of the three foundations managed by each of my children and the annual grant to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation grow at a somewhat greater rate.”

Buffett and the Gates Foundation did not immediately respond Tuesday to questions. CNBC said Buffett is scheduled to give the channel an exclusive interview on this topic Wednesday morning.

The majority of Buffett’s charitable gifts — worth more than $61 billion — have gone to the Gates Foundation since he announced the plan to give away his fortune in 2006. He has been giving blocks of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation and the four foundations run by his three children regularly.

Gates denies any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He said he only met with Epstein because he thought it might help him raise money for charitable causes.

Epstein, who was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, was found dead at the Manhattan federal lockup in August 2019 and his death was later ruled a suicide by New York City’s medical examiner.

Buffett already said in 2024 that he planned to cut off donations to the Gates Foundation after his death and let his three children decide how to distribute the rest of his fortune. The decision he announced Tuesday will accelerate that plan.

Buffett and Gates used to be exceptionally close friends who talked often, played bridge online and even took vacations together. Gates also served on the board of Buffett’s conglomerate for years and the legendary investor sat on the board of the Gates Foundation. But Buffett told CNBC in March that he hadn’t talked to Gates for months since before the Epstein files were released in the fall of 2025.

In the past, Buffett stood up for Gates. Three years ago, Buffett cut off a man who was presenting a resolution at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting after he questioned Gates’ character because of his ties with Epstein. Peter Flaherty was arrested that day for trespassing even though he had been approved to make the presentation beforehand. The charge was later dropped, but the incident led to a lawsuit, which is still pending in the courts.

Buffett said to CNBC “it is astounding to me that anybody could be that successful as a con person” but Epstein found a way to exploit the weaknesses of others. Buffett would not discuss Gates’ involvement, but said he doesn’t want to be involved with anything that could be investigated later.

Gates discussed his ties to Epstein with the staff of his foundation recently. Gates appears multiple times in the Justice Department’s release of documents connected to its investigation of the late financier. The Justice Department’s files include email correspondence between Gates and Epstein about philanthropic projects, calendar entries documenting dates they got together, and photos of Gates at events the two men attended.

The foundation announced that it hired someone in March to assess the foundation’s past engagement with Epstein and review its policies to vet any future philanthropic partnerships. Gates and the rest of the foundation’s board expect to get an update on that investigation sometime this summer.

Buffett told CNBC that he’s amazed at how many wealthy and powerful people have been caught up in the Epstein scandal.

“I mean, it, here you had a guy that was a convicted guy, a sensational con man, and the percentage of people that he knocked off,” Buffett said. “I mean, whether it was, he found their weakness. It might have been sex. It might be power, it might be, whatever it might be. And I don’t see how anybody could have pulled that off.”

Buffett said he’s glad Epstein never came to Omaha, where he has lived for more than six decades. Buffett is regarded by many as the world’s greatest investor who built up Berkshire over the years by buying insurance companies like Geico, major utilities, manufacturers and well-known brands like Dairy Queen and the BNSF railroad.

Buffett stepped down as Berkshire CEO in January after 60 years of leading the company, but he remains as chairman and the largest shareholder. Greg Abel is now CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

Blanche will need the support of all GOP lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee in order to advance his nomination to lead the Justice Department, which he has done in an acting capacity since April.

Blanche is expected to face scrutiny over issues including the department's investigations into President Donald Trump's foes, a contentious deal to settle Trump's IRS lawsuit and its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files when he appears before the committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Here's a look at key topics likely to dominate the hearing:

‘I love you, sir:' Blanche & Trump's close relationship from the courtroom to DOJ

Blanche came into the public spotlight as the lead attorney defending Trump in his hush money trial in New York. The close relationship they forged then — and the unwavering loyalty Blanche has shown to Trump since joining the Justice Department last year — is likely to command the spotlight at the hearing.

Trump has made clear his desire to use the Justice Department to pursue his political opponents. And Blanche has accelerated investigations into perceived foes of the president since Pam Bondi was fired after failing to deliver criminal cases against Trump's political enemies.

Democrats say Blanche is acting as if he were still Trump's personal attorney.

Blanche has strongly rejected accusations that the administration has weaponized the department for political purposes, saying in an ABC interview in February that "there’s not a whiff of political partisanship in what we’re doing.”

The Justice Department has historically prided itself on independence from the White House when it comes to prosecutorial decisions. But Blanche has insisted he sees no problem with the president’s interest in Justice Department matters and says he has felt no pressure to placate Trump.

“We have thousands of ongoing investigations and prosecutions going on in this country right now," Blanche said at a press conference in May. “And it is true that some of them involve men, women and entities that the president in the past has had issues with and believes should be investigated. That is his right, and indeed it is his duty to do that.”

When asked at the time about his potential nomination for attorney general, Blanche said that if Trump chose someone else for the job he would say: “Thank you very much. I love you, sir.”

Blanche has tried to walk a fine line when discussing Jan. 6

Blanche's past comments surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could face renewed scrutiny.

Blanche has said he was not consulted on Trump's sweeping clemency grant for some 1,500 people charged in the riot, including people convicted of attacking police. Pressed on the matter during his confirmation hearing for deputy attorney general last year, Blanche said that people who commit violence against law enforcement “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Asked whether he would advise the president in the future against pardoning violent offenders, Blanche told lawmakers last year that “violence against law enforcement is never something that should be tolerated.”

But in front of a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in May, Blanche touted the Jan. 6 pardons as an accomplishment for the administration, saying to cheers in the audience that “by 5 p.m. on Jan. 20, every one of them was either pardoned or had their sentence commuted."

“So when folks say we’ve done nothing, I say ‘you have a very short memory,’" Blanche told the crowd.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose vote is likely to be crucial for Blanche's nomination, has said he will not support anyone for attorney general who equivocates on the events of Jan 6. Tillis, however, recently said he doesn't have any concerns about Blanche's record regarding Jan. 6.

With the death of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, there are 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the panel. If even one Republican on the committee votes against Blanche, it could scuttle his nomination.

‘We are not moving forward with the fund, period.’ Will that assurance be enough?

Arguably the rockiest stretch of Blanche’s tenure atop the Justice Department has been a $1.776 billion fund meant to compensate allies of the president who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system.

Blanche was the public face of the initiative, which emerged from a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The fund faced instant bipartisan congressional backlash, exemplified by a tense closed-door meeting at which shouting Republicans confronted Blanche over the planned payouts.

Weeks later, he revealed on behalf of the administration that the idea had been scrapped, saying at a hearing, “We are not moving forward with the fund, period.”

Nonetheless, expect Democrats to press Blanche on whether he has truly foreclosed the possibility of reviving the fund, especially since Trump remains vocal about his desire for compensation for his supporters and since the Justice Department has balked at a judge’s insistence that it assert in writing that it won’t bring back the compensation.

Tillis has been sharply critical of not only the fund but a separate aspect of the IRS that guarantees Trump and members of his family immunity from audits. Blanche has repeatedly said that the IRS protection remains intact, something that Tillis and others are expected to demand answers about. A federal judge on Monday stopped short of voiding the audit immunity deal but called into question its legal legitimacy.

Questions over the Epstein files have never gone away

Blanche was deputy attorney general when the Justice Department in the summer of 2025 found itself besieged by crisis over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. A year later, questions remain, despite the department's release last January of what it said were more than 3 million pages of records from its sex-trafficking investigation of the late financier.

Blanche will unquestionably be grilled about the case, especially after Bondi told lawmakers behind closed-doors after her ouster as attorney general that Blanche was the department’s point person on the release of the Epstein documents.

Trouble began in February 2025 when Bondi presented far-right influencers at the White House with white binders that she said contained the Epstein files but in reality actually consisted of largely public materials.

Things worsened last July when the department said in an unsigned statement that it would not release any additional records from the investigation, only to be forced into a reversal by an onslaught of criticism across the political spectrum and legislation from Congress that mandated the records’ disclosure.

But the staggered release was beset by problems, including redaction errors that left exposed nude photos showing the faces of potential victims. Some names, email addresses and other identifying information was either unredacted or not fully obscured.

Blanche has faced additional scrutiny over his unusual trip to a Florida prison to interview Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, as she serves a 20-year sentence for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. After the interview, Maxwell was moved from the low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

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Deputies said they responded just before 1 a.m. to the area of Northwest 64th Street and Northwest 21st Avenue in the county’s Gladeview area, where they found three vehicles struck by gunfire, including a silver Hyundai.

“The car was parked outside of the residence. It was occupied by three juveniles, so it was the girl and her two siblings that were in the vehicle. The mom was outside of the vehicle at the time, so this could have been a very different outcome,” MDSO Detective Samantha Choon said.

Authorities said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medics transported the girl to a nearby hospital in stable condition.

A family member of the victim told Local 10’s Jackie Pascale that the girl is now home and doing OK.

They said neither her siblings nor their mother was injured in the shooting.

According to investigators, no arrests have been made, and detectives have not released any suspect information at this time.

Neighbor Marie Grimes said she was shaken after hearing multiple gunshots.

“I heard the booms — boom, boom, boom, boom — and I said, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’” she said. “Maybe five or six, ’cause look at that right there. I’m just glad the little girl is OK.”

Investigators asked neighbors to check their surveillance or Ring camera footage from around 1 a.m. and contact authorities with any information.

Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. Anonymous tips are accepted.

Los agentes informaron que respondieron poco antes de la 1 a.m. al área de Northwest 64th Street y Northwest 21st Avenue, en la zona de Gladeview del condado, donde encontraron tres vehículos impactados por disparos, incluido un Hyundai plateado.

“El auto estaba estacionado frente a la residencia con tres menores: la niña y sus dos hermanos estaban al interior del vehículo. La madre se encontraba fuera del vehículo en ese momento, así que el desenlace pudo haber sido muy diferente”, dijo la detective de la MDSO Samantha Choon.

Las autoridades informaron que paramédicos de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trasladaron a la niña a un hospital cercano en condición estable.

Un familiar de la víctima dijo a Jackie Pascale, de Local 10, que la niña ya está en casa y se encuentra bien.

Indicaron que ni sus hermanos ni su madre resultaron heridos en la balacera.

Según los investigadores, no se han realizado arrestos y los detectives no han divulgado información sobre algún sospechoso hasta el momento.

La vecina Marie Grimes dijo que quedó conmocionada tras escuchar múltiples disparos.

“Escuché los estruendos, boom, boom, boom, boom, y dije: “Dios mío, ¿qué está pasando?”. Tal vez fueron cinco o seis, porque mire eso ahí mismo. Me alegra que la niña esté bien”, dijo.

Los investigadores pidieron a los vecinos revisar las grabaciones de sus cámaras de vigilancia o cámaras Ring alrededor de la 1 a.m. y comunicarse con las autoridades si tienen alguna información.

Cualquier persona con información sobre la balacera debe comunicarse con Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477. Se aceptan denuncias anónimas.

Tau is one part of a toxic duo fueling Alzheimer’s but prior attempts to develop drugs that can target the protein have failed. Two Alzheimer’s drugs, lecanemab and donanemab, try to clear buildup of the better-known amyloid protein and can modestly slow cognitive decline.

The new findings suggest Biogen's diranersen did more than lower tau levels. The study of about 400 people found signs that it also slowed cognitive decline, in one small subset enough to be comparable to amyloid therapy, according to results presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in London. Biogen is planning a larger study to try to prove the drug’s benefit.

“This is really quite promising if it were to hold up” in that next-step testing, said Jessica Langbaum of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix, who wasn’t involved with Biogen’s study.

“This is early days,” cautioned Dr. Reisa Sperling of Mass General Brigham, who also wasn’t involved in the study. But “I think it will reinvigorate interest and investment in lots of tau mechanisms, and the field needs that.”

It’s one of multiple novel attempts to fight the mind-destroying disease, including a possible tau vaccine, an experimental heart drug that might do double-duty for some people at high risk of Alzheimer's, and ways to help medicines more easily get across the so-called blood-brain barrier.

New approaches are needed to fight the leading cause of dementia

It’s not clear exactly what causes Alzheimer’s, which affects more than 7 million Americans and tens of millions worldwide. That sticky amyloid protein starts building up to form plaques in the brain about two decades before symptoms appear. But amyloid alone isn’t enough to cause Alzheimer's. Many scientists believe that amyloid buildup eventually triggers an abnormal form of tau to form tangles in neurons, setting off symptoms.

Diranersen is what’s called an antisense oligonucleotide that doesn't attack tau buildup but instead instructs a tau-producing gene to produce less.

“If you lower tau production, you are lowering the amount of the abnormal tau that needs to be cleared by the microglia, by the clearance mechanism in the brain. And so you are enabling the normal clearance mechanism to have more capacity to clear the tau,” said Dr. Cath Mummery of University College London, who led the new study.

Today’s anti-amyloid drugs are given through the bloodstream via infusions or injections. Diranersen is injected into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord, a straighter path to the brain.

Biogen's tau drug missed a key study goal — but was still encouraging

Biogen’s study included people with mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer’s, randomly assigning them to different doses of diranersen or a placebo. Back in May, Biogen and partner Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced that the lowest dose — given every six months — had the strongest effect. That was a counterintuitive surprise and meant the study didn't meet its planned goal of showing that higher doses brought greater benefits.

Still, scientists had been anxiously awaiting details about how much that twice-a-year spinal shot really helped. Five of six different brain tests showed diranersen recipients’ memory and other cognitive abilities still worsened but more slowly than those given dummy shots, Mummery said. In one test of the lowest dose, that translated to a 26% reduction in cognitive decline — “approximately the same” change seen in earlier tests of amyloid drugs, she said.

Side effects included injection site pain and a temporary state of confusion that could appear a few days after the shot and last about a week, she said. But there were no signs of brain inflammation, which can affect recipients of anti-amyloid drugs.

Alzheimer's researchers also target tau in a broad new study

The University of California, San Francisco, last week opened a first-of-its-kind study known as the Alzheimer’s Tau Platform. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, it will test a variety of experimental anti-tau therapies against and in combination with today’s amyloid treatments. First up is a vaccine called AADvac1 designed to train the immune system to recognize and fight a specific worrisome portion of the tau protein, said UCSF's Dr. Adam Boxer.

The “platform” approach will expand to locations around the country, allow addition of other tau drugs to test and include people with Alzheimer’s-related protein buildup who aren’t yet showing symptoms, he said.

Other studies hint at new ways of attacking Alzheimer's

Researchers told the Alzheimer’s meeting that an experimental cholesterol-lowering drug called obicetrapib might do more than help heart health. They're exploring if it also might lower buildup of Alzheimer's-related proteins in people who carry a genetic risk for the disease.

Why? That gene, called APOE4, also affects how the body processes cholesterol. Obicetrapib maker NewAmsterdam Pharma plans to begin a study soon to test if the drug's cholesterol effects also can mitigate the Alzheimer's risk in people carrying one or two copies of that gene.

Companies also are trying to get Alzheimer’s drugs into the brain faster and at higher volumes, by penetrating the protective lining meant to protect the brain from harm. Denali Therapeutics' CEO Ryan Watts describes it as “hitching a ride” with iron that naturally gets into the brain. His company is pursuing drugs that target tau and amyloid using that “transport vehicle” technology.

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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.

“Perhaps the most alarming finding is that many of the newly reported deaths are people who died in their communities without ever reaching a health facility and without receiving care,” Chikwe Ihekweazu said. “And as of today, 80% of new cases are outside our contact lists and so are coming to us from unknown chains of transmission.”

Congo has been battling the outbreak of a rare type of Ebola since May with no approved treatment or vaccine. The Africa Centre for Disease Control said last week that it is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on the continent.

As of Monday, at least 1,926 people have been infected and 702 died in three provinces in Congo from the rare Bundibugyo virus, Congolese authorities said. Cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization in Congo has tested positive for the Ebola virus, without providing further details.

Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva that his visit to Bunia had been “quite encouraging on many fronts, but also deeply concerning on many fronts.”

Treatment capacity in Bunia is now close to 800 beds, which is increasing every week, and lab capacity has increased from one to 14 labs, while there have been improvements on other fronts too.

Ihekweazu said that despite “our best efforts ... we have not caught up in the race.”

The response has been hampered by a funding gap, attacks on health centers, and an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, as well as mistrust among local communities.

On Monday, dozens of people working at an Ebola virus treatment center in northeast Congo went on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses.

The Congolese authorities declared a fresh Ebola outbreak on May 15 after the disease had been transmitting for weeks without official detection, according to the WHO.

Clinical trials for treatment began last week after researchers launched a highly anticipated study in the hope of fighting the virus.

One South Florida man now has the answer after winning big on a Netflix competition show.

Contestants from across the country walked into a luxury lakeside estate in British Columbia with one goal: keep secrets, hide in plain sight and compete for a chance at a million-dollar prize.

But one South Florida man outplayed the rest.

Nick Pellecchia, who lives in the heart of Brickell, is the winner of Season 2 of Netflix’s “Million Dollar Secret.”

“I come from a completely different background than reality TV,” Pellecchia said.

He studied finance at the University of Miami and worked at a commercial loans lender before turning his attention toward entertainment.

“I always liked entertaining people and being funny,” he said. “I knew how powerful it was to have a brand and audience online, so I was always applying.”

Eventually, that led him to Million Dollar Secret and a spot in the competition.

From the beginning, Pellecchia said his strategy was to avoid becoming a target.

“My plan going into it was (to) be kind of a funny, fratty type kid that doesn’t have a target on his back, that people just like being comfortable around,” Pellecchia said.

But that plan quickly changed when he identified who he believed was hiding the million-dollar secret.

“I ended up being the only one clocking Altie as the millionaire and felt the need to speak up at the first dinner,” he said.

After that, other contestants started looking to him for answers.

“So that whole plan went to the wayside and then it turned more into a situation where people were coming to me about what I thought was going on,” he added.

Along the way, Pellecchia found himself holding the million-dollar briefcase, meaning he had to complete secret agendas without the other contestants finding out.

Pellecchia survived multiple rounds, eventually moving the money out of his briefcase before the attention became too much.

He made it to the final three, where the prize ended up back in his hands.

For Pellecchia, becoming a millionaire still feels surreal.

“It’s a pretty surreal feeling, because it all still feels like it was made up, and it’s crazy because it’s filmed nine months before it comes out,” he said.

“To my parents, I said I’m pretty sure there’s money on the way, maybe it was a fever dream or something,” he added, “I’m just grateful.”

Now, with a million dollars to his name, Pellecchia says he plans to keep investing in himself.

“I mean I want that million dollars to be $10 (million) in the next few years, so I’m gonna keep building businesses, being entrepreneurial with it and keep investing in myself a lot of it,” he said. “But most of it, I’m just gonna keep betting on myself, dude.”

Pellecchia’s Netflix journey didn’t end with Million Dollar Secret. He also searched for love on Netflix’s “Perfect Match.”

To see what he’s been up to since those shows ended, find his Instagram page by clicking here.

Down the street, U.S. President Donald Trump will welcome new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to the White House after strongly backing the political novice’s bid for office. Iraq has been under pressure to disarm Iran-backed militias that attacked U.S. bases and diplomatic facilities after the U.S. and Israel instigated the Iran war.

The U.S. launched more strikes on Iran early Tuesday, hours after Trump vowed to reinstate an American blockade of Iranian ports and charge ships 20% of their cargo for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with more attacks on Middle East allies, leaving the ceasefire deal in tatters and under the threat of all-out war. The U.S. military said it will resume its naval blockade on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

The Latest:

Warsh vows to crush inflation but offers no hint on the Fed’s next move

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s written testimony to Congress says the Fed will make high inflation “a thing of the past,” but provides no signal about the central bank’s next steps.

Fed policymakers “have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation,” Warsh will say when he testifies Tuesday before a House committee. “And we share a resolute commitment to restoring price stability.”

Yet about half of the 19 members of the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee expect they will have to raise the central bank’s key rate by the end of the year to defeat inflation, while nearly half have penciled in no change or even a rate cut. Warsh faces a stiff challenge in reconciling the divided committee while navigating a rapidly-changing economic outlook.

▶ Read more

Lindsey Graham’s sister prepares for her Senate swearing-in

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon as his temporary replacement after his unexpected death over the weekend, and will serve out the rest of his term ending in January.

Graham earned a masters degree in rehabilitation counseling and has worked as an optician and at various state agencies. She’ll be the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate.

“It is such an honor,” she said, as dozens of Graham staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her during a statehouse news conference. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

▶ Read more

Trump to welcome Iraq’s new prime minister to the White House

Al-Zaidi has been under pressure to disarm a network of Iran-backed militias operating in the country, some of which launched attacks on U.S. bases and diplomatic facilities after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran.

Trump is scheduled to greet the Iraqi leader Zaidi at 11 a.m., followed by an Oval Office meeting.

Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Chatham House think tank, expects that “the U.S. will put significant pressure on al-Zaidi” to move ahead with disarmament “and Zaidi will respond by saying, ‘But I need support — intelligence support, technical support, armed support.’”

“There is a scenario in which, if the Iraqi government starts going after these groups, they will also go after the government,” Mansour said. “And this is a scenario that I think that the Iraqi government is apprehensive about.”

‘Dangerous.’ ‘Brazen.’ ‘Unprecedented.’ ‘Uncharted territory’

Reaction has been swift and severe to the issue of subpoenas to five New York Times journalists who reported on security questions involving Trump’s new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.

“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The White House Correspondents Association holds its rescheduled dinner celebrating the First Amendment in less than two weeks, with Trump planning to attend. The first was scuttled when a shooter opened fire in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill the president.

“The WHCA condemns any act of intimidation against journalists, including attempts to pressure them into revealing sources,” said a statement from the group’s president, Weijia Jiang.

▶ Read more

What does the Supreme Court want from Congress?

Security is central to the court’s budget request of $228 million — roughly 10% more than the last fiscal year.

Nearly $15 million of that would go to expanding personal protection for justices, with six more agents for each.

Another $2 million would fund more Supreme Court police officers and an off-site residential security post to speed emergency responses.

The U.S. Marshals Service reported 564 threats to the hundreds of federal judges around the country during the last fiscal year, and justices have not been immune: Barrett’s security detail had to defuse a fake 911 call at her house, and her sister was the victim of a bomb threat. A would-be assassin was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Chief Justice John Roberts has condemned the threats, saying it’s “dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”

June inflation report shows complicated outlook for Trump on economy

The White House will have reasons to rejoice in the June release of the consumer price index, as prices fell 0.4% on a monthly basis in large part because of tumbling oil prices tied to the now deteriorated ceasefire with Iran.

But prices still rose 3.5% over the past 12 months, well above the Federal Reserve’s inflation target of 2%.

And the monthly decline could be short-lived, with oil prices jumping again as fighting intensifies in the Middle East.

Prices for the global benchmark of Brent crude oil have risen nearly 8% in the past five days of trading to about $81 a barrel on Tuesday, a sign that inflation could soon pick up again as the American public begins to focus on the November midterm elections.

Attacks resume across the Mideast

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck several areas in Iran, targeting “coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities.” Iran acknowledged the strikes, but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S. military said.

Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Trump called it “another major attack” and said the U.S. was “putting the blockade back.”

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and three tankers that traveled through the strait.

Here's Trump's rationale for charging tolls in the strait

U.S. Central Command said on social media that it “will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas” beginning Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT, and will “support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.”

A notice to mariners released Monday by the U.S. military warned of using force if ships don’t comply. It also said the military will let through humanitarian shipments.

The statement follows Trump declaring that the U.S. would be reinstating the naval blockade and charging a 20% toll on eligible cargo.

“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” Trump said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, would not say whether the military would be collecting tolls, and referred questions to the White House.

Trump to address the nation on Thursday

The president posted on social media that he would be “making a Speech to the Nation” at 9 p.m. EDT on Thursday.

Trump appeared to refer to himself in the third person in the post.

He did not disclose the details of his planned speech, but the announcement comes after Trump said he would block Iran-related ships from traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and that the U.S. would charge a 20% fee on all cargo going through the waterway.

Asked in an interview with Hugh Hewitt what his Thursday address will be about, Trump made it sound like nothing out of the ordinary.

“It’s just going to be a speech like a lot of my speeches,” he said, without offering any more detail.

Fed policymakers “have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation,” Warsh will say when he testifies at 10 a.m. Eastern before a House committee. “And we share a resolute commitment to restoring price stability.”

Yet about half of the 19 members of the Fed's interest rate-setting committee expect they will have to raise the central bank's key rate by the end of the year to defeat inflation, while nearly half have penciled in no change or even a rate cut. Warsh faces a stiff challenge in reconciling the divided committee while navigating a rapidly-changing economic outlook.

In keeping with his stated policy of providing less guidance about the Fed's policies, he did not signal in his testimony whether rate increases would be necessary to combat inflation, which has reached 4.1%, according to the Fed's preferred measure, far above its 2% target. He will deliver the testimony to the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday morning and then face questions from committee members.

The renewal of the Iran war has caused oil prices to climb again after they had fallen back to nearly their prewar level. Gas prices had fallen about 20% from their peak but have also increased in the past week and are still about 35% higher than they were when the U.S. attacked Iran Feb. 28.

The government's latest report released Tuesday showed that prices dropped 0.4% in June from May, the largest monthly drop in four years. On a yearly basis, inflation declined to 3.5%, down from a year-over-year gain of 4.2% in May and lower than many economists expected.

Some Fed officials have argued that underlying inflation, even excluding the impact of gas prices, remains elevated and may require higher interest rates to defeat.

Another factor that could boost inflation for the rest of this year is the massive investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure by the so-called “hyperscalers,” such as Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms. The spiking demand for memory chips and processors has sent semiconductor prices soaring, leading to price hikes for laptops, tablets, and video game consoles.

Warsh said Tuesday that AI investment is “the most striking feature of the economy right now" and said the Fed is “monitoring the implications” for inflation and jobs.

Other Fed officials have stepped in to provide guidance as Warsh has declined to do so. Fed Governor Christopher Waller on Monday said that another “hot” inflation report Tuesday would mean the Fed would have to consider raising rates “in the near term.”

But last week John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that if core inflation stays at a 0.2% monthly pace for the rest of this year, the Fed could avoid hiking rates. Williams' approach implies the Fed would keep rates steady for some time while it monitors incoming data.

The recall, which was first announced on Thursday, covers Insignia front-control gas ranges with knobs that can be turned on accidentally, posing a risk of fire, according to the CPSC.

They said the ranges were sold in the United States from 2020 through March 2026.

They also advised that consumers should stop using the ranges immediately and contact Best Buy for a free replacement knob kit.

“Seeing my grandma and all these people affected made me feel like I had to do something, even if it was from the U.S.," said the 18-year-old, who has spent the last couple weeks preparing food for volunteers at the Doral, Florida headquarters of the nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission.

Izaguirre is one of thousands of people who have participated in an exceptionally large grassroots humanitarian effort based at GEM, supported by donations from across the U.S. and beyond and still going strong nearly three weeks after the catastrophe.

Hundreds of volunteers still show up each day at GEM's warehouses in Doral, where about half the population is of Venezuelan descent. They sort donated supplies –– curated to address the latest needs –– and prepare them for transport to Caracas on daily flights.

GEM's system, facilitated by the U.S. State Department, has given members of the Venezuelan diaspora and others an outlet to support the ongoing crisis, and a trusted mechanism to send aid amid widespread concern about theft and corruption on the part of Venezuelan officials.

“Whatever we can get to the Venezuelan public is what counts,” said Izaguirre.

The effort also underscores the stunning dynamic shift between the U.S. and Venezuela since President Donald Trump ordered then-Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s capture in an early morning raid on Jan 3. With military personnel again on the ground, the U.S. has assumed a response role that would have been unimaginable before January, when Trump said the U.S. would “run” the country and seized control of its oil exports.

“This is a whole different animal,” said GEM founder and president Michael Capponi, who was denied entry to Venezuela while trying to deliver aid during the reign of Maduro, who long rejected humanitarian help, equating it to foreign intervention. “We land a private plane, it gets unloaded by U.S. soldiers, it goes in a truck we pay for and to a warehouse that we completely control. It doesn’t touch the hands of the Venezuelan government.”

GEM quickly activated a supply chain

The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck 39 seconds apart on June 24, killing at least 4,500 people with thousands more still missing. They destroyed and damaged over 850 buildings, leaving 17,000 displaced and ravaging critical infrastructure providing electricity, clean water and sanitation.

GEM's headquarters became a donation collection point almost immediately. Some donors were initially skeptical that aid could reach those who needed it without being stolen or misused by a notoriously corrupt government, Capponi said. After GEM made its first successful aid distribution, the movement grew bigger than he'd seen in decades of global response.

Companies like Goya, Walmart and Amazon contribute supplies while professional sports teams have donated funds. But much of the aid is still amassed from thousands of individuals' contributions.

“They’re going to Walmart with their credit card, buying 15 cans of food and bringing it in a shopping bag,” said Capponi. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when it’s 2,000 people... it’s an enormous amount of aid.”

Lines to drop off aid at GEM have at times been so long police had to help manage traffic. Supplies arrive from across North America: Two brothers drove a U-Haul of goods from Canada. Another group arrived from Mexico. Trucks have rolled in from Nevada, Texas and California.

As many as 1,000 volunteers across three warehouses sort and pack. They fill pallets with essentials like diapers, and assemble individual care packages with enough sustenance and hygiene items to last two people about five days. They also tuck in notes of encouragement: “Te queremos Venezuela,” one reads. “We love you, Venezuela.”

GEM aims to deliver at least 100,000 care packages monthly for the next three-to-six months, while also addressing upcoming needs, like longer term housing.

Volunteers have taken vacations from work to put in hours at the warehouses, said Billy Richardson, director of U.S. logistics. Others arrive after work. “We almost have to kick them out at the end of the day,” Richardson said.

Mariela Vila showed up because she remembers how affected she was when Hurricane Maria pummeled her homeland of Puerto Rico in 2017. “The Latino community in general gathered together to help Puerto Rico, and that made me feel really well,” said Vila, 25, who has worked full-day shifts at GEM since the effort began. “So I felt the need to help Venezuela.”

U.S. assumes a complicated role

Nearly one million pounds (454,000 kilograms) of supplies have been deployed so far from GEM headquarters to its recently leased Caracas warehouses. GEM collaborates with local nonprofits and trusted community members to organize distributions in the hardest hit areas, often twice daily.

But it is the U.S. State Department that facilitates the shipments with the Venezuelan government, making it possible for GEM to operate in the country, even getting help from the U.S. military. On Saturday, U.S. Marines landed an amphibious landing craft on a Venezuelan beach and unloaded GEM packages that were then passed to 2,000 people lined up for aid.

Partnerships with GEM and additional nonprofits allow the U.S. to tap into existing logistics and donation mechanisms, a State Department spokesperson told The Associated Press, adding that the effort with GEM leverages "the Venezuelan American diaspora and private partners who want to donate.”

Several other U.S.-based humanitarian groups told The Associated Press they also have been able to operate without interference from Venezuelan officials. Some depend on collaborations with established local nonprofits.

Despite the U.S. presence, some still question whether the Trump administration is doing enough to help Venezuela, especially since it controls billions of dollars in oil revenue.

“There are a lot of transparency questions that linger on the use of that fund in a moment in which Venezuelans really need that money to be used for the protection of Venezuelans,” said Laura Cristina Dib, Venezuela program director at the human rights organization Washington Office on Latin America.

John M. Barrett, U.S. charge d’affairs for Venezuela, told reporters last week that the interim government has been “fully compliant in terms of our requests to advance this massive humanitarian response" and that revenue from Venezuelan oil production, currently controlled by the U.S. Treasury, is being made available for relief efforts.

Asked for further details, the State Department spokesperson said “State and Treasury are supporting the Venezuelan interim government’s budgetary operations, improving Venezuela’s liquidity and access to capital during the recovery," adding that the U.S. has contributed over $386 million to earthquake response independent of the oil revenue.

Venezuela's recovery is only beginning

In the coastal city of Maiquetía last week, Yoniel Reyes sat inside a tent, examining the contents of a GEM package he’d just received during an aid distribution, packed and sealed 1,300 miles away in Doral. There were instant meals, bottles of water, canned food, hydration powder and hygiene kits.

“I never imagined I would be receiving aid from the U.S.,” said Reyes. “We Venezuelans are thankful, very thankful.”

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Associated Press videojournalist Juan Pablo Arraez contributed to this report from Maiquetía, Venezuela.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Incendios más grandes han estado devastando zonas del sur de Francia, pero el de Fontainebleau está excepcionalmente cerca de la región densamente poblada que rodea la capital francesa.

Aviones cisterna se zambulleron repetidamente en el río Sena para recoger agua y sofocar las llamas — la primera vez que se han utilizado aeronaves de este tipo para combatir incendios en la región de París, señaló el jefe regional de bomberos.

El humo cubrió las copas de los árboles y quedó suspendido en el aire el martes, mientras las autoridades intentaban controlar los incendios.

No se han reportado muertes ni heridos.

Dos detenidos en relación con los incendios de Fontainebleau

Dos personas han sido detenidas en relación con los incendios de Fontainebleau, y otras dos detenidas por incendios en otras partes de Francia, dijo el martes el ministro del Interior, Laurent Nunez, en la televisión BFM. No proporcionó detalles.

La ola de calor que ha abrasado Francia en los últimos días, la tercera ya este año, está empezando a remitir. El servicio meteorológico nacional espera poner fin a sus advertencias de alerta roja por ola de calor a partir del miércoles, aunque ahora hay advertencias de tormentas eléctricas en varias regiones.

España identifica a víctimas de incendio

Cuatro días después de que un incendio arrasó una remota comunidad de ciudadanos extranjeros en el sur de España, las autoridades judiciales han identificado a 10 de las 13 víctimas mortales mediante muestras biológicas.

La mayoría de los fallecidos, todos adultos, son extranjeros. Entre ellos hay cinco británicos —incluida una mujer que murió en el hospital—, tres belgas, una mujer francesa y un ciudadano español, indicaron las autoridades judiciales en un comunicado emitido a última hora del lunes.

Diez personas siguen desaparecidas.

El incendio de Los Gallardos afectó unos 70 kilómetros cuadrados (27 millas cuadradas) de bosque y tierras de cultivo, un área mayor que la isla de Manhattan.

España está experimentando un calor extremo que, combinado con el viento y la escasez de lluvias, está creando las condiciones ideales para que pequeños incendios forestales crezcan sin control.

Europa es el continente que se calienta más rápido en el mundo, con temperaturas que aumentan al doble de la media global desde la década de 1980, según el Servicio de Cambio Climático Copernicus de la Unión Europea.

_______

Las periodistas de The Associated Press Teresa Medrano y Suman Naishadham en Madrid y Angela Charlton en París contribuyeron a este reporte.

________

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

“To ask whether AI is a bubble is a foolish question,” Son told executives at an annual company event in Tokyo. “AI will transform our lives completely, and do so in a way that generates profits.”

“Those who refuse to evolve are closing down their world. Those who condemn AI are themselves spitting upward,” Son added.

Financial markets have recently been swept by waves of concern that the meteoric rise in share prices of companies like Nvidia, and massive investments in data centers, might not yield returns that match hopes for huge profits from AI.

Son founded SoftBank more than four decades ago and is a pioneer in Japan’s technology investments. He was an early supporter of AI and has invested tens of billions of dollars in related companies.

Son said he estimates that almost $5 trillion in investments will be needed annually and globally to expand data centers, increase production of computer chips and provide energy systems and other infrastructure for AI.

“In 2040, approximately 20% of the world’s GDP will be replaced by AI-related industries, the world of superintelligence,” he said.

SoftBank oversees a sprawling collection of businesses through what it calls Vision Funds. Its other businesses include telecommunications and energy.

Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. earlier reported its profits for the fiscal year through March soared nearly five-fold to 5 trillion yen ($32 billion) from a year earlier as its AI investments paid off.

The tech giant has invested $34.6 billion in OpenAI. It sold its stake in computer chip maker Nvidia last year to free up funds for more investments in AI and data centers.

SoftBank recently started a battery business in Japan to build next-generation electric power infrastructure in anticipation of growing electricity demand driven by AI use.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok contributed.

The nation's largest bank by asset size, JPMorgan said that revenue in every line of its business hit record levels in the quarter, including its markets division, where revenue grew 35% over the same period last year. Revenue in its equity markets division skyrocketed 86%.

JPMorgan earned $6.14 per share in the period, beating analyst estimates of $5.59 per share and 2025's $5.24. Managed revenue came in at $58 billion, also topping the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

JPMorgan shares were down 2.4% before the opening bell.

IPOs and mergers expected to stay hot through 2026

CEO Jamie Dimon said that revenue from the New York bank's investment banking division rose 30%, accelerating to the highest level since 2021 as the thirst for initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions remained strong.

According to investment research analysts, both merger and acquisitions and initial public offerings are expected to continue at a blistering pace through 2026.

Global M&A activity accelerated in the second quarter of 2026, with announcements up 64% year-over-year and closings up 33%, according to Morgan Stanley. It was the sixth straight quarter that the volume of deals grew on a year-over-year basis.

The jump in M&A volumes were driven by deals of $10 billion or more, which accounted for 43% of the quarter’s announced volumes, the most in more than six years, Morgan Stanley said. The bank’s research arm forecast that 2026 global M&A announcements will reach $6.4 trillion, topping 2021’s $6.1 trillion.

The story was similar in the IPO market, where 48 IPOs raised a quarterly record of nearly $105 billion, according to Renaissance Capital. The bulk of the proceeds came from SpaceX’s offering, which brought in $75 billion, more than all U.S. IPOs combined in 2024 and 2025, Renaissance said.

Renaissance expects the IPO market to extend its hot streak into the second half of this year, also driven by larger deals such as Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix’s “mega-listing” on Friday that raised $26.5 billion.

Iran war the main source of market volatility

Markets have been swinging wildly up and down since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, with military strikes from both sides interspersed with pauses in fighting and vague temporary truces.

Investors’ concerns that the war will last a long time has triggered high volumes of selling in financial markets, while hopes for a resolution and a freer flow of crude oil has inspired optimism and buying.

Though volatile markets can cause anxiety for individual investors, high-speed Wall Street trading desks can take advantage of the wild gyrations. Big swings in markets tend to increase activity on trading desks, leading to higher commissions and fee revenue for the banks.

Big banks all reported strong second quarter results

Wells Fargo also reported its second-quarter results on Tuesday, posting a 22% jump in net income over the same period last year. Wells said it earned $6.4 billion in the period, or $2 per share, up from $5.5 billion a year ago. Revenue of $22.6 billion also topped estimates.

Wells CEO Charlie Scharf said the San Francisco bank was benefiting from a strong economy and its newly unleashed ability to invest after years of government oversight. Wells’ said its investment banking revenue grew 20% from last year and markets revenue was up 24%.

“After years of not being on a level playing field with our competitors because we couldn’t grow our balance sheet, we are carefully deploying capital to grow and support our clients by taking risks that we think are prudent through economic cycles, not just the strong environment we see today,” Scharf said.

Shares of Wells Fargo fell 1.9% in premarket.

New York investment bank Goldman Sachs and commercial banking giant Bank of America also posted strong second quarter results, both beating Wall Street expectations.

Goldman earned $6.6 billion in the period, or $20.98 per share, on $20.3 billion in revenue. Its shares rose 4% before the opening bell.

Bank of America’s profit rose to $9.1 billion in the April-June period, up 27% from a year ago when it posted $7.2 billion in profit. Bank of America’s shares lost 1.3% in early trading.

Assess spending rate

People who have just retired or are about to are particularly vulnerable to sequence-of-returns risk, which means that a bad market shows up early in your retirement. Not only does that early retirement sell-off feel bad, it actually is bad because it imperils your portfolio’s ability to last throughout your retirement years. In  Morningstar’s 2025 retirement spending research, we found that the people most likely to run out of money in retirement were  the ones whose portfolios lost value in the first five years of their retirements.

Retirees who are pulling cash flows from their portfolios can address that risk by adjusting their spending down to ensure that more of their portfolios are in place to recover when the market eventually does. And those adjustments don’t need to be radical to make an impact. In  our retirement income research, we found that even small tweaks like forgoing an inflation adjustment following a bear market help ensure that spending lasts over a whole 30-year period and can lead to more lifetime income than a strategy that ignores market movements.

If you haven’t yet retired, assess your planned in-retirement spending and identify where you would be willing to make cutbacks. Turbocharge savings if you can afford to do so. Catch-up contributions are available to all retirement savers over age 50. And if you’re between 60 and 63, you can make a “super-catch-up” contribution to your company retirement plan, for a total of $35,750 in 2026. High-income heavy savers may also be able to take advantage of after-tax 401(k) contributions, which enable them to stash even greater amounts in their company retirement plans.

Pull cash flows from safer assets

In a turbulent market environment in which equities have declined, it’s best to pull any portfolio cash flows from safer assets and leave your stock positions undisturbed. That’s the general logic behind  the Bucket approach to portfolio construction. In good years for the stock market, like 2023-25, you’d be harvesting appreciated equity assets to supply your income needs. In bad ones, like 2022, you’re not touching stocks but instead sourcing cash flows from high-quality bonds, cash, or a combination of the two.

If your portfolio is riskier than it should be, it’s not too late to shift into a more situation-appropriate asset allocation.

Play the long game with Social Security

Social Security is a secure, inflation-protected source of income, much like a paycheck. But the lifetime benefits of delaying Social Security are hard to ignore: a higher income stream that also happens to be fully inflation-protected and will last as long as you do. Delayed filing can be particularly impactful if you’re the higher earner in your family and you have a younger spouse who will receive that higher benefit for their lifetime.

In  our retirement income research, we found that delaying filing up until age 70 did enlarge lifetime income, but the benefits are greatest if you have some other source of funds to draw from until your benefits start. And the benefits are also obviously more valuable for people with above-average life expectancies, in that they stand to receive those higher streams of inflation-protected income for a longer period of time.

Revisit inflation protection

Inflation is a key risk for retiree portfolios because the income from your safe investments is going to buy you less and less as you age. Moreover, retirees tend to spend more on healthcare, where prices have historically increased faster than the general inflation rate.

Many retirees focus on nominal bonds and underrate the value of inflation-protected bonds as a component of their retirement plans. You can address that by adding an inflation-protected bond fund to your portfolio; most of the better target-date series allocate roughly one-fourth of their bond portfolios to inflation-protected bonds. Alternatively, you could build a laddered portfolio of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities that will mature and supply you with living expenses throughout your retirement.

Investigate tax-saving strategies

The early retirement years are typically an excellent time to consider strategies like converting traditional IRA balances to Roth or accelerating withdrawals on traditional IRAs and 401(k)s. Without income from work and because you won’t be subject to required minimum distributions until you’re 73, your income, and in turn the taxes you’ll owe on those conversions and withdrawals, will be lower.

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This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more retirement content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/retirement.

Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

Related Links:

Your Retirement Countdown, With Christine Benz

https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/your-retirement-countdown-with-christine-benz

5 Things You Need to Know About RMDs This Year

https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/5-things-you-need-know-about-rmds-this-year

Retirees Don’t Need to Fear a Lost Decade. They Need a Plan

https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/retirees-dont-need-fear-lost-decade-they-need-plan

Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to sign an executive order Tuesday morning imposing the country's first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.

“As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The order will pause state permitting for new large data centers and direct state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage and other factors, the governor's office said.

Tech companies and other backers have argued moves to block the construction of data centers hurt job growth for local communities and cede ground to China in a race to lead in the rapidly growing AI industry.

Earlier this year, Maine seemed poised to establish a similar moratorium. But the measure was vetoed by the state’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills because it would have blocked a proposed data center in a town that has struggled following the closure of a local mill. Moratoriums have been proposed in at least a dozen states but have not gotten far, though some counties and municipalities have imposed their own temporary bans.

The decision in New York also carries political significance for Hochul's reelection campaign and the state's tight congressional races this fall, as Democrats move to address affordability concerns over high utility bills and other pocketbook issues. The governor this year softened New York's ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gases, citing rising energy costs for consumers.

Hochul’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, opposes a statewide moratorium and says local governments should be allowed to strike deals with tech companies for data center projects that promise enough economic benefits.

The state Legislature this year approved its own moratorium bill, but Hochul's office described the legislation as complex and said it needed additional work. Instead, the governor is opting for an executive order that would take effect immediately once signed.

New York, at this stage, has not been a destination for the biggest hyperscale data centers.

Saharan dust continues to limit rain chances while also helping push temperatures higher. Looking ahead, rain chances increase Friday as the Saharan dust finally begins to move out of the area, allowing scattered showers and thunderstorms to return.

Intergovernmental conferences were being held in Brussels to ceremonially open or close negotiating tracks for the top four candidates to join the 27-nation EU: Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and war-ravaged Ukraine. But it could still be years before any of them join.

“We have not seen this in more than two decades. The last time, it was in 2002. This is a Super Tuesday for EU enlargement and Ukraine is part of it,” Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told reporters.

While holding four meetings in one day is a rarity, 10 countries — most of them from central Europe — joined the EU in 2004. Croatia, the last country to be welcomed into the world’s biggest trading bloc, joined in 2013.

Changing times force a change of policy

Tuesday’s move is a sign of the important political and geostrategic changes happening in Europe. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that he would block any attempt at enlargement until the EU itself had undergone deep reforms.

But Europe’s biggest land war in decades and its fallout have altered that calculus. The EU has sought to encourage reform in the candidate nations, fearing the growing influence of Russia and China.

Ukraine’s progress has been impressive. It only applied for membership in 2022, four days after Russia launched a full-scale invasion. Moldova too has been under heavy Russian pressure.

Ukraine sees EU membership as one “security guarantee” for a stable future once the war ends. Its best guarantee would be NATO membership, but the Trump administration insists that cannot happen, and other NATO members are wary of it joining while fighting continues.

European countries see the war as an existential threat, and fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin could target them in coming years, especially if he wins in Ukraine.

“The case for Ukraine’s EU membership is very strong,” Kos said.

“The future security architecture of our continent is unimaginable without Ukraine,” she said. “Ukrainians have turned their country into a military powerhouse with capabilities few other nations can match, especially with its rapidly evolving drone technologies.”

The benefits of EU membership

The prospect of EU membership is a powerful driver for pro-democratic reform, and joining has boosted trade and creates jobs, notably in the volatile Balkans region, where a series of wars in the 1990s tore apart the former nation of Yugoslavia. Most candidates for EU member are Balkan states.

Countries hoping to join the EU must complete negotiations in 35 policy areas, known as chapters, from agriculture to taxation and energy to trade. That process can take years.

Last month, Ukraine and Moldova opened negotiations on a cluster of five chapters linked to the values and principles on which the EU was founded, such as the rule of law, respect for fundamental rights and the functioning of democratic institutions.

They each opened a second cluster on Tuesday focused on foreign relations, security and defense policies, as well as trade policy, development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

Albania’s meeting will serve to provisionally close negotiating tracks on science and research, education and culture, and external relations. Montenegro – which hopes to join in 2028 – is doing the same with competition policy and customs rules.

Hungary's Orbán leaves and things start moving

An important factor that has led to the EU's new-found speed is a change of government in Hungary.

Ukraine’s accession process was long stymied by Hungary’s stridently nationalist former prime minister Viktor Orbán, who was considered Russia’s strongest ally in Europe and possible threat to the EU project. The candidacies of Ukraine and Moldova were linked and neither could progress.

But U.S. President Donald Trump's friend was ejected by voters in April in spectacular fashion after 16 years in power.

Orbán routinely exploited voting rules that require all 27 member countries to agree on certain rules, sanctions and even political statements. Unanimous agreement is required for each negotiating chapter to be opened, and then again for it to be closed.

Nine countries are officially candidates to join the EU: Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey. Accession talks for Georgia and Turkey are on hold due to concerns about democratic standards.

Kosovo has also applied to join but has not been granted candidate status.

It was the first time in almost two weeks that Ukraine said it had downed Russian ballistic missiles, which are harder to stop than drones or cruise missiles and have pummeled the country in Moscow's 4-year-old full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian air defenses likely used the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air guided missile system that is the most effective way of countering ballistic missiles, but ammunition for it has been in short supply amid the Iran war despite European efforts to make up for the shortfall.

Paris cheers Ukraine along the Champs-Elysees

Along the cobblestoned Champs-Elysees in Paris, crowds cheered Ukrainian troops marching in the annual Bastille Day parade, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received an ovation from European leaders who showed solidarity with Kyiv. Ukrainian aviators trained in France flew aboard two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.

Zelenskyy was in France seeking a remedy to his country's air defense problem, and he announced Monday that Ukraine is joining with nine other nations to form a coalition that will build a shared ballistic missile shield for Europe. Ukraine and its partners could jointly develop a mass-produced, low-cost system in the next 12 months, he said.

The Bastille Day parade featured about 500 troops from the ″coalition of the willing″ group of countries that have pledged to help with Ukraine’s postwar security. French President Emmanuel Macron called it a ″great honor″ to welcome them to the parade.

Tuesday's attack in Kyiv caused fires at two warehouses and also damaged a school, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement it targeted military manufacturing facilities that produce long-range missiles and drones.

Moscow is seeking to choke off Ukrainian strikes on oil facilities deep inside Russia that have caused critical fuel shortages, frustrating the public and, Western analysts say, are hindering the Russian army’s advance on the front line.

Ukraine’s air force said one ballistic missile and 25 drones struck 17 locations, while falling debris was reported in 10 locations.

Ukraine seeks to bolster air defenses ahead of winter

Ukraine urgently needs to improve its air defense shield before winter. Much of the country is at the mercy of Russian missiles that have hammered its power grid since 2022, making winters almost unbearable.

President Donald Trump said at the NATO summit last week that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot systems itself. However, they are expensive, in high demand and take a long time to produce, so it will likely be years before any Ukrainian-made systems are ready to deploy.

Ukraine strikes more Russian oil facilities

Ukraine, meanwhile, kept up its long-range onslaught on Russian targets, especially oil facilities.

An attack in southern Russia's Krasnodar region caused a fire at the Afipsky Oil Refinery that was later put out, authorities there said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine also hit an oil refinery in the city of Salavat in the Bashkortostan region, some 1,400 kilometers (900 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Bashkortostan Gov. Radiy Khabirov confirmed an attack on an industrial area in Salavat, but didn’t say what was hit.

In addition, the Ukrainian navy struck four Russian tankers operating as part of Moscow's so-called shadow fleet of aging tankers of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging international oil sanctions and a patrol boat, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine claimed Monday it struck 105 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov next to the Crimean Peninsula between July 6-13.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 288 Ukrainian drones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rebuffed ceasefires offered by Zelenskyy.

“This war must be brought to an end, and all reasonable diplomatic proposals are on the table,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

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Eva Van Dam contributed from Paris.

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

The report identified the men as Mohieddin Abdollahi and Hossein Palani. It said they belonged to an Islamic State cell that formed after the group’s territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria and had planned attacks inside Iran.

According to the report, Iranian security forces identified the cell’s hideout in the Bamo mountain area near the Iraqi border before it could carry out its plans. Several militants were killed and others arrested during the operation, in which three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard were also killed. Authorities said they also seized weapons, ammunition and other equipment.

The two men were convicted of armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic, and were hanged after the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences. The judiciary did not disclose where the executions were carried out.

Alexander, who signed a two-way deal with Utah last week, made contact with the Bulls' Caleb Wilson while driving toward the basket and, after tossing the ball toward the hoop, went behind the basket clutching his side or abdomen. He then dropped to the ground, seemingly in great pain.

The 23-year-old Alexander was taken from the Thomas & Mack Center court on a stretcher. The incident occurred with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

There was no immediate word from the Jazz on Alexander's injury.

Alexander played three seasons at Creighton and skipped his final year of eligibility to turn pro. The G League rookie of the year for the 2024-25 season played 24 games for the Denver Nuggets the same season and nine game for the New Orleans Pelicans last season.

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

The latest exchange of fire leaves in tatters an interim deal meant to pause the fighting, reopen a waterway that is key to world energy supplies and give negotiators time to hammer out a permanent end to the war. Instead, fighting has once again engulfed the region, threatened the global economy and brought warnings to commercial airlines. Unless a diplomatic solution is found quickly, it could intensify into all-out war.

The focus of the conflict now is the strait, through which a fifth of all traded crude oil and natural gas passed in peacetime. Iran effectively shut the passage during the war by attacking and threatening ships — a tactic that proved its greatest strategic advantage. It sent the price of oil, fertilizer and other goods soaring at a time when world leaders were already struggling to address rising costs.

The interim deal was supposed to reopen the waterway, but Iran has attacked ships moving through the strait on a route overseen by the U.S. military that is outside Tehran's control.

The U.S. has now threatened to reopen the strait by force — but experts say that will require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of American ground troops. It’s possible Trump will back down, as he has previously.

Attacks resume across the Mideast

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck several areas in Iran, targeting “coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities.” Iran acknowledged the strikes but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S. military said.

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and three tankers that traveled through the strait.

Two of the ships were associated with the United Arab Emirates and were set ablaze for a time. The Emirati Defense Ministry said the attack on the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah killed one mariner and wounded eight others. The Emirates threatened to retaliate.

Dutch shipping firm Stolt Tankers said that one of its ships came under attack. The attack on the Stolt Magnesium off Oman sparked a fire in the engine room, but the company said all the mariners were safe.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah “ignored repeated warnings.” Iran has targeted ships that use a route through the strait that passes near Oman outside of its territorial waters.

Hours after the U.S. said it ended its campaign of strikes, the Iranian city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf was hit in at least four locations, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. It again raised the possibility that Gulf Arab states were attacking Iran in retaliation.

Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, sounded its missile alert sirens three times early Tuesday. Jordan’s military said it intercepted four missiles from Iran. Jordan hosts U.S. forces and has come under attack by Tehran in recent days.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned airlines against operating in the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as over the Gulf of Oman.

It said in a bulletin that “unpredictable military developments, combined with the possible use of missiles, drones, combat aircraft and air-defense systems, create a high risk to civil flights.”

Interim deal is in peril

Exchanges of fire in recent days had already cast doubt on the interim peace deal — now almost halfway through the 60-day period in which negotiators were supposed to agree to a final accord, which also was meant to address Iran’s disputed nuclear program and other issues.

But Trump's vow to impose a blockade further imperils it. Washington lifted a blockade it imposed in mid-April as part of the deal. The U.S. military said it will resume it at midnight Wednesday in Dubai.

“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on social media Monday.

He said the U.S. would impose a fee for protecting other ships: 20% of the value of cargo to help cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”

That's a change to longstanding U.S. policy. The U.S. Navy has fought for freedom of navigation on the seas since the Barbary Wars in the early 19th century and the War of 1812. It's also a departure from recent U.S. promises that the strait would remain open to all without tolls — recently offered by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a trip to the region.

Under the interim deal, Iran agreed that passage through the strait would remain free of charge for 60 days — but the agreement left open what would happen after. Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic through the strait and potentially charge fees. The U.S. has disputed that.

Any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.

The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose to a one-month high of over $87 in trading Tuesday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war but threatening to raise costs everywhere.

Mediators working to prevent a return to full-scale war

Regional mediators are still trying to get the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate diplomatic process, said Pakistan-led mediation was working around the clock to reactivate the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Lebanese and Israeli delegations were expected to meet in Rome on Tuesday to continue U.S.-mediated negotiations. Shortly after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah joined the conflict in support of its ally, Iran, and began attacking Israel. Israel responded with a ground invasion of Lebanon.

Last month, Lebanon and Israel announced a “framework agreement” outlining the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah. Implementation has stalled.

Before the fighting around the strait intensified, Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon repeatedly threatened to derail the interim deal. A truce now exists in Lebanon, but it remains unclear whether it will hold if the U.S. and Iran return to full-scale war.

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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

Reaction in the media world has been swift and severe to the issue of subpoenas to five New York Times journalists who reported on security questions involving the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One — a legal maneuver seen as a troubling escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to control and intimidate independent media outlets.

“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Media advocates and analysts expressed dismay at the tactic, even after months in which news organizations drawing President Donald Trump’s ire have been attacked both in courtrooms and in the court of public opinion; media access to corridors of power has been blocked; and a Washington journalist’s home has been searched by federal agents.

“They have used the levers of power to intimidate and demonize professional journalists who report stories that are unfavorable to the administration’s desired narrative,” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN White House bureau chief who is now a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University.

He called Friday’s subpoenas “dangerous and uncharted territory, but merely an extension of what we have seen from this administration and president.”

“Don’t like a poll? Sue the Des Moines Register," he said. "Don’t like the way an interview is edited? Sue ‘60 Minutes.’ Don’t like the coverage of the gifted Air Force One? Order the FBI to investigate and subpoena the journalists for what is, by the way, a story that is in the public interest.”

Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at home

Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at their homes, the Times said. Sought by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, they seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan this week.

The new jet in question, a present from Qatar that Trump's administration spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week. But the Republican president used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey.

The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the switch had come at the urging of the Secret Service and that the newer plane lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities. On social media, Trump denied security concerns.

The subpoenas were issued after FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials met at the White House on Friday to talk about the matter, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Times said the meeting lasted around eight hours.

The fact that the operation was conducted from the White House itself was particularly egregious to analysts like Sesno, who called the coordination “unprecedented.”

“This graphically illustrates the pressure and influence the White House and president have brought to bear on law enforcement that is supposed to be independent and driven by facts, not politics,” he said.

The National Press Club called on the Justice Department to immediately withdraw the subpoenas.

“Every American should understand what is at stake,” Mark Schoeff Jr., the club’s president, said in a statement. “When federal agents arrive at the homes of journalists with subpoenas, it is not ordinary law enforcement. It is an extraordinary assault on the freedom of the press that strikes at the heart of the First Amendment.”

Also expressing solidarity with the Times journalists was the White House Correspondents' Association — which, in less than two weeks, holds its rescheduled dinner, with Trump planning to attend the event that celebrates the First Amendment. The first dinner was scuttled when a shooter opened fire in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill the president.

“The White House Correspondents’ Association stands with the New York Times reporters who were targeted for doing their jobs to uphold the public’s right to know how its government operates,” said a statement from the group’s president, Weijia Jiang. “The WHCA condemns any act of intimidation against journalists, including attempts to pressure them into revealing sources.”

Trump's administration has initiated multiple lawsuits against media outlets

Trump’s animosity toward news outlets whose agenda runs counter to his own isn't new. But in his second presidential term, he has launched an escalation, often harnessing the levers of the federal government or attempting to do so. These efforts have taken place both in actual courtrooms and in the court of public opinion.

The president has sued various news organizations whose coverage he dislikes. He has also threatened to revoke TV broadcast licenses. His Federal Communications Commission chairman is seeking to penalize shows like ABC’s “The View,” where some hosts speak out against Trump, by having the FCC explore revoking its exemption from equal-time rules.

The legal skirmishes include an escalating dispute between the media and Trump’s Defense Department over reporters’ access to the Pentagon. The Times has filed two lawsuits over a policy requiring journalists to be accompanied by escorts at the military complex.

The White House has also battled with The Associated Press over the news organization's refusal to follow Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And it has battled with The Wall Street Journal over reporting about Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to the president — including an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump’s signature.

Last month, the Justice Department issued and then withdrew subpoenas that sought to compel reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to testify before a grand jury, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Post confirmed that one of its journalists received a subpoena from the Trump administration as part of a broader crackdown on media leaks that in January also included the extraordinary step of an FBI search of the home of another journalist at the newspaper and the seizure of her electronic devices. The media world was stunned by the search of the home of reporter Hannah Natanson, who was covering Trump’s transformation of the federal government.

The Times is now gearing up for battle against what its lawyer David McCraw has called “this brazen act.”

In an internal memo seen by the AP, the newspaper's executive editor, Joseph Kahn, criticized the subpoenas, praised his journalists' work and said: “We expect to prevail. We have the best legal team in the business. ... The law protects news gatherers from this sort of retaliatory abuse of prosecutorial power. It is essential that the courts reaffirm that protection and quash this overreach. We are confident they will in this case.”

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Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.

More than 70 people were injured in the Sunday night tragedy, with 24 of them still in critical condition, according to a statement by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Initial details about the victims, which have not been updated since Monday, said 18 of the dead were women and nine were men, all Thai except one bar employee from Laos. The injured included 41 women and 34 men.

The blaze at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar, the city’s deadliest in 17 years, broke out shortly before midnight in a northern part of the Thai capital. Firefighters needed half an hour to bring it under control.

The bar, which in Thai calls itself a brewery or beer hall, claimed to accommodate as many as 600 customers. It was not clear how many were present Sunday night.

An investigation into the cause of the fire and whether the bar was following safety regulations is ongoing. Most of the people who were killed were found trapped in windowless bathrooms where they may have sought to escape the flames, police said.

Bangkok governor orders safety survey and better enforcement

Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said Tuesday he has ordered the city’s administration to conduct a sweeping survey of such establishments to assess risks. The city will also step up enforcement of existing laws to improve safety standards, he said.

Former patrons of the bar and other mourners visited the site Tuesday, adding to the growing pile of flowers leaning on the guardrails cordoning off the location of the blaze.

Handwritten messages in Thai and other languages, including Korean, were left alongside white flowers, expressing condolences to the victims.

Debris from the bar, including melted musical instruments and blackened chairs, lay scattered along the sidewalk, moved there Monday by officials investigating the cause of the fire.

University student Thanakon Phoklang said he was passing by and wanted to pay his respects.

“It was regrettable,” he said. “It’s impossible to feel anything else.”

The public clamor for answers and action concerning the tragedy has included relatives of the dead who went to Bangkok’s Institute of Forensic Medicine to collect their bodies on Tuesday.

Families weep as they retrieve bodies

Gathering at a loading area for vehicles, family members wept as they walked with coffins that were then loaded into an ambulance and taken away.

Namthip Tubsuk, a mother of two and teacher nicknamed “Ice,” died in the fire, according to her aunt Jittiya Phaiklaw, who focused on reports alleging exit doors had been locked.

“They shouldn’t have locked the doors,” Jittiya said. “If they were afraid the customers would get away, they could have had the security guard staff minding them away.

Jutatip Surakumhang, a friend of Namthip, said an apology was owed.

“I feel there must be someone coming out to apologize to everyone who died. There were deaths deserving an apology. It was heartbreaking,” Jutatip said.

The bar issued an apology and condolences Monday on Facebook and vowed to cooperate with investigations into the fire.

The relatives and friends of another deceased victim, 35-year-old Bangkok native Top Sarobol, also came to the forensic institute to accompany his body. They wept as his coffin was brought out and loaded into the van to be returned home.

“For his family, it is hard to accept it. His grandmother is old. She always said let her grandson cremate her,” his friend Nuttakarn Sevoy said. “But the reality is opposite of what we wanted.”

Speculation about the causes of the tragedy has been rampant but mostly unconfirmed, while experts have drawn general conclusions about fire safety in Thailand.

Engineering expert suggests problems should be probed

On Monday, the president of the Thailand Structural Engineers Association, Amorn Pimanmas, told reporters outside the bar that, while he had not inspected the venue, he observed some risk factors that could worsen fire hazards.

He said the building is enclosed, has low ceilings and may have used foam as decorative materials, without adequate flame-retardant treatment. Combined with limited air ventilation, smoke would accumulate quickly, he said, creating toxic air that could be the main cause of death for many victims.

He also noted that officials said the bar was licensed as a restaurant with a live music venue rather than an entertainment venue because it was located outside the designated zoning for such businesses. Amorn said that would exclude it from the stricter fire safety requirements for entertainment venues.

“There must be some kind of revolution regarding fire safety procedures, and I think law enforcement is also very important,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t have the law, but it’s the problem of how the law could be strictly enforced from now on. I think the government should answer this question.”

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Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok contributed to this report.

The justices are appearing before a House appropriations panel as the court seeks millions of dollars to beef up security amid a rise in threats to the judiciary.

Judges around the country have seen a rise in threats of violence and intimidation, including a fake swatting call to police about Barrett’s home in May.

The hearing comes two weeks after the conservative-majority court finished handing down a series of major opinions, including a decision that increased President Donald Trump’s power over federal regulatory agencies and another that rejected his wide-ranging tariffs, sparking harsh personal criticism.

It's the first time justices have testified before Congress since 2019, and the two justices could face wide-ranging questions as they seek to keep focus on the budget.

Security is central to the Supreme Court's budget request

The Supreme Court requested a total of $228 million for next fiscal year, a roughly 10% increase over the year before. Nearly $15 million of that would go to expanding personal protection for justices, with six more agents for each.

Another $2 million would fund an off-site residential security post aimed at making emergency responses faster, as well as increasing the number of Supreme Court police officers.

The U.S. Marshals Service, responsible for protecting judges, reported 564 threats in the government fiscal year that ended in September, an increase from the year before.

That total includes threats to the hundreds of federal judges around the country, though the nine-member Supreme Court has not been immune.

In May, Barrett’s security detail worked with police to quickly deal with the call determined to be swatting, or a fake 911 call designed to provoke a police response. Last year, her sister was the victim of a bomb threat in Charleston, South Carolina, police said. No bomb was found.

In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, a would-be assassin was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties.

Chief Justice John Roberts has condemned the threats to all U.S. judges, saying during a speech in March that criticism of judicial opinions is understandable, but personally directed hostility is “dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”

The S&P 500 added 0.2% to recover some of its 0.8% loss from the prior day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 142 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

Stocks got help from easing yields in the bond market, which fell after a report said U.S. consumers had to pay prices for gasoline, food and other costs of living that were 3.5% higher last month than a year earlier.

While that’s more than nearly everyone would like, it wasn’t as bad as May’s 4.2% inflation rate or the 3.9% that economists expected for June. Less bad inflation could take pressure off the Federal Reserve, which is considering raising interest rates.

Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

Following the inflation report, traders see less than a 15% chance that the Federal Reserve will raise its main interest rate at its next meeting later this month. That’s down from the nearly 42% probability seen the day before, according to data from CME Group.

Rebounds for several big, influential stocks of computer chip companies also helped steady the market. They’ve been swinging sharply in recent weeks on worries that they shot too high in the euphoria around artificial-intelligence technology.

Micron Technology rose 1.8%, and Nvidia added 0.5%. A day before, they were two of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 after falling 4.4% and 3.5%, respectively.

To be sure, big risks remain for inflation. Fighting in the Middle East is threatening to close or slow traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that oil tankers use to ship crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose another 2.6% to $85.43. Following its leap of nearly 10% on Monday, it's back to where it was before the United States and Iran signed their interim deal to halt their fighting in the middle of last month.

Wall Street’s other big focus this week is the start of earnings reporting season, as companies tell investors how much profit they made from April through June.

The pressure is on companies to deliver big growth to justify how high their stock prices have jumped. Indexes are near records despite the recent swings caused by worries about AI stocks.

Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo all on Tuesday reported fatter profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Their reports showed strength for their trading desks and suggested spending by U.S. consumers remains resilient.

Their stocks rose following the results, including jumps of 8.1% for Goldman Sachs and 2.1% for Bank of America.

On the losing end of Wall Street was IBM, which was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500. It dropped 24.8% after CEO Arvind Krishna said performance for its software and infrastructure businesses fell short of expectations last quarter.

IBM’s customers in late June shifted their spending toward servers, storage and memory to get ahead of expected price increases caused by the AI boom.

“These conditions require our teams to execute perfectly, and this quarter we faltered,” Krishna wrote in a letter to investors. “We did not adapt and move quickly enough, and numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected, driving the majority of our shortfall.”

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.57% from 4.62% late Monday. It halts a run higher from 3.97% before the war with Iran began.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will answer questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill later in the day for the first time since taking over leadership of the central bank. In his prepared testimony, he pledged to make high inflation “a thing of the past” but offered no signal about the Fed’s next steps.

Besides the Fed's upcoming meeting on interest rates, July is full of potential flashpoints that could shake the stock market and potentially knock it lower before rising again by the end of the year, according to Thomas Carroll, strategist at Stifely Nicolaus. That includes Middle East tensions, earnings reports from the biggest U.S. stocks and volatile jobs data.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.7% after SoftBank Group Corp. rose 3.3%. It’s a big investor in AI, and Chairman Masayoshi Son gave a speech at a company event in Tokyo where he derided the idea that there is a bubble in investments in capacity for AI.

Stocks rose 1.4% in Shanghai after the government reported China’s exports jumped 27% in June from a year earlier as AI drove strong demand for computer chips and other technology.

___

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman with no political background, emerged as a consensus candidate in Iraq after months of deadlock over the premiership following last year’s parliamentary elections. When al-Zaidi was formally installed as prime minister-designate in April, Trump said in a social media post that it was the “beginning of a tremendous new chapter between our Nations — Prosperity, Stability, and Success like never seen before.”

But Trump’s interest and involvement in the next leadership in Iraq began long before that statement.

Iraq’s dominant parliamentary bloc, the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shiite parties allied with Iran, initially said it would back former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom the Trump administration views as too close to Tehran. The Republican president publicly announced his opposition to al-Maliki and threatened to cut off aid to Iraq if he was appointed, adding that “if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom.”

The issue of Iran is likely to loom large in the discussions Tuesday. Iraq has been under pressure to disarm a network of Iran-backed militias operating in the country, some of which launched attacks on U.S. bases and diplomatic facilities after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran in February. Officially, the Iraqi government has given non-state armed groups until the end of September to disarm, but some of the most powerful militias have said they have no intention of doing so.

A Trump administration official said ahead of the Oval Office meeting that the U.S. will make “informed” decisions based on Iraq’s efforts to disarm Iranian-backed militias inside its borders. The official was granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s strategy ahead of al-Zaidi’s visit.

Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Chatham House think tank, said he expects that “the U.S. will put significant pressure on al-Zaidi” to move ahead with disarmament during his Washington visit “and Zaidi will respond by saying, ‘But I need support — intelligence support, technical support, armed support.’”

“There is a scenario in which, if the Iraqi government starts going after these groups, they will also go after the government,” Mansour said. “And this is a scenario that I think that the Iraqi government is apprehensive about.”

Al-Zaidi received Trump’s blessing, despite the fact that he was chairman of a bank, Al-Janoob Islamic Bank, that was among the financial institutions banned by Iraq’s central bank in 2024 from dealing in dollars amid pressure from the U.S. to crack down on money laundering and funneling of funds to Iran.

Since taking office, al-Zaidi has made a public show of cracking down on corruption. His government has conducted raids and arrested dozens of current and former lawmakers and government officials accused of corruption, including some affiliated with former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

The Iraqi premier’s delegation to Washington includes a number of Iraqi businessmen and government officials, and al-Zaidi’s office said in a statement that the aim of the visit is to “strengthen economic and development partnerships, attract investment, and expand the role of U.S. companies in implementing infrastructure projects” and to further develop the oil-rich country’s energy sector.

___

This story has been corrected to show Trump said “if we are not there to help,” not “if we are there to help.”

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Follow the AP's coverage of Iraq at https://apnews.com/hub/iraq.

Fire managers try to anticipate nature's next move, placing thousands of firefighters, hundreds of engines, batteries of bulldozers and fleets of helicopters and air tankers where they'll make the biggest difference.

This year, they're dealing with persistent drought made worse by record-low snowpack levels and consecutive days of hot, dry and windy weather. Hundreds of homes have burned, three firefighters were killed battling flames in Colorado, and most recently a helicopter helping with another Colorado fire crashed into a reservoir, killing the pilot.

National preparedness has yet to reach its highest level, but resources are getting stretched as new fires pop up daily.

“The U.S. Wildland Fire Service is prioritizing pre-positioning of crews, engines and aircraft in areas with the highest likelihood of wildfire activity,” the agency said in an email to The Associated Press when asked about available resources. “This allows for quicker initial attack when new wildfires ignite, which is often the most effective way to keep fires small.”

US preparedness level ratchets up

The National Interagency Fire Center, a collection of federal and state agencies that supports on-the-ground wildfire firefighting efforts, sets the preparedness level at 1 to 5 based on fire activity, resource demands, weather and conditions on the ground that can be fuel for a fire. By late June, a surge of wildfire activity prompted coordinators to move the needle to level 4 and begin funneling more crews to the hottest spots.

More than 2,000 fires have been confirmed by the national fire center since the beginning of July alone. The explosion of fire activity across the West has resulted in more highly skilled and experienced incident management teams being assigned. Some have traveled from Alaska and California to help with fires in the Great Basin region.

As of Monday, there were 16 such teams overseeing nearly 17,000 people spread across more than a dozen states.

It’s typical to see preparedness increase in July and August, but fire managers are hopeful they can keep juggling resources to avoid maxing out.

Over the past decade, fire managers have reached the top preparedness tier an average of 25 days per year, with the longest stretch happening in 2021, according to federal statistics. The earliest the designation ever occurred was June 21, 2002.

Firefighters hit the road to help

The nation has 10 geographic area coordination centers — or GACCs — that handle the mobilization of firefighters and other resources.

Mike Morgan, director of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, noted during a news conference in early July that his state was getting help from an Alaska-based team.

“Thank God that they have the ability to free those resources up,” he said. “So I think at the moment I would say I feel pretty good about where we’re at. But I’m very concerned about where we go.”

In Utah, more crews arrived to help with the Babylon Fire, the largest active blaze in the U.S. at 166 square miles (430 square kilometers). That's larger than the size of Seattle.

In all, more than 5,600 square miles (14,504 square kilometers) — more than the size of Yellowstone and Grand Canyon national parks combined — have burned in the U.S. so far this year, outpacing the average for the past decade.

Sharing resources requires balance

The most recent outlook shows above normal wildfire potential in July from the Four Corners Region — where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet — north to Oregon, Idaho and Washington. It's not expected to simmer down until September.

Christopher Dunn, an assistant professor of wildfire risk science at Oregon State University, said these outlooks form the basis for determining how and where to mobilize resources. Those resources are shifted as the fire season moves from region to region.

In a busy year, states have to weigh whether to free up resources to help elsewhere or pressure federal officials to keep crews in reserve in case of increased risk. That's what Dunn described as hoarding resources.

“So there is sort of this delicate balance that has to be walked there, where you share, they share, everybody shares,” he said, “and everybody benefits from that sharing while not overextending your resources so much that you find yourself in a losing position.”

But along with sharing comes added exposure for firefighters who are in the field longer. That means more overtime and greater opportunities for burnout.

“With all this sharing and all of this increase in fire everywhere, we’re just going to see increased pressure on them to work more and work harder and essentially burn out quicker,” Dunn said.

Each fire season reignites the debate over public investment in a permanent wildland firefighting workforce and what agencies can do to retain their most experienced personnel.

“More experience is critical when dealing with extreme conditions,” said Camille Stevens-Rumann, a former wildland firefighter and an associate professor at Colorado State University.

Red flag warnings determine strategy

Even with more resources, there's not much firefighters can do when facing multiple days of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures. Stevens-Rumann said that's where the strategic positioning of resources in advance comes in.

“They can be available for when those conditions die down, like in the evening,” she said. “But when we have day after day of red flag warnings and high winds, it’s really hard to control a fire.”

Even though Stevens-Rumann has been on the front lines and studies wildfires, it's unsettling when flames are close to home.

“There’s no denying it. It’s easy to disassociate that when you’re on a fire crew and you’re arriving to a place that you don’t have a connection to per se to fight a fire. You know, you’re there to do a job,” she said, “but when you see it in your own backyard, it’s definitely a totally different experience.”

This year, firefighters are being directed to attack every blaze as quickly as possible to limit growth, reversing a decades-long trend in which managers let some fires burn to clear out brush and dead vegetation to reduce future risks. Stevens-Rumann said there are concerns about what that means for firefighter safety and work done on the landscape to slow the flames.

“It doesn’t do us any good to build miles and miles of line that just get burnt over, over and over again,” she said, noting that newer strategies are helping managers figure out where best to take a stand.

Volunteers watch for smoke

Having eyes on the ground — or rather above the tree canopy — can help spot fires early. Despite once numbering in the thousands, there are some 350 lookout towers left in the U.S., with many staffed by volunteers due to dwindling budgets, said Michael Guerin, chairman of the Forest Fire Lookout Association.

They're not just in the West. New Jersey opened a new one just this year, and they're also used in Pennsylvania, Maine and other eastern states.

The recent fires have forced the evacuation of some towers in Colorado. Meanwhile, Guerin and fellow volunteers in California are ready for things to pick up in their state when the Santa Ana winds arrive.

They could be getting help in the future from satellites. Officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced in early July that the first satellites have been launched into orbit as part of what will be a space-based wildfire detection system.

For now, the lookout volunteers use a map, compass and their familiarity with landmarks to pinpoint the location for initial attack crews. But their job isn't done, Guerin said.

“We then become the overwatch — the people that keep them safe while they’re doing the hard work on the ground.”

Graham, who had turned 71 just two days before dying on Saturday, was far younger than many of his Senate colleagues and appeared to have been in good health. He suffered a tear in his aorta, according to a preliminary report from the medical examiner.

It was the second time in less than a month that emergency personnel were dispatched to the home of a U.S. senator. In early June, Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate leader, was hospitalized for undisclosed reasons.

After weeks of increasingly dire speculation about his health, he finally revealed on Sunday that he had fallen and suffered from mild pneumonia. He released a photo, complete with a copy of the day’s newspaper.

Graham’s death and McConnell’s hospitalization have come amid an ongoing reckoning about the nation’s aging leaders, two years after the disastrous presidential debate that sparked widespread panic among Democrats about then-81-year-old President Joe Biden’s capacities and accusations of a cover-up.

Some politicians have continued to obscure details about their health challenges, asking for privacy despite their public positions, and fueling conspiracy theories.

“I think we need some transparency,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Monday. “I wish Sen. McConnell and his team would have done that earlier, I think it would have resolved a lot of questions.”

McConnell is admitted to a hospital

McConnell, who at 84 is only the third-oldest member of the Senate, was admitted to the hospital on June 14 with barely any explanation. Aides said he was “receiving excellent care" but offered no details about his condition.

The dearth of information fueled a wave of speculation about his prognosis, with Laura Loomer, a Trump ally and conspiracy theorist, claiming on social media that a "high level source close to the White House” had told her he was “officially brain dead.”

But McConnell, who will retire from Congress at the end of January after serving as the longest-ever Senate leader, said in a statement that he is on the mend. He said a fall had led to his hospitalization and that he was “briefly unconscious" and treated for mild pneumonia.

“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older," he said. “Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it.”

That wasn't enough to put speculation to rest. On social media, many refused to believe the veracity of a photo his office released that included the front page of the “Sports” section of The Washington Post.

Conspiracy theories about McConnell’s health are “a symptom of our times," said Sen. Rand Paul, who is also from McConnell's home state of Kentucky. Paul said people should “give him a break.”

“People think they have a right to know everyone’s medical problems," he said, "but I don’t know, where does it begin and where does it end?”

Trump's medical reports offer limited details

The oldest person ever elected president, at age 78, has long offered only the rosiest picture of his health.

“Everything checked out PERFECTLY," he boasted after his last physical in May, adding that he took yet another cognitive test aimed at detecting early dementia and has “aced them all.”

His past medical reports have been criticized for offering limited detail and including statistics that some health professionals have viewed with skepticism.

When he first ran for president in 2016, Trump declined to release his health records, breaking with longtime precedent. He instead offered a four-paragraph note from his doctor declaring that he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” Rep. Ronny Jackson, White House doctor during Trump's first term, later drew headlines when he extolled the president's “incredibly good genes."

When he was infected with COVID-19 in the midst of his 2020 reelection campaign, Trump's doctors and aides withheld key details of his treatment and tried to downplay the severity of his illness.

And after an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania rally, Trump aides kept the public in the dark for days, declining to discuss the extent of his injuries or release medical records after assuring he was “fine.”

Kean Jr. goes absent for months

The obfuscation extends beyond the septuagenarian and octogenarian set. New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. spent four months missing without explanation before he finally disclosed late last month that he had been in treatment for depression.

He said in a brief floor speech after his return that he had remained silent about his condition because he is a “private person by nature."

He won an uncontested primary during his absence, despite missing more than 100 votes in the House, and is running for reelection.

The approach stood in contrast to Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, who disclosed his hospitalization for clinical depression the day after he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment. He also suffered a stroke while running for office.

Biden's stumbles doom his reelection effort

Biden's halting gait, frail appearance and frequent verbal stumbles eventually doomed his 2024 reelection campaign. After a debate in which he frequently lost his train of thought, he chose to withdraw from the race, sparking an unprecedented swap at the top of the Democratic ticket that ultimately paved the way for Trump's return to office.

Many others have refused to retire. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, died in office in 2023 at the age of 90, after years of declining health, including a bout of shingles. Though she returned to the Senate after her illness, she appeared frail and confused at times. It was later revealed that her office had failed to disclose in real time that she had contracted encephalitis while recovering.

Longtime Republican Rep. Kay Granger of Texas spend the final months of her more than two decades in Congress suffering from “unforeseen health challenges” that made travel to Washington difficult.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, 88, the longtime House delegate for the District of Columbia, announced earlier this year that she would not run for reelection amid questions about her competency.

___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

Dennis Sochor, who has been on death row since the 1980s, would become the oldest inmate Florida has executed in history — at least for now. Later this month, Florida is also set to execute an 80-year-old prisoner who would be the state’s first octogenarian to receive the death penalty.

The executions highlight the nation’s aging death row population and the busy death row chamber in Florida, which has already carried out nine executions this year, more than every other state combined.

Sochor is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of killing a woman on Jan. 1, 1982, just hours after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party.

Just weeks earlier, Florida executed another 74-year-old inmate, Dusty Ray Spencer, over the killing of his estranged wife. He is currently the oldest inmate to ever die by lethal injection in Florida, and Sochor will be exactly one week older if Tuesday’s execution is carried out as scheduled.

It’s unclear why Florida set the executions for the three prisoners consecutively.

Maria DeLiberato, legal director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, noted that in Florida, the governor has practically sole discretion when it comes to the scheduling of executions. In many other death penalty states, the scheduling is up to the courts.

The office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, did not respond to an email seeking comment about the state’s recent executions.

A New Year's Day killing

According to court records, 18-year-old Patricia Gifford was celebrating the upcoming New Year with a friend at a Fort Lauderdale area bar when they met Sochor and his brother.

The four spent several hours talking, but after the friend became ill and went to sleep in her car, Gifford left with Sochor and his brother to get breakfast. But instead of going for food, Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded area and attacked Gifford when she refused to have sex with him, according to investigators.

Sochor was later arrested in Georgia in 1986 on unrelated charges and extradited to Florida. Sochor’s brother told police that Sochor was responsible for Gifford’s disappearance, and Sochor himself confessed on tape to choking Gifford and disposing of her body, which was never found. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 1987, and he was sentenced to death.

Last week, the state Supreme Court denied Sochor’s appeals. His attorneys had argued that the state violated his right to a fair trial by failing to disclose a 2022 letter sent to Sochor’s brother from a South Florida detective asking for information about the location of Gifford’s body. The attorneys also claimed that the execution drugs wouldn’t effectively keep Sochor sedated.

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

Oldest inmates executed in Florida

According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the oldest inmates previously executed by the state were both 72: Samuel Lee Smithers on Oct. 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women and R. Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting of a state representative, Charles Schuh Jr.

Nationwide, the oldest U.S. inmate executed in modern times was Walter Leroy Moody Jr., 83. He was put to death in Alabama in 2018 for a wave of Southern mail bombs that killed a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney in 1989.

A total of 16 executions have been carried out this year in the U.S., with Florida, so far, carrying out more than all other states combined.

But restoring oil tanker traffic in the vital Middle East shipping corridor to prewar flows likely will require a much bigger armada of U.S. warships if not tens of thousands of American troops on Iranian soil, experts say. Despite on-and-off fighting, Iran can still target vessels in the narrow Persian Gulf waterway with drones and missiles that have been hidden in a country a third of the size of the continental United States.

“Iran has been preparing for this type of asymmetric conflict for decades now,” said Jason H. Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and a former Pentagon official. “I think they’re starting to demonstrate why no other U.S. president since Reagan has elected to engage at this level of conflict with Iran, because they have that ability to completely disrupt the Strait of Hormuz.”

Trump said Monday that the U.S. is reimposing its blockade on Iran's ports and will charge other ships for safe passage through the strait. Iran has insisted it controls the waterway, through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows, while both sides have exchanged fire over the past week in a series of skirmishes that threaten a return to all-out war.

It underscores the bind that Trump is in as commercial shipping remains stifled in the strait, oil prices are rising again and Iran has shown no sign of capitulating. The war has been unpopular with many Americans and could factor into the upcoming midterm elections with gas prices high.

“They thought the situation was under control, and now they’re seeing renewed escalations, and the markets responding negatively to this,” said Eric Lob, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Middle East program and a professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University.

“It's really a kind of test of wills to see how much economic pain the Iranians are willing to absorb and then how much economic pain and even political liability this could be for Trump and the Republicans heading into November," Lob said.

Securing the strait could require ground troops

Before he was a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Campbell was a researcher at RAND, where he worked in coordination with the U.S. military to simulate war-game scenarios against Iran.

“The things they’re doing now are precisely the types of things that were discussed and came up in really all of these types of situational scenarios,” Campbell said.

Iran produces parts for its weapons across different facilities to reduce their risk of being attacked, Campbell said. Its military units are often allowed to operate without waiting for orders from Tehran. They don't often mass in one place, making airstrikes less effective.

“It's very difficult to envision any scenario where you could satisfactorily secure the Strait of Hormuz absent ground forces,” Campbell said.

Doing so would require tens of thousand of troops, Campbell said, not only to take out Iran's hidden munitions but to secure hundreds of miles of coastline and large swaths of inland territory. The U.S. troops would likely face insurgent attacks.

Standing up that kind of force would take a few months and include “very high costs," Campbell said.

Trump insisted Monday evening that “the strait is open. It will be open,” and that the U.S. has made significant progress degrading Iran's capabilities in just a few months. Iran vowed to fight back against any U.S. interference in the strait.

Risk of US losses goes up with an increased presence

Another way to facilitate commercial traffic safely through the strait would be the continuation — and escalation — of U.S. warships guiding civilian vessels, experts say. But it comes with its own challenges and costs.

The U.S. conducted an escort operation in the 1980s when Iran had targeted shipping as part of its war with neighboring Iraq. The U.S., which supported Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with intelligence, weaponry and other aid, escorted Kuwaiti oil tankers — which were reflagged as American.

Such an effort today would require a substantial number of U.S. warships at a time when the fleet is smaller than it was in the 1980s, said Michael Eisenstadt, a former U.S. military analyst.

“You’d still need a very large chunk of the U.S. fleet being dedicated to this on an open-ended basis,” said Eisenstadt, who now directs the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

He said it is a much more complicated environment today as Iran has amassed advanced capabilities, including its ability to launch drone and missile strikes.

“If we were to do what we need to do in order to make this work, which might involve putting people ashore in order to clear anti-cruise missile and drone launch sites, the losses of U.S. service members can go up, and if you’re going to do an escort operation also, the losses can potentially go up,” Eisenstadt added.

Iran's threats alone can scare away ships

Commercial vessels have been avoiding traditional routes through the strait out of fear of Iranian mines. Iran has demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and that it can potentially charge fees under an interim deal to end the war. Ships have been increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation that guided them using drones and aircraft.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said mine clearance operations are ongoing for some traditional routes through the strait but that “alternative pathways have been open.”

The southern route hasn't stopped Iranian attacks on ships, leading the U.S. military to strike Iranian air defense systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment, and small boats.

But Iran's threats alone can be enough to halt commerce in the strait, said Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy focused on energy and maritime risks in the Middle East.

“They don’t need to launch drones and missiles — they can just use the marine radio channel to make some threats,” Raydan said. “And this in itself is enough to scare off a lot of seafarers.”

Clayton Seigle, a nonresident scholar in energy security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Trump administration has not followed through on promises it made early on in the war to militarily assist shipments that became a liability of the conflict.

“Those naval escorts, U.S. warships, larger commitments like boots on the ground never came because I think that the rhetoric got a little ahead of our risk tolerance,” Seigle said. “And when push came to shove, the United States was not ready to deploy its Navy, to deploy its other military forces in the capacity that would be needed to even have a shot at neutralizing those threats.”

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Amiri reported from New York.

The increase in exports in June was much better than economists had expected. Exports rose 19.4% year-on-year in May.

Imports in June surged 36%, better than May’s 27.4% year-on-year growth, with analysts attributing the expansion in part due to the Iran war driving up import costs.

China recorded a trade surplus of $125.6 billion in June, widening from $105.4 billion in the previous month.

“With the rapid growth of AI, our imports and export of products in this field are robust," Wang Jun, vice minister of China’s General Administration of Customs, said at a news conference in Beijing.

He said trade in electronic components, computer spare parts, and other computing hardware jumped nearly 57% to 5.1 trillion yuan ($760 billion) in the first half of the year. Other products such as AI glasses, AI translating devices, powered exoskeletons and other smart products are also evolving.

“Trade values took another big leg up in June,” Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China Economics at Capital Economics, wrote in a note Tuesday. “This predominantly reflects the recent surge in semiconductor prices on the back of the AI boom. But even putting that aside, foreign demand for Chinese goods remains robust.”

China's exports of vehicles, especially EVs, and other tech-related products have boomed as rapid adoption of AI increases the need for semiconductors and other electronic equipment.

The strength in export manufacturing has helped to offset prolonged weakness in domestic spending and investmentdue to a prolonged downturn in the property industry.

In January-June, China’s exports climbed 17.6% from a year earlier, while imports jumped 26.6%, according to the customs data.

Policymakers including those in the U.S. and in Europe have express alarm over rising trade deficits with China. In order to bypass barriers such as higher tariffs, Chinese businesses have been moving factories to regions like Europe. China has also been exporting more to Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Wang, the customs official, acknowledged the threat from rising trade barriers.

“We still face serious risks and challenges in the second half of the year,” he said.

While China's export growth is likely to continue, it is becoming increasingly fragile, said Wei Li, head of Multi-Asset Investments at BNP Paribas Securities (China). Robust shipments in autos and AI-related items will remain dependent on global demand and regulatory barriers, he said.

Exports to Southeast Asia in June surged nearly 35% from a year ago, while those to the European Union and Latin America increased more than 18% and 28%, respectively.

Exports to the United States climbed almost 14% from a year earlier. China's shipments to the U.S. have risen in recent months, partly due to declines in shipments a year earlier after President Donald Trump returned to office last year and implemented higher tariffs.

China is set to announce its economic growth data for the April-June quarter on Wednesday. Chinese leaders have set an annual growth target of 4.5% to 5% for this year, slightly lower than the 5% growth in 2025.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund raised China’s annual growth forecast by 0.2 percentage point to 4.6%. But it said it expects China’s economy to expand just 4.1% in 2027.

Chinese leaders have sought to boost consumer spending through various initiatives, including trade-in subsidies for autos and home appliances. But many ordinary Chinese have been feeling the pressure from a slowing economy and avoiding big-ticket purchases.

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AP Videographer Borg Wong contributed from Beijing.

Investigators say 28-year-old Michael-Anthony Leones Espino, known to friends as Mykee, was last seen Sunday afternoon leaving a home along Southwest 161st Court and 142nd Terrace in west Miami-Dade County.

Detectives and family members released several missing person flyers that indicate he may be in need of services.

Videos from his Instagram page show Espino doing what he loved, dancing, after performing with major Latin artists including Rauw Alejandro and Rosalía.

His friends are now hoping for his safe return.

“I met him during college at FIU,” said friend Camilo Restrepo. “Incredible guy, he was always so far into dancing, so while everybody else was busy and wanted to party and wanted to do other things, he was just so into the dancing. That’s all he ever wanted to do.”

Earlier on Monday, Local 10 News cameras captured deputies blocking off the street outside his family’s home with crime scene tape.

Detectives say his family is now asking for privacy and have not released any further details about Espino’s disappearance.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts Is asked to contact the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

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BSO jail records show that Scott Nelson Nida, 55, was arrested by deputies in Pompano Beach on Saturday. He’s accused of violating a domestic violence injunction. According to the agency, he “separated from BSO” on June 29, a little more than a month after his third arrest.

Nida’s first arrest came in January after being accused of attacking his longtime partner over infidelity. The victim later waived prosecution and a no-contact order was dismissed. She told investigators she “felt coerced into dropping the charges” because Nida allegedly said he would “lose his job and pension.”

But Nida was arrested again in April after being accused of attacking his partner for a second time and stealing her vehicle. Records show those charges are still pending with a court hearing scheduled for July 30.

He was arrested one month later on a domestic violence injunction violation charge. A BSO report states that he allowed his girlfriend to live with him “because she and her daughter were forced out of their previous residence” and reached out to Nida “because they had no place to go.”

Court records show Broward prosecutors declined to pursue charges in that case.

His latest arrest report indicates its the same reason he again found himself behind bars.

According to officials, a concerned acquaintance of Nida’s called in a wellness check on July 11 after receiving concerning messages from him.

When authorities arrived, they said Nida went inside the home and moved around his house before coming back outside.

A police drone found the woman and her child hiding in a storage area, with the report stating, “The pair went as far as to admit he had formed a plan for them to hide in the backyard if law enforcement came to the house for which they executed tonight.”

The woman told police they were at Nida’s home for weeks because of a financial crisis, and even had a key.

As of Monday morning, Nida was being held in the BSO Main Jail pending a scheduled court appearance.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated after Local 10 News received clarification on Nida’s employment status and a copy of his arrest report.

Basabe is a Republican in the Florida state House of Representatives based in Miami Beach, but he is being sued by two former employees, a legislative aid and an intern.

Both men say they were victims of sexual harassment, battery and defamation at the hands of Basabe.

The lawsuit was first filed about three years ago but is now making its way in front of a jury.

Basabe, who is up for re-election later this year, is actually representing himself during the trial, moving forward without a lawyer.

There was also witness testimony Monday, which was tense at times as a former legislative aide was questioned by the very man accused of sexually assaulting him.

“Did you notice any oversized children who may have obstructed anyone’s view from the front of the classroom?” Basabe asked.

“I don’t know Mr. Basabe, like I said before, I was more shocked and frozen that you slapped my buttocks in a room full of children,” replied former legislative aid Nicholas Frevola.

At one point, Basabe asked Frevola to demonstrate how he was slapped on the backside.

Another man, Basabe’s former intern, alleges unsolicited sexual advances from the state lawmaker as he drove his boss home.

“He was in the passenger seat, and it started off with him getting his face close to my neck and whispering in my ear,” said former intern Jacob Cuthbirth. “And he put his hand on my thigh and he made comments about sex with men, and was, as I said previously, he did seem pretty drunk. I told him that I’m happily engaged.”

Basabe has long denied the allegations, pointing to a pair of prior investigations brought on by the Florida House of Representatives to look into the claims, both of which were dismissed after findings of no wrongdoing.

The victims have also sued the Florida House of Representatives.

A stream of a portion of Monday’s hearing can be seen below:

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The girl was diagnosed with “mild to moderate autism,” and the abuse “started when she was 10 years old, and she will be turning 13 this year,” a Hallandale Beach police officer wrote, according to a police report.

During the police investigation, a Broward Sheriff’s Office DNA analyst reported in April that DNA belonging to Daley, 56, was on “the exterior crotch area” of the girl’s pajama pants, according to a police report.

The investigation started after the girl told her mother that Daley had sexually molested her on Feb. 17, and Hallandale Beach police officers met them at the Publix Supermarket in Hallandale Beach, where Daley worked as a stock clerk in the freezer department for about four years, according to the police report.

“She only brings the victim to work with her when she does not have a babysitter to watch her ... the victim sits in the break room,” a police officer wrote, according to the arrest report.

A detective investigating the case on Feb. 23 found surveillance video showing Daley “looks around before entering the breakroom” shortly after 9:55 p.m. and walks out at 10 p.m. on Feb. 17, according to police.

The girl participated in a forensic interview at the Nancy J. Cotterman Center in Oakland Park, and she reported Daley had abused her about 30 times at the Publix at 1400 East Hallandale Beach, according to the police officer’s arrest report.

“She always tells him ‘No!’ But he continues to keep touching her against her will ... it hurt her ... she felt threatened,” a police officer wrote about the girl’s report during the interview, according to the report.

Broward County court records show prosecutors filed a first-degree felony case against Daley, of Miramar, on June 29. He faced four counts of lewd or lascivious molestation charges.

Police officers served the arrest warrant on Sunday, and BSO corrections booked Daley at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale. He appeared in court on Monday, and a judge denied him bond.

Broward County Circuit Judge Barbara Duffy is set to preside over the case.

A spokesperson for Publix released a statement on Monday afternoon reporting that Daley was no longer employed at Publix.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.

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Mike Sargis, the city of North Lauderdale manager, said a Ring surveillance camera recorded the video at a house on Pebble Beach, near the Boulevard of Champions.

“The family started CPR,” Sargis wrote in a statement on Monday morning.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue personnel and BSO deputies responded to the house pool at about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday

The toddler was at the Broward Health Medical Center, and his condition was critical, according to Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies.

“The last we heard, the child was in very grave condition,” Sargis wrote in the statement.

At least three children have drowned this summer in Broward County.

A 2-year-old boy drowned on July 12 in a lake in Plantation.

Nearby, a 4-year-old girl drowned on July 5 in a lake in Plantation.

A 4-year-old boy drowned on June 19 in a pool in North Lauderdale.

More children ages 1 to 4 die from drowning than any other cause of death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some of the ways to reduce the risk include formal swimming lessons for kids and installing a four-sided fence that is at least four feet high and fully encloses the house pool.

The Red Cross has educational resources for children and their caregivers.

The Florida Department of Health in Broward County has a voucher program to cover the cost of lessons for children as young as babies and as old as 17. For more information, visit this page.

North Lauderdale’s Pebble Beach area

The picture of Cardinals cool, Walker chased down Kyle Schwarber, shut up a rambunctious Philly crowd and introduced himself to a much wider baseball world.

Walker used six swings to swat six homers, besting Schwarber in a dramatic final round that silenced all those boo birds and made him the first St. Louis Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby on Monday night.

Schwarber hit 11 homers during his 15-swing turn in the final round. Philly fans, who jeered everyone but Schwarber and Bryce Harper throughout the night, quietly headed toward the exits when Walker’s winning shot soared over the left field wall.

“I was once told you don’t boo nobodies,” Walker said. “So it feels pretty good.”

The 24-year-old Walker sported the Derby champions' chain, slipped on a leather jacket and still wore his batting gloves as he broke down what it took to take down Schwarber on his home turf. He earned a $1 million prize for winning the Derby, which is more than his 2026 salary of $799,400.

“My thought was Philly is brutal,” Walker said. "I mean, honestly. But I think it’s pretty special because they love their players and that’s what you want from your home, like, where you play. I mean, I’d never hear people cheer so loud for, like, Schwarber and Harper. And those guys did their thing, for sure.

“But, you know, I can’t hate them, because that’s their guy, so I just got to play the game.”

Walker played a pretty great game in the first half for the Cardinals.

Walker is a first-time All-Star and having a breakout season in St. Louis. He already has a career-high 22 homers this season after struggling with a combined 11 over the previous two years.

Those final six in Philly all flying high with Iron Man on his bat are now stamped on the Derby highlight reel.

His cap backward just like Hall of Famer and Derby great Ken Griffey Jr., Walker celebrated with his family immediately on the field. His father rejoiced in recalling how Walker started hitting long home runs when he was 6 years old.

“When things got tough, they were always there in my corner to talk to them about it,” Walker said of his family. “They kept the energy levels high. They kept the feelings high.”

He fulfilled this childhood dream in striking fashion. Walker hit his seventh homer with two swings remaining and his eighth on the next swing to earn bonus swings. Needing to hit four straight homers to win, the right-handed Jordan knocked one off the top of the center field fence 401 feet away. He reached 10 homers and Philly fans booed with all their might, only for Jordan to finish the sensational surge and celebrate as fireworks shot off around him.

"You can’t say enough about how he was able to kind of slow the moment down, too, and lock it in,” said Schwarber, a Derby runner-up for the second time. “All of our fans were we’re raring and trying to will me to it.”

A revamped Derby format delivered great drama

MLB ditched its timed clock this season and returned to a swing format, with each hitter continuing to swing if he went deep on his final one.

The extra time between swings gave hitters time to track their home runs — and Philly a smidge more time to unleash those throaty boos at Contreras and Walker.

Each player had 20 swings in the first round and the top four advanced. Hitters were seeded for the second round, where No. 1 faces 4 and 2 meets 3.

Each player got 15 swings in the second round, with batters homering on their final swings continuing until not homering.

Boston’s Willson Contreras, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, New York's Ben Rice and Kansas City's Jac Caglianone, and Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami also participated.

Philly came ready to celebrate its slugging stars

Phillies fans were wildly optimistic that Schwarber and Harper could somehow reach the final and crown the franchise's third Derby champion.

Harper hit only eight in the first round and was the final slugger to try and advance. Schwarber could only watch as Harper failed to join him. Schwarber, then with the Chicago Cubs, made the finals in 2018 at Nationals Park before losing to Harper when he played with the Nationals.

Schwarber and Harper — the first pair of teammates to participate in the Derby since 2018 — received roaring ovations when famed ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced them ahead of the competition.

As for the other six sluggers in the field, all wearing their home jerseys with red, white and blue uniform numbers?

Yeah, they were about booed out of the ballpark, with the loudest jeers saved for Rice. He gamely laughed as he walked out of his Liberty Bell entrance.

Harper — who said earlier Monday this would be his last Derby — waved his arms and exhorted the crowd to get louder as he walked to the home plate platform placed at second base. Harper about broke the ring ropes as he shook them like a pro wrestler, and the Philly crowd went bonkers for the star known as The Showman.

The ball-shagging kids in the outfield were even booed.

The Derby’s public address announcer implored the fans to cheer during some quiet stretches when homers — non-Phillies edition — were hit.

The fans did get a rise when Caglianone smoked one into Ryan Howard territory into the third deck in right field. Contreras socked ’em into the rarified air of the left field upper deck. One homer cleared the last row of stands in that section and bounced off the concourse in front of a bar. His 490-footer was the longest of the first round.

This was the first Home Run Derby and All-Star Game held at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004 and the first derby in Philadelphia since Barry Bonds outslugged Mark McGwire in 1996 to win an afternoon event in front of thousands of empty seats at Veterans Stadium.

This derby was sold out and aired on Netflix for the first time, with the streamer getting into the game this season with a three-event package. Netflix already aired the opening night game, and the third attraction is the Field of Dreams game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 13.

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

The process that top athletes go through to heal physically, mentally and emotionally highlights what a recovery might demand of athletes at all levels, as well as people experiencing chronic pain, recuperating from surgery or facing other setbacks. Because progress is rarely linear, patience and the ability to reset expectations can be as valuable as perseverance, consistency and motivation, according to experts.

“Sport has always mimicked life," said Ross Flowers, a sports and performance psychologist in Los Angeles. "You’re going to face challenges, bumps and bruises. You got to figure out how to work through them and overcome them.”

Here’s what some sports psychologists and former athletes say about confronting the unknown and coming through injuries:

Learn to recognize your body's physical limits

Fans are accustomed to watching athletes compete at the Olympics, the World Cup and other sporting events with broken bones, torn ligaments and dislocated joints. Comeback stories like Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn 's, after multiple injuries and another serious injury this year at the Winter Olympics, are an enduring element of sports.

While discomfort is expected during intense training, and pushing through pain becomes more critical during competition, even seasoned competitors need to know when to listen to their bodies, experts say.

“There’s a relationship with pain and understanding how to work with it, if it’s possible to work through it, but also knowing how to back off of it so the pain does not persist," Flowers said, adding that training to the point of physical fatigue or in conditions that build endurance is the sweet spot for improvement.

Liv Paxton, 28, learned this lesson firsthand after dealing with shin splints, quadricep strains and a partially torn Achilles tendon. As a runner at Winthrop University and the College of William & Mary, she pushed herself until her body forced her to stop. Since recovering from Achilles surgery, she said she has a better understanding of when to slow down.

“I’m so much better about keeping in tune with my body,” Paxton said, explaining that she prioritizes eating and sleeping well. “That’s not something that I focused on in college. I just thought I was bulletproof.”

Injuries can happen suddenly or develop from a nagging but manageable nuisance into a debilitating condition over time. Whether it’s a soccer player sidelined after a collision or a worker who can’t stand after months of chronic back pain, the outcome is similar: a forced pause and learning to heal once pushing through pain no longer works.

“So how do we know our limits? It is definitely an experimental process,” said Lisa Miller, a health and sport sciences professor who teaches at the online American Public University System from her home in Columbus, Ohio. “We have plenty of athletes who still don’t know. But we have also had more examples of athletes saying this is too much, I’m burned out and I’m going to take a break, bringing much more attention to the psychological side of sport.”

Honestly assessing whether an injury is affecting daily life and long-term well-being is part of recognizing one's physical limits. Miller said she has seen athletes of all levels return to competition thinking they are ready to excel, but not all can or do.

Tennis great Serena Williams made the difficult decision to withdraw from a doubles match this month because of a knee injury.

Take time to grieve losses and adapt to new challenges

Even after bones heal and surgeries succeed, experts say recovery can mean coming to terms with what injuries have changed and giving yourself permission to grieve those losses.

Former Baltimore Ravens cornerback Kyle Arrington, who is now a community activist in Maryland, spent nearly two decades with every hour of his day organized around football. After a severe concussion ended his career, that structure disappeared almost overnight.

“I knew what everything looked like year in and year out for the past almost 20 years,” said Arrington, who was a Super Bowl champion during his tenure with the New England Patriots. “To have that stripped away in a blink of an eye was a real upheaval.”

Grief and depression are common after season- or career-ending injuries and other life-altering experiences. People making a physical recovery may also mourn lost friendships, missed opportunities, unmet goals and a sense of purpose. The emotional pain can be especially acute when someone’s self-identity rested on excelling in a sport or a professional role.

Arrington, 39, said his post-concussion retirement took him to a dark place. He credits family and friends with helping him through the transition; with their encouragement, he committed to healing mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Arrington said he now puts his energy toward the E.V.O.L.V.E. Foundation, which he founded to mentor young people.

Experts say a support system can help people stay grounded when they have to make major medical and career decisions.

“Having a team around you is incredibly important to get good advice, be objective, but also positively push you, not just for your sport and your performance, but for life,” Flowers said.

Look beyond returning to who you were

Sports psychologists say recovery often turns a corner when people stop trying to reclaim the past and begin building a new future.

American freestyle skier Jamie MoCrazy, who at the 2013 Winter X-Games became the first woman to land a double backflip during a slopestyle ski run, confronted that reality after a traumatic brain injury left her in a coma at age 22. For her, recovery meant letting go of elite competition and accepting a new future.

“I realized that I didn’t want to compete if I wasn’t at the level that I had previously been competing,” said MoCrazy, 33, who is now a motivational speaker and lives in Salt Lake City.

She still chased the exhilaration she got from sports. Few things compare to the applause, trophies and recognition, but public speaking gives her a taste of that adrenaline.

“I take some deep breaths and then walk out on stage,” she said. “That’s the closest of a mimic for me.”

Former professional boxer Patricia Alcivar, 46, also had to rethink her next steps after suffering injuries that included a hyperextended elbow, broken toes and multiple stitches above her eye. She now runs marathons and climbs mountains to stay active. She said despite the physical challenges boxing put her through, she wouldn't change the experience.

“I will never regret boxing because it taught me that I am a fighter inside and outside the ring,” Alcivar said, adding that climbing Utah's Mount Superior was the first time she felt equally challenged. She recalls smiling during an arduous hike up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania because “nobody’s punching me in the face. Nobody’s trying to kill me.”

When returning to the life you had before isn't possible, experts recommend exploring goals and sources of meaning that could become the foundation for a new sense of identity.

“There is hope that something else can replace this,” Miller said. "And when we can find that daily rejuvenation of hope, we can also find new sources of happiness as well.”

El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional pronostica que más de 90 récords de temperatura en el país serán igualados o rotos esta semana hasta el miércoles, y la mayoría de ellos serán récords de calor nocturno.

Expertos en salud señalan que las temperaturas nocturnas que no logran bajar son aún más peligrosas que las temperaturas diurnas que se disparan.

El verano ya ha comenzado de forma sofocante en gran parte de Estados Unidos debido a la persistente cúpula de calor que se prevé cubra buena parte del territorio esta semana. Las temperaturas abrasadoras de las últimas semanas han provocado muertes relacionadas con el calor en Nueva Jersey y han contribuido a avivar incendios forestales en el oeste del país.

Sin alivio del calor por la noche esta semana

El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional indicó que no se preveía que las temperaturas bajaran de 27 grados Celsius (80 grados Fahrenheit) por la noche en Fort Lauderdale, Miami y Tampa, Florida; Galveston, Texas; y Charleston, Carolina del Sur.

En los próximos días, lugares de la región centro-norte y el noreste conocidos por sus inviernos gélidos verán que las temperaturas nocturnas se mantienen por encima de 21 ºC (70 ºF), incluidos Fargo, Dakota del Norte; International Falls, Minnesota; y Portland, Maine.

Las altas temperaturas nocturnas suponen un peligro mayor

Expertos en salud explican que las altas temperaturas durante la noche son especialmente peligrosas porque no hay tiempo para que la temperatura central del cuerpo se enfríe y se recupere del calor diurno.

“Ahí es donde se agravan los efectos en la salud, en particular para las personas mayores y las comunidades vulnerables”, manifestó Marshall Shepherd, profesor de meteorología de la Universidad de Georgia.

Un aumento de tan sólo unos pocos grados en la temperatura corporal puede provocar un golpe de calor o sobrecargar el corazón.

Los peligros del calor pueden presentarse furtivamente

Si las temperaturas nocturnas no enfrían el cuerpo, los riesgos para la salud suelen manifestarse con mayor frecuencia al día siguiente, explicó Kristie Ebi, científica de salud pública y clima en la Universidad de Washington.

“La mortalidad comienza al segundo o tercer día” porque el cuerpo no puede enfriarse, expresó el lunes.

Ser proactivo es crucial durante una ola de calor

Las señales tempranas de advertencia incluyen sudoración intensa, calambres musculares y dolor de cabeza. “Es difícil saber que uno está empezando a tener problemas con el calor. Por eso necesitamos ser más proactivos”, señaló Ebi.

Es importante encontrar una manera de refrescarse, ya sea entrando a un lugar con aire acondicionado o envolviéndose el cuello con una toalla fría.

Y los expertos en salud dicen que no hay que olvidar comunicarse con amigos y familiares, especialmente con quienes son de avanzada edad, están embarazadas o tienen problemas de salud que podrían dificultarles soportar el calor.

Cómo combatir el calor sin aire acondicionado

Incluso sin aire acondicionado en casa, hay maneras de encontrar alivio.

Ingrese a una biblioteca o un centro comercial. Siéntese frente a un ventilador y rocíe agua sobre la piel. Ponga los pies en agua fría. Empape la ropa en agua. Y, por supuesto, beba mucha agua.

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El reportero de The Associated Press Seth Borenstein en Washington contribuyó a este despacho.

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

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the U.S. State Department had also issued a ban on transactions with Grupo Empresarial del Comercio Exterior, or GECOMEX, and Grupo Empresarial de Transporte Marítimo Portuario, or GEMAR.

The sanctions are part of a “comprehensive push to end the Cuban regime’s malign activities, both in Cuba and across our hemisphere,” a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Monday.

The list includes two Havana-based state-owned companies in the energy sector, Enetec and Coreydan, and the Grupo Caudal S.A., which has subsidiaries involved in audits and insurance.

The list also included four enforcement organizations: Asociación de Combatientes de la Revolución Cubana, Milicias de Tropas Territoriales, Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida, and Comités de Defensa de la Revolución.

In a statement on X, U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez described the organizations on Monday as “everyone who has participated in repressing the people in a ‘rapid response brigade’ or any militarized group.”

A group of Democrats — U.S. Reps. Delia Ramírez, Teresa Leger-Fernández, Maxine Dexter, and Mark Pocan — traveled to Cuba on Thursday with an itinerary that included a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Ramírez, of Illinois; Leger-Fernández, of New Mexico; Dexter, of Oregon; and Pocan, of Wisconsin, were critical of the Trump administration’s pressure for change on the Communist island.

Related social media

🚨ÚLTIMA HORA —> El Secretario de Estado Marco Rubio acaba de sancionar a todo aquel que ha participado en reprimir al pueblo en una “brigada de respuesta rápida” o cualquier grupo militarizado.

Los represores enfrentarán todo el peso de la ley americana.https://t.co/IdOoXv8mQ0

— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) July 13, 2026

Bukele's party Nuevas Ideas, which holds a supermajority in the legislative assembly, held its internal elections Sunday and announced the results on Twitter on Monday. Vice President Félix Ulloa will once again be Bukele’s running mate.

Bukele, 44, took office in June 2019 as the region's youngest president and has continued to enjoy high approval ratings.

His February 2024 reelection — with nearly 85% of the valid votes — was highly criticized by constitutional scholars for violating a ban on consecutive reelection. They accuse Bukele of illegally replacing the country's constitutional Court judges and attorney general to concentrate his power.

“Remaining in power is to avoid accountability for grave acts of corruption and crimes against humanity,” said Ingrid Escobar, lawyer and director of Salvadoran group Humanitarian Legal Aid, who called seeking a third term unconstitutional.

A September 2021 ruling by the constitutional Court allowed presidential reelection “for one term only.”

The ruling-party controlled Legislative Assembly then approved a constitutional reform in July 2025 to allow indefinite presidential reelection. The reform eliminated the penalty of loss of citizenship rights for those who promoted presidential reelection and the ban on presidential candidacy for those who had served as president in the previous term.

This constitutional reform also extended the presidential term from five to six years and moved up the presidential elections to 2027. The constitution previously allowed reelection of a past president after 10 years out of office.

The president has defended the constitutional reforms approved by the legislative assembly.

Bukele stated that “90% of developed countries allow the indefinite reelection of their head of government and nobody bats an eye.” He added that when a small, poor country like El Salvador tries to do the same, “it suddenly becomes the end of democracy.”

Salvadorans credit the president's security policies, including a four-year state of emergency that has imprisoned more than 90,000 Salvadorans, for drastically reducing homicide rates and making them feel safer in the country.

In 2015, El Salvador registered one of its most violent years, with 6,656 murders and a homicide rate of 106 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The country ended 2025 with a record low in homicides — 82 cases — according to government statistics.

More than 500 people have died in prison since the state of emergency, mainly for health reasons but some related to violence, according to human rights organizations.

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

Una van y una camioneta tipo SUV chocaron en Powerline Road, cerca de Northwest 49 Court.

Personal de Bomberos y Rescate de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward respondió al lugar y trasladó a las 12 personas a hospitales cercanos.

Over the past 60 years, about 66% of all tropical activity has been generated from storms born out of the MDR. In strong El Niño years, like this one, only about half of all tropical activity comes from storms originating in the MDR. The other half comes with their beginnings in the subtropics, the zone just north of the deep tropics that includes both Gulf waters and Atlantic waters directly east of Florida and the Bahamas.

That, of course, doesn’t mean we stop looking to the MDR for tropical seedlings with hurricane ambitions, but the subtropics tend to count a little more toward overall activity in big El Niño years like this one, so we pay closer attention to those areas farther north that we might otherwise overlook.

We can find lots of powerful and impactful hurricanes that had their birth in the subtropics over the years. They can happen in both very inactive hurricane seasons (see Alicia in 1983 or Joaquin in 2015) or during gang buster hurricane seasons (see Katrina in 2005 or Milton in 2024). The area that tends to churn out the stronger and longer-lived hurricanes of subtropical origins tends to be the western Atlantic waters just east of Florida and northeast of the Caribbean.

So don’t sleep on systems that fester in these waters this hurricane season, especially since it’s here that waters are well above average and at record or near-record warmth for the time of year (this includes the Gulf, which sits at record warmth for the time of year).

It’s also an area of the Atlantic that’s protected from the intense wind shear conveyor belt that helps to reduce the contribution to tropical activity from the Main Development Region during El Niño years.

Nothing brewing this week but watching the trends in the northern Gulf early next week

The Atlantic’s in store for another sleepy week. Last week we mentioned a stalled front over western Atlantic waters later this week along which we’d follow for outside development odds. Models remain unenthusiastic to say the least, and any low-pressure candidates should stay both non-tropical and weak east of the Carolinas this week.

Beyond that in the subtropics, we’ve seen a small tick up from forecast models in the possibility of tropical mischief over the northern Gulf next week. The European AI camp, in particular, has trended more bullish, but beware of overheated forecasts from the Euro AI (its deterministic or single-run model forecast late Sunday was advertising a hurricane in the northeastern Gulf for early next Tuesday) as that model has shown zero skill in intensity forecasting so far (see our AI model post from late last month where we discussed the reasons behind this).

For now environmental conditions early next week in the northern Gulf don’t appear especially ripe for development, with a decent amount of northerly wind shear settled over the area. Google’s DeepMind machine learning-based 1000-member ensemble as well as the traditional physics-based European ensemble system both indicate development odds at around 10-20% from next Sunday (July 19^th) to next Wednesday (July 22^nd). That seems like a reasonable starting place.

It’s nothing to worry about at this point, but it’s worth checking back on the trends later this week.

The number of wounded troops from the conflict also has grown to more than 400 as of Monday. Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the majority of them suffered traumatic brain injuries.

The Navy initially described the July 1 crash as an emergency landing and said there was “no indication the emergency was caused by hostile action.” The remaining three sailors aboard the helicopter were rescued shortly after the mishap.

The Pentagon’s war casualty count added one non-hostile death in July. It is the first death recorded since 13 service members were killed in separate incidents in March at the beginning of the war.

The first was an Iranian drone strike on a command center in Kuwait that killed six soldiers. Then one soldier died more than a week after initially being wounded in an attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Six more service members were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft supporting U.S. military operations against Iran crashed in Iraq.

A total of 414 service members have been wounded, including a U.S. Air Force member added Monday. While Iran and the U.S. have resumed strikes, it is unclear if that is what led to the airman’s injury.

U.S. Central Command didn’t offer any details on the specific airman. But traumatic brain injuries that have defined most of the injuries in the war are an increasingly persistent problem among combat forces, especially those subjected to missile strikes and explosions that hit nearby.

While the injury, along with post-traumatic stress disorder, has become one of the signature wounds among veterans of the post-9/11 era, the impact on troops, especially long-term, are still poorly understood.

When asked Monday for the latest figures of seriously wounded troops, Maj. Emma Thompson, a U.S. Central Command spokeswoman, said she had no update and reiterated that “almost all” of those injured have returned to duty. She also didn’t say how many service members have been wounded enough to need evacuation from the region.

In the past, the top four teams in a conference would be placed in different regions to protect them from playing each other until the Final Four. For example, the tournament this past season had four SEC teams in the top eight overall seeds. Texas was third, South Carolina fourth, LSU fifth and Vanderbilt seventh. LSU was dropped down to seventh and Vanderbilt eighth in the bracketing to avoid having them be in the same regions.

Now if that happened going forward, the teams would remain where their seeds should have them.

“We put a lot of time into establishing those top 16 teams in the order they go in,” NCAA women's basketball committee chair Amanda Braun said in a phone interview. “You're splitting hairs to decide who has the edge and some of that is undone by those principles. To all of us, the work we did and the work those teams did justifies keeping them where they are in that group of 16.”

The men's selection committee will still separate out the top four seeds in each conference and put them in different regions.

The change would potentially only really affect the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 as those were the only conferences that had four or more teams in the NCAA field.

The women's tournament has started giving financial incentives — units — to teams for each round they advance in the tournament the past two seasons. Braun said that it wasn't brought up at all during the entire week of meetings that the committee had.

The change comes on the heels of the NCAA expanding its tournament field to 76 teams starting in 2027.

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Hialeah police said Yashira Marie Maldonado, 34, did so at her mother’s efficiency before driving off. According to an arrest report, it appears she left the girl chained up outside for almost an hour on Saturday morning before police became aware.

The girl’s exact age was redacted from the Hialeah Police Department report, but she is either 13 or 14 according to an included year of birth.

The HPD report states that officers responded to Maldonado’s home, the address of which was redacted, at around 10 a.m. Saturday after receiving reports of a disturbance.

Police said Maldonado’s mother told them that she had gone to her daughter’s home to “plea” with her to go back and free the girl.

Authorities said they went back to Maldonado’s mother’s house and found the girl “still chained to the fence, but in good health.”

According to the report, Maldonado’s mother explained that soon after getting a text message from Maldonado at around 9:10 a.m. stating, “I got fired from my job!!!!!!,” she had opened her front door and, “in disbelief,” closed it after seeing her granddaughter chained up outside.

The report states that she then went outside and “attempted to release the victim from the chain but was not successful.”

According to the report, Maldonado’s mother told officers that “she did not call (the) police because she fears (her) landlord will evict her.”

The report states that CCTV footage showed Maldonado tying the girl to the fence at around 9:05 a.m.

Police said it showed Maldonado “wrap a metal chain around (her daughter’s) waist and (tie) the other end to the house fence, restricting her from moving around.”

“(She) dropped (her daughter) off with a clear bookbag, some clothing and her medication,” the report states. “(Maldonado) left (her daughter) outside where she had no cover from the sun and no food or water.”

Police said the video then showed Maldonado “entering her vehicle and (leaving) the scene.”

They said they took Maldonado to the HPD headquarters, where she spoke with investigators. Alleged statements she made were redacted from the report.

Facing charges of child abuse and child neglect, Maldonado had been ordered held on a $10,000 bond.

As of late Monday morning, she no longer appeared in Miami-Dade jail records.

Tuesday will yield more of the same: hot, hazy and humid conditions. Temperatures will make a run for the low and mid-90s – factor in humidity, it will feel like triple digits. Afternoon showers and storms that develop will tend to favor the Everglades.

El número de heridos, por su parte, se mantiene en 16.740 desde hace siete días, según el más reciente reporte divulgado por Jorge Rodríguez, presidente de la Asamblea Nacional venezolana y hermano de la presidenta encargada Delcy Rodríguez, mediante su canal de Telegram.

La cifra de muertes ha ido en aumento en la medida que se desarrollan las labores de remoción de escombros.

La mayoría de las muertes ocurrieron en el estado costanero de La Guaira, la zona más afectada por los sismos, ubicada a unos 20 kilómetros al norte de Caracas. Después de los dos potentes sismos se contabilizaron 1.254 réplicas.

De acuerdo con el reporte, 856 edificios sufrieron daños y de ellos 190 colapsaron totalmente. Más de 1.600 estructuras de otra índole, como puentes y carreteras, también fueron afectadas.

El gobierno ha estimado que los terremotos dejaron decenas de miles de personas sin hogar. Más de 20.000 permanecen en 107 refugios temporales instalados en la capital venezolana, Caracas, y los estados vecinos de La Guaira y Miranda.

Los sismos de magnitud 7,2 y 7,5 ocurrieron con 39 segundos de diferencia a lo largo de la cordillera de la costa norte de Venezuela, según el Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos. Fueron de los más fuertes registrados en el país sudamericano en más de un siglo.

A van and a sports utility vehicle crashed on Powerline Road near Northwest 49 Court.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue personnel responded and took the 12 people to nearby hospitals.

Location

“Both sides kind of have their line that they’re not going to cross," Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates ace who is also a member of the union's eight-man negotiating committee, said Monday. “Whether that results in missing games or missing a season, we’ll see.”

Baseball's five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1 and MLB is expected to immediately lock out players. The more consequential deadline is in late February or early March, when Major League Baseball would announce whether it was postponing opening day.

Owners proposed a salary cap for the first time since the union fought off MLB's cap plan with a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that caused the first cancellation of the World Series since 1904. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says a cap is needed to lessen payroll disparity.

Soto, who signed a record $765 million, 15-year-old contract with the New York Mets as a free agent after the 2024 season, would be limited to a $265 million, six-year deal under MLB's proposal.

“Yeah, that sucks,” Soto said. “It shouldn’t be there.”

MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million, using figures for luxury tax payrolls that include $20.1 million for benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool. It also would establish a payroll floor of $171.2 million, forcing some teams to spend more.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball’s biggest spenders, had a $415.2 million payroll on opening day this year. MLB has not made a proposal on how to phase in a cap, a process that would be key for high-spending clubs such as the Dodgers.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, at 34 in the eighth season of a $426.5 million, 12-year contract, said players are aware of the proposal's intent.

“It’s trying to minimize the years and obviously the totals. For sure, we see that,” he said. “I think baseball's in a good spot right now and we can’t mess this up."

Harper, in the eighth season of a $330 million, 13-year contract with Philadelphia, said he couldn't conceive of any scenario in which the players' association would agree to a cap.

“The opportunity for players to get paid is what this is all about,” Harper said, citing the union's legacy of fighting MLB since Curt Flood helped unite players in the 1970s. “We owe it to the guys that have come before us to do the same thing.”

Harper, who signed his first major league contract at age 17, also vowed to fight MLB's proposal to ban a player from signing until he was at least 20 years old by the Sept. 1 of his signing year and two years removed from the graduating year of his high school class. MLB says college baseball provides a better development path.

“If you’re in the top three rounds as a high school kid, I think you should be able to do whatever you want,” Harper said. “It would really be tough for a guy like Jackson Holliday to not be the number one pick and not get the chance to go to the big leagues at 19 or 18 if he’s able to.”

Bargaining began in May and is expected to resume after the All-Star break. The union has asked for expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum.

Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft viewed the early negotiations as “back-and-forth proposals that may or may not be unrealistic.”

Skenes, a 24-year-old right-hander in his second full big league season, could see a sharp decrease in potential contract offers under MLB's system. He currently is on track to become a free agent after the 2029 season and has a $1,085,000 salary in his last season before arbitration eligibility. He also has earned nearly $5.6 million from the pre-arbitration bonus pool that started in 2022.

“MLB is kind of presenting their perfect-world offers and we’re kind of presenting our perfect-world offers," Skenes said. “So there’s a lot of time before there’s any real movement, I think.”

San Diego's Mason Miller, baseball's top closer, also could become a free agent following the 2029 season. A 27-year-old right-hander, he is earning $4 million this season.

“I still have some optimism,” he said. “The place that the game's at right now, I think killing that momentum is kind of fruitless for everybody.”

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AP Assistant Sports Editor Jake Seiner contributed to this report.

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

Now that plans to revive Miami’s historic playhouse are moving forward, Local 10 News got a look inside the iconic building that opened its doors in 1927.

“Phase one was the shoring up and the beginning of the restoration,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado. “The third floor isn’t in as bad of shape, the second floor was in worse shape because there were some leaks in the bathroom there. Back in the day the actors lived up there.”

There has also been preservation work during the construction.

“We also gathered all the historical pieces and we have them stored,” said Regalado. “A lot of people have asked us about the markers, the arch; that is all put away, and now we will start building the second piece of it which is the corridor that goes between the two buildings.”

Regalado said the next phase will be the construction of a new 300-seat state-of-the-art theater.

“Theater is part of the fabric of any community that is thriving and wants to attract the kind of talent we want here in Miami-Dade, so it is important to have a theater like the Coconut Grove Playhouse,” said Coconut Grove Playhouse Executive Director Juan Jose Escalante.

The award-winning theater company GableStage will operate the restored theater.

It’s a reopening that will also be a bit of a homecoming for Escalante, who once worked at the theatre’s box office.

“I saw so many plays, I saw so many people who are now Oscar winners now, who started their work on the craft right here on this stage,” he said. “We are going to have five productions a year, but most importantly we are going to have a very robust community engagement and education program here.”

Regalado spoke regarding who owns the land, how the restoration is being funded and who is responsible for its operation and maintenance.

“The land belongs to the state of Florida but all the funding is Miami-Dade County,” she said. “The city of Miami, when my father was the mayor, actually earmarked $10 million, but then they took it away. So this is all county cultural affairs funding, and one of the things that we tried to explain to everyone is that it needs to be completely self-sustaining. So there’s pockets of it that have a little bit of commercial, and the reason for that is the county is not committed to the operation and maintenance of this building. So we created it in a way where GableStage and the little retail that we allowed is going to make it completely self-sustainable.

“The next phase is $40 million,” she continued. “That’s going to get us to the opening, but the county is not committed to (Operations and Management). When you start adding the litigation and the time and the cost and everything, it’ll probably end up being closer to $60 million when we’re all done. But it’s a beautiful historic building and we’re committed to restoring it and really bringing something lovely into the portfolio of Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs.”

According to the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, “Miami’s world-renowned creative sector is one of the cornerstones of the city’s economy.”

In 2023, Miami-Dade’s Department of Cultural Affairs said a “groundbreaking nationwide study” found that the county’s “Arts and cultural sector generates $2.1 billion in economic activity and supports over 31,000 jobs in Miami-Dade County.”

Back in 2012, the county said a landmark study found “Miami-Dade County’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations represent a significant business industry in Miami-Dade County--one that generates almost $1.1 billion in local economic activity, an almost 17% increase over the last study released five years ago.”

Playhouse Preservation FAQ

By saying that an interim ceasefire gave it the right to establish the terms under which ships traversed the strait, and threatening and firing upon vessels that did not use its preferred route, Iran has sought to exert control over the waterway and gain negotiating leverage with the United States.

On Monday, President Donald Trump sought to tip the scales. He reimposed a blockade on Iran and said the U.S. controls the strait and would charge fees to ships for safe passage — essentially borrowing from the Iranian playbook.

The announcement came as the U.S. and Iran have been ramping up attacks against each other to assert control over the strait, threatening a return to all-out war.

The world has long considered the strait — which passes the coastlines of Iran and Oman — a free-to-use, international waterway. But soon after it was attacked by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, Iran claimed sovereignty over it, disrupting world energy markets and driving up prices.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

Both Iran and the US say they control the Strait of Hormuz

In a posting on Truth Social on Monday, Trump said the U.S. "will be, from this point forward, known as THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT."

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile arsenal, says Tehran controls the strait. "We will not allow a rogue and child-killing army from the other side of the world to continue its illegal interference in it,” the Guard said Sunday.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, established in 1982, no country has the right to claim international waters and all ships have the right of unimpeded passage.

Even though the U.S. and Iran haven't ratified the convention, “that doesn’t matter, because this has become part of universal custom, so all states can rely on it under all circumstances,” said Marc Weller, director of the International Law Program at the University of Cambridge.

Still, both Iran and the U.S. have been using tools to exert control over the strait and constrain traffic.

“You have two nations, both of which are very capable — the U.S., because it has the most powerful Navy in the world, and Iran, which is geographically well positioned to disrupt commerce throughout the Strait of Hormuz — (and) can exercise a significant degree of control,” said Raymond Waid, who leads the maritime industry group at law firm Liskow & Lewis in New Orleans and is a former Navy officer.

Maritime data agency Kpler said crossings declined by around 52% between Friday and Monday compared with the same period a week ago. About 14 ships passed through the strait on Sunday; before the war, about 130 ships passed through the strait daily.

Iran says it has made ‘sincere’ efforts to ensure safe shipping

The ability to disrupt shipping in the strait gives Iran leverage over the global economy.

Tehran used this leverage early in the war by attacking transiting ships and demanding payment in some cases to allow vessels through. Just the fear of being attacked by Iranian drones or speedboats was enough to deter ship traffic.

After an interim ceasefire was announced last month, Iran insisted that ships register with the recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority to have their crews and cargo vetted.

Iran also is demanding that ships only use a route near its coastline instead of a southern route along the coast of Oman, where the U.S. military had started guiding ships through. The central part of the strait has been mined by Iran, so few vessels have tried to pass using that route.

Tehran is suspected of attacking ships that have used the Oman route. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, which issues maritime security alerts, said it received reports of six ships attacked in the strait near Oman since June 25.

Iranian officials assert the right to manage traffic through the strait

Washington and Tehran have debated what they agreed to regarding the strait. U.S. officials say the interim agreement signed last month called for the strait to be reopened while a more permanent resolution to the war was negotiated.

Iranian officials have said a clause in the interim deal gave them the right to manage ship traffic and that, so long as they didn't charge fees for 60 days, it was up to them to decide operating conditions.

The interim agreement stated that Iran will “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.“ It also called for Iran to ”conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the strait.”

The US now says it will charge a fee for safe passage

The U.S. said Monday it will charge a 20% toll on cargo shipped through the strait “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.”

That's something the U.S. previously opposed, and any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation.

The new U.S. plan echoes an earlier Iranian claim — which it opposed — that said it might charge tolls that could reach as high as $2 million per vessel.

Countries can levy fees on ships for a specific service when passing through an international strait, said Weller, the international law professor. For example, Chile collects fees in the Strait of Magellan for pilotage and other services that ensure safe passage, he said.

“A fee would be possible, but it has to be a fee commensurate with the actual service granted,” he said. “So it’s not anything Iran should earn money off. It’s not $2 million per vessel or something like that.”

The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency which oversees safety and security measures in international shipping, said the group was waiting to find out more about Trump’s proposal but said its stance against tolls for passage remains unchanged.

Late Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi used Trump's support for tolls to mock him and legitimize Iran’s position.

“POTUS is absolutely right," he posted on X. "Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service ... 20% is of course too much. We will be fair.”

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AP Writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York contributed to this report.

Inside, there are pools upon pools upon pools, all filled with newborn sea turtles.

The team at the Florida Atlantic University Marine Science Lab in Boca Raton provides groundbreaking research in understanding how turtles live and survive in the ocean.

“We bring in different species of sea turtles, the loggerheads, the greens and the leatherbacks and we raise them usually anywhere from two to six months,” said lab coordinator Emila Turla.

Director Jeanette Wyneken has been studying these reptiles for 24 years.

“We need to know what characteristics the population of turtles have that may be advantageous for species recovery, they are all either threatened or endangered,” she said. “One of the things we never knew was that this species of turtle dives down pretty far, at least at this age, we know the big ones do but we didn’t know the little guys are going down.”

Experts say the mysterious leatherbacks spend 70% of their lives in deep water.

The research facility is using satellite tagging to answer questions about the turtles that have never been known, until now.

“One of our turtles went down to 330 feet on one breath, one little baby leatherback turtle,” said Turia. “And the turtles are typically going to about 230 feet deep.”

But it’s what is happening in the nests on the beach that has these scientists focusing on the vulnerable leatherbacks that have declined by 90%,

David Anderson works in tandem with the Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex on one very important study.

“My team and I survey all five miles of Boca Raton beaches for all the sea turtle nesting activity,” he said. “The sex ratio study, to determine how many hatchlings are male and how many hatchlings are female from that particular nest, because they are temperature dependent to be male or female.”

Meaning if its cool in the sandy nests, the leatherbacks will be male, and if those nests are hot then the turtles will be female.

Tje team’s research over decades shows the heat is producing way too many females and not nearly enough males.

“We know in general its hot chicks cool dudes, but the hot part up here, that’s easy, it’s too hot to make anything but girls,” said Wyneken. “If it gets too much hotter they’re just dead so that’s too hot to hatch.”

Climate change, a hotter planet, warming oceans, all of these symptoms are capable of wiping out the sensitive sea turtle population, but this turtle nesting season has seen a whopping 41 leatherback nests on Boca Raton beaches so far, which is double the annual average.

“Just because there’s a lot of nest numbers doesn’t mean everything’s great, because the hatchlings still have a tremendous struggle to survive to adulthood, which would take them 20-25 years to do so,” said Anderson.

Only one in one thousand hatchlings will even survive, and this summer season has seen record breaking heat.

Hatchlings also get confused by light pollution and piles of seaweed that trump the feverish work of tiny flippers.

After the turtles grow to the size of a human hand, they take a boat ride offshore to be released into the gulf stream.

Some will be equipped with satellite tags to continue the search for answers to help understand how to help in the sea turtle species survival.

Prices dropped 0.4% from May to June, the largest monthly drop in four years, the Labor Department said Tuesday. On a yearly basis, inflation declined to 3.5%, down from a year-over-year gain of 4.2% in May and lower than many economists expected.

Yet oil prices rose for a second day Tuesday as the United States renewed attacks on Iran and President Donald Trump announced a new blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for about one-fifth of the world’s oil. And many Americans have soured on the economy after five years of elevated inflation, posing a risk to Trump and Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.

Still, excluding the food and energy categories, core prices were unchanged in June, a positive sign that underlying inflation is cooling. On a yearly basis, core prices rose just 2.6%, down from 2.9% the previous month. Core inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

The core figures suggest that the gas price spike from the Iran war, while it pushed up airfares and some other costs, hasn't so far led to broad-based, sustained inflation, economists said.

“This reading is very much in the camp that the inflation we've had this year is transitory,” said Michael Metcalfe, head of macro strategy at State Street Markets. “Yes, gas prices went up, but nothing else did, more or less.”

Benign report could make Fed rate hike less likely

Tuesday's report likely reduces pressure on the Fed to boost its short-term interest rate to combat inflation. Last month, Fed officials left their key rate unchanged at about 3.6%.

“Today's report gave some breathing room for the Federal Reserve in deciding whether and when to raise interest rates,” Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide Financial, said.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, in written testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday that the Fed has “no tolerance” for high inflation which he pledged would become “a thing of the past.” Yet he provided no hints about what steps the Fed may take in coming months. Warsh will face questions later Tuesday from members of Congress.

More goods and services saw slower price gains than expected

A wider range of prices cooled last month than economists had forecast. Electricity prices, which have been elevated by spiking demand from data centers, fell 1% from May to June, though they are still 4% higher than a year ago. Clothing prices dropped 0.6% from May to June but are 3.9% more expensive than a year earlier.

Groceries rose 0.2% from May to June and are up 2.7% from last year, while apartment rental costs cooled, rising just 0.1% last month and 2.8% from a year ago.

The inflation-fighters at the Fed remain sharply divided over next steps, according to minutes of their June 16-17 meeting. About half of policymakers support raising interest rates by the end of the year to cool borrowing, spending, and price increases, the minutes showed. Another half are willing to wait for signs that inflation may resume falling as gas prices decline, though the minutes predate the recent flare-up of violence in the Middle East.

And the situation in the Middle East continues to change hour to hour. On Tuesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 4.6% to $87.13 after the United States and Iran each said the Strait of Hormuz is under its control. Gas prices have also risen about 6 cents a gallon in the past week, to a nationwide average of $3.86 a gallon.

“Today’s number is a very good reading, but so much is going to depend on what happens in the Middle East," Bostjancic said.

Next steps

Many Fed officials have flagged massive investments in the build out of artificial intelligence infrastructure as a factor that could worsen inflation by pushing up prices for memory chips and other semiconductors, as well as electricity. With chips so much more expensive, companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Dell have announced price increases for laptops, tablets, and video game consoles.

Other Fed officials have offered conflicting views on what steps the Fed could take next. On Monday, Fed governor Christopher Waller said he was worried about core inflation, which he noted had risen from 3% last December to 3.4% in May, according to the Fed's preferred measure. He pointed out that the cost of more than two-thirds of services have risen by 3% or more compared with a year ago.

“If we get another hot reading on core inflation this week, then the (Fed) will need to consider tightening monetary policy in the near term,” Waller said in a speech in New York.

But last week John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that if core inflation stays at a 0.2% monthly pace for the rest of this year, the Fed could avoid hiking rates. Tuesday's data is along the lines of what Williams wants to see.

Other signs of where prices are headed are mixed. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said last week that a survey found that nearly half the companies in its region that have paid tariffs still plan to lift their prices further.

Separately, Walmart last week said it was rolling back prices on thousands of items, including ground beef, potato chips, toys, and clothes. President Donald Trump praised the move on social media and sought to take credit for the reduction, though the company did not mention Trump in its announcement.

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits that state officials want made available for development.

Trump, a Republican, issued proclamations under the Antiquities Act to reduce their size by about 90% each. He took similar actions during his first term, but those were reversed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

The latest move comes as Trump and other Republicans have drastically reshaped the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans have sought to expand drilling, mining and logging on public lands, while removing protections for imperiled species and rolling back rules for conservation.

“They took the land from the people quite honestly,” Trump said at a signing event at the White House Monday. “We’re giving it back.”

President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, and President Barack Obama, also a Democrat, created Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 under the Antiquities Act. The 1906 law gives presidents the powers to protect sites considered historic, archaeologically significant or culturally important.

Davina Smith-Idjesa, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said tribal leaders had braced for a reduction since Trump was elected to a second term. She said it was “heartbreaking” and accused federal officials of sidestepping their legal responsibility to consult with tribal nations that would be impacted.

“From a Navajo perspective, Bears Ears is not simply a piece of federal public land,” Smith-Idjesa said. “This is a living cultural site that holds our histories, our ceremonies, our traditional foods and medicines and our ancestors’ footprints.”

‘Big day for Utah’

Utah officials had long fought against the monument designations and argued that the state should be in charge of controlling its own lands. Trump in his first term reduced their size, calling their creation a “massive land grab.” Combined they spanned more than 3.2 million acres (13 million hectares), an area nearly the size of Connecticut.

Trump reduced them Monday to less than 303,000 acres (123,000 hectares) combined.

That's a greater reduction than his first term, when he left Grand Staircase Escalante at 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) and Bears Ears at 213,000 acres (86,000 hectares).

“This is a big day for Utah,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox as he stood next to Trump at the White House. “These monument designations are supposed to be the smallest area as possible to protect the antiquities.”

Bears Ears was the first national monument created at the request of tribal nations that consider the land sacred. The landscape contains ancestral villages, ceremonial and burial sites and features in some tribes’ creation and migration stories. Its designation honored five tribes in the region — Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute and Uintah-Ouray Ute.

Home to hundreds of thousands of objects of cultural and scientific significance, Bears Ears is jointly managed by an agreement between tribal nations and federal agencies.

Grand Staircase-Escalante consists of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings. It holds large coal reserves, while the Bears Ears area has uranium.

The national monument designation provides sweeping protections not just for significant geological features or artifacts but also for the surrounding landscape, banning drilling, mining and new construction nearby. Proponents of Trump’s move to downsize say the protective boundaries stretch too far and hinder mining for critical minerals.

Trump asserted Monday that people can not hunt, fish or “virtually not even walk” on the monuments. That's false: Hunting, fishing, camping and other recreation are permitted under state and federal regulations, said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a conservation group.

Biden designated or expanded more than a dozen monuments and had a goal to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

Trump’s policies are largely the opposite: He wants to tap into the natural resource wealth of federal lands that total more than 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) and offshore areas under federal control, such as in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.

That’s drawn backlash from Democrats who warn of the wholesale disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain.

“Today’s executive action is another chapter in this administration’s war on the West," Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said Monday. He added that Trump was “turning the Antiquities Act on its head."

Land sale proposals fell flat

Trump Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said last year that federal officials would review and consider redrawing monument boundaries as part of a push to expand U.S. energy production.

Trump in his current term has used proclamations to lift commercial fishing prohibitions within expansive marine monuments in areas of the Pacific Ocean and in the Atlantic Ocean off the New England coast. Those monuments were created by Democratic and Republican administrations. The effort to boost the fishing industry, which has been challenged in court, marks a dramatic shift in federal policy by prioritizing commercial interests over efforts to allow the fish supply to increase.

Some Republicans have tried to sell or transfer federal lands to states or other entities. Those efforts have largely fallen flat: A push by some GOP lawmakers in the House to sell public lands ran into bipartisan opposition, while another proposal by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah to sell more than 3,200 square miles (8,300 square kilometers) of federal lands was removed from Republicans' big tax and spending bill.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year turned back a lawsuit from Utah officials who sought to wrest control of vast areas of public land within the state from the federal government.

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Hannah Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

Mattingly passed on a guaranteed spot in the AL dugout when he left his job as Toronto's bench coach to manager John Schneider after the World Series, which the Blue Jays lost in seven games to the Dodgers.

A six-time AL All-Star, Mattingly thought at the time he was finished with baseball.

He's not only still in the game — he's now the interim manager for the Philadelphia Phillies and has them back in the thick of the playoff race.

He'll also coach against Schneider and his Blue Jays staff at Tuesday's All-Star Game played in Philadelphia's home Citizens Bank Park.

“It is weird being on the other side,” Mattingly said Monday. “I was kind of torn a little bit. But then I go home and my 11-year-old asked me, ‘Do we get to go on the field for Home Run Derby?’ It's like, OK, well, I'm done with that. He made that decision.”

Mattingly is taking directions from a pair of his sons in Philadelphia.

Mattingly originally took the job in Philadelphia to serve as former manager Rob Thomson's bench coach at the urging of his young son, Louis.

"He was kind of like, ‘Dad, you can’t stop. You’ve got to keep going,”’ Mattingly said in January.

Mattingly kept going and joined a Phillies organization where another son, Preston, is the general manager.

Mattingly said in November he left his role in Toronto after reaching his first World Series because of a desire to spend more time with his family.

It's one big family reunion in Philly.

Blue Jays All-Star second baseman Ernie Clement said Mattingly was missed in Toronto.

“It's awesome that he teamed up with Preston,” Clement said. “They're just doing a great job.”

Mattingly is 45-24 with the Phillies since he took over when Thomson was fired in late April after they had lost 11 of 12 games and were tied for last in the majors. Led by All-Stars Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, Jhoan Duran, Jesús Luzardo and NL starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez, the Phillies are just two games back of Atlanta in the NL East.

Mattingly has said he would be interested in having the interim tag removed and possibly returning for a second season as manager. He said Monday he wanted to table that discussion until the offseason.

Mattingly is in his 23rd straight season as a major league manager and coach, having managed the Dodgers and the Miami Marlins.

Mattingly played 14 seasons as a first baseman in the major leagues, all for the Yankees, from 1982-95. The 1985 AL MVP, he captained the Yankees in his final five seasons. He never reached the playoffs until 1995, when he hit .417 with a homer and six RBIs in the five-game Division Series loss to Seattle.

The 65-year-old Mattingly said he feels “as grateful as can be” for his career, even if it ends without a World Series ring.

“I've been in this game for a long time," Mattingly said. “I've done a lot of tremendous things for my family. I don't feel unlucky at all.”

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

El hombre, quien es estudiante, sufrió fracturas en los huesos de la pierna al aterrizar durante un salto en tándem, según un funcionario del aeropuerto.

Personal de Bomberos y Rescate de Miami-Dade respondió poco después de las 10:40 a.m. a la zona de Southwest 219 Avenue y 287 Street, según registros de despacho.

Bomberos y Rescate usaron un helicóptero para trasladar al hombre, quien sufrió heridas traumáticas, al Ryder Trauma Center de Jackson South, según personal de MDFR.

La editora sénior de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Frine Gomez, y la editora de asignaciones Mariana Ortiz, contribuyeron a este reporte.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week that a fan named Terry Thompson had wagered $18.5 million with FanDuel and was eventually rewarded with a personalized video from Harper.

In the video, Harper addressed the fan by name and even mentioned the man's young son. Harper shared a screenshot Monday of the request on Cameo, an app that allows users to pay celebrities to record custom videos. FanDuel obtained the video through a partnership with Cameo.

“Had I known FanDuel’s true intent, I would not have made the video,” Harper said. “The same is true had I known anything about Terry or his situation, or about any alleged ‘partnership’ between Cameo and FanDuel.”

The Inquirer reported Thompson lost $1.5 million, according to a lawsuit that the Public Health Advocacy Institute filed in March in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia on behalf of Thompson and against FanDuel and DraftKings. Thompson also was reported to have lost money to DraftKings.

The video was marked with FanDuel's logo. Harper said in the video he reached out at the request of Thompson's VIP manager on the site, “your host Bryttanni at FanDuel."

Harper addressed the situation on a social media post Monday, hours ahead of his scheduled participation in the Home Run Derby.

“I did not know FanDuel would do this,” Harper wrote. “I did not consent to it, and FanDuel had no right to do it.”

Asked for comment, FanDuel said it was "committed to fostering a culture of responsible gaming and protecting our customers.

"Unlike illegal offshore sportsbooks, FanDuel employees are trained to recognize and flag signs of problem gambling and offer resources and tools, and we continue to review and strengthen our policies to ensure we have the industry’s strongest consumer protection initiatives.”

Cameo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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

It was shortly after the 2012 presidential election and Republicans had lost badly to President Barack Obama.

Graham was calling with an outlandish proposal — “getting the band back together” — on a bipartisan plan for immigration reforms.

The move was classic Graham.

He has been called the “bridge.” The “dealmaker.” The senator at the center of all the action. And, more recently, “the Trump whisperer.”

Graham embodied a sort of institutional secret sauce that kept the Senate moving — and talking and arguing and laughing — with his hyperkinetic insistence on doing something when the place would otherwise seem destined to grind to a halt of atrophy and dysfunction.

After Graham’s sudden death over the weekend, it is unclear who, if anyone, will fill his role.

“Few have been able to frustrate and anger, amuse and engage me in a single conversation the way Lindsey could,” said Sen. Chris Coons, the Democrat from Delaware, who celebrated Graham’s birthday over dinner after the NATO summit in Turkey just days before the South Carolina senator died.

“I will miss having him as a partner in the Senate.”

Graham stayed at the center of the action

Many lawmakers like to see themselves as central to the action, but Graham was among the few actually positioned squarely at the heart of virtually every debate. With his relentless ability to adapt to the political times, he gave voice to issues at home and abroad, and insisted on drawing others into the arena.

There was almost no bipartisan gang in Congress that didn't count Graham as a member — from the gang of eight he hatched with Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to pass immigration reform through the Senate in 2013, to his recent effort with colleagues to impose sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine.

“We didn't agree on everything in our bipartisan immigration proposal,” Schumer said Monday, “but we agreed it was worth trying, because doing nothing was worse.”

At a time when Congress is increasingly broken, with lawmakers unable to carry out its basic legislative functions, let alone act with civility toward one another, Graham played a unique role in bringing the sides together.

The heartfelt statements and stories shared on Graham's passing, from other prominent senators as well as the back benches of the House, reflected the breadth and depth of his partnerships.

“We talked at all hours of the day or night, and traveled through all kinds of weather, meeting dictators and democracy defenders,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who joined with Graham on the Russian sanctions bill.

Blumenthal said their views often differed, “but he listened to me,” the senator said, "and sought to bridge our differences.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., opened the day's session noting Graham's empty desk in the chamber, covered with a black drape and white flowers.

Graham's friendship, he said, “made this job richer and its burdens lighter.”

His political shapeshifting drew criticism

Not that Graham was always successful. There have been plenty of times when GOP senators walked out of their private lunch meetings during a particularly stalemated time in Congress, simply shaking their heads at the latest plan from Graham to break the gridlock.

Graham’s political shapeshifting brought his detractors, to be sure, as did his unbridled pursuit of military intervention abroad.

His bipartisan immigration work with Schumer and the Democrats left Graham almost permanently outcast by the nativist and anti-immigration flank of his party.

And most decisively, Graham’s rapprochement with Trump, after having declared their relationship finished following Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the Capitol, damaged the senator's credibility among some would-be partners.

Still, Graham’s proximity to Trump during the president's second term kept him central to the action, the one senators of both parties would lean on to understand the White House's view.

“Many of us consider him the Trump whisperer,” said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who served as a manager in Trump’s first impeachment. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate.

“If we wanted to know what the president’s thinking was, or how he might be moved on something, you would go to Lindsey to discuss it,” Schiff said.

Graham's “voice is going to be really, really missed in terms of the relationship that Senate Republicans have with the president and his team,” Thune said on CNN, because "he was so good and so effective at talking to the president.”

Senators say Graham's humor lightened the load

In the chamber of 100 senators, with big personalities and bigger egos, Graham's self-effacing humor made it more bearable, helping to smooth the edges and bridge the divide.

He had “a wonderful sense of humor that he used to cut through the tension,” Schiff said.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in her own statement, told a story of seeking Graham’s support for her bill to ensure visas for Afghan refugees.

“I remember standing outside of a little phone booth in the Republican cloakroom last year as he spoke with the Vice President, holding up a sign that said ‘Save the Afghans’ and he put the phone on hold and said ‘OK OK I will go on your bill even if it gets me in trouble,’” she said.

“I will miss him.”

The man, who is a student, suffered leg bone fractures while landing during a tandem jump, according to an airport official.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel responded shortly after 10:40 a.m. to Southwest 219 Avenue and 287 Street, according to dispatch records.

Fire rescue used a helicopter to fly the man, who suffered traumatic injuries, to Jackson South’s Ryder Trauma Center, according to MDFR personnel.

Local 10 News Senior Assignment Editor Frine Gomez and Assignment Editor Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.

Los Angeles City Attorney's Office spokesman Ivor Pine confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday that Jackson's case has been assigned for a pre-filing diversion available to eligible individuals. The City Attorney Hearing is an alternative to misdemeanor criminal prosecution.

Though charges will not be filed against Jackson at this time, the case remains open and can be re-evaluated if there are more developments.

At the time of the arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department said officers were called to Jackson's home in the West Hills neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. NBC4 reported that Jackson allegedly attempted to take a phone away from a woman when he thought he was being recorded, and the woman had scratches on her arm.

Jackson has been the Rams’ starting left tackle for the past three seasons, starting 45 regular-season games and six playoff games. The former undrafted free agent re-signed with the Rams on a three-year, $57 million deal in February 2025.

The Rams issued a statement following the arrest saying the team was aware of the incident "and we take these matters very seriously. Due to this being an ongoing legal situation, we cannot comment further at this time.”

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

Broward prosecutors upgraded a case against Kohnert, 44, a father of seven, from child abuse without great bodily harm to aggravated child abuse, a severe first-degree felony in Florida.

Kohnert and his wife, Jennifer Kohnert, stand accused of subjecting their 12-year-old adoptive daughter to “mental and physical abuse” for about three years in Coral Springs, according to a police officer’s report.

“Jennifer and Joel have been her caretaker since she was two-months old,” a police officer wrote, according to an arrest report.

The girl reported that her adoptive mother had “pulled her hair, slapped her -- causing her lip to bleed -- and kicked her while she was on the ground ... provided her with distressing information regarding her biological parents, including details of substance abuse and death,” a police officer wrote, according to the report.

A Florida Department of Children and Families investigator responded to the girl’s school on Feb. 11 after she told a school resource officer that her parents were also locking her in a bedroom without access to a restroom, according to police.

“She has been locked in her bedroom overnight and, at times, during the day. She stated that while confined overnight, she urinates on herself and, at times, defecates on herself ... In the morning, she is required to bathe outside in the backyard while wearing a bathing suit, despite inadequate weather conditions,” a police officer wrote, according to a report.

The girl reported her parents gave her an air mattress, used a lock to secure the door from the outside, and used a sound machine at a high volume, according to the police report.

“She is only allowed approximately three outfits at a time, which are kept in her room ... she is forced to use her clothing to clean urine and feces using vinegar and bleach. After cleaning, she is required to wash the same clothing outside in a small bucket and then dry it in her room ... she brushes her teeth in her room and is required to swallow the toothpaste,” a police officer wrote, according to the arrest report.

The girl also described her parents’ punishments, according to police.

“She has been required to tread water in the pool for extended periods, sometimes up to approximately 45 minutes, as a form of punishment,” a police officer wrote, according to the report.

The girl’s siblings said she is usually in her room “writing Proverbs” and rarely allowed to participate in “normal family activities such as eating meals or playing” with them, according to police.

“I observed the bedrooms of the other children, which were clean, properly furnished, and contained toys and personal items. In contrast, [the girl’s] room lacked decoration, contained minimal furnishings, and had a noticeable odor consistent with urine. The closet ... was being used for storage of household items, including paint,” a police officer wrote, according to the report.

Kohnert, 45, told a detective who questioned her that the girl had “made threats toward the family” about three years ago, and she had taken her to Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital to have her admitted in December, but her request was denied after a mental health evaluation, according to police.

Records show Kohnert, 44, who joined BSFR on Nov. 15, 2010, answered a detective’s questions during the police investigation and said he was aware of the conditions.

“Joel acknowledged that there was safety concerns associated with the victim’s bedroom door and window being secured in a manner that restricted her ability to exit,” a police officer wrote. “This practice is particularly concerning given Joel’s professional background, where he would reasonably be expected to recognize the inherent safety risks associated with restricting a child’s ability to exit a room during an emergency.”

Police officers arrested the Kohnerts on March 31 at their family’s home in Coral Springs, and they posted a $100,000 bond on April 1, according to Broward County court records.

Their defense attorney described them as “devout Christians” and “devoutly religious” during their first bond court hearing. Broward County Circuit Judge Corey B. Friedman ordered them to stay away from their children and firearms.

Court records show Kohnert, 45, pleaded not guilty to child abuse on April 6. A judge issued a warrant for Kohnert’s arrest on June 26.

Kohnert, 45, faced six charges: Four counts of contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor, a first-degree misdemeanor; one count of child neglect without bodily harm, a third-degree felony; and one count of aggravated child abuse.

Related report: Broward Fire Rescue lieutenant, wife accused of confining daughter, 12, to room for years

But through her brother's decades of public service, Nordone has been by his side, supporting him in speeches, appearances and even campaign ads.

Besides being a frequent attendee at Graham's political events, Nordone is woven deeply into her brother's personal and political biography. After both of their parents died in just over a year, Graham, then age 22, became legal guardian for his 13-year-old sister.

Now, after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster tapped Nordone to serve in Graham's seat until January, Nordone is heading to Washington, tasked with representing the interests for which her brother advocated with passion.

A special primary held next month will sort out what Republican moves forward in the general election to face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.

From brother to legal guardian, Graham raised his sister

While Graham was in his early 20s, his life — and that of his sister — was turned upside down. Their mother died in 1976 after battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. Fifteen months later, his sister, then 13, discovered their father after he suffered a heart attack in his sleep and died.

Graham was just beginning law school at the University of South Carolina. With both parents gone, he pivoted, saying that his chief goal was to ensure his sister was cared for.

“I can remember the day my father passed away, standing in the living room of that house, absolutely scared to death,” Nordone told NPR in 2015. “Lindsey wrapped his arms around me and promised me he would always be there for me and always take care of me.”

Making regular treks from school in Columbia to Seneca, where his sister was being looked after by relatives, Graham kept tabs on his sister from then on and became her legal guardian. After he became a military lawyer in the Air Force, he adopted her, to ensure that she would receive his military benefits.

Graham’s bond with his sister was indelible

Graham, who never married or had children of his own, once joked as he ran for president in 2016 that his sister could be among a “rotating” cast of White House hosts standing in as first lady.

But the bond between the two, aside from being integral to Graham’s own biography, was evident in their public appearances. When Graham filed his candidacy paperwork in March for this year’s election, Nordone was by his side, along with her children and grandchildren.

“What have I learned in this life I’ve led? I take nothing for granted. I count every blessing, every day,” Graham said then, going on to recount how he and his sister forged through life together from that point. “I understand what a blessing my life has been and the only way I can pay you back for the blessings I’ve received is to be the most thoughtful, relevant, aggressive senator.”

Nordone married, had children and ultimately grandchildren and has worked with people with disabilities. Talking to C-SPAN in 2015, Graham said of his own life that his sister's success “is the highlight of it, by far.”

Bob McAlister, a former consultant to Graham on several campaigns, reflected on how the difficulties in their growing up bonded the siblings in a way that most would not understand.

“He grew up with nothing,” McAlister said. “The back of the bar where he and his sister grew up was always kind of top of mind to him. ... And I think the way he and Darline grew up just had an indelible impact on him, and for some reason, it gave him the drive that he had to do what he did.”

“A lot of people have different ideas about Lindsey from what they’ve seen on TV and all that, but everything about him can be traced back to his boyhood, the way he grew up, the way he took care of his sister," McAlister added.

Graham's sister played a political role in his life, too

Graham often talked about his background, and the plight he shared with his sister, in campaign appearances, and she was there for many of them.

She also popped up in a 2014 campaign ad, as Graham sought a third Senate term, saying he brought assurances after their parents' deaths that he would take care of her.

“He never let me down. Never. I don’t see how he did it, to take on the responsibility of raising a little sister,” Nordone said. "That came from within for Lindsey.”

Trump recommended Graham's sister as interim appointee

Hours ahead of McMaster's announcement, President Donald Trump said on social media that he had recommended that the governor pick Nordone, calling the selection “a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”

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

Voters in Virginia and Nevada — both states where abortion is already legal through at least 24 weeks of pregnancy — are considering state constitutional amendments to create a right to abortion.

And in Missouri, which in 2024 became the first state to use a constitutional amendment to undo an abortion ban, voters are being asked to override that to bring back an abortion ban, with limited exceptions, and to write into the state constitution a ban on some gender-affirming care for minors.

Here's a look at the situation.

One of the most conservative states could undo its ban

The measure put on Idaho's ballot through a volunteer-run petition drive would create a law, not an amendment to the state constitution.

Idahoans United for Women and Families, which is leading the campaign, shared with The Associated Press a letter from state election officials Monday verifying that it has qualified for the ballot.

It would allow abortion until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be somewhere past 21 weeks into a pregnancy, though there’s no fixed time frame. The change would make the state's law similar to what it was before the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to ban abortion.

Idaho now is one of six states where an abortion ban at all stages of pregnancy does not include exceptions for the health of the girl or woman. Like most other bans, it does allow abortion to save the life of the woman or in pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

It also became the first state, in 2023, to make it a crime to help a minor obtain an abortion without the consent of their parents. Despite a court challenge, most parts of that law have remained intact.

David Ripley, the CEO of the anti-abortion group Idaho Chooses Life, is preparing to campaign against the measure.

“This is going to have a profound impact on Idaho,” he said, “and will basically invalidate virtually every pro-life law that the legislature has enacted over the last 30 to 40 years.”

Missouri is considering a turnabout

Whichever way the ballot measure vote goes in Missouri, it's already a state with several firsts after Roe was overturned.

It was the first state to begin enforcing a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy. And in 2024, it became the first state to use a ballot measure to roll back a ban. Even after that, though, abortion access was deeply limited by state regulations until a court ruling in June blocked enforcement of many of them.

In the state, where Republicans dominate the government, there have been legal battles surrounding the language of the constitutional amendment. The one before voters, unlike the previous ban, would allow exceptions in the cases of medical emergencies and fetal anomalies. Like the earlier one, there would be exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

Two states are considering amendments to preserve the right to abortion

Both Nevada and Virginia currently allow abortion through at least 24 weeks of pregnancy. That means amendments to preserve the right to an abortion would likely not have a major impact on access to abortion in either state.

The amendments could be factors, however, in driving voter turnout in states where both Democrats and Republicans have prevailed in statewide elections in the last five years.

Nevada voters already approved the amendment in 2024 by a nearly 2 to 1 margin. But the state constitution calls for amendments to pass in public votes twice before they take effect.

The measures could be a test for abortion-rights groups

Some groups want to see state laws that go further than Roe v. Wade did and lift restrictions on abortions throughout pregnancy.

In June, the National Abortion Federation, an organization of abortion providers, opposed “rigid legal cutoffs that ban or restrict abortion care at viability or arbitrary gestational lines.” The organization does not raise money for political campaigns, but its positions may indicate what some other groups are thinking.

In 2024, a South Dakota measure called for banning abortions during the third trimester and allowing some restrictions in the second trimester, while protecting the right to them in the first trimester. Voters rejected it.

Most national abortion-rights groups did not support it either. Since Roe was overturned, abortion rights advocates have lost four statewide votes on reproductive rights. Their side has prevailed in 14 referendums over the same period.

Melanie Folwell, executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Families, says national groups that sit out these votes are thinking narrowly.

“I would encourage them to get out of their bubbles of activism and actually begin to engage with the public on where folks are at,” she said.

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Aventura police said they were able to halt Yu Zheng, 43, of Flushing, Queens, while she was still at the mall after the victim got “multiple fraud alerts” from Bank of America about credit card transactions at around 6:30 p.m., prompting her daughter to call police.

According to an arrest report, the first transaction that raised eyebrows was for $636 at Ferragamo.

Police said they went to the store and found out that a woman, later identified as Zheng, bought a men’s belt after having “attempted to complete the purchase using multiple different credit cards stored on her cellular phone, repeatedly attempting payment until one of the digital cards was finally approved.”

The manager had described Zheng as “an Asian female wearing a blue baseball cap, white shirt and dark-colored jeans.”

Authorities said they then got word from the victim’s daughter about a $3,102 buy at Louis Vuitton.

The report notes that she had also been spotted in Bloomingdale’s making a nearly $4,000 purchase.

Police said they used the aforementioned description to track Zheng down while she was still in the mall. They said an officer spotted her “walking past Sephora at a hurried pace while keeping her head down and attempting to avoid eye contact” with police.

Authorities said officers detained Zheng and took two cellphones from her, later seizing nearly $1,800 in cash as well. They said surveillance footage later showed her meeting with an unknown man in a rental SUV.

“Surveillance footage showed Zheng placing the fraudulently obtained merchandise inside the vehicle before it departed the area,” the report states. “(The) investigation further revealed the vehicle entered the Aventura Mall property at approximately (9:30 a.m.) and remained on the property throughout the day before leaving immediately after Zheng was taken into custody” that evening.

According to the report, detectives determined that Zheng had initially made or tried to make multiple smaller transactions, one of which was for only $1.

“The progression from nominal transactions to luxury retail purchases is consistent with organized fraud operations testing compromised financial information before maximizing financial gain,” it states.

Police concluded that Zheng and her still-unidentified accomplice “demonstrated characteristics commonly associated with organized fraud rings, including the use of multiple digital payment methods, repeated testing of compromised accounts, rapid movement between luxury retailers and coordination with a waiting vehicle to quickly remove stolen property before detection.”

Officers arrested Zheng on charges including organized fraud, grand theft with others, forgery and identity theft.

A records check, they said, “revealed an extensive criminal history involving fraud-related offenses throughout multiple jurisdictions within the United States, including charges related to fraudulent use of credit cards, fraudulent use of personal identification information, prostitution, human trafficking, and federal criminal offenses.”

“Although Zheng had accumulated numerous felony-related arrests, she was not listed as a convicted felon in any state at the time of this investigation,” the report states.

As of Monday afternoon, she remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $20,150 bond.

Records show that if she posts bond, she’ll have to prove that the funds came from a legitimate source.

Los fiscales de Broward elevaron el caso contra Kohnert, de 44 años y padre de siete hijos, de abuso infantil sin lesión corporal grave a abuso infantil agravado, un delito grave de primer grado de carácter severo en la Florida.

Kohnert y su esposa, Jennifer Kohnert, son acusados de someter a su hija adoptiva de 12 años a “abuso mental y físico” durante unos tres años en Coral Springs, según el informe de un oficial de policía.

Un investigador del Departamento de Niños y Familias de la Florida acudió a la escuela de la niña el 11 de febrero, después de que ella reportara que sus padres la encerraban en una habitación sin acceso a un baño, según la policía.

“La han encerrado en su habitación durante la noche y, a veces, durante el día. Ella declaró que mientras está encerrada durante la noche, orina y, en ocasiones, defeca encima... por la mañana se le exige bañarse afuera, en el patio trasero, usando traje de baño, sin importar las condiciones climáticas”, escribió un oficial de policía, según un informe.

Oficiales de policía arrestaron a Kohnert, de 45 años, el 31 de marzo en la casa familiar en Coral Springs, y ella pagó una fianza de $100,000 el 1 de abril, según registros judiciales del condado de Broward.

Los registros judiciales muestran que un juez emitió una orden de arresto contra Kohnert el 26 de junio.

Kohnert, de 45 años, enfrentó seis cargos: cuatro cargos de contribuir a la delincuencia o dependencia de un menor, un delito menor de primer grado; un cargo de negligencia infantil sin lesión corporal, un delito grave de tercer grado; y un cargo de abuso infantil agravado.

La policía de Aventura dijo que lograron detener a Yu Zheng, de 43 años, residente de Flushing, Queens, mientras aún estaba en el centro comercial, después de que la víctima recibiera “múltiples alertas de fraude” de Bank of America sobre transacciones con su tarjeta de crédito alrededor de las 6:30 p.m., lo que llevó a su hija a llamar a la policía.

Según un informe de arresto, la primera transacción que levantó sospechas fue por $636 en Ferragamo.

La policía dijo que fueron a la tienda y descubrieron que una mujer, luego identificada como Zheng, compró un cinturón de hombre después de haber “intentado completar la compra usando varias tarjetas de crédito distintas guardadas en su teléfono celular, probando el pago repetidamente hasta que una de las tarjetas digitales finalmente fue aprobada”.

El gerente había descrito a Zheng como “una mujer asiática con una gorra de béisbol azul, camisa blanca y jeans oscuros”.

Las autoridades dijeron que luego recibieron aviso de la hija de la víctima sobre una compra de $3,102 en Louis Vuitton.

El informe señala que también la habían visto en Bloomingdale’s haciendo una compra de casi $4,000.

La policía dijo que usó la descripción mencionada para ubicar a Zheng mientras aún estaba en el centro comercial. Indicaron que un oficial la vio “caminar frente a Sephora a paso apresurado, con la cabeza agachada y evitando el contacto visual” con la policía.

Las autoridades dijeron que los oficiales detuvieron a Zheng y le quitaron dos teléfonos celulares, y más tarde le incautaron cerca de $1,800 en efectivo. Indicaron que un video de vigilancia mostró después que se reunió con un hombre no identificado en una camioneta SUV alquilada.

“El video de vigilancia mostró a Zheng colocando la mercancía obtenida de forma fraudulenta dentro del vehículo antes de que este saliera del área”, indica el informe. “La investigación reveló además que el vehículo entró a la propiedad de Aventura Mall aproximadamente a las 9:30 a.m. y permaneció allí durante todo el día, hasta que se retiró justo después de que Zheng fuera detenida” esa noche.

Según el informe, los detectives determinaron que Zheng había hecho o intentado hacer inicialmente varias transacciones más pequeñas, una de ellas por apenas $1.

“La progresión de transacciones nominales a compras minoristas de lujo es consistente con operaciones de fraude organizado que ponen a prueba información financiera comprometida antes de maximizar la ganancia económica”, señala el informe.

La policía concluyó que Zheng y su cómplice, aún no identificado, “mostraron características comúnmente asociadas con redes de fraude organizado, incluido el uso de múltiples métodos de pago digitales, pruebas repetidas de cuentas comprometidas, movimiento rápido entre tiendas de lujo y coordinación con un vehículo en espera para retirar rápidamente la mercancía robada antes de ser detectados”.

Los oficiales arrestaron a Zheng bajo cargos que incluyen fraude organizado, hurto mayor en coautoría, falsificación y robo de identidad.

Una verificación de antecedentes, dijeron, “reveló un extenso historial criminal relacionado con delitos de fraude en múltiples jurisdicciones dentro de Estados Unidos, incluidos cargos relacionados con uso fraudulento de tarjetas de crédito, uso fraudulento de información de identificación personal, prostitución, trata de personas y delitos federales”.

“Aunque Zheng acumuló numerosos arrestos por delitos graves, no figuraba como delincuente convicta en ningún estado al momento de esta investigación”, indica el informe.

Hasta el lunes por la tarde, permanecía en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center bajo una fianza de $20,150.

Los registros muestran que, si paga la fianza, deberá comprobar que los fondos provienen de una fuente legítima.

A la niña se le diagnosticó “autismo de leve a moderado”, y el abuso “comenzó cuando ella tenía 10 años, y cumplirá 13 este año”, escribió un oficial de la policía de Hallandale Beach, según un informe policial.

Durante la investigación policial, una analista de ADN de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward reportó en abril que se halló ADN perteneciente a Daley, de 56 años, en “la zona exterior de la entrepierna” del pantalón de pijama de la niña, según un informe policial.

La investigación comenzó después de que la niña le contara a su madre que Daley había abusado sexualmente de ella el 17 de febrero, y oficiales de la policía de Hallandale Beach se reunieron con ellas en el supermercado Publix de Hallandale Beach, donde Daley trabajaba como empleado de bodega en el departamento de congelados desde hacía unos cuatro años, según el informe policial.

“Ella solo lleva a la víctima al trabajo cuando no tiene quién la cuide... la víctima se queda sentada en el cuarto de descanso”, escribió un oficial de policía, según el informe de arresto.

Un detective que investigaba el caso encontró, el 23 de febrero, un video de vigilancia que mostraba a Daley “mirar a su alrededor antes de entrar al cuarto de descanso” poco después de las 9:55 p.m., y salir a las 10 p.m. del 17 de febrero, según la policía.

La niña participó en una entrevista forense en el Nancy J. Cotterman Center, en Oakland Park, y relató que Daley había abusado de ella unas 30 veces en el Publix ubicado en el 1400 East Hallandale Beach, según el informe de arresto del oficial.

“Ella siempre le dice ‘¡No!’. Pero él sigue tocándola en contra de su voluntad... le dolía... ella se sintió amenazada”, escribió un oficial de policía sobre el relato de la niña durante la entrevista, según el informe.

Registros judiciales del condado de Broward muestran que los fiscales presentaron el 29 de junio un caso por delito grave de primer grado contra Daley, residente de Miramar. Enfrenta cuatro cargos de actos lascivos o lascivia con una menor.

Los oficiales de policía ejecutaron la orden de arresto el domingo, y el personal de BSO Corrections ingresó a Daley en la Cárcel Principal del Condado de Broward, en Fort Lauderdale. Compareció en corte el lunes, y un juez le negó la fianza.

La jueza del Tribunal Circuito del Condado de Broward, Barbara Duffy, presidirá el caso.

Local 10 News tiene una solicitud pendiente de información sobre la situación laboral de Daley con Publix Supermarkets.

En una conferencia de prensa, el progresista Sánchez anticipó que se manifestará el miércoles en las calles para reiterar el pedido. Ese mismo día la conservadora Keiko Fujimori recibirá sus credenciales como presidenta electa.

La semana pasada un Grupo de Trabajo sobre la Detención Arbitraria de las Naciones Unidas concluyó que la detención inicial de Castillo —ocurrida el 7 de diciembre de 2022 cuando aún era presidente— fue “arbitraria” y consideró que “el remedio adecuado” sería dejarlo “inmediatamente en libertad” y ofrecerle una indemnización.

El presidente interino de Perú, José Balcázar, respondió que un pedido para liberar a Castillo está "en trámite”, sin dar detalles. El viernes la defensa de Castillo interpuso un hábeas corpus por detención arbitraria fundamentándose en la opinión del grupo de trabajo de la ONU.

La opinión de los expertos en derecho internacional no es vinculante, pero en más de 30 años Perú ha obedecido varias de sus conclusiones debido a que el país sudamericano está suscrito a la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos y al Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos.

Sánchez es un aliado político de Castillo y una de sus principales promesas electorales fue liberar al exmandatario —sentenciado a más de 11 años de cárcel por conspiración para la rebelión— si ganaba la presidencia. “Estos 42 meses de detención arbitraria e ilegal (de Castillo) se sienten como un secuestro; ha sido una voluntad política de una mayoría parlamentaria que hoy ha tomado la democracia”, dijo Sánchez.

Hace una semana Sánchez reconoció a regañadientes como presidenta electa a Fujimori por su triunfo en el balotaje del 7 de junio, pero insistió en afirmar que el proceso estuvo marcado por irregularidades. La dirigente asumirá el poder el 28 de julio.

Fujimori ganó por casi 50.000 votos de diferencia sobre Sánchez. El triunfo de la hija del fallecido expresidente Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) —condenado por corrupción y por el asesinato de 25 peruanos en 1992— se logró por el decisivo voto de los peruanos en el extranjero. Dentro del territorio peruano Sánchez obtuvo más votos.

Castillo fue detenido el 7 de diciembre de 2022 por su propia escolta policial en Lima cuando, junto a su esposa y sus dos hijos menores, se dirigía a la embajada de México luego de haber intentado disolver sin éxito el Parlamento y gobernar por decreto. Meses después hubo manifestaciones a su favor reprimidas por la policía y militares que dejaron 50 civiles asesinados.

Sánchez anunció que en la marcha del miércoles por la tarde pedirá además justicia para los manifestantes muertos, entre los que había siete adolescentes.

En sus recientes presentaciones ante los medios, Fujimori no ha opinado sobre la liberación de Castillo ni sobre si buscará impulsar la justicia para el medio centenar de peruanos asesinados.

The National Weather Service is predicting that more than 90 temperature records across the U.S. will be tied or broken this week through Wednesday — and most of those will be overnight heat records.

Health experts say overnight temperatures that fail to cool down are even more dangerous than daytime temperatures that soar.

It has already been a sweltering start to the summer across much of the U.S. due to the long-lasting heat dome expected to blanket much of the country this week. The blistering temperatures over the past few weeks have caused heat-related deaths in New Jersey and helped fuel wildfires in the West.

No relief from the heat at night this week

Temperatures were not forecast to drop below 80 F (27 C) at night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami; Tampa, Florida; Galveston, Texas; and Charleston, South Carolina, the National Weather Service said.

Over the next few days, places in the Midwest and Northeast known for frigid winters will see nighttime temperatures remain above 70 F (21 C), including Fargo, North Dakota; International Falls, Minnesota; and Portland, Maine.

Hot temperatures at night pose a bigger danger

Health experts say that high overnight temperatures are particularly dangerous because there's no time for the body's core temperature to cool down and recover from daytime heat.

“That’s where the health outcomes are amplified, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable communities,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.

Just a few degrees of increased body temperature can lead to heatstroke or put too much strain on the heart.

Dangers of heat can sneak up on you

If temperatures at night don't cool down your body, the health risks more often show up the next day, said Kristie Ebi, a public health and climate scientist at the University of Washington.

“Mortality starts the second or third day" because the body's unable to cool, she said on Monday.

Being proactive is crucial during a heat wave

Early warning signs include heavy sweating, muscle cramps and headache. “It’s hard to know you’re getting in trouble with the heat. This is why we need to be more proactive," Ebi said.

It's important to find a way to cool off, whether stepping into air conditioning or wrapping a cold towel around your neck.

And health experts say don't forget to check in on friends and family members, especially those who are older, pregnant or who have health challenges that might make it more difficult to handle the heat.

How to beat the heat without air conditioning

Even without air conditioning at home, there are ways to find relief.

Stop by a library or a mall. Sit in front of a fan and spray water on your skin. Put your feet in cold water. Soak your clothes in water. And of course, drink plenty of water.

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Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed.

The Buffalo Bills' franchise player was voted the NFL’s top quarterback by The Associated Press in a preseason survey.

The 2024 AP NFL Most Valuable Player beat out Patrick Mahomes, who earned the top spot each of the three previous seasons.

Allen received five first-place votes from a panel of eight AP pro football writers, who ranked the top five quarterbacks entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Allen appeared on all eight ballots and also got one second-place vote, one third and one fourth.

Mahomes finished second just ahead of reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford. Lamar Jackson came in fourth and Joe Burrow was fifth.

1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Allen followed up his MVP season with another excellent campaign in 2025, but the Bills had their streak of five straight AFC East titles ended by New England and were knocked out of the playoffs in the divisional round against Denver, costing coach Sean McDermott his job.

Allen threw for 3,668 yards, 25 TDs and had 10 picks for a 102.2 passer rating. He ran for 579 yards and 14 scores, making his fourth Pro Bowl and finishing third in MVP voting.

Allen and the Bills are still seeking their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1993 season despite seven straight playoff appearances.

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Mahomes finished his worst season in the NFL on the sideline after suffering a torn ACL in Week 15. The Chiefs were 6-8 with Mahomes and lost all three games without him.

Still, the three-time Super Bowl MVP — a unanimous choice for No. 1 in this survey in 2023 and 2024 — commands enough respect to earn two first-place votes and finished second behind Allen. He had 3,587 yards passing for 22 TDs with 11 picks before going down with his first significant injury in the NFL. Mahomes is aiming to be ready for Week 1 as Kansas City tries to rebound from its first losing season under Andy Reid.

3. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Stafford earned first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his 17-year career, and beat out Drake Maye for his first NFL MVP award last season.

He got one first-place vote, two seconds and appeared on all eight ballots in this year's preseason survey. The Rams went 14-6, including a pair of playoff victories and a loss to Seattle in the conference championship.

Stafford led the NFL with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs. He threw eight picks and finished second to Maye with a 109.2 passer rating.

4. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson, a three-time All-Pro and two-time NFL MVP, had his first losing season as a starter, going 6-7, and the Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs.

Jackson threw for 2,549 yards, 21 TDs and seven picks, posting a 103.8 passer rating. Jackson had a career-low 349 yards rushing and two scores.

Jackson got two third-place votes and appeared on six ballots.

5. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Burrow played only eight games last season because of a toe injury, leading the Bengals to a 5-3 record. It was the third time he played 10 or fewer games due to injuries.

Burrow bounced back the following season to win the AP Comeback Player of the Year award the previous two times.

The three-time Pro Bowl QB threw for 1,809 yards, 17 TDs and five picks with a passer rating of 100.7. Burrow appeared on five ballots with one third-place vote.

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

Perhaps even more astonishing? He has only two PGA Tour victories since. He has played in the final group at a major only once.

What hasn't changed is his optimism that he can get back to his best golf, now matter how far away that looks for a player who is No. 51 in the world, who has not been to the Tour Championship the past two years, who has not been in the conversation at a major in five years.

“If you give up on reaching your ceiling, then I don't see a point in playing anymore,” Spieth said Monday. “So for me it's always about I'll do everything I can to be trying to be at the very best in the world, because I know that I can be. I have been. It's nice to have the blueprint.”

The blueprint was nearly a decade ago — the pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam that ended with a bogey on the 17th hole at St. Andrews in 2015, his British Open title two years later, and playing in the final group at Carnoustie in 2018 as he tried to keep possession of the claret jug.

He feels he is on the right track and keeps getting a bad hand. The analogy he used earlier this year was having a bad shoe at the blackjack table, staying put because as soon as he walks away, fortunes surely will turn.

He's still at the table.

“I'm quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at,” Spieth said. "It’s better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It’s without a doubt better than it was then. It’s just not quite showing up in results.

“At the same time, it’s a stay-the-course mentality,” he said. “Sometimes you get rewarded right away, like I did back then maybe in a bit of a lucky fashion, and I understand that sometimes it’s delayed. And that’s how it feels like it is right now. ... So I'm just waiting for that opportunity.”

The return to Royal Birkdale at least allows him to remember how it felt to walk up to the 18th green with victory secure, sitting on the edge of a pot bunker with the claret jug as dozens of photographers captured the image of a 23-year-old often referred to then as “Golden Child.”

What he can't relive is the finish. He lost the lead on the 13th hole even though his bogey felt like stealing a shot — he took a penalty drop from a dune covered in high grass, hit a blind shot from the driving range and limited the damage with a chip-and-putt for bogey, just like always.

Then came the 6-iron he nearly holed on the par-3 14th and the 50-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th hole — “Go get that,” he famously said to caddie Michael Greller — and two more birdies.

“Maybe the best shot and best putt I've ever hit don't exist anymore,” Spieth said with a smile.

The par-3 14th is gone now. The R&A instead wanted the 15th hole to play as No. 14, and it built a new par-3 15th that measures 241 yards and has yet to get many positive reviews.

“Undecided,” Rory McIlroy said last week.

“As is always the case in par 3s, you have to wait until a tournament plays to see how the par 3 plays,” Tommy Fleetwood said on Monday.

Perhaps the biggest change for Spieth are the conditions. It was wet and green and lush in 2017, the wind coming out of the opposite direction. Now it is mostly yellow, brittle and firm, and much of England is coping with a heat wave.

Players were in shorts for the Monday practice round, which followed a “Last Chance Qualifier” that Joe Dean of England won with a 68 to secure his spot in the field.

“It’s going to play quite different than the last time we were here,” Spieth said. “We’ve had an opposite wind, too, the last couple days. ... Holes that are close to being drivable become mid- to long irons, and just with the wind switch, the difference into and down are so dramatic over here that picking a strategy is going to be key.”

A change of scenery might not be the worse thing for Spieth. He arrived over the weekend and relived some of those shots in the closing stretch, at least on the holes still there. But at this stage in his career, it's more about looking forward.

“I'm always comparing myself a bit to myself at my best, but not to try to be the exact player, just more so that I know that I can do it," Spieth said. “I know my ceiling is where that level was, and so I’m going to strive for it with the type of player that I am now.”

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

Los congresistas Mark Pocan de Wisconsin, Teresa Leger-Fernández de Nuevo México, Maxine Dexter de Oregón y Delia Catalina Ramírez de Illinois llegaron el jueves en una visita que se extendió hasta el lunes. Es el segundo viaje de representantes en tres meses.

Durante un intercambio con un pequeño grupo de periodistas antes de regresar indicaron que además de Díaz-Canel habían sostenido reuniones con ministros, profesionales médicos, empresarios y recorrido las calles de La Habana. Pero aclararon que actualmente no hay conversaciones entre Washington y La Habana que destraben la situación.

“No creo que se estén llevando a cabo negociaciones”, dijo Pocan cuando se le preguntó sobre los avances en el diálogo binacional para que se destrabe el cerco energético que tiene semiparalizada a la isla desde hace seis meses. “Pienso que (el secretario de Estado) Marco Rubio está convirtiendo esto en algo personal y no profesional”, agregó.

Ambos gobiernos reconocieron en varias ocasiones que hubo contacto entre sus funcionarios, pero no ofrecieron detalles. Recientemente el nieto del nonagenario líder socialista Raúl Castro, el coronel Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, se ofreció como interlocutor ante Trump.

Rubio es hijo de padres cubanos y creció en Miami, adonde comenzó su carrera política bajo la fuerte influencia de los grupos de exiliados anticastristas.

Trump y su secretario de Estado indicaron que esperan vencer por asfixia al gobierno de la isla, al que señalan de ineficiente. Las autoridades cubanas denunciaron que se trata de un castigo colectivo.

El cerco energético impuesto por Estados Unidos a Cuba en enero y la amenaza contra terceros países que vendan combustible a la isla agudizó un lustro de crisis ocasionada por sanciones previas y políticas internas fallidas como la unificación monetaria.

En las calles las consecuencias son palpables: apagones de más de 20 horas diarias, limitaciones en el transporte público, cancelación de vuelos, caída en el turismo, recortes en la jornada laboral y una paralización de la vida doméstica en general.

Los legisladores lamentaron el impacto del cerco energético. Según el congresista Pocan una persona con la que habló en Cuba describió la situación actual como “Gaza silenciosa”.

“Puede que no haya bombardeos, pero sin duda existen condiciones que impiden a las personas llevar su vida cotidiana. No pueden ir al trabajo, no pueden conservar sus alimentos, no pueden acceder a suministros médicos ni vivir como lo hacían antes”, señaló. “Me pareció una descripción muy acertada”.

Por su parte Leger-Fernández aseguró que no tiene “ningún sentido obligar a un país a sufrir y a estar sometido a un asedio”.

Paralelamente Dexter –quien además es médica de formación—y Ramírez indicaron que buscarán impulsar enmiendas en el Congreso de Estados Unidos para prohibir el impacto en la salud y evitar una acción mayor de Trump sin autorización legislativa, como las operaciones armadas contra la isla con las que amenazó en reiteradas ocasiones.

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Siga a Andrea Rodríguez en X: https://x.com/ARodriguezAP

Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene and two New York Yankees, first baseman Ben Rice and outfielder Cody Bellinger, gained American League starting spots because of injuries.

Rice, third in the major leagues with 29 home runs behind Schwarber (32) and the Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez (31), starts at first because Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is skipping the game to rest a bad back. Guerrero's initial replacement, the Athletics' Nick Kurtz, sprained a thumb.

Bellinger replaced Yankees teammate Aaron Judge, who hasn't played since May 31 because of a fractured rib. Greene took over from Minnesota Twins outfielder Bryon Buxton, sidelined by a hip injury. Bellinger will be in right and Greene in left.

Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sánchez and Toronto right-hander Dylan Cease were announced as starting pitchers on Sunday.

Even without Ohtani, NL manager Dave Roberts of the two-time champion Dodgers has three of his players in the starting lineup along with two Phillies and two Braves.

New York Mets left fielder Juan Soto bats second, followed by Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, Washington shortstop CJ Abrams, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies, Phillies right fielder Brandon Marsh, Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages and Braves catcher Drake Baldwin.

AL manager John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays has Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout leading off, followed by Alvarez at designated hitter, Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Bellinger, Rice, Green, Rice and Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement.

Sánchez will be the 14th pitcher to start an All-Star Game in his home ballpark, the first since the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw in 2022. He will be the Phillies' first All-Star starting pitcher since Roy Halladay in 2011.

Cease will be the Blue Jays' first All-Star starting pitcher since Halladay in 2009.

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

El incidente ocurrió afuera de un edificio en el 230 de Lincoln Road, donde funcionan, entre otros comercios, una tienda Five Below y una Ross Dress for Less.

Las autoridades indicaron que las tres personas sufrieron heridas leves a causa del incendio, el cual provocó la evacuación del edificio, y fueron trasladadas al Mount Sinai Medical Center para recibir tratamiento.

Según explicaron, el fuego se originó en una bóveda de FPL conectada al edificio.

El edificio ya estaba reabierto la mañana del lunes, aunque la alcantarilla seguía rodeada de cinta de precaución.

Incendio en alcantarilla de Lincoln Road hospitaliza a tres

Un fuego en una bóveda eléctrica de FPL obligó a evacuar un edificio comercial en Miami Beach

Las tres personas afectadas sufrieron heridas leves y fueron atendidas en el Mount Sinai Medical Center, mientras el edificio ya reabrió sus puertas.

“Surgery. Prehab. Return to martial arts practice. Go again. Final fight of the contract. Please God!” McGregor wrote on Instagram on Monday.

McGregor’s first fight in five years lasted only 1 minute, 9 seconds because of a knee injury sustained while attempting an opening roundhouse kick on Saturday.

McGregor’s return to the octagon was highly anticipated but ended in disappointment when he awkwardly landed on his right knee in the opening seconds. McGregor went to the mat two more times in failed attempts to continue before the scheduled five-round match was halted by the referee.

On Sunday, McGregor's manager, John Kavanagh, said his client did not have a previous knee injury.

“That opening jump switch kick was drilled daily for months, multiple times in warmup. Never an issue,” Kavanagh wrote on Facebook. “Knee went when he (threw) the very first kick. Doesn’t get any worse than this.”

Following the fight, McGregor also said he had no previous injury.

“I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight,” McGregor said on X. “I had no injury / injuries going into the fight."

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AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts

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Isabelle Johnson, who has hazel eyes, is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She is also known as Jessica Bowman, Jessica Thrush, and Jessica Dowdy.

Detectives identified Johnson as a suspect in the murder of Jason Coulthart, who vanished on May 24 in Niceville, in Okaloosa County.

“Detectives developed information identifying the location where Coulthart’s body had been buried on a property off Sunset Lane in Freeport,” Niceville Chief Mark Hayse said in a statement.

On June 25, detectives found Coulhart, 43, dead in Walton County, where a judge issued an arrest warrant for Johnson on June 26.

“The next step in this investigation is to hold every single person involved in Jason’s death accountable,” Adkinson said. “If they knew, if they helped, or if they chose not to speak up, they will have to answer for their role in this.”

On June 26, detectives arrested Bobbi Wagstaff, 31, FOR possession of a controlled substance and accessory to a capital felony after the fact in Walton County.

On July 1, detectives arrested Martin Leaverton and Sandra Leaverton and accused them of helping Johnson. The Leavertons, both 63, each faced a charge of accessory to a capital felony after the fact.

On July 9, a DNA test confirmed the identity of the remains in a shallow grave in Freeport.

On Friday, detectives arrested Michael White and Kathleen Morris and accused them of helping Johnson hide until June 30 in Santa Rosa Beach.

Morris, 59, and White, 74, faced charges in Walton County of obstruction and accessory to a capital felony after the fact.

Detectives also released a surveillance video showing Johnson in Destin, in northwest Florida.

Detectives asked anyone with information about Johnson’s whereabouts to call 911 and the Walton County Sheriff’s Office at 850-892-8111.

WANTED FOR MURDER: Isabelle Johnson, 38, has an active warrant on an open count of murder and is believed to be actively evading law enforcement. @WCSOFL is releasing the last known video of Johnson from a business in Destin just days after the discovery of human remains… pic.twitter.com/ijllUbuOfV

— Walton County Sheriff's Office, Florida (@WCSOFL) July 10, 2026

ISABELLE JOHNSON: WANTED FOR MURDER

WALTON COUNTY, FLA - Walton County Sheriff’s Office is continuing investigative efforts to locate Isabelle Johnson after the discovery of human remains found in a shallow grave on a property off Sunset Lane in Freeport on Thursday, June 25th.… pic.twitter.com/Wes4bv1xGZ

— Walton County Sheriff's Office, Florida (@WCSOFL) July 10, 2026

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Authorities said they received a call about an unresponsive man in the area of Southwest 162nd Avenue and 138th Terrace at around 10 a.m. and medics soon pronounced him dead.

MDSO homicide detectives “have assumed the unclassified death investigation” and his “cause and manner of death will be determined by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner,” an agency spokesperson said.

Authorities have not released the man’s name and the spokesperson said MDSO didn’t have additional information to provide as of late Monday morning.

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It happened outside of a building at 230 Lincoln Road, home to, among other businesses, a Five Below and a Ross Dress for Less.

Officials said the three people suffered minor injuries after the fire, which led to a building evacuation, and were taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center for treatment.

They said the fire ignited an FPL vault connected to a building.

The building was back open as of Monday morning, though the manhole was still surrounded with caution tape.

Isabelle Johnson, quien tiene ojos color avellana, mide 5 pies 3 pulgadas y pesa alrededor de 120 libras. También es conocida como Jessica Bowman, Jessica Thrush y Jessica Dowdy.

Los detectives identificaron a Johnson como sospechosa del asesinato de Jason Coulthart, quien desapareció el 24 de mayo en Niceville, en el condado de Okaloosa.

“Los detectives obtuvieron información que identificó el lugar donde había sido enterrado el cuerpo de Coulthart, en una propiedad ubicada en Sunset Lane, en Freeport”, dijo en un comunicado el jefe de Niceville, Mark Hayse.

El 25 de junio, los detectives hallaron a Coulhart, de 43 años, muerto en el condado de Walton, donde un juez emitió una orden de arresto contra Johnson el 26 de junio.

“El próximo paso en esta investigación es hacer que cada una de las personas involucradas en la muerte de Jason rinda cuentas”, dijo Adkinson. “Si lo sabían, si ayudaron, o si decidieron no hablar, tendrán que responder por su papel en esto”.

El 26 de junio, los detectives arrestaron a Bobbi Wagstaff, de 31 años, por posesión de una sustancia controlada y complicidad después del hecho en un delito grave capital en el condado de Walton.

El 1 de julio, los detectives arrestaron a Martin Leaverton y a Sandra Leaverton, y los acusaron de ayudar a Johnson. Los Leaverton, ambos de 63 años, enfrentaron cada uno un cargo de complicidad después del hecho en un delito grave capital.

El 9 de julio, una prueba de ADN confirmó la identidad de los restos hallados en una tumba poco profunda en Freeport.

El viernes, los detectives arrestaron a Michael White y a Kathleen Morris, y los acusaron de ayudar a Johnson a esconderse hasta el 30 de junio en Santa Rosa Beach.

Morris, de 59 años, y White, de 74, enfrentaron cargos en el condado de Walton por obstrucción y complicidad después del hecho en un delito grave capital.

Los detectives también difundieron un video de vigilancia que muestra a Johnson en Destin, en el noroeste de Florida.

Los detectives pidieron a cualquier persona con información sobre el paradero de Johnson que llame al 911 y a la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Walton al 850-892-8111.

Walton County Sheriff’s Office detectives asked the public for help on Monday with finding a 38-year-old woman wanted for murder.

Isabelle Johnson, who has hazel eyes, is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She is also known as Jessica Bowman, Jessica Thrush, and Jessica Dowdy.

Detectives identified Johnson as a suspect in the murder of Jason Coulthart, who vanished on May 24 in Niceville, in Okaloosa County.

“Detectives developed information identifying the location where Coulthart’s body had been buried on a property off Sunset Lane in Freeport,” Niceville Chief Mark Hayse said in a statement.

On June 25, detectives found Coulhart, 43, dead in Walton County, where a judge issued an arrest warrant for Johnson on June 26.

“The next step in this investigation is to hold every single person involved in Jason’s death accountable,” Adkinson said. “If they knew, if they helped, or if they chose not to speak up, they will have to answer for their role in this.”

On June 26, detectives arrested Bobbi Wagstaff, 31, FOR possession of a controlled substance and accessory to a capital felony after the fact in Walton County.

On July 1, detectives arrested Martin Leaverton and Sandra Leaverton and accused them of helping Johnson. The Leavertons, both 63, each faced a charge of accessory to a capital felony after the fact.

On July 9, a DNA test confirmed the identity of the remains in a shallow grave in Freeport.

On Friday, detectives arrested Michael White and Kathleen Morris and accused them of helping Johnson hide until June 30 in Santa Rosa Beach.

Morris, 59, and White, 74, faced charges in Walton County of obstruction and accessory to a capital felony after the fact.

Detectives also released a surveillance video showing Johnson in Destin, in northwest Florida.

Detectives asked anyone with information about Johnson’s whereabouts to call 911 and the Walton County Sheriff’s Office at 850-892-8111.

WANTED FOR MURDER: Isabelle Johnson, 38, has an active warrant on an open count of murder and is believed to be actively evading law enforcement. @WCSOFL is releasing the last known video of Johnson from a business in Destin just days after the discovery of human remains… pic.twitter.com/ijllUbuOfV

— Walton County Sheriff's Office, Florida (@WCSOFL) July 10, 2026

ISABELLE JOHNSON: WANTED FOR MURDER

WALTON COUNTY, FLA - Walton County Sheriff’s Office is continuing investigative efforts to locate Isabelle Johnson after the discovery of human remains found in a shallow grave on a property off Sunset Lane in Freeport on Thursday, June 25th.… pic.twitter.com/Wes4bv1xGZ

— Walton County Sheriff's Office, Florida (@WCSOFL) July 10, 2026

Las autoridades dijeron que recibieron una llamada sobre un hombre inconsciente en la zona de la Southwest 162nd Avenue y la 138th Terrace alrededor de las 10 a.m., y los paramédicos lo declararon muerto poco después.

Los detectives de homicidios del MDSO “asumieron la investigación de esta muerte, cuya clasificación aún no ha sido determinada”, y su “causa y forma de muerte serán determinadas por el Médico Forense de Miami-Dade”, indicó un portavoz de la agencia.

Las autoridades no han revelado la identidad del hombre, y el portavoz dijo que el MDSO no contaba con información adicional para ofrecer hasta el lunes por la mañana.

La policía de Hialeah dijo que Yashira Marie Maldonado, de 34 años, hizo esto en el apartamento tipo estudio de su madre antes de irse en su auto. Según un informe de arresto, todo indica que dejó a la niña encadenada afuera durante casi una hora el sábado por la mañana antes de que la policía se enterara.

La edad exacta de la menor fue censurada en el reporte del Departamento de Policía de Hialeah (HPD), pero según el año de nacimiento incluido, tendría 13 o 14 años.

El reporte del HPD indica que los oficiales respondieron a la casa de Maldonado, cuya dirección fue censurada, alrededor de las 10 a.m. del sábado tras recibir reportes de un disturbio.

La policía dijo que la madre de Maldonado les contó que había ido a la casa de su hija para “rogarle” que regresara y liberara a la niña.

Las autoridades indicaron que volvieron a la casa de la madre de Maldonado y encontraron a la menor “todavía encadenada a la cerca, pero en buen estado de salud”.

Según el reporte, la madre de Maldonado explicó que poco después de recibir un mensaje de texto de su hija a eso de las 9:10 a.m. que decía “¡Me despidieron de mi trabajo!!!!!!”, abrió la puerta de su casa y, “sin poder creerlo”, la cerró al ver a su nieta encadenada afuera.

El reporte señala que luego salió e “intentó liberar a la víctima de la cadena, pero no lo logró”.

Según el informe, la madre de Maldonado les dijo a los oficiales que “no llamó a la policía porque teme que su casero la desaloje”.

El reporte indica que las cámaras de seguridad mostraron a Maldonado atando a la niña a la cerca alrededor de las 9:05 a.m.

La policía dijo que el video mostraba a Maldonado “amarrar una cadena de metal alrededor de la cintura de (su hija) y atar el otro extremo a la cerca de la casa, impidiéndole moverse”.

“(Ella) dejó a (su hija) con una mochila transparente, algo de ropa y su medicamento”, indica el reporte. “(Maldonado) dejó a (su hija) afuera, sin protección contra el sol y sin comida ni agua”.

La policía dijo que el video mostró después a Maldonado “subir a su vehículo y abandonar el lugar”.

Agregaron que trasladaron a Maldonado a la sede del HPD, donde habló con los investigadores. Las declaraciones que habría hecho fueron censuradas en el reporte.

Enfrentando cargos de abuso y negligencia infantil, a Maldonado se le fijó una fianza de $10,000.

Hasta el lunes a media mañana, ya no aparecía en los registros de la cárcel de Miami-Dade.

The progress came as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a motorist in Maine on Monday, and Houston prosecutors complained the administration was still withholding critical information in their investigation into a fatal shooting by an ICE officer last week.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the evidence turned over by U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen's office included previously withheld hard drives containing statements, police body camera video and other materials in the Minnesota killings. Federal prosecutors also turned over Good’s badly damaged SUV, she said.

“The wonderful thing now is we have all the evidence,” Moriarty said. “Any time the government is responsible in whatever way of taking the life of a community member we need to have a full and thorough investigation.”

Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed in her vehicle while leaving an anti-immigration enforcement protest in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Her death and that of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse shot and killed days later during a Jan. 24 protest, sparked outrage across the country and calls to rein in immigration enforcement.

The Minneapolis immigration crackdown, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge,” ended in February after being billed as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever.

At least nine people have been killed nationwide since the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign began last year. No one has been charged in connection with the deaths, and the federal government has suggested state prosecutors don’t have jurisdiction to investigate federal officers.

Lawyers for Good’s family said the transfer of evidence represented “an important and meaningful step towards justice and accountability.” The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which took custody of the evidence, declared that “great strides have been made” to ensure a “thorough and complete review” of the shootings.

But a lawyer for Pretti's family said Rosen's office, in a meeting Monday afternoon, wouldn't confirm any cooperation agreement between state and federal agencies.

“No family should be required to beg federal authorities to do their job,” Steve Schleicher said in a statement. “Without a public commitment by federal authorities to cooperate with the state, it is difficult — if not, impossible — to pursue justice that holds the individuals accountable for Alex’s death.”

Spokespersons for Rosen's office, as well as ICE and the federal Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday.

Legal wrangling in another ICE-related shooting may have led to evidence release

Moriarty on Monday declined to provide details on what prompted the federal government to turn over the evidence.

But documents recently filed in a lawsuit brought by state and local officials suggest the breakthrough came after federal officials sought evidence state investigators gathered in the investigation of ICE agent Christian Castro.

Castro, 52, was charged with assault and falsely reporting a crime in connection with the Jan. 14 nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Prosecutors say Castro fired through a Minneapolis home’s front door and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh while in pursuit of another man.

State and local prosecutors said they would provide evidence in Castro's case as soon as the federal government agreed to share its evidence in the shootings of Pretti and Good.

“We are willing to share evidence with you if the exchange is reciprocal,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans wrote in a legal filing to federal officials.

Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison later amended their lawsuit to add details about the federal government’s refusal to share the evidence collected in the fatal shootings.

Days later, they said in a court filing that the FBI, U.S. Attorney's Office and state officials “have recently re-engaged in discussions about the prospect of mutual information sharing.”

Ellison, in a statement Monday, said he remains “deeply troubled” it took more than half a year for federal officials to hand over the materials.

“It should never have taken this long,” he said. “I hope that this is the beginning of a major course correction on the part of the federal government.”

Moriarty added that she's not yet prepared to drop the lawsuit against the Trump administration, which seeks access to evidence in the three shootings.

Houston investigators complain feds are leaving them in the dark

Prosecutors in Houston, meanwhile, echoed similar concerns about obtaining critical information from federal officials as they look into last week’s death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for decades.

DHS has acknowledged officers stopped Salgado Araujo while looking for someone else, but maintains the homebuilder rammed an ICE vehicle while attempting to leave the scene. The agency says that prompted an officer to open fire in self-defense, though it has yet to provide evidence to back up that claim.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Monday that his office doesn’t even know the identities of the ICE officers involved or where they are nearly a week later.

“The federal government has not invited us in,” Teare said. “The federal government is not collaborating with us with this investigation.”

The man killed Monday in Maine was from Colombia. Federal officers claimed he tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers pursuing him for deportation. The shooting took place in Biddeford, a coastal city of about 23,000 people roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Portland.

____

Associated Press reporter John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this story.

The team announced bullpen coach Dan Hubbs will serve as interim pitching coach for the remainder of the season.

Sunday's 9-1 loss at the Chicago White Sox left the Athletics with a nine-game losing streak entering the All-Star break. The Athletics' 5.21 ERA ranks next to last in the major leagues, ahead of only Colorado's 5.44.

At 41-55, the Athletics are fourth in the AL West.

Emerson joined the Athletics in 2014 as bullpen coach and was promoted to pitching coach in 2017.

___

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

“Audiences on every sofa and in every movie (theater) seat would feel the impact of this unlawful merger,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the case, said in a news conference from Los Angeles. He said the deal would result in higher prices, fewer movies and TV shows and lower quality of content overall.

A Paramount-Warner combo would bring together two of Hollywood's last five legacy studios. It would also mean putting Warner's HBO Max, libraries filled with fan favorites like “Harry Potter” and even CNN under the same roof of Paramount-owned CBS and the Paramount+ streaming service.

In Monday's complaint, the states said such a tie-up would also “inflict substantial harm” on movie theatres and basic cable distributors. Bonta's office said the states are asking Warner and Paramount to not close this merger “until after the judicial process concludes." And if the companies do not agree, the coalition would then file a temporary restraining order.

Paramount said Monday's lawsuit “distorts settled antitrust law" and maintained that its merger would instead create a "stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms who have harmed the market for theatrical exhibition and jobs in the entertainment industry.”

The company, which was bought by Skydance just last year, vowed to “vigorously defend” the transaction.

Warner deferred to Paramount for comment. Beyond California, states joining Monday's lawsuit include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Where Paramount's takeover of Warner stands

Monday's antitrust case arrives at a pivotal time for the Paramount-Warner transaction — which, after months of what became a very public bidding war with Netflix, received shareholders’ stamp of approval in April and then a blessing from President Donald Trump's administration just last month.

The companies have hoped to close their deal sometime in the third quarter of this year, recently signaling an effort to complete the process in the coming weeks. The states’ lawsuit could throw a wrench in those plans, at least for now.

The clock is ticking. Paramount also pledged to give shareholders some compensation if that process isn’t complete by Sept. 30 — in the form of a 25-cent per share “ticking fee” for every quarter past that date. And it’s agreed to a regulatory termination fee of $7 billion.

Beyond the U.S., Paramount has touted additional regulatory clearances it says it’s received in a handful of other countries, including China, Canada and Australia. Meanwhile, other reviews remain in progress, including in the European Union and the U.K. — which has separately suggested it may intervene.

Including debt, Paramount’s proposed purchase of Warner is valued at nearly $111 billion (or $31 per share) based on current outstanding shares.

Critics decry merger

Warner and Paramount argue that merging will be good for growth in the industry and give consumers access to more content, especially if HBO Max and Paramount+ libraries are combined. But critics have decried what further consolidation could mean in an industry already controlled by just a few major players.

Monday's lawsuit from the states pointed to movies that make their way into theaters and the wider TV landscape — noting that a combined Paramount-Warner could control nearly a third of both the theatrical film distribution market as well as basic cable programming.

Such a combination would create “a massive company with unprecedented power and influence over news and entertainment across the globe,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is among those challenging the deal. Beyond consumer impacts, she also said the merger would “put jobs and businesses nationwide at risk.”

Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have already voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal. Monday's challenge garnered applause from groups like the Writers Guild of America, who warn that consolidation would result in "fewer jobs, lower wages for entertainment workers, less variety of programming, and higher prices for consumers”

Paramount argued on Monday that delaying the merger “will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood."

The company added that the states' case would “shield” larger streaming rivals like Netflix from meaningful competition.

Political questions

Throughout Paramount's quest for Warner, questions of political influence have also piled up — with criticism falling largely along party lines in Washington. No Republicans signed on to the states’ case on Monday.

Democrats have long expressed skepticism about whether regulators working under Trump would scrutinize the deal as heavily. Several attorneys general joining Monday's lawsuit took aim at the Justice Department's decision to not challenge the deal — pointing in particular to the president's close relationship with the billionaire family of Paramount CEO David Ellison.

“Something happened and perhaps that something had to do with a mega-billionaire named Ellison," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters on Monday. “We are seeing more and more instances where the Trump DOJ is just rolling over for corporate consolidation," she added.

Last month, DOJ leadership released a lengthy statement in support of the deal — maintaining a Paramount-Warner combo would “increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers.” The Justice Department had maintained that politics would not play a role in its review.

Trump himself previously made public comments about Warner’s future, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be in approving a merger.

Many eyes are on CNN, a network that has long attracted ire from Trump and his allies.

Paramount’s CBS has already seen significant turmoil and shifts in editorial leadership since coming under Skydance ownership last year — and if Warner merger goes through, the reach of that could grow. Several Trump administration officials have also been far from shy from sharing their hopes for CNN under Paramount ownership, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling reporters in March that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

___

Mikella Schuettler contributed from Phoenix.

El abogado Félix Ulloa, actual vicepresidente de la República, acompañará nuevamente a Bukele, que asumió su primer mandato el 1 de junio de 2019.

Nuevas Ideas informó en su cuenta oficial de la red social X que "las elecciones internas 2026 han finalizado con éxito” y también publicó los resultados oficiales del proceso.

El partido oficialista realizó el domingo las internas, aunque desde el sábado abrió las votaciones por internet para sus afiliados que residen en el extranjero.

El 1 de junio Bukele cumplió su séptimo año de gobierno con una aprobación del 87,8% de la población, según una reciente encuesta del Instituto de Opinión Pública de la Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas.

Según este sondeo, el principal logro de Bukele está relacionado con la seguridad. En marzo de 2022, el mandatario declaró la guerra a las pandillas que por más de tres décadas mantuvieron aterrorizado al país convirtiéndolo en el más peligroso del mundo y ahora afirma que El Salvador es uno de los países más seguros.

En 2015, El Salvador tuvo 6.656 asesinatos y una tasa de homicidios de 106 por cada 100.000 habitantes. Ese año fue uno de los más violentos en la historia de la nación y el más violento desde el fin de la guerra civil (1980-1992).

El Salvador cerró 2025 con una baja récord en homicidios —82 casos— en medio de un prolongado y cuestionado régimen de excepción con el que el gobierno combate a las pandillas.

La reelección presidencial indefinida en El Salvador fue habilitada a través de una reforma constitucional aprobada por la Asamblea Legislativa el 31 de julio de 2025, la cual eliminó la sanción de pérdida de derechos ciudadanos a los promotores de la reelección presidencial y la prohibición de la candidatura presidencial a quienes hayan ejercido como presidentes en el anterior periodo.

Esta reforma constitucional también extendió el periodo presidencial de cinco a seis años y adelantó las elecciones presidenciales a 2027.

Bukele fue reelecto por primera vez en febrero de 2024 con el 84,65 % de los votos válidos luego de una resolución de la Sala de lo Constitucional de septiembre de 2021 que habilitó la reelección presidencial “por una sola vez”.

El presidente ha defendido las reformas a la Constitución aprobadas por el Congreso que está controlado por Nuevas Ideas, que elimina los límites a los mandatos presidenciales y permitiría que se mantenga indefinidamente en el poder.

Bukele afirmó que “el 90% de los países desarrollados permiten la reelección indefinida de su jefe de gobierno y nadie se inmuta”. Agregó que cuando un país pequeño y pobre como El Salvador intenta hacer lo mismo “de repente se convierte en el fin de la democracia”.

Blaney drove like NASCAR's King while ruling the Cup Series race from qualifying through every stage in a weather-delayed victory which left the Team Penske Ford driver in contention for the points championship.

Blaney won every stage after starting on the pole and led 171 laps in his win. The race was delayed 3 hours, 9 minutes by rain and lightning and ended at 1:45 a.m. on Monday.

The 171 laps led are the most at a drafting-style track since Petty led 184 of 200 laps for his first Daytona 500 win in 1964.

As a result, Blaney is third in the NASCAR points race, only 65 behind leader Denny Hamlin. Tyler Reddick is second.

Even Blaney was shocked to learn he is in the thick of the championship race heading into Sunday's race at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

“Really?” Blaney asked when told he is only 65 points out of the lead. “Wow! Wow!”

It was a race to remember for Blaney and Team Penske. Blaney's dominance began when he won the pole while joined by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano on the front row. He then survived the long weather delay to answer every challenge while winning Stage 1, Stage 2 and then surviving a three-wide battle on the final lap.

“I couldn’t ask for a better weekend,” Blaney said. "Sat on the pole, won both stages and won the race.

“My car was incredibly fast, leading. I could defend moves without having to throw, like, low-percentage blocks. I just never really did that.”

Blaney knew he had the speed to recover if he briefly lost the lead.

“Some moves are kind of unbeatable to defend as the leader,” he said. “I would just let people get to my inside. If they passed me, great, I think I can probably develop a run to get them back.”

Blaney's crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, made the crucial decision to keep the No. 12 Ford on the track after Blaney brushed the wall with 29 laps remaining. Blaney worried he felt a “terrible” vibration following the contact with the wall but Hassler was able to quickly determine there was no serious damage.

“We were able to get some pictures really quick, see that the damage wasn’t too bad,” Hassler said. “Obviously we saw there was a little bit. ... We looked at it, there were 30 cars on the lead lap, not a lot of laps left. Our chance to win was to stay out, take a little bit of a risk. Fortunately it worked out for us.”

Blaney fought off challenges from Bubba Wallace and Christopher Hill, who finished second, on the final lap. Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top four. Wallace was penalized for passing below the double yellow lines and finished 29th instead of second.

Blaney said he didn't have the best-handling car but enjoyed being able to rely on his superior speed with the race on the line.

“That was kind of a fun dynamic of my car is really fast, handles a little worse than theirs,” Blaney said. “Their car handles better but isn’t quite as quick down the straightaway. Fun how all that played out.”

Now Blaney will continue to chase the Toyotas of Hamlin and Reddick for the points lead. Blaney's strategy is simple: "Just keep doing what we’re doing."

Asked if he can win the championship, Blaney said “I don’t think it’s out of the question.

"We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. That surprises me we’re that close. I think before San Diego I was like 160 out. It shows you how quick things can kind of ebb and flow. ... Never know when we can get there or not."

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The statement released Monday was signed by top economists, along with computer scientists and some executives at tech companies including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.

“AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years,” says the letter organized by Stanford University's digital economy lab. “This could drive an unprecedented transformation of our economy, larger than the Industrial Revolution, but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame. It could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards.”

The letter, which has only four sentences, says leaders must “build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society.”

The Stanford lab says the letter has so far been signed by more than 200 economists and AI researchers, including 16 winners of a Nobel Prize.

Computer scientist and AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio was among the signatories and said in a separate statement that based on the trajectory of AI development, “it is highly plausible that AI will drastically transform our economies.”

“We must be intentional and make collective, democratic choices, rather than letting market forces play out and risking leaving most citizens behind,” wrote Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams accused Trump and his lawyers in a scathing ruling of having manipulated the court system when he sued a federal agency under his control, bypassing a requirement that parties in a lawsuit must have adverse interests. The lawsuit ended in a settlement that granted the president immunity from tax audits and established a $1.776 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been unjustly persecuted.

The judge stopped short of explicitly voiding the deal shielding Trump from tax scrutiny but said the government cannot claim in official proceedings that the agreement was the result of a legitimate legal process.

“Whether Executive Branch actors can privately agree to give themselves and their former clients blanket immunities and billions of dollars in tax monies for legally undefined grievances was never an issue advanced to this Court,” said Williams, an appointee of President Barack Obama. “The question is whether the Parties could do so by claiming to be adverse and engaging the legitimacy of a court proceeding. The answer is a resounding ‘no.’”

The ruling comes just ahead of a key confirmation hearing

Though the practical impacts of the ruling may be limited since the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed months ago and the administration has already abandoned the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that came out of it, the order nonetheless amounts to a scathing rebuke and tees up a politically uncomfortable line of questioning for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he faces the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law," Williams wrote in her ruling.

She added: "Ensuring that our courts are used only for the express purpose created by the Constitution is the obligation of every judge and an obligation that this Court must discharge in light of the matter before it.”

The $10 billion suit against the IRS and Treasury Department in January accused the agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president’s tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020.

In May, however, the administration announced that it was settling the case and creating a fund to compensate people who believe they've been mistreated by the criminal justice system. The fund was quickly shelved amid bipartisan backlash, though the Trump administration has said it intends to proceed with a separate element of the deal affording Trump and family members protection from tax audits.

From the start, the judge had appeared skeptical of the complaint and assigned a group of attorneys to determine whether there was a conflict in the case since, as sitting president, Trump was suing “entities whose decisions are subject to his direction.”

Even after the settlement was revealed, she directed Trump attorneys to lay out their positions on whether the parties in the case were truly adverse to each other, whether the dismissal of the lawsuit was premised on deception and whether the case should be reopened.

She made clear in her ruling that she was not satisfied by the lawyers' answers.

“After a review of the record, and the Parties’ statements, the Court declines to adopt or accept the credulous exercise of divorcing President Trump’s current job title from an understanding of what happened here,” she wrote.

The ruling also raises the possibility of disciplinary actions

The judge referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito, who filed the case, for possible disciplinary action before the state bar in Florida and said another lawyer, Daniel Epstein, will not be granted permission to file within the Southern District of Florida for up to a year.

A spokesman for the Trump legal team responded to a request seeking comment from Brito with a statement that blamed the IRS for allowing the president's tax returns to be leaked.

The judge also ordered that her ruling be sent to the state bars in New York and the District of Columbia, where ethics complaints have been filed against Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.

Williams pointed to Blanche’s congressional testimony in early June in which he revealed that the fund was no longer moving forward. Though nothing had been filed in court, Blanche appeared confident in his testimony that he “could speak for, and bind, both sides of this matter,” Williams said.

“Acting Attorney General Blanche’s apparent capacity to speak for both Plaintiffs and Defendants, sign a ‘settlement’ document on behalf of all Parties to this action, and then repudiate part of that agreement, demonstrates that there was only one party whose interests were being represented throughout this case,” the judge wrote.

The judge also raised ethical concerns about Blanche and Woodward’s involvement in the settlement given Blanche’s past representation of Trump as well as Woodward’s previous defense of Jan. 6 defendants and a co-defendant in Trump’s classified documents case.

“Instead of either recusing because of their previous representations or vigorously defending this lawsuit as required to do so by DOJ policies and procedures, these lawyers agreed to a ‘settlement’ involving a staggering amount of money potentially benefitting former clients,” she said.

Blanche denied in a CNN interview last spring that he had developed the settlement terms, saying, “The president has outside counsel, and their counsel, the Department of Justice, not me."

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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

After the long holdup, Jay-Z started the show at 12:17 a.m. Monday and told the audience that “somebody rushed the door” and that he didn't want to start performing and have “people get trampled” on their way in.

“Really sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure everybody was OK,” he told the crowd before thanking them for their patience and promising a “good time tonight.”

In a statement, the Yankees, Jay-Z's Roc Nation and Live Nation said hundreds of people in large groups without tickets “stormed over peaceful ticketholders, and in some cases, breached security" and the stadium had to shutter entrances for an extended period of time before being able to cautiously reopen.

Video from outside the stadium showed a large crowd of people standing around an entrance. A different video from inside the stadium showed people rushing inside through an open door before several security guards were able to stop additional people from entering.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said it did not have information about arrests at the stadium over the incident.

How much of the money will be delivered, and when reconstruction of Gaza can begin, is unclear. The ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that took effect in October is effectively stalled.

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica announced the fund after a meeting in Brussels of the Palestine Donors Group, which includes EU and Middle East nations along with international organizations and financial institutions.

“The ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, and the situation on the ground for civilians is not getting better," Šuica said. She said the money will move through “trusted partners" but didn't give details.

Few places in the Palestinian territory of over 2 million people have been left unscathed, and the United Nations, World Bank and EU estimate that reconstruction will cost $70 billion.

The U.N. has said Gaza has more than 60 million tons of rubble, enough to fill nearly 3,000 container ships. It will take over seven years to clear, with additional time for demining.

The meeting also brought together Nickolay Mladenov, the head of the Board of Peace set up by U.S. President Donald Trump to lead Gaza's reconstruction; Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; Ali Shaath, the head of the new Palestinian committee meant to administer Gaza’s daily affairs but still unable to enter; and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.

Mladenov has made clear that the next steps in implementing the ceasefire are stalled over the difficult issue of disarming Hamas militants in Gaza.

“We are investing not only in the Palestinian future but also in the regional stability, shared security and just and lasting peace for everyone together,” Mustafa said, calling for “a resilient, sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestinian state" — something Israel's current government has opposed.

The Palestinian Authority seeks a role in Gaza’s reconstruction, but the U.S. 20-point plan only makes a reference to the possibility of a future Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, EU ministers discuss the West Bank

Separately, top diplomats from the 27-nation EU debated how to respond to increased Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

The bloc's executive, the European Commission, has tabled options including cutting off trade with Israeli settlements in the territory.

Nations like Ireland and Spain are calling for forceful action. The Czech Republic, Germany and others alongside the commission are more cautious, seeking to apply incremental pressure. Some nations have signaled they would veto sanctions.

Do sanctions “have a meaningful impact or not? What role could they play as a political message, and would this be escalatory in a wrong direction?” said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the European Council's legal service had found that severing trade ties with Israeli settlements in the West Bank — not technically sanctions — would require a majority vote and not total unanimity from bloc members.

Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said a clear majority in the EU agrees on severing commercial ties with the settlements. He dismissed arguments that tough action would boost Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances in an election in October: “I hope that now it’s time for decisions.”

The aorta is our largest artery, like a highway that arches up from the heart and then curves back down through the abdomen — carrying oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body as other arteries branch off from it.

What doctors call an aortic dissection happens when a tear in its inner lining lets blood rapidly leak between its other layers, according to the American Heart Association. That reduces blood flow to vital organs, and sometimes can lead to a rupture that pours blood into surrounding tissues. It often can be caused by an aortic aneurysm, a weakened spot on the artery that can bulge like a balloon.

Risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol that in turn stiffens arteries — called atherosclerosis — and smoking. It's more common in older people but also can be caused by certain genetic conditions in younger people.

A preliminary medical examiner's report shared by Graham's office said the aortic dissection was related to artery hardening.

Symptoms tend to be sudden, with severe stabbing-like pain, often in the chest or back but sometimes in the neck, jaw or abdomen depending on where in the aorta the tear happened. According to the heart association, people also may suddenly lose consciousness, have clammy or sweaty skin, experience stroke-like symptoms such as sudden weakness on one side of the body, or show signs of shock, including rapid heart rate or confusion.

Fast treatment improves the chances of survival. Depending on where the tear occurred and its extent, surgeons may try to repair it or patch the torn section of the aorta.

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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.