Baseball owners haven’t proposed a firm cap since 1994. Their effort prompted a 7 1/2-month strike that forced the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years.

The proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million, with a salary floor of $171.2 million.

“Our salary cap and floor proposal levels the playing field while sharing baseball revenue with the players 50/50 as we grow the game together,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “Further, by sharing media revenue equally as part of our proposal, we can address another top fan concern of local TV blackouts.”

Management gave the union its latest plan during a bargaining session at the commissioner's office, one day after the union made its economic proposal. Owners say a cap is needed to improve competitive balance and restrain the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and other wealthy teams from assembling starrier rosters than their smaller-market brethren.

Players want expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum, increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs and establishing penalties for teams that drop below payroll floors.

Baseball's current five-year deal, agreed to in March 2022 after a 99-day lockout, expires Dec. 2. While a lockout next winter is expected, talks are not likely to intensify until late February or early March 2027, when the possibilities of losing regular-season games and revenue near. If regular-season games are lost, negotiations may become a standoff of which side can tolerate the most economic loss.

Other U.S. major sports leagues operate under a cap. The NBA had a cap in its initial season in 1946-47, then dropped that and began its modern version in 1984-85. NFL players and owners adopted a cap for the 1994 season, and the NHL did so in 2005-06 after a lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season.

The Dodgers shattered MLB's spending record with a combined $515 million in payroll and luxury tax last year en route to their second straight World Series title. Los Angeles' total was seven times the $68.7 million payroll of the Miami Marlins, the lowest-spending team, and more than the payrolls of the bottom six clubs combined.

Players say a cap would hurt them and enrich owners, and they say they will never agree to one. Without a cap, MLB stars have landed lucrative, guaranteed contracts that outpace what the biggest stars in other U.S. sports leagues make. Juan Soto's $765 million, 15-year contract with the Mets is believed to be the biggest ever in team sports and is far greater than the largest deals in the NFL (Patrick Mahomes at $450 million over 10 years) and NBA (Jayson Tatum at $314 million over five years).

MLB's last salary cap proposal in 1994 offered players a 50-50 split of revenue in a system that would have forced teams to maintain payrolls of 84-110% of the average. Salary arbitration would have been eliminated and the threshold for free agency would have been lowered from six years’ major league service to four — with the provision that a player’s former club could match any offer until he had six years.

MLB's offer came on June 14 that year, and players struck on Aug. 12. MLB withdrew the cap proposal the following Feb. 6 after pressure by the National Labor Relations Board. The strike ended on March 31 after U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor — now a Supreme Court Justice — issued an injunction restoring the work rules of the expired labor contract. Two days later, owners accepted the union's offer to return to work without an agreement. A deal wasn't reached until 1997.

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

Harper shared his morning routine — appropriately captioned, “Moring Y'all” — to more than 600,000 followers on TikTok and one part or his oral care stopped even his most diehard fans right in their shower shoes.

The Philadelphia Phillies slugger squeezed toothpaste straight from the tube into his mouth, rather than applying it first onto his toothbrush.

Next came the brushback pitch.

“Actually diabolical toothpaste application,” one TikTok follower wrote on the post.

Harper's outrageous oral hygiene was trolled on the videoboard as a “fun fact” by the Padres, left fans “horrified,” per British tabloid The Daily Mail, and generally had social media followers — more than 2.7 million views on Jomboy Media alone — befuddled at his brushing.

“It kind of happens when you post a little bit, right?” Harper told Phillies Nation on Wednesday inside the visitors’ clubhouse at Petco Park. “But yeah, I’ve done it forever.”

Well, the American Dental Association saw the video and its advice to potential emulators is simple: please don't.

“It is not suggested to do it that way,” said Ohio dentist Andrew Zucker, a consumer advisor for the association.

Zucker watched the video and thought Harper — more known for his brush with greatness as a two-time NL MVP — was kidding.

But no, Harper explained to the website, it's just the way he's always brushed his teeth.

“I don't think there's anything to be gained,” Zucker said on Thursday. “The only thing to be lost is just wasting a whole bunch of toothpaste.”

Zucker added: “Just put a little pea-sized bit of it on a toothbrush and that's all you need.”

The Padres had some fun with Harper's toothbrushing tip when he came to hit on Tuesday night. His fun biographical fact was listed as: “SQUIRTS TOOTHPASTE INTO HIS MOUTH INSTEAD OF ONTO A TOOTHBRUSH WHEN BRUSHING HIS TEETH.”

“I mean, it’s gone viral, so I’m happy about that,” Harper told Phillies Nation. “It always helps with my videos when it goes viral, so if that’s what makes it go viral, then I’ll take it.”

It's also quite uncommon.

Zucker's father is a dentist, his mother is a hygienist and he's 45 years old and the only time he saw the squeeze technique was “my 3-year-old and it was because he was trying to eat it. But no, I've never seen an adult brush their teeth this way."

Harper's method has worked for him, and he's flashed his pearly whites over 376 career home runs and eight All-Star appearances.

“If I help half a person a day, changing an ingredient or letting them know there are better quality products out there that they can use or that’ll make them feel better, then I won that day,” Harper said.

So what's the harm in the tube-to-tongue technique?

“My only concern would be, you have a lot of germs in your mouth,” said dentist Maria Ryan, chief clinical officer at Colgate-Palmolive. “When you're putting your mouth on the toothpaste tube, you get those germs on there. Sometimes people share toothpaste and things like that, so I worry about that a little bit.”

But here's the positive takeaway, now that Harper can't put the toothpaste TikTok back in the tube.

Bryce Harper, star slugger, the Phillie Phanatic's best friend, and baseball hero to children of all ages, brushes his teeth. Perhaps there's a fussy Phillies fan in footy pajamas who balks at the twice-daily ritual but might be more inclined to brush because Harper does it, as well.

“I was glad he was brushing his teeth,” Ryan said. "I see he's gotten a lot of views. It's good he's telling people you need to brush your teeth, which is very important for preventing cavities and gum disease.

“But it's a unique way of doing it, for sure. So, I probably wouldn't do it that way or instruct my patients to do it that way.”

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

The sanctioning body announced Evanna Daneen Howell’s punishment in its weekly penalty report Wednesday for a “behavioral” incident.

According to Cabarrus County court records, Howell, 35, was arrested Saturday and charged with assaulting Dennis Manchester at the track. Incident details were not immediately available, but court records show Judge Matthew Black found probable cause that the defendant “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did assault Dennis Manchester with golf cart used to assault the victim deadly weapon, inflicting serious injury.”

Howell was released on a $125,000 bond following her first appearance Tuesday, court records show. She has retained attorney Harold Cogdell Jr., who did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press for comment.

Officials at 23XI Racing and NASCAR also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Howell lives in Charlotte and is a senior account manager for 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by Jordan and Denny Hamlin. According to her LinkedIn profile, Howell has been with the race team since 2021.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies reported noticing a black four-door Cadillac sports utility vehicle that had been reported stolen in Miami Gardens.

The deputies, who specialize in robbery intervention, started to follow the driver at Northwest 22nd Avenue and 151st Street, according to MDSO.

Three unmarked law enforcement cars followed the driver, who slowed down and stopped, but did not get out of the stolen Cadillac, authorities said.

One of the unmarked cars performed a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT maneuver, and stopped the Cadillac along Northwest 152nd Street.

The driver got out of the Cadillac and ran eastbound along Northwest 152nd Street, across Rail Road Drive, and into a house’s yard near Opa-locka, according to deputies.

As he approached the train tracks, deputies in dark uniforms surrounded him, put him in handcuffs, and escorted him to a marked MDSO patrol car.

The driver was identified as 26-year-old Klauss Anthony Moise.

Moise is accused of not stopping when deputies tried to pull him over.

Moise was next to a marked MDSO patrol car before Florida Highway Patrol troopers searched him again and put him in a marked FHP car.

Local 10 News learned Moise has faced legal trouble before. In 2022, he was charged with accessory after the fact in the death of Amanda Collins. Police said he helped Collins’ boyfriend, Xavier West, dump her body in a canal in Opa-locka.

Now, nearly four years later, Moise is facing trouble again -- this time with a new set of charges.

Jail records show he is facing one count each of second-degree grand theft, fleeing or eluding police who used lights and siren and resisting an officer without violence to his person.

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

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Texas Tech (58-7) will play Saturday against the winner of Game 2 between Texas and Tennessee. Mississippi State (43-20) will play the Texas-Tennessee loser on Friday.

The Red Raiders took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when leadoff hitter Mia Williams was hit by a pitch and Lis followed with a home run. Texas Tech added two more in the second inning on RBI doubles from Lauren Allred and Williams.

The Red Raiders scored four runs in the fifth inning on a single by Lis for her third RBI of the game, an RBI-single by Kaitlyn Terry, and a one-out single by Mihyia Davis in which two runs scored invoked the run rule with one out.

Canady (26-6), the two-time national pitcher of the year, allowed two hits and struck out five in four innings. Terry pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

For Mississippi State, Alyssa Faircloth (16-8) allowed four runs in 1 1/3 innings. Peja Goold gave up four runs, three earned, in three innings.

This is the first time since 2007 that neither Oklahoma nor Florida has been in the WCWS. Mississippi State eliminated Oklahoma in the Super Regional round and Texas Tech defeated Florida in another Super Regional.

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Police said Marie Bernard was last seen around 6 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Northeast 133rd Street and Northeast Sixth Avenue.

Bernard is 5 feet tall and weighs around 160 pounds, according to investigators.

They said Bernard left her home on foot in an unknown direction and was last seen wearing a blue shirt, purple pants, and red shoes.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call police at 305-891-8111.

La policía informó que Marie Bernard fue vista por última vez alrededor de las 6 p.m. del sábado cerca de la intersección de Northeast 133rd Street y Northeast Sixth Avenue.

Bernard mide 5 pies de altura y pesa alrededor de 160 libras, según los investigadores.

Indicaron que Bernard salió de su casa a pie en una dirección desconocida y fue vista por última vez usando una camisa azul, pantalones morados y zapatos rojos.

Cualquier persona con información sobre su paradero debe llamar a la policía al 305-891-8111.

What’s included in the guide:

• Hurricane Family Plan
• Supply Kit Checklist
• Are You In A Storm Surge Area?
• Tri-County Evacuation Zones
• Tri-County Shelters, including Pet Friendly Shelters
• Special Needs Shelters
• Plan Ahead For Your Pets
• Emergency Transportation Information
• What to Keep and What to Throw Out If the Electricity Goes Out

and more ...

Click here for information on how to be prepared if you’re a caregiver to someone with dementia.

Animals use various techniques to navigate including following the stars and remembering key landmarks. Birds, fish and turtles orient themselves using Earth's magnetic field as a compass. But it's not yet clear how exactly they do this.

Pigeons are a well-known group of frequent flyers that can traverse hundreds of miles (hundreds of kilometers) in a single day. For thousands of years, humans have used them to carry news, notes and military messages.

Scientists have long tried to untangle how pigeons travel without getting lost. Some think the birds detect magnetic cues using light-sensitive molecules in their eyes, while others suggest it happens in the beak or inner ear.

“The magnetic sense has been this mystery for almost 100 years,” said Martin Wikelski with the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany.

In a new study, Wikelski and other researchers decided to draw back the curtain on pigeons' navigational secrets. They searched for magnetic clues in the birds' organs and found a strong signal in an unexpected place: the liver.

Specialized immune cells in the pigeon's liver break down red blood cells and store iron. When scientists temporarily stripped pigeons of those immune cells and let them fly, the birds “just couldn't find their way,” said Christian Kurts with the University of Bonn in Germany. That suggested the iron-rich liver cells might play a role in their sense of direction.

The birds' magnetic compasses only got scrambled on overcast days. That's because they also use the sun as a navigational guide.

Scientists have previously wondered whether immune cells could be involved in magnetic sensing, but the new study published Thursday in the journal Science is the first to present a full-fledged theory.

“I would never have guessed it, but once it was explained to me, it makes sense,” said behavioral ecologist Albert Kao with the University of Massachusetts Boston, who had no role in the study.

The immune cells are located near nerve fibers in the liver. That might be how they transmit their “magnetic sense” to the brain “and help the pigeons to navigate,” said study co-author Clivia Lisowski with the University of Bonn.

The researchers think other birds and animals like mice could operate using a similar magnetic GPS. But outside experts say more work is needed to verify the pigeons navigate this way and to firm up how these signals get to the brain. While the researchers found the strongest magnetic signal in the pigeons' livers, such immune cells have also been spotted in other areas including the beak and spleen.

It's possible this magnetic puzzle doesn't have a single answer, wrote veterinary pathologist Simon Spiro and biologist Hal Drakesmith in an accompanying editorial. The birds could use different techniques to sense magnetic fields depending on the task, be it traveling long distances or finding a specific destination.

“Indeed, it could be prudent to have more than one way of getting home in the dark,” they wrote.

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

The NHL Alumni Association announced Lemieux's death in a post on social media. A cause of death was not immediately available, nor was it clear where Lemieux was when he died.

Lemieux on Monday night was the Montreal Canadiens’ torch bearer prior to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Bell Centre.

“Today is a dark day for the Canadiens family and the entire hockey community," Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said. “A fierce competitor who rose to the occasion in big moments, Claude was a relentless, courageous, and tenacious player who led the team to the highest honors. He embodied the very essence of being a Montreal Canadiens player. Today we mourn the untimely passing of one of our champions. Our thoughts are with his family on this difficult day.”

As a player, Lemieux was a mix of skill and abrasiveness, not afraid to cross the line in the name of competition.

He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for his role in helping the New Jersey Devils win their first championship in 1995. A year later with the Colorado Avalanche, he was suspended for two games for a hit from behind on Detroit's Kris Draper on the way to them hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time in their first season since moving from his native Quebec.

Darren McCarty, a truculent member of the Red Wings during the heyday of their rivalry with the Avalanche that was sparked by Lemieux's hit on Draper, posted a broken heart emoji on social media with the alumni's announcement and additional thoughts about his former adversary's death.

“This is extremely sad no matter what feelings from past or present you hold,” McCarty said. “My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends, and people who got to see the person off the ice wasn’t the person on. As I’ve said and will always call it as I see it "If you're on the ICE with Claude Lemieux and your turn your back. YOU Are an IDIOT. But off the ICE I’ll turn mine" And please. If you are struggling at all please reach out and talk to someone. Godspeed my friend.”

Lemieux also won the Cup with Montreal in 1986 and returned to the Devils to be a part of their title run in 2000. He played 1,449 regular-season and playoff games with six different teams from 1983-2009.

Commissioner Gary Bettman called Lemieux “one of the greatest big-game players in hockey history.”

Lemieux had become an agent in the years since his playing career ended and represented Carolina’s Frederik Andersen, New Jersey's Timo Meier, Detroit's Moritz Seider and Boston's Hampus Lindholm among more than a dozen clients in the NHL.

At a gathering in December to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Colorado's '95 Stanley Cup championship, Lemieux said of winning, “When it’s happening, when you’re in the middle of it, you don’t quite appreciate it as much as you should.”

Late former teammate Chris Simon was represented during the on-ice ceremony by his children. He died in 2024 at 52.

“It’s very difficult, and especially with Chris passing at such a young age,” Lemieux said. “We have to count our blessings — be grateful for the days that we have and enjoy and appreciate those times when we get together.”

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The American love affair with French luxury goods and their cultural cachet and craftsmanship has spanned the younger country's history, and a new exhibit explores the story of how these treasures shaped a cultural exchange that marks 250 years of Franco-American relations.

Among the standouts in the exhibit’s cabinet of curiosities: the Givenchy coat worn by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy; a Cartier lunar module replica from Apollo 11; and a medal commissioned by Benjamin Franklin at the “Hidden Treasures” exhibit at The Shed in Manhattan.

The organizers behind the exhibit, Comité Colbert, represent the top French luxury “maisons,” or houses — including fashion, perfume, jewelry, hospitality and spirits. They asked 65 luxury maisons and cultural institutions to excavate archives and unearth pieces that embodied the Franco-American bond.

The exhibit, which runs through the end of May, comes at a time when American consumers account for a major share in the demand for French luxury goods. Those luxury houses are taking notice — and expanding in the United States.

“American people love French elegance — the ‘je ne sais quoi’ of French luxury,” said Bénédicte Épinay, president and CEO of Comité Colbert. “It’s a deep link starting at the 18th century and still alive.”

France was a ‘dominant’ culture when the US was born

Just as Comité Colbert is honoring France’s bond with the U.S., the U.S. is celebrating its own 250 milestone — its semiquincentennial.

“The U.S. is a relatively young country,” said James Burroughs, professor of commerce at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. “For much of our existence, we were a relatively modest economy. We were overshadowed by dominant cultures like France.”

The link between the two countries can be seen in perhaps the most renowned American symbol, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France dedicated in 1886. But even before that — and even before French historian Alexis de Tocqueville famously wrote his epic work about U.S. democracy in the 1830s — Americans turned to France as arbiters of taste.

To commemorate France’s support during the Revolutionary War, one of America’s Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, turned to French artists and the Paris mint to commission the Libertas Americana medal in 1782. Exhibit attendees can get an up-close look at the medal's design. Each item on display was presented in shipping containers to symbolize the trans-Atlantic voyage between both countries.

In an effort to market French luxury goods to U.S. audiences, one French Champagne company’s unique approach is on display at the exhibition. An ad from Champagne giant Veuve Clicquot from 1964 shows how the company paired its Champagne with hamburgers to appeal to American audiences and to break away from the image of saving a glass of Champagne for special occasions.

“Luxury," Burroughs said, “is always about status and signaling.”

Fashion, unsurprisingly, has been front and center

Much like its role in the French luxury sector, fashion brought the star power to the exhibit.

Givenchy offered Kennedy Onassis’s pink, brushed-cashmere wool coat from her 1961 visit to France for the exhibit. Madonna’s revealing pinstriped Jean Paul Gaultier dress from his 1992 runway show to benefit AIDS research is also on display.

French luxury houses are catering to their American audiences by bringing their designs to the United States as well. The French fashion maisons from Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel have all staged their runway shows in the U.S. in recent months.

“European luxury goods companies are in the process of getting deeper into the USA,” Luca Solca, luxury goods senior analyst at Bernstein, said in an email. “In the past, only the two coasts and Las Vegas had luxury stores. American consumers are step by step warming up to European luxury. In a similar vein to what Chinese consumers did many years ago.”

These brands are not only holding extravagant runway shows in the U.S. but are expanding their businesses across the U.S. Hermès opened a new location in Nashville last year.

“What the French have done really well ... in the last 15 years, is that they have opened up their range of products to create offers that are very relevant to the mass American consumer,” said Thomaï Serdari, New York University marketing professor and director of the luxury and retail MBA.

French jewelry brand Boucheron featured a dramatic diamond Belle Époque style necklace at the exhibit replicated after the necklace the brand sold to Irish-American couple Marie-Louise Mackay and her husband, John William Mackay in 1899. The couple, who amassed their fortune through silver mines, commissioned 50 pieces from the house.

Looking to capture a new generation of collectors, the brand now has three U.S. stores under its umbrella since opening on Madison Avenue in 2024. Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, Boucheron's CEO and incoming president of the Comité Colbert, told The Associated Press that the brand has plans to open a fourth store in the United States before the end of the year.

After increased growth from spending during the pandemic, the luxury sector is now grappling with tariffs from the Trump administration and economic uncertainty. The European Commission agreed to a deal with President Donald Trump on a 15% tariff on goods last year before the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s call in February.

For the luxury houses, Épinay said, tariffs are in the past.

“Politics and economics, it’s up and down," she said. "We’re here to celebrate this strong cultural link between us.”

The legislation, introduced by Representative Joe Wilson, R-S.C., would direct the department’s bureau of engraving and printing to put Trump’s face on the new bill to mark the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.

If passed and signed into law by Trump, it would mark an extraordinary recognition for a sitting U.S. leader and comes as Trump has sought to place himself at the center of celebrations marking the country’s birthday. The Department’s preparation for the languishing legislation suggests some enthusiasm for the idea on the part of the Trump administration.

The agency's explanation follows a Washington Post report stating that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, a Trump appointee, has been pushing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to expedite the process for a new currency note. The paper also reported that the former BEP chief was reassigned after pushing back.

“In response to active legislation sponsored by Representative Joe Wilson, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is conducting appropriate planning and due diligence,” the spokeswoman said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Should this legislative mandate be signed into law, the BEP is moving proactively to produce a $250 commemorative note which will appropriately recognize the 250th Anniversary of our great nation.”

Wilson's legislation, which so far has languished, is intended to create the new high-denomination note as a tribute to Trump as the nation's celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The measure would override current law that forbids anyone who is still living from being featured on U.S. currency.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose department includes the printing bureau, is scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon at the White House and could be asked to address the matter.

Beach did not respond to an AP request for comment.

According to the Post report, Beach last fall provided the Bureau of Engraving and Printing with a design for the new bill. It featured Trump's portrait — the same one hung on banners adorning some federal buildings in Washington — and a 250th anniversary logo. Trump's signature also was included, a design element that would differ from other paper money.

British artist Iain Alexander told the Post he had designed the bill and said he'd discussed it with the president. Alexander did not respond to an AP request for comment.

The newspaper also reported that the director of the printing bureau, Patricia Solimene, resisted pressure from Beach and his top aide Mike Brown and stressed to them the lengthy legal and procedural process required to issue new currency. Solimene has since been reassigned against her will, the Post reported, with Brown effectively assuming leadership of the bureau.

The Treasury spokesperson did not address AP's questions about any leadership changes at the bureau.

A new currency note would be the latest example of Trump expanding his personal brand in his official capacity since returning to the White House in 2025.

Beach and Bessent already streamlined approval of a commemorative 250th anniversary coin featuring Trump. The Treasury Department has asserted that those special coins fall outside the prohibition on living presidents appearing on legal tender. In 1926, the nation's 150th anniversary, then-President Calvin Coolidge appeared on a commemorative half-dollar coin.

The Trump administration has had banners featuring his portrait hung on the Department of Justice and other federal buildings. And his slate of appointees to the Kennedy Center governing board added his name to the national performing arts facility that Congress originally designated as a memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy. That renaming is being challenged in court because of the federal law establishing the center as the official memorial to the 35th president. United States currency has the inscription “In God We Trust” in a place the Secretary decides is appropriate. Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities. The name of the individual shall be inscribed below the portrait.

Federal law currently states that Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities

Wilson’s bill would add the exception: "except if the individual is or has been the President of the United States.”

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Barrow reported from Atlanta.

More than 20 people were injured in the strikes, according to Shifa Hospital. Video from the scene showed flames pouring from an upper-floor window of a building, while bystanders rushed to carry wounded people, including children, to ambulances.

Mohammed Shawish, who was wounded and lost his wife in the strikes, broke down in tears as he held her body at the hospital morgue, saying, “I married my wife for love. For God’s sake, I chose her because of love.”

The strikes took place on the first day of Eid al-Adha, or the “Feast of Sacrifice,” an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions of Muslims worldwide. The Israeli military said Wednesday evening it had launched strikes in the northern Gaza Strip targeting two Hamas militants.

Among those killed was Hamas fighter Imad Isleim. On Thursday, mourners carried his body wrapped in a white shroud with a Hamas flag draped over it. His death came as a “shock” to the family, even though they knew it could happen at any time, his cousin Nidal Isleim said.

The strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel was expanding its control in Gaza.

“Right now we are tightening the grip on Hamas," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday at a conference in Jordan. “We are now in 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. You know that? We were at 50%, we moved to 60%."

He said the next step was to move to 70% control, with Israel “tightening the grip" on Hamas "from every direction.”

“We will deal with the remnants,” Netanyahu said. "But the most important thing is to continue leveraging our power, to increase it.”

The conference was part of a broader discussion on the war, Iran, Hezbollah, Gaza and regional strategy.

"There is still more work. What is happening right now is truly a global change. There is no doubt about that,” Netanyahu added.

Earlier this week, an Israeli strike killed Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed leader of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, less than two weeks after his predecessor was also killed.

Across the Gaza Strip, 16 people were killed and 39 others wounded over the past 48 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said in an update on Thursday. The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but is staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

Since a fragile ceasefire came into effect last October, 922 people have been killed in Gaza and 2,786 others injured, according to the ministry.

La jueza está considerando la solicitud de Pino para trasladar el caso fuera del condado, desestimar los cargos por completo y suprimir las declaraciones de Pino.

Este jueves, el teniente Billy Thompson, de la Comisión de Conservación de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de Florida, subió al estrado. Él era el comandante de incidentes críticos en el momento del accidente.

El abogado defensor Howard Srebnick interrogó a Thompson sobre si Pino parecía estar bajo los efectos de alguna sustancia.

Thompson testificó que Pino no lo parecía.

Pero la fiscalía argumentó que la interacción de Thompson con Pino ocurrió dos horas después del accidente.

El caso surge de un accidente de bote ocurrido durante el fin de semana del Día del Trabajo en 2022, cuando Pino operaba una embarcación que transportaba a su esposa, su hija adolescente y varias amigas de ella.

Los investigadores dijeron que el bote chocó contra un marcador de canal en aguas cercanas a Boca Chita Key, lanzando a los pasajeros al agua y causando la muerte de una adolescente.

Los investigadores reportaron haber encontrado decenas de envases vacíos de alcohol a bordo y dijeron que Pino fue visto en video afirmando que había tomado dos cervezas ese día.

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The judge is considering Pino’s request to move the case out of the county, dismiss the charges altogether and to suppress Pino’s statements.

On Thursday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Lt. Billy Thompson took the stand. He was the critical incident commander at the time of the crash.

Defense attorney Howard Srebnick questioned Thompson about whether Pino appeared impaired.

Thompson testified that Pino did not.

But the prosecution argued Thompson’s interaction with Pino occurred two hours after the crash.

The case stems from a Labor Day weekend boating crash in 2022, when Pino was operating a boat carrying his wife, teenage daughter and several of her friends.

Investigators said the boat struck a channel marker in waters near Boca Chita Key, throwing passengers into the water, killing a teenage girl.

Investigators reported finding dozens of empty alcohol containers on board and said Pino was seen on video stating he had two beers that day.

In the latest edition of their fierce rivalry, Canada's quarterfinal victory ended the Americans' quest to retain the trophy that they had won for the first time since 1933.

The two teams met for the first time since the final at the Milan Cortina Olympics three months ago, when the Americans prevailed 2-1 in overtime to take the gold medal.

Canada remains on course to capture its 29th title at the worlds.

Celebrini scored his sixth goal at the worlds, Sidney Crosby netted his first, and Dylan Holloway and Connor Brown also scored. Mark Scheifele had two assists, and Greaves turned away every shot he faced.

“He is calm and tonight came up with the big save when we needed it,” forward John Tavares said of Greaves. “He was the best player on the ice tonight, for sure.”

The 19-year-old Celebrini broke the deadlock with 1:29 remaining in the opening period on a power play with a shot from the slot to beat U.S. goalie Devin Cooley.

Earlier, Canada wasted a five-minute major penalty for Ryan Lindgren’s illegal check to the head of defenseman Evan Bouchard and game misconduct.

Holloway doubled the advantage midway through the middle period on a rebound off his own shot from the right circle.

The Americans pulled Cooley with 2:22 left in the third before Brown and Crosby finished the scoring with a couple of empty-net goals.

In their most-recent matchup at the worlds, Canada won 4-2 in the semifinals in 2021 and went on to capture gold. The U.S. took bronze.

Matthew Tkachuk lost a chance to become the first American in hockey’s Triple Gold Club. He won the Stanley Cup back-to-back with the Florida Panthers and claimed the Olympic gold in Milan.

"In the third period we played really, really good and their goalie made some incredible saves,” Tkachuk said. “They ultimately were better for most of the game and so deserved to win.”

Finland advances

In Zurich, Finland reached the semifinals with a 4-1 victory over Czechia in a game between the 2022 and 2024 champions, respectively.

Finland was 2-0 up after the opening period on goals from Sakari Manninen and Anton Lundell. In the second, Konsta Helenius made it 3-0 before Filip Hronek scored for the Czechs on a two-man advantage. Lenni Hameenaho closed out the scoring in the third.

In the remaining quarterfinals later Thursday, host Switzerland played Sweden, and Latvia faced Norway.

___

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

O’Hara was an outsider brought in with a mandate to reform the police department after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which led to federal and state investigative findings of excessive force and racist policing practices. O’Hara had spent most of his career in Newark, New Jersey, where he instituted changes after that department was put under a federal consent decree for patterns of excessive force and unconstitutional stops and searches.

The challenges in Minneapolis were clear before O'Hara arrived in late 2022. For a time, it had seemed the department itself might not survive. In 2021, more than 43% of voters supported disbanding the department as the city reeled from Floyd’s killing and the massive protests and widespread rioting that followed.

O'Hara was faced with a daunting challenge

Policing experts had noted the monumental task that faced the city’s next police chief, who would have to rebuild community trust and a department whose morale had dipped so low that it was hemorrhaging officers.

“I don’t think there was a bigger challenge to any American city than what Minneapolis faced when he arrived,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of a Washington think tank, the Police Executive Research Forum. “They had gone from 850 to 500 officers, violent crime was significantly up, trust with the community was broken, a police station had burned down and a federal consent decree would face the next chief. Then you had the politics of Minneapolis.”

Coming in as an outsider to lead a large department is daunting, even without being asked to reform and rebuild, said Renée Hall, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives who moved from Detroit to lead the Dallas Police Department from 2017 to 2020.

“It’s extremely challenging to walk into an organization, where you don’t even know where the light switches are, where the bathrooms are. And that’s just the basics,” Hall said. “You have to learn the officers, the community, the politics of that particular city, and try to learn and navigate the existing relationships, like unions or officer associations and who is tied to whom and who is fighting for whom.”

Hall said outside hires can face resentment from those within an organization who supported internal candidates. They also have to earn the trust of the community, which she said takes time.

Local politics muddy the chief's departure

After the police disbandment measure failed, O'Hara joined the bureaucracy of a deeply progressive city that is regularly buffeted by political battles between the mayor and the City Council, and among council members.

Those battles were on full display Wednesday, when a City Council news conference about O'Hara's resignation quickly turned into an opportunity for the council's resolute progressives to attack Mayor Jacob Frey, who has long portrayed himself as a “pragmatic progressive.”

The resignation “is a symptom of a much larger problem, which is simply that Mayor Frey continues to be unable to effectively manage the Minneapolis Police Department,” said Council member Robin Wonsley, a cornerstone of the council's progressive bloc.

Frey, who just weeks ago pushed to have O'Hara reappointed as chief, fired back at criticism that he didn’t move aggressively enough when allegations of the chief's potential misconduct emerged.

“I don’t make decisions based on rumors and anonymous complaints,” he said in a statement, adding that he would work with the council to find a replacement. “I took action promptly after receiving the investigative report. … Decisions this serious have to be grounded in facts, evidence and completed investigations. Anything less would be irresponsible.”

O'Hara did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday. His attorney, Doug Kelley, released a statement touting successes during O'Hara's tenure, including diversifying and increasing the department's ranks, the decreasing violent crime rate and mitigating violent clashes during the immigration crackdown.

“The circumstances of Chief O’Hara’s departure should not define his service," Kelley wrote. "He was proud to serve Minneapolis, remains grateful to the officers and community partners who did difficult work under extraordinary pressure, and hopes the city continues moving forward. He understandably looks forward to returning to his young family in New Jersey.”

O'Hara's tenure was tumultuous

The resignation came just months after Minneapolis was plunged into the national spotlight amid a federal immigration surge that left three civilians shot, two fatally. O'Hara faced criticism he hadn't done enough to stop the crackdown.

Violence plagued the city in 2025, including deadly attacks on state politicians in the Minneapolis suburbs; gunfire that erupted at a popular city picnic spot; and a shooting during Mass at the Church of the Annunciation that left two children dead and more than a dozen people injured. O’Hara called the church attack a “ truly unthinkable tragedy. ”

Critics say dozens of complaints were filed against O'Hara, from accusations that he was rude to the public to the recent investigation into an ultimately unproven allegation he had a sexual relationship with a city employee. Most of the complaints have not been made public, and 17 complaints are still being investigated. Investigators closed 17 more without any disciplinary actions.

An independent investigator did not find evidence to substantiate the alleged sexual relationship with a city employee, but a second report released this week said O'Hara likely deleted the employee's contact from his phone during the investigation and that he talked to another employee about the probe despite being told it was not to be discussed.

That recent report led to a written reprimand; Frey told O'Hara he would be disciplined and that he could be terminated. Frey said O'Hara chose to resign instead.

Frey appointed an interim chief Tuesday from inside the department, and he has 30 days to nominate a successor under the city's charter. ___

Lauer reported from Philadelphia.

Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna said authorities were deploying “significant resources and personnel” in trying to find Jacob Baker, of Pahoa, Hawaii.

Three men, including two who were 69 years old and one who was 79, were found dead on Monday and Tuesday in the Puna area of the island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island. The island is the largest in the Hawaiian chain at more than 4,000 square miles (10,360 square kilometers).

“These are a tragic series of events and our thoughts are with those who are grieving at this time,” Mahuna said at a news conference Wednesday. “The Hawaii Police Department understands the fear and concerns incidents like this bring to our community.”

Mahuna declined to provide details on the search, but said bringing Baker into custody was his department's “No. 1 priority.”

Authorities said they had not identified a motive but were confident Baker was involved in all three homicides. Mahuna did not release information on how police identified Baker as a suspect or what evidence may connect him to the killings.

On Monday at around 8 p.m., police found a 69-year-old man at a residence partially submerged in a cement pond, Mahuna said. Police did not initially know whether foul play was involved, but preliminary autopsy results showed the death was a homicide, the chief said.

On Tuesday, a 79-year-old man was found dead with apparent blunt force injuries shortly after 12:30 p.m., Mahuna said. The killing happened about 400 to 500 feet (122 to 152 meters) from the first homicide, he said.

Later Tuesday, at around 10 p.m., police responded to a property about 19 miles (31 kilometers) from the other two killings on a welfare check request and found a 69-year-old man dead with injuries, Mahuna said.

Police said there were no known connections among the victims, other than the first two men lived near each other. Mahuna said guns were not used in the killings.

Mahuna said Baker is known to police, but did not elaborate.

Two women filed petitions for temporary restraining orders against Baker just last week, related to what they said were threats and harassment happening at a farm they were staying on or co-owned. A judge ultimately denied both applications, saying there was not enough proof of harassment provided.

One of the women claimed in her petition that Baker had threatened to kill several women who were staying on the property, and had caused a number of them to move or end their stays. She included a link to a video that allegedly captured at least one threat, but the link had either been removed or was incorrect as of Thursday.

The other woman alleged in her petition that Baker had threatened women and a disabled man, and said he would trespass on the property, take things that didn’t belong to him and say his intention was to squat on the property.

No attorney was listed for Baker, who had 20 other cases in the court record in the past two decades, many of them traffic infractions. There were also a handful of criminal or administrative citations including letting a dog wander, failure to appear in court and simple trespassing.

In most of those cases, Baker represented himself.

Puna, on the eastern side of the island, is a rural but fast-growing area known for affordable housing prices. It's also an area where lava flows have wiped out entire communities over the years. The landscape is lush and tropical mixed with barren lava fields.

Officials were asking the public to report any information about Baker and any suspicious activities in the areas of the homicides to police, and urged people not to approach Baker.

____

Associated Press writer Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.

Una persona murió y dos resultaron heridas el martes en Northeast Third Avenue y 44 Street.

Los vecinos dijeron que los malos conductores suelen ir a exceso de velocidad en el área y no respetan la parada de cuatro vías.

Una Nissan Rogue roja quedó destruida. Una Land Rover blanca terminó volcada boca abajo. Una camioneta Nissan resultó dañada y su motor terminó al lado de la carretera.

El accidente dañó la cerca de madera de una casa cerca de una piscina donde cuatro niñas estaban jugando. Su abuelo dijo que las menores no resultaron heridas.

Un video de vigilancia muestra a personal de rescate trabajando durante horas después del accidente.

La causa del accidente seguía bajo investigación la tarde del miércoles y las autoridades aún no habían identificado a la persona que murió.

Historia relacionada: Mujer muere y otras tres personas resultan heridas en accidente en Deerfield Beach

Ocurrió en una vivienda ubicada en la cuadra 1200 de North 31st Court.

Según las autoridades, la Unidad de Víctimas Especiales de la Policía de Hollywood y agentes SWAT de Hollywood, con asistencia del Grupo de Trabajo contra Crímenes en Internet contra Niños del sur de Florida, ejecutaron una orden de allanamiento en la vivienda del sospechoso.

Ese hombre fue identificado como James Donald Henjum.

Fue detenido sin incidentes en la vivienda.

Según los registros judiciales, Henjum enfrenta nueve cargos por posesión, control, visualización o solicitud de pornografía infantil y un cargo de compilación de pornografía informática que representa a un menor.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal de Broward con una fianza de $50,000 USD.

Esto ha provocado un trayecto muy complicado hacia el trabajo y la escuela, y se han emitido varias alertas de inundación para Upper Keys y cerca del centro de Miami.

Esta primera ronda de fuertes lluvias saldrá del área antes de las 11 a.m. y las alertas de inundación serán canceladas, sin embargo, hay mucha humedad en la atmósfera y es probable otro período de lluvias intensas y tormentas más tarde el jueves, principalmente después de las 2 p.m.

Esas tormentas de la tarde y noche podrían causar más inundaciones en algunas zonas, por lo que se recomienda prepararse para un difícil regreso a casa más tarde en el día.

Este patrón tormentoso comenzará a desplazarse principalmente hacia horas de la tarde desde el viernes y durante el fin de semana. Será durante esos períodos secos en la mañana cuando el sol calentará el ambiente y creará una atmósfera muy inestable que provocará fuertes tormentas vespertinas.

Podríamos acumular más de 6 pulgadas de lluvia en algunas áreas durante los próximos 5 a 7 días, reduciendo significativamente la sequía que hemos estado experimentando.

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MDSO Sgt. Kelvin Cox shot and killed Kristofer Laboy, 24, outside of a building within the Sunset Palm Villas Association complex, located just outside the Miami city limits at Northwest 85th Street Road and Fourth Court, on June 17, 2025.

Deputies with MDSO’s Robbery Intervention Detail tried to pull over Laboy in a yellow Chevrolet Corvette with dark tints.

According to a memorandum from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, “Laboy had led law enforcement officers on a protracted and high-speed chase which endangered the lives of many individuals (and) nearly caused several crashes by driving at high rates of speed through traffic and on the wrong side of roads.”

Video evidence and a fellow deputy’s testimony, prosecutors concluded, showed that after the chase came to a stop at the complex, Laboy got out of the sports car with a gun and “ran directly toward” Cox.

Prosecutors concluded that a “reasonable person” in Cox’s position “would have believed that using deadly force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm” to himself or others, leading them to conclude that Cox was “was legally justified in using deadly force” and should not be charged.

Cox has served with MDSO and its predecessor, the Miami-Dade Police Department, for more than two decades.

El sargento Kelvin Cox, de la MDSO, mató a tiros a Kristofer Laboy, de 24 años, afuera de un edificio dentro del complejo Sunset Palm Villas Association, ubicado justo fuera de los límites de la ciudad de Miami en Northwest 85th Street Road y Fourth Court, el 17 de junio de 2025.

Agentes de la Unidad de Intervención contra Robos de la MDSO intentaron detener a Laboy, quien conducía un Chevrolet Corvette amarillo con vidrios polarizados oscuros.

Según un memorando de la Fiscalía Estatal de Miami-Dade, “Laboy había llevado a los agentes del orden en una persecución prolongada y a alta velocidad que puso en peligro la vida de muchas personas (y) casi provocó varios choques al conducir a altas velocidades entre el tráfico y por el lado equivocado de las vías”.

La evidencia en video y el testimonio de otro agente, concluyeron los fiscales, mostraron que después de que la persecución terminó en el complejo, Laboy salió del vehículo deportivo con un arma y “corrió directamente hacia” Cox.

Los fiscales concluyeron que una “persona razonable” en la posición de Cox “habría creído que el uso de fuerza letal era necesario para prevenir una muerte inminente o un gran daño corporal” para sí mismo u otras personas, lo que los llevó a concluir que Cox “estaba legalmente justificado en usar fuerza letal” y no debía enfrentar cargos.

Cox ha servido en la MDSO y su predecesora, el Departamento de Policía de Miami-Dade, durante más de dos décadas.

Day and Young MC issued statements on social media disputing Wednesday's announcement from Freedom 250, while Milli Vanilli singer Jodie Rocco told The Associated Press that neither she, her sister Linda Rocco nor any of the other group members had been asked to come.

“My sister and I were shocked to see our name, ‘Milli Vanilli’, as one of the performers,” Jodie Rocco wrote in an email.

A Freedom 250 spokesperson did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment. Freedom 250, which Trump launched late last year, describes itself as a “national, non-partisan organization leading the celebration of our Nation’s 250th birthday.” Trump appointed Keith Krach, who served as an under secretary of state during his first term, as the organization’s CEO.

Trump and his supporters have long had a contentious relationship with the music community; Celine Dion, Elton John and Guns ’N Roses are among the many artists who have objected to their music being played at Trump rallies.

In an Instagram post, Young MC questioned whether the National Mall shows would be nonpartisan. “The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event,” he wrote, adding that he hoped to “perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.” Day posted on Instagram that “Contrary to rumor, Morris Day & The Time will not be performing at the 'GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR.”

Milli Vanilli and Young MC were to have appeared at an “I Love the 90s” concert on June 26. Day was listed for June 27. Other performers announced include the Commodores, Flo Rida and Martina McBride. The Great American State Fair is scheduled to run June 25-July 10.

At least one “I Love the 90s” act will be there: Vanilla Ice.

“He is proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!” a representative for the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper wrote in an email to the AP. “Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate USA’s Birthday and our Freedom!”

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Cyr, of Pompano Beach, was a passenger in the Land Rover Discovery that crashed shortly before 1:40 p.m. on Tuesday at Northeast Third Avenue and 44 Street, according to BSO.

Jean Claude Saint Cyr was driving the Land Rover Discovery northbound on Third Avenue when he rear- ended a red 2023 Nissan Rogue that had stopped at 44th Street, according to BSO.

The Land Rover ricocheted off the Rogue into the southbound lanes, struck a white 2015 Nissan NV2000, and continued tumbling and rolling until it came to a final rest near the sidewalk, according to BSO.

The entire front axle was ripped off. The engine from the Land Rover was ejected. The Nissan Rogue rolled before coming to a final rest against the front porch of a home.

The driver of the Nissan Rogue was ejected as it rolled and was near the front porch, partially under the vehicle.

Fire rescue personnel transported the three drivers injured to Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach.

Neighbors said bad drivers are usually speeding there and don’t obey the four-point stop.

The crash damaged a house’s wooden fence near a pool where four girls were playing. Their grandfather said the girls weren’t injured.

Surveillance video shows fire rescue personnel at work for hours after the crash.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation on Wednesday afternoon, and authorities had yet to identify the person who died.

Afternoon report

Related story: Woman killed, 3 others hurt in Deerfield Beach crash

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It happened at a home along the 1200 block of North 31st Court.

According to authorities, the Hollywood Police Special Victims Unit and Hollywood SWAT officers, with assistance from the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, served a search warrant at the home of the suspect.

That man has since been identified as James Donald Henjum.

He was taken into custody without incident at the home.

According to court records, Henjum is facing nine charges of possessing, controlling, viewing or soliciting child pornography and one count of compiling computer pornography depicting a minor.

As of Thursday morning, he was being held at the Broward Main Jail on a bond of $50,000.

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For Radoslav Sekulic and his young family, the apartment was supposed to be a short-term place to stay while work was being done on their home.

After long days running his Miami Beach car detailing business, Sekulic said he just wanted a place where he, his wife and their newborn daughter, Mila, could get some rest.

Instead, they say they got scammed.

The family found the listing on Facebook Marketplace. The apartment looked real, with photos and a video walkthrough. They thought they had found the perfect place to stay for four to six weeks.

But on move-in day, things suddenly changed.

“I can’t let you in,” the supposed landlord told them. “The apartment doesn’t smell good, and we can do it in the next few days when the plumbing job is done.”

Those next few days never happened.

Detectives say the rental listing was fake from the start.

Sekulic spoke exclusively with Local 10 News, saying he wants to warn others about what police describe as a rental scam allegedly tied to Joseph Saroza, who now faces several counts of organized fraud and grand theft.

Sekulic said he pleaded with the alleged scammer after realizing something was wrong.

“My wife is not working. We have a 1-month-old. We cannot afford this. I’m currently under financial stress,” he said.

Police say Saroza allegedly lured renters with apartments he had no authority to rent. Investigators say he somehow got access to units, showed them to potential renters, talked about lease terms and collected deposits.

The problem, police say, is that he had no connection to the apartments at all.

Sekulic said his family lost $2,000. Detectives believe other victims may have lost even more -- between $4,000 and $6,000 in some cases.

Police also say Saroza allegedly used a fake name online.

Officer Mike Vega with the Miami Police Department said the scam followed a familiar pattern.

“Put it on Facebook and say it’s for rent, ask for a security deposit and a final deposit, and then at the end he would say there’s a problem with the plumbing,” Vega said.

Court documents say Saroza created fake leases and even fake key cards for some victims. Investigators say he met renters at the apartments to make everything look legitimate.

Local 10 News went to Saroza’s last known address looking for his side of the story, but he was not there. Relatives reportedly said he moved out some time ago.

“Calling him, he blocked me and he blocked my wife,” Sekulic said.

Saroza is out on bond. Miami police say there could be more victims and are urging anyone who believes they were targeted to come forward.

“Those steps,” he said, laughing. “We didn’t have much time to rehearse on them. I’m like, can you imagine? I want to dance, and it’s just tap, tap, tap all the way down. I was just trying to keep my eyes up the whole time.”

Fortunately for Henry, his footing onstage remains steady eight performances a week. That consistency has helped make him one of Broadway’s standout performers this season, with acclaim continuing to build around his turn as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Broadway’s revival of “Ragtime.” An even bigger moment may lie ahead at the Tony Awards ceremony on June 7.

He missed hearing his Tony nomination live

Henry did not hear his own nomination announced live. The morning after the May 4 Met Gala, Henry and his wife, Cathryn, were back at the hotel FaceTiming their children at home.

“Mommy and Daddy got to go,” Henry told them, but the kids wanted to hear more about the night before.

“They wanted to talk about the gala opening number, and so we logged off from the FaceTime and then we missed my category, which was the first category for best leading actor in a musical.”

That moment felt fitting for Henry, who says becoming a husband and father reshaped how he sees success, patience, and gratitude. The four-time Tony nominee credits his wife and three sons as his grounding force.

That perspective also informs his work in one of Broadway’s most demanding roles. Playing Coalhouse Walker Jr., the Black pianist whose life is upended by a racist attack, remains a challenge.

Henry's rise from ‘Scottsboro Boys’ to ‘Ragtime’

Henry credits the late Terrence McNally for crafting a powerful book based on E. L. Doctorow’s novel, along with the sweeping score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.

“What they did so well is they showed people at their extremes. They show them when they’re on the verge of making a huge choice, just like America was on the verge in 1908 of making a huge choice and asking itself more questions about its identity than ever, not unlike this moment,” Henry said.

He believes that sense of emotional connection continues to bring audiences back to the show.

“They’re seeing themselves as Americans and seeing their journeys individually.”

That journey becomes even more notable considering the musical opened during one of Broadway’s more complicated seasons, where rising costs, tight competition for audiences, and pressure on weekly box office numbers have made sustainability difficult. Even critically acclaimed shows can struggle to maintain momentum.

“They really do. Especially if you open in the fall. And we were one of the first to open in the season. So, you know, we thankfully got extended a couple times.”

That success stands in sharp contrast to Henry’s first starring role on Broadway in “The Scottsboro Boys,” a musical inspired by the real-life case. Henry played a young Black man falsely accused of a crime who becomes one of the story’s emotional centers as he refuses to sign a confession in exchange for parole.

The 2010 production earned strong reviews and multiple award nominations but struggled commercially. Even so, the production became an important chapter in Henry’s career, placing him alongside another rising performer, Colman Domingo.

The production earned both actors their first Tony nominations.

Now, Henry finds himself leading the second Broadway revival of Ragtime. Starring opposite Nichelle Lewis, Henry has stepped into a role originally made iconic by Brian Stokes Mitchell, while Lewis follows Audra McDonald in the role that earned McDonald the first of her record-breaking six Tony Awards for acting.

Having both legends attend opening night was especially meaningful for Henry. He recalled listening to the original cast recording as a young performer and hoping that he could someday move audiences the same way. Years later, after working alongside McDonald and Mitchell, Henry says their warmth and encouragement gave him a deeper sense of belonging within the Broadway community.

___

For more coverage of the 2026 Tony Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/tony-awards.

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According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, deputies have recently received multiple reports of scammers pretending to be with MCSO, law enforcement or jail officials.

In the attempts, deputies said the scammers are calling and texting potential victims while falsely claiming to be law enforcement officials and making false claims about missing jury duty “or some other lie about a fake (or even real) criminal case to extort money,” according to a news release from MCSO.

Deputies said scammers are using fake court documents and notifications regarding nonexistent traffic or criminal infractions and some of the scams were targeting people who were already facing criminal charges.

MSCO recommends anyone receiving a call or text from someone who is asking for money and claiming to be from a law enforcement agency to immediately hang up and contact that organization directly.

Authorities said a “sure sign of a scam is anyone asking for payment for anything via gift cards or Bitcoin.”

Anyone looking to report scam attempts is urged to save any emails, texts or messages and contact MCSO.

Según la Oficina del Sheriff del condado Monroe, los agentes han recibido recientemente múltiples reportes de estafadores que se hacen pasar por funcionarios de la MCSO, fuerzas del orden o funcionarios de cárceles.

En estos intentos, los agentes dijeron que los estafadores están llamando y enviando mensajes de texto a posibles víctimas mientras afirman falsamente ser funcionarios policiales y hacen afirmaciones falsas sobre faltar al servicio de jurado “u otra mentira sobre un caso criminal falso (o incluso real) para extorsionar dinero”, según un comunicado de prensa de la MCSO.

Los agentes dijeron que los estafadores están utilizando documentos judiciales falsos y notificaciones sobre infracciones de tránsito o delitos inexistentes, y que algunas de las estafas estaban dirigidas a personas que ya enfrentaban cargos criminales.

La MCSO recomienda que cualquier persona que reciba una llamada o mensaje de texto de alguien que esté pidiendo dinero y afirmando ser de una agencia policial, cuelgue inmediatamente y contacte directamente a esa organización.

Las autoridades dijeron que “una señal clara de estafa es cualquier persona que solicite pagos mediante tarjetas de regalo o Bitcoin”.

Cualquier persona que desee reportar intentos de estafa debe guardar cualquier correo electrónico, mensaje de texto o mensaje recibido y contactar a la MCSO.

In a complaint unsealed in New York, authorities identified the employee as 36-year-old Michele Spagnuolo — an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland who has worked for Google since 2014. Under the online name “AlphaRaccoon,” they alleged, Spagnuolo used the company's 2025 "Year in Search" data before it was published to enter Polymarket wagers about the most trending Googled people of last year.

This week's charges “reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,” Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday. “Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.”

Spagnuolo allegedly made new Polymarket trades as Google’s internal search data evolved, from October into December of last year. For example, per the complaint, Spagnuolo initially wagered that Kendrick Lamar — who headlined the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show — would top search trends for people last year. But after internal Google data showed that alt-pop singer D4vd was later leading the influx of searches, he placed new bets. D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged last month with murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Using the prediction market’s “yes” or “no” wagers, Spagnuolo also made a series of Polymarket trades about other individuals who would or wouldn't rank in Google's 2025 search trends, the complaint said. And after the data was published on Dec. 4, the AlphaRaccoon account soon pocketed sizeable profits. An FBI investigation later traced its cryptocurrency payments.

An attorney for Spagnuolo was not immediately identified. California-based Google confirmed to The Associated Press it had placed its employee on leave.

“The employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement — adding the company was working with law enforcement and “will take the appropriate action.”

Polymarket reiterated it too worked closely with authorities. A spokesperson also touted that the company “is the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the United States” — and maintained blockchain trading, which Polymarket uses, is “transparent, traceable, and bad actors leave footprints.”

Spagnuolo isn't first person to face insider trading charges spanning from Polymarket trades. Last month, the government also charged a special forces soldier who made over $400,000 from Polymarket trades betting on the downfall of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The solider allegedly used classified information ahead of January's U.S. military operation, which he was a part of.

Such scandals have put the spotlight on a murky (and growing) world of speculative, 24/7 transactions now filling the internet. Prediction markets sell event contracts — so they're also categorized and regulated differently from traditional forms of gambling. That's raised concerns about consumer protections, and legal battles over government oversight.

President Donald Trump’s administration has already thrown its support behind company operators — and sued several states over their regulation efforts. Meanwhile, the industry is scrambling to assure the public with new guardrails. Polymarket recently rewrote its rules to clearly state users cannot trade on contracts where they might possess confidential information, or could influence the outcome of an event.

Spagnuolo is being charged with violating the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act, wire fraud and money laundering. He could face years of prison time.

“El sistema de Recursos Hidráulicos es uno de los sectores más impactados por el bloqueo (de Estados Unidos), por ser de los mayores consumidores de energía del país”, aseguró el presidente del estatal Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidráulicos, Antonio Rodríguez, durante una mesa redonda sobre las daños ocasionados por el cerco petrolero impuesto por la nación norteamericana.

El foro sobre la situación con el agua que está llegando de manera intermitente a la población de unos 9,7 millones de personas se realizó el miércoles por la noche y fue difundido el jueves por el portal oficial Cubadebate.

Según indicó el funcionario, no solo el bombeo de agua consume energía eléctrica, sino que las todas las “actividades esenciales del organismo” requieren de combustible, desde la desobstrucción de redes, pasando por la limpieza de fosas o la supresión de salideros. Además se necesitan insumos químicos, cuya importación se encuentra paralizada.

Según Rodríguez, anualmente ese instituto realizaba compras de piezas y otros elementos por unos 100 millones de dólares y en el último año —que contempla la agudización de la crisis desde enero— apenas se realizaron adquisiciones por unos 10 millones de dólares debido a la interrupción total de créditos.

La crisis del agua no es nueva, pero en los últimos meses se hizo sentir aún con más intensidad.

Estados Unidos incrementó desde enero las sanciones que ya venía aplicando a Cuba presionando por un cambio del modelo político. En los últimos seis meses fueron llevadas al extremo luego de que el presidente Donald Trump decretara un cerco petrolero sobre la nación caribeña y amenazara a los países que se atrevieran a operar con la isla. La población, que ya venía de un lustro de crisis económica, inflación y desabastecimiento, se ha visto más afectada con apagones de 20 horas diarias.

Muchos proveedores mantienen contratos en “compás de espera” mientras evalúan cuándo les conviene entregar suministros a la isla o cuáles serán las trabas para procesar pagos bancarios, sin contar las limitaciones en el servicio de transporte de las navieras, indicó el funcionario.

Muchos barrios de la capital reciben cisternas de agua pero de forma inconstante, por lo que se puede ver a personas cargando tanques, constató The Associated Press.

En cuanto a abasto de agua, Rodríguez reconoció que apenas una “pequeña parte” de las actividades del organismo está respaldada por sistemas alternativos como el fotovoltaico.

Las autoridades están desarrollando un acelerado programa con energía solar, pero los expertos sostienen que esas tecnologías requieren costosas inversiones. Cuba produce apenas el 40% del combustible que necesita.

Se suma una infraestructura gastada y estaciones de bombeo sobresaturadas, sobre todo en las ciudades grandes como La Habana, Santiago de Cuba y Matanzas, expresó Rodríguez. En muchos edificios o viviendas en alto se requiere además luz para que los motores suban el agua a los tanques elevados.

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It’s made for a very rough commute to work and school and several flood advisories were issued for the Upper Keys and near downtown Miami.

This first batch of heavy rain moved out of the area before 11 a.m. and flood advisories have been discontinued, however there’s a ton of moisture in the atmosphere and another period of strong showers and storms is likely later Thursday, mainly after 2 p.m.

Those afternoon and evening storms could cause more flooding in spots so be prepared for a rough commute home later in the day.

This stormy pattern will start shifting toward mainly the afternoon hours Friday through the weekend. It’s during those dry times in the morning when the sun will heat things up and create a very unstable atmosphere leading to those strong afternoon storms.

We might squeeze out over 6 inches of rain in spots over the next 5-7 days, putting a significant dent in the drought we’ve been experiencing.

Women are the primary driver of that growth.

TNT Sports reported female viewership is up 66% and ESPN reported a 106% increase, with plenty of that audience coming from 18-to-34-year-olds tuning in to hockey at its most exciting time of year.

“We see the numbers up everywhere,” ESPN VP of production Linda Schulz said. “(Hockey) is a particular challenge because sports fans tend to follow something that they themselves have participated in and hockey is one that is not as commonplace for people to have actually strapped on skates. I approach it with, if I get a new fan coming to hockey, what is going to keep them."

What's bringing fans in, Schulz and other executives said, is a result of a handful of factors. The success of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament last year, the Olympics in February when the U.S. men and women won gold, the quality of play, an influx of young talent and the viral popularity of the “Heated Rivalry” and “Off Campus” hockey romance shows have combined to bring more women to the sport.

“It’s not any one thing,” TNT Sports executive VP and chief content officer Craig Barry said. “It’s the collective of the planets aligning that has shown dramatic increases in the female audience.”

The NHL says the playoffs are averaging 1.4 million viewers, up 63% from last year and up 24% from the previous high set in 2024. Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in how Nielsen is counting viewers, causing bumps across the board, though hockey has been seeing an upward trend in viewership predating that.

That began after the 4 Nations, which NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said caused a viewership increase late in the 2024-25 season and into the playoffs. The Olympics built off that, with the Milan Cortina Games drawing huge ratings.

"The Olympics was a cultural moment," NHL chief operating officer Stephen McArdle said. “We know that Olympic viewership does appeal to those demographics, to that female demographic, and so I think the Olympic bump that we saw was really in part influenced by that female Olympic audience.”

How big a role “Heated Rivalry” plays is difficult to measure. Schulz, who grew up as a sports fan in the Boston area, said it does not enter her mind, but the networks and the league are well aware of the conversation going around it.

“We know that the fictional series are a gateway to our sport,” McArdle said. “We know that it opens doors to an interest in the sport of hockey, and it’s incumbent upon us to make sure that new audiences that are coming through those doors feel welcomed as they come in, and also that we help them find their way through the door.”

Schulz said technology helps with that, pointing to aerial sky cams that highlight the speed and physicality of the game, and the addition of a camera person on the ice to capture emotional moments like a player expressing frustration after getting called for a penalty.

“It is incredible how that emotional draw, to me, is the real way to pull in a casual fan,” Schulz said. “It’s that balance of getting the feel of the ice through something like your aerial coverage and the feel of the player or the emotion of the player.”

McArdle said the NHL has also leaned into TikTok, where many of the top videos were viewed by more women than men. A clip of Carolina's Jordan Martinook losing a skate blade particularly stood out as something that was popular beyond highlight-reel goals, saves and hits.

Social media has drawn in more young fans, men and women, and promotion of broadcasts on ESPN, ABC, TNT, TruTV and on HBO Max has gotten them to watching live on one platform or another.

"That’s why it’s so important to meet them where they are," Barry said. “That’s why our kind of strategy is put it everywhere in a simulcast capacity, so regardless of where you are consuming and digesting your content, in this particular case, NHL games, it’s there for you.”

___

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

The state party chairs of five Democratic parties wrote a letter Thursday to the Democratic National Committee calling on party leaders "to do everything in your power to ensure South Carolina continues to serve as the indispensable first proving ground for Democratic presidential nominees." The DNC is currently debating the order in which states will vote in the next round of presidential primaries.

The state should hold the first presidential balloting in 2028, they argued, in part because it “is not simply a geographic starting point. It is a moral and political compass for our party and our nation.”

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting this week, hearing presentations from the dozen states seeking to lead off its 2028 calendar. Other southern states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, are in the mix.

South Carolina chair Christale Spain, who is set to make her argument on behalf of the state later Thursday, has said she believes her state has “more to offer than other states do,” including “the role of Black folks.”

“The fight for voting rights is no longer just a courtroom battle, it is an electoral one,” the Democratic chairs from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia wrote in the letter, provided to The Associated Press ahead of its release. “And it begins in South Carolina.”

“Any effort to diminish South Carolina’s role in the primary process would be a step backward for the Democratic Party’s stated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” they wrote. “It would signal to Southern Democrats and to Black voters in particular, that their loyalty to this party is taken for granted. We refuse to accept that, and we will stand firmly against it.”

In a separate letter to DNC leaders, Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus Institute — which has partnered with the South Carolina Democratic Party on several presidential debates in the past — reiterated those sentiments.

“To remove or diminish South Carolina’s standing in the primary calendar would send precisely the wrong message to Black voters and to every voter who has been told their voice does not matter until after the outcome is already decided,” Thompson wrote.

For years, South Carolina has held one of the earliest Democratic primaries in the country. As the first southern state to hold its primary, South Carolina has been the initial gauge of a candidate’s ability to appeal to Black voters, who play an outsized role among the state's Democratic voters.

In 2020, Joe Biden's ability to make that appeal — along with a coveted endorsement from Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state's lone congressional Democrat and for a time the top Black Democratic lawmaker on Capitol Hill — helped him revive a flagging primary campaign, win a resounding victory in South Carolina, and go on to secure the nomination.

For the 2024 cycle, Biden led a DNC effort to have South Carolina go first overall in the party’s primary, citing the state’s more racially diverse population compared to the traditional first-in-the-nation states of Iowa and New Hampshire, which are overwhelmingly white. New Hampshire, which rejected the DNC’s plan, held a leadoff primary ahead of South Carolina anyway, and Biden — who didn’t campaign or have his name on the ballot — still won by a sizable margin after supporters mounted a write-in campaign on his behalf.

Biden, who also handily won South Carolina's 2024 contest, pushed for a revamped primary calendar that saw Nevada go second. He also pushed the Democratic primary in Michigan — a large and diverse swing state — ahead of the expansive field of states voting on Super Tuesday, the date in early March when multiple states hold primaries and the largest number of delegates needed to win the nomination are up for grabs.

Although the calendar won't officially be set until later this summer, Democrats likely to be among their party's 2028 have been making the rounds in South Carolina for months. ___

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

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Diego recently spent about a month in a volunteer foster home after arriving at the shelter too small for adoption, according to HSBC spokeswoman Cherie Wachter. She described him as “cute, cuddly and playful.”

The shelter is also preparing for an influx of kittens after helping transport nearly 40 kittens from another shelter this week. Wachter said the kittens were expected to be examined by the shelter’s clinic Thursday and could become available for adoption as early as Friday.

Wachter said the shelter currently has close to 100 kittens in foster care that are not yet large enough for adoption. She said kittens must weigh at least two pounds before they can be adopted.

Wachter encouraged pet owners to keep cats indoors, saying indoor cats are less likely to face dangers such as traffic, fleas and other animals. She also stressed the importance of vaccinations and maintaining clean litter boxes.

Wachter also said HSBC recently reached 500,000 followers on Instagram, a milestone she says has helped boost adoptions. She also confirmed that people from more than 30 states have visited the shelter after seeing its social media videos.

Click here for more information on how you can adopt a pet.

Diego pasó recientemente alrededor de un mes en un hogar temporal voluntario después de llegar al refugio demasiado pequeño para ser adoptado, según la portavoz de la HSBC, Cherie Wachter. Ella lo describió como “tierno, cariñoso y juguetón”.

El refugio también se está preparando para una llegada masiva de gatitos después de ayudar a trasladar casi 40 gatitos desde otro refugio esta semana. Wachter dijo que se esperaba que los gatitos fueran examinados el jueves en la clínica del refugio y que podrían estar disponibles para adopción tan pronto como el viernes.

Wachter dijo que el refugio actualmente tiene cerca de 100 gatitos en hogares temporales que todavía no son lo suficientemente grandes para ser adoptados. Explicó que los gatitos deben pesar al menos dos libras antes de poder ser adoptados.

Wachter alentó a los dueños de mascotas a mantener a los gatos dentro de casa, señalando que los gatos de interior tienen menos probabilidades de enfrentar peligros como el tráfico, las pulgas y otros animales. También destacó la importancia de las vacunas y de mantener limpias las cajas de arena.

Wachter también dijo que la HSBC alcanzó recientemente 500,000 seguidores en Instagram, un logro que, según ella, ha ayudado a impulsar las adopciones. También confirmó que personas de más de 30 estados han visitado el refugio después de ver sus videos en redes sociales.

Haga clic aquí para obtener más información sobre cómo puede adoptar una mascota.

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Police arrested Jordan Alexander Bustillo, 20, on Wednesday.

Arrest reports from the Miami Police Department state that two victims reported the scam to police after losing money on April 30 and May 14, respectively.

One arrest report describes the scheme as a “three-card monte” scam, though it did not involve cards. Instead, authorities described it as a confidence trick involving cups and a ball, akin to a shell game.

In one case, Bustillo was described as working as an accomplice to a man only known as “Bank Roller.” In another, Bustillo is described as the “primary operator” of the scheme.

In the April 30 case, authorities said Bustillo and “Bank Roller” were posted up at the corner of Northeast Fifth Street and Biscayne Boulevard and convinced a victim to bet $4,000 on the unwinnable game.

Police said after the victim learned from a friend that Bustillo was a known scammer in the downtown and Brickell areas, the man asked for his money back. According to an arrest report, Bustillo refused and left.

In the May 14 case, police said Bustillo scammed another victim outside of the Crosby Hotel at 11 NW Sixth St., during the late evening hours.

Authorities said a group of four scammers, including Bustillo, called the victim and his girlfriend over to play and they did.

The victim and his girlfriend “approached the group and (she) pointed to a cup, stating that she believed the ball was underneath it,” the report states, at which point Bustillo encouraged her to place a bet. She placed a $100 bet and selected the correct cup, police said. Meanwhile, the report states that one of the other men placed a $4,000 bet and “lost.”

She “commented that he should have picked a different cup,” the report states. Police said after telling her boyfriend which cup she believed had the ball, he bet $2,000 and lost. He then bet $2,000 again and lost a second time.

The report states that Bustillo “offered the victim another round, stating that if the victim bet his Rolex watch and lost, (Bustillo) would keep the watch; however, if the victim won, (Bustillo) would pay him $15,000.”

“At that time, (Bustillo) turned his head away and one of the other males lifted a cup and showed the victim what appeared to be the location of the ball,” an MPD detective wrote. “Believing he knew the correct cup, the victim removed his rolex watch, handed it to (Bustillo) and selected a cup. (Bustillo) confirmed with the victim that he was certain of his choice, to which (he) responded affirmatively.”

But police said when lifted the cup, the ball wasn’t there and the victim lost. Police said the victim tried to speak with Bustillo to “work with him,” but Bustillo took the $7,000 watch and left.

Police said they later found Bustillo with two other men leaving a home in the city’s Allapattah neighborhood on Wednesday and pulled them over after they got into a car.

Authorities said Bustillo had a bag with him containing more than $17,000.

A search of the home, located in the 1100 block of Northwest 38th Street, revealed four iPhones, four “high-end watches” and jewelry, police said.

Authorities said in Bustillo’s room, investigators found a stolen Glock pistol and nearly $17,000 more in cash. Police said he declined to speak with investigators without an attorney.

Records show that Bustillo, facing seven felony charges, including grand theft, organized scheme to defraud and obtaining property by gaming, was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with a bond listed as “to be set.”

La policía arrestó el miércoles a Jordan Alexander Bustillo, de 20 años.

Los informes de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Miami indican que dos víctimas denunciaron la estafa después de perder dinero el 30 de abril y el 14 de mayo, respectivamente.

Uno de los informes describe el esquema como una estafa de “three-card monte”, aunque no involucraba cartas. En cambio, las autoridades lo describieron como un truco de confianza con vasos y una pelota, similar al juego de cubiletes.

En un caso, Bustillo fue descrito como cómplice de un hombre conocido únicamente como “Bank Roller”. En otro, Bustillo es descrito como el “operador principal” del esquema.

En el caso del 30 de abril, las autoridades dijeron que Bustillo y “Bank Roller” estaban ubicados en la esquina de Northeast Fifth Street y Biscayne Boulevard y convencieron a una víctima de apostar $4,000 USD en el juego imposible de ganar.

La policía dijo que después de que la víctima se enteró por un amigo de que Bustillo era un estafador conocido en las áreas del centro de Miami y Brickell, el hombre pidió que le devolvieran su dinero. Según un informe de arresto, Bustillo se negó y se fue.

En el caso del 14 de mayo, la policía dijo que Bustillo estafó a otra víctima afuera del hotel Crosby, ubicado en el 11 NW Sixth St., durante horas de la noche.

Las autoridades dijeron que un grupo de cuatro estafadores, incluido Bustillo, llamó a la víctima y a su novia para que jugaran y ellos aceptaron.

La víctima y su novia “se acercaron al grupo y ella señaló un vaso, afirmando que creía que la pelota estaba debajo”, indica el informe, momento en el que Bustillo la animó a hacer una apuesta. Ella apostó $100 USD y eligió el vaso correcto, dijo la policía. Mientras tanto, el informe indica que uno de los otros hombres apostó $4,000 USD y “perdió”.

Ella “comentó que él debió haber escogido otro vaso”, indica el informe. La policía dijo que después de decirle a su novio cuál vaso creía que tenía la pelota, él apostó $2,000 USD y perdió. Luego apostó otros $2,000 USD y perdió nuevamente.

El informe indica que Bustillo “le ofreció otra ronda a la víctima, diciendo que si la víctima apostaba su reloj Rolex y perdía, Bustillo se quedaría con el reloj; sin embargo, si la víctima ganaba, Bustillo le pagaría $15,000 USD”.

“En ese momento, Bustillo volteó la cabeza y uno de los otros hombres levantó un vaso y le mostró a la víctima lo que parecía ser la ubicación de la pelota”, escribió un detective de la Policía de Miami. “Creyendo que sabía cuál era el vaso correcto, la víctima se quitó su reloj Rolex, se lo entregó a Bustillo y seleccionó un vaso. Bustillo confirmó con la víctima que estaba seguro de su elección, a lo que respondió afirmativamente”.

Pero la policía dijo que cuando levantaron el vaso, la pelota no estaba allí y la víctima perdió. La policía indicó que la víctima intentó hablar con Bustillo para “llegar a un acuerdo”, pero Bustillo tomó el reloj, valorado en $7,000 USD, y se fue.

La policía dijo que posteriormente encontraron a Bustillo con otros dos hombres saliendo de una vivienda en el vecindario Allapattah de la ciudad el miércoles y los detuvieron después de que abordaron un vehículo.

Las autoridades dijeron que Bustillo llevaba una bolsa que contenía más de $17,000 USD.

Un allanamiento en la vivienda, ubicada en la cuadra 1100 de Northwest 38th Street, reveló cuatro iPhones, cuatro “relojes de alta gama” y joyas, dijo la policía.

Las autoridades indicaron que en la habitación de Bustillo, los investigadores encontraron una pistola Glock robada y casi otros $17,000 USD en efectivo. La policía dijo que él se negó a hablar con los investigadores sin un abogado.

Los registros muestran que Bustillo, quien enfrenta siete cargos graves, incluidos robo mayor, esquema organizado para defraudar y obtención de propiedad mediante apuestas, permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza “pendiente por establecer”.

Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello announced the festival Wednesday while performing together at Nationals Park in Washington as Springsteen winds down his Land of Hope and Dreams American tour.

At the concert Wednesday, Springsteen played many of his most political songs, including “American Skin (41 Shots)” about a fatal police shooting and “Streets of Minneapolis,” in response to the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents. “The Gestapo tactics of this president and this administration will not stand here,” Springsteen said.

“This American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people: you. There is no one coming to save us. We’ve got to do it ourselves,” he said. “So join us and let’s fight for the America that we love. Do you hear me, Washington?”

The one-day, two-stage Power to the People festival is set for Oct. 3 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, and is being billed as about "freedom, justice, equality and rock ’n’ roll.” A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will benefit the organizations VoteRiders and HeadCount.

“It’s about the power everyday human beings have when they come together through music, art, community and action," Morello said in a statement. "We’re honored to bring this incredible lineup to the DC area for a day that celebrates the spirit of activism, creativity, and hope.”

The festival will also include Dropkick Murphys, Jack Black, Serj Tankian, Killer Mike, Taylor Momsen and the Linda Lindas, among others.

Springsteen has long criticized President Donald Trump, who in turn has called for a boycott of Springsteen’s shows, calling him a “total loser who spews hate.”

On Wednesday, Springsteen led the crowd in an “ICE out!” chant, encouraging the audience to make their voices heard all the way to the White House.

“Our democracy, our constitution, our rule of law are being challenged right now as never before by a reckless, racist, incompetent, treasonous president and his ship of fools administration,” said Springsteen.

“God bless Alex Pretti, God bless Renée Good, God bless you and God bless America,” he said before launching into the final song of the night, “Chimes of Freedom.”

___ This story has been corrected to show that Springsteen mentioned Alex Pretti before Renée Good.

Job Listing – News Producer

Responsibilities:

Oversee the complete preparation of newscast including writing stories and coordinating with: reporters, executive producers, assignment desk staff and production department. The producer will also coordinate the program in the control room. Must be able to use knowledge of current events to participate in editorial process and write scripts.

Qualifications:

• Knowledge of television news
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills required
• Ability to work flexible hours including nights, weekends and holidays
• Ability to work in a fast-paced high-energy environment with daily deadlines and changing priorities
• 3-5 years’ experience as a writer or producer in a commercial news operation required
• College degree in journalism or broadcasting preferred
• News computer knowledge necessary

***All of the essential functions of this position are not necessarily described in this posting.

***We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, age gender, marital status, disability, matriculation or political affiliation. Any offer of employment is conditioned on successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications, and reference checks. A Valid driver’s license is required.

Please follow link below to apply for Producer Position:

https://jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/wplg/CANDIDATEPORTAL/jobs/8942

Chris Schenk

Executive Producer

WPLG/TV

3401 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd.

Pembroke Park, FL 33023

cschenk@wplg.com

No phone calls please.

Although it serves the country's biggest Mexican community, all 53 Mexican consulates in the U.S. provide services that make Mexican people's lives easier — just like the nine U.S. consulates in Mexico improve the lives of Americans south of the border.

The U.S. State Department, though, has launched a review that might lead to the closure of an unknown number of Mexican consulates. Although it hasn't said why, the review is happening against the backdrop of the immigration crackdown, some thorny bilateral issues and far-right theories that the consulates have been interfering in U.S. politics and encouraging Mexicans to migrate northward.

Azucena Aviles, a 33-year-old mother who drove more than an hour to the LA consulate this month to renew her Mexican passport and get one for her daughter, said consular services are invaluable, especially in California, which is home to nearly 13 million people of Mexican descent, including an estimated 1.7 million who are in the U.S. illegally.

“It wouldn’t be fair if they messed with the Mexican people, especially with our support systems, which come from the Mexican consulate and which, in some way, help or protect our fellow Mexicans,” she said.

Strained relations

Trump has been exerting growing pressure on Mexico, with questions looming over issues including human rights, national sovereignty and regional diplomacy.

His administration, though, has given only the broadest of explanations for launching its review.

“Department of State is constantly reviewing all aspects of American foreign relations to ensure they are in line with the President’s America First foreign policy agenda and advance American interests,” Dylan Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs, wrote in an email.

Among the possible reasons for the review is that it could somehow fit into the Trump administration's immigration efforts to deport people in the U.S. illegally. The largest contingent of such people — an estimated 4.3 million, according to the Pew Research Center — are Mexican.

Relations between the two countries could also play a role, with Trump increasing pressure on Mexico in the run-up to free trade negotiations important to both nations’ economies, taking a more aggressive approach toward the U.S.'s southern neighbor and even threatening to take military action against Mexican cartels.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has avoided head-on conflicts with Trump and instead relied on diplomacy, including sending top officials to Washington and seeking to maintain a strong relationship with the Trump administration by cracking down on Mexican cartels. Sheinbaum and her predecessor have also been key allies in slowing migration to the U.S. and speeding up the deportation of other Latin American migrants.

But Sheinbaum has taken a firmer stance in regards to the deaths of Mexicans in U.S. immigration detention centers, calling them “unacceptable” and saying the conditions in such lockups were “incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of life.” She instructed Mexican consulates to visit detention centers daily to help ensure detained citizens are being held in safe conditions.

Relations rapidly deteriorated in recent weeks after the U.S. indicted several Mexican officials on drug trafficking charges, and two CIA officers died following an anti-narcotics operation in northern Mexico — American involvement that Sheinbaum said her government hadn't authorized. That drug raid raised uncomfortable questions in Mexico about the extent of U.S. involvement in domestic security operations. And years of tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries have also added strain.

A review of foreign consulates is “usually a sign that a bilateral relationship is in a very, very rocky moment,” said Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican ambassador to the U.S. In Mexico’s case, it comes at “the worst moment of the U.S.-Mexico relations” in decades, given all the current points of contention, he said.

Further straining relations is a theory being amplified by Peter Schweizer, a writer with a following among Trump loyalist who has claimed that Mexican consulates interfere in U.S. politics and encourage migration to the U.S. Experts say that although a few Mexican consulate officials may have sought to influence politics back home, there is no evidence of them interfering in U.S. elections.

In response to the State Department review, Sheinbaum said the idea that Mexican consulates are “playing politics in the United States is completely false.” She said the job of consulates anywhere is to “always protect” citizens.

Sarukhan, too, said that although consulates defend the rights of Mexican citizens, there is no evidence that they are interfering in U.S. elections.

Worries about possible closures

Whatever the reasons for the consulate review, it has stoked worries.

During a weekly public forum at the LA consulate, a woman who didn't give her name and whose husband had been in U.S. immigration detention asked for help finding him a lawyer, highlighting one crucial service consulates provide for their citizens.

An older man, meanwhile, said he had heard about the review and asked about possible closures.

Carlos González Gutiérrez, Mexico’s top diplomat in Los Angeles, responded that, as Sheinbaum said, there would be “no reason whatsoever” for the U.S. to close a Mexican consulate.

Indeed, closing consulates “would have significant, devastating effects for Mexican immigrants,” especially in isolated areas, Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst for the Migration Policy Institute, told The Associated Press.

Every day, consular officials go to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding center in downtown LA to identify and interview as many detained Mexican nationals as they can.

González Gutiérrez, 62, begins every weekly public forum by noting how many detained Mexicans consular officials have interviewed since last June's Los Angeles immigration crackdown. At that May 11 meeting, the figure stood at 1,940. Nearly half had deep roots in the U.S., he said. About 46% have been deported, 35% have children born in the U.S., 69% entered the country through a port of entry, 6% overstayed a visa, and 2.5% requested asylum. Most were men, and many worked in construction, agriculture, gardening and the service industry.

He also disputed the claim that Mexican consulates are interfering in U.S. politics.

“We are guests of this country’s government, just as U.S. consuls are guests of the Mexican government. In that sense, we are neither activists nor spies,” said González Gutiérrez, who has held similar roles at other Mexican consulates in the U.S. “We carry out our work openly, within a pluralistic and democratic society.”

___

Janetsky reported from Mexico City.

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According to the report, the attack happened shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday at an apartment complex located at 1585 NW 103^rd St.

Deputies said the suspect, Armando Del Busto, and the victim were in the parking lot of the complex when the victim became aware that a person he knows was physically fighting with others on the third floor of the building.

According to the report, the victim ran upstairs to where the fight was occurring as Del Busto, whose relatives were involved in the altercation, ran upstairs behind the victim while threatening to stab him.

Once they reached the third floor, Del Busto stabbed the victim in the back with a knife, authorities said.

Deputies said the victim ran away from Del Busto and called 911.

He was then transported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

Del Busto, meanwhile, fled the scene in a white Cadillac, authorities said.

Deputies said the vehicle was located a short time later and Del Busto was detained.

According to the report, he was transported to MDSO’s Northside District station where he confessed to the attack.

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

Según el informe, el ataque ocurrió poco antes de las 2 a.m. del miércoles en un complejo de apartamentos ubicado en el 1585 NW 103rd St.

Los agentes dijeron que el sospechoso, Armando Del Busto, y la víctima estaban en el estacionamiento del complejo cuando la víctima se dio cuenta de que una persona que conoce estaba peleando físicamente con otras personas en el tercer piso del edificio.

Según el informe, la víctima corrió escaleras arriba hacia donde ocurría la pelea mientras Del Busto, cuyos familiares estaban involucrados en el altercado, subió detrás de la víctima amenazando con apuñalarlo.

Una vez que llegaron al tercer piso, Del Busto apuñaló a la víctima en la espalda con un cuchillo, dijeron las autoridades.

Los agentes dijeron que la víctima huyó de Del Busto y llamó al 911.

Posteriormente fue trasladada por personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue al Centro de Trauma Ryder del Hospital Jackson Memorial.

Mientras tanto, Del Busto huyó de la escena en un Cadillac blanco, dijeron las autoridades.

Los agentes dijeron que el vehículo fue localizado poco tiempo después y Del Busto fue detenido.

Según el informe, fue trasladado a la estación del distrito Northside de la MDSO, donde confesó el ataque.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, Del Busto permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight. Los registros carcelarios en línea indicaban que su fianza estaba “pendiente por establecer”.

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The Broward County-based district is considered “one of the most competitive congressional races in the country” and is rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report, a news release from his office states.

Moskowitz said his campaign will focus on “lowering costs for Florida families, restoring normalcy to American politics, and standing up to the growing rise of antisemitism and political extremism.”

“The American people are struggling to afford a regular way of life. Many barely have enough money for their bills and feel squeezed by rising costs,” he said. “We must work together to bring back the American dream for the middle class in America. I have never hesitated to work with anyone across the aisle if I think it’ll improve the lives of my constituents.”

The news release states that the district is made up of 35.9% independent voters, 31.2% Democrats and 32.9% Republicans, and is estimated to be 25% Jewish.

Moskowitz, 45, also addressed growing concerns about antisemitism and political violence.

“Political extremism is expanding, and antisemitism is spreading and becoming mainstream. I am only here because my grandparents escaped Europe in WWII. My grandmother escaped Berlin, Germany through the Kindertransport. Because of good people who stood up to evil, my family was able to come to America and build a life in South Florida,” he added. “So, when I see people in my own party talking about concentration camps or deporting Jews, I am going to be an immovable object to that movement. My kids are never going to hide in attics.”

Moskowitz highlighted his experience serving under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, where he oversaw the state’s response to hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic and disaster recovery efforts.

Moskowitz, who was born and raised in Broward County, previously served as a city of Parkland commissioner, a member of the Florida House of Representatives and on the Broward County Commission. He currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Florida’s newly redrawn 25th congressional district will officially go into effect when the next congressional term begins in January 2027.

The district stretches along the coast from Palm Beach County to Miami Beach, and voters will decide who represents it in the Nov. 3 general election.

El distrito, basado en el condado Broward, es considerado “una de las contiendas congresionales más competitivas del país” y está catalogado como altamente competitivo por el Cook Political Report, según un comunicado de prensa de su oficina.

Moskowitz dijo que su campaña se enfocará en “reducir los costos para las familias de Florida, restaurar la normalidad en la política estadounidense y enfrentar el creciente aumento del antisemitismo y el extremismo político”.

“El pueblo estadounidense está luchando para poder costear una forma de vida normal. Muchos apenas tienen suficiente dinero para pagar sus cuentas y se sienten presionados por el aumento de los costos”, dijo. “Debemos trabajar juntos para recuperar el sueño americano para la clase media en Estados Unidos. Nunca he dudado en trabajar con cualquiera del otro lado político si creo que mejorará la vida de mis electores”.

El comunicado indica que el distrito está compuesto por 35.9% de votantes independientes, 31.2% demócratas y 32.9% republicanos, y se estima que el 25% es judío.

Moskowitz, de 45 años, también abordó las crecientes preocupaciones sobre el antisemitismo y la violencia política.

“El extremismo político está creciendo y el antisemitismo se está propagando y convirtiéndose en algo común. Yo solo estoy aquí porque mis abuelos escaparon de Europa durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Mi abuela escapó de Berlín, Alemania, a través del Kindertransport. Gracias a personas buenas que enfrentaron el mal, mi familia pudo venir a Estados Unidos y construir una vida en el sur de Florida”, agregó. “Así que, cuando veo personas en mi propio partido hablando de campos de concentración o de deportar judíos, voy a ser un objeto inamovible frente a ese movimiento. Mis hijos nunca se van a esconder en áticos”.

Moskowitz destacó su experiencia sirviendo bajo el gobernador republicano Ron DeSantis como director de la División de Manejo de Emergencias de Florida, donde supervisó la respuesta del estado a huracanes, la pandemia de COVID-19 y los esfuerzos de recuperación ante desastres.

Moskowitz, quien nació y creció en el condado Broward, anteriormente se desempeñó como comisionado de la ciudad de Parkland, miembro de la Cámara de Representantes de Florida y miembro de la Comisión del Condado Broward. Actualmente forma parte del Comité Judicial de la Cámara y del Comité de Asuntos Exteriores de la Cámara.

El recién rediseñado Distrito Congresional 25 de Florida entrará oficialmente en vigor cuando comience el próximo período congresional en enero de 2027.

El distrito se extiende a lo largo de la costa desde el condado Palm Beach hasta Miami Beach, y los votantes decidirán quién lo representará en las elecciones generales del 3 de noviembre.

Whitmer has long been viewed by some Democrats as a possible White House contender after her decisive election victories in the closely contested state that Republican Donald Trump has carried twice in presidential votes. For months, however, Whitmer had offered only cautious answers about her political future.

But she delivered her clearest response yet in an interview Thursday with Fox 2 Detroit.

“I think there will be a robust group of people running for president. I will not be one of them in 2028,” Whitmer said.

Her comments came during Michigan’s annual Mackinac policy conference, where Whitmer is set to be honored and deliver remarks later Thursday. The news rippled through the bipartisan gathering of lawmakers, with many Democrats expressing disappointment.

“I certainly think we need more Midwestern voices. So I'm sorry to see that the governor is excluding this option,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.

Whitmer has previously said she plans to take time before deciding on her next move politically.

“I don’t know that I’ll put my name on the ballot again. I’m just not sure,” Whitmer said at an April breakfast in Detroit. “But I also am 54 years old. I got a lot of gas in the tank.”

The Mackinac conference has become a hub of presidential speculation, with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Slotkin — both considered possible 2028 contenders — also in attendance.

“If there was someone I believed in, I'd be all in,” Slotkin told The Associated Press. “But I'm not taking it off the table because I want to be a part of that next generation of leaders.”

By a 5-4 vote, the justices sided with Terry Pitchford, who was sentenced to death for his role in the killing of a grocery store owner.

“In this case, whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court. Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices joined with Kavanaugh.

There were 11 white jurors and one Black juror in a trial with similarities to that of another Black man on Mississippi’s death row, whose conviction the high court overturned seven years ago.

It’s unclear what happens next in Pitchford's case. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who dissented, suggested the state still could argue Pitchford’s conviction should be sustained. If his conviction is overturned, the state could seek to retry him.

“Mr. Pitchford is now entitled to a fair trial in the state court,” Joseph Perkovich, who argued the case for Pitchford at the Supreme Court, wrote in an email.

Doug Evans, a now-retired prosecutor with a history of dismissing Black jurors for discriminatory reasons, had excused four other Black people at Pitchford's trial. Black people make up more than 37% of Mississippi’s population.

The Supreme Court ruled 40 years ago in Batson v. Kentucky that jurors could not be excused from service because of their race and set up a system by which trial judges could evaluate claims of discrimination and the race-neutral explanations by prosecutors.

Pitchford’s case focused on whether his lawyers did enough to object to Judge Joseph Loper’s rulings and whether the state Supreme Court acted reasonably in ruling they had not.

Pitchford’s lawyers made the necessary arguments and the state high court acted unreasonably, Kavanaugh wrote.

In dissent, Gorsuch wrote that Pitchford had to show that no fair-minded judge could rule as the Mississippi court did and that the record in the case was crystal-clear in his favor.

“As I see things, Mr. Pitchford has failed to satisfy either of these standards,” Gorsuch wrote, joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas.

In 2019, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and conviction of Curtis Flowers, because of what Kavanaugh then described as a “relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of Black individuals.” Evans was the prosecutor in that case, and Loper presided over the final two of Flowers’ six trials.

Pitchford, now 40, was 18 when he and a friend decided to rob the Crossroads Grocery, just outside Grenada in northern Mississippi. The friend shot store owner Reuben Britt three times, fatally wounding him, but was ineligible for the death penalty because he was younger than 18. Pitchford was tried for capital murder and was sentenced to death.

The case has been making its way through the court system for 20 years. In 2023, U.S District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned Pitchford’s conviction, holding that the trial judge did not give Pitchford’s lawyers enough of a chance to argue that the prosecution was improperly dismissing Black jurors.

Mills wrote that his ruling was partially motivated by Evans’ actions in prior cases. A unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling.

Evans did not respond to The Associated Press' attempt to reach him for comment when he retired.

___

Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

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Inside the school, a classroom was transformed into a busy barbershop as barbers volunteered their time for what the school calls “Cut and Groom Day.”

“They look good, they feel good, they behave well,” Principal Theon Eames said.

Around 30 boys received free haircuts, including fades, buzzcuts and shape-ups.

“Whether they wanted a haircut, whether they wanted a shape up, whatever it was, they were able to provide it for them,” Eames said.

The event was made possible with help from barbers from Universal Barbershop in Hollywood.

“We love giving back to the community any way possible,” one barber said.

For fourth grader Carl Content, the haircut brought a boost in confidence.

“It feels nice and the haircut looks good,” Carl said. “It makes me feel good and refreshing.”

Principal Eames said the free haircuts also help ease a burden for families.

“We’re just trying to make a way to meet the need of our community and our scholars because they worked hard this year,” Eames said.

Some students were a little nervous while getting their haircuts.

“Just close your eyes and sit still,” one barber told a student.

Barbers said the reactions from students make the event worthwhile.

“It gives them some confidence, self-esteem. It helps them focus a little more better,” said Manuj Narine of Universal Barbershop.

“They’re like, ‘Ohh, that’s me, wow. I like this. I look fresh,’” Narine said.

“I’m going to look good,” student Corey Edgerton said.

Principal Eames said this is not the first time he has brought Cut and Groom Day to a school community, and he hopes it will not be the last.

End-of-the-school-year ceremonies have already started at the school.

Dentro de la escuela, un salón de clases fue transformado en una barbería llena de actividad mientras barberos ofrecían su tiempo voluntariamente para lo que la escuela llama el “Día de Corte y Arreglo”.

“Se ven bien, se sienten bien, se comportan bien”, dijo el director Theon Eames.

Alrededor de 30 niños recibieron cortes de cabello gratis, incluidos desvanecidos, rapados y arreglos de línea.

“Ya fuera que quisieran un corte de cabello, un arreglo de línea o lo que fuera, ellos pudieron proporcionárselo”, dijo Eames.

El evento fue posible con la ayuda de barberos de Universal Barbershop en Hollywood.

“Nos encanta retribuir a la comunidad de cualquier manera posible”, dijo un barbero.

Para Carl Content, estudiante de cuarto grado, el corte de cabello le dio un impulso de confianza.

“Se siente bien y el corte se ve bien”, dijo Carl. “Me hace sentir bien y renovado”.

El director Eames dijo que los cortes de cabello gratis también ayudan a aliviar una carga para las familias.

“Solo estamos tratando de encontrar una manera de satisfacer las necesidades de nuestra comunidad y de nuestros estudiantes porque trabajaron duro este año”, dijo Eames.

Algunos estudiantes estaban un poco nerviosos mientras les cortaban el cabello.

“Solo cierra los ojos y quédate quieto”, le dijo un barbero a un estudiante.

Los barberos dijeron que las reacciones de los estudiantes hacen que el evento valga la pena.

“Les da confianza, autoestima. Les ayuda a concentrarse un poco mejor”, dijo Manuj Narine, de Universal Barbershop.

“Ellos dicen: ‘Ohh, ese soy yo, wow. Me gusta esto. Me veo bien’”, dijo Narine.

“Voy a verme bien”, dijo el estudiante Corey Edgerton.

El director Eames dijo que esta no es la primera vez que lleva el Día de Corte y Arreglo a una comunidad escolar y espera que no sea la última.

Las ceremonias de fin de año escolar ya comenzaron en la escuela.

Ahora, el presidente argentino Javier Milei ha aplicado su emblemática motosierra a estos programas de terapia especializada que, durante décadas, han representado un salvavidas para Celis, y para muchos de los aproximadamente 5 millones de argentinos con discapacidad.

En los últimos meses, el gobierno ha congelado los pagos a organizaciones que brindan servicios terapéuticos y educativos a personas con discapacidad. Los participantes han sido privados de rutinas cuidadosamente diseñadas, sostienen sus defensores y familiares, y se han desmantelado elementos de una red de contención social que antes se consideraba sólida según los estándares regionales.

“Nunca nos hubiéramos imaginado llegar a este punto, tener que vender un vehículo porque no tenemos plata para pagar los servicios o para pagar la alimentación”, afirmó Martín Lucero, representante legal de Andar, una organización argentina sin fines de lucro que gestiona un centro de atención diurna para personas con discapacidad en las afueras de Buenos Aires.

Andar ha quedado tan asfixiada que dejó de ofrecer hace dos meses los traslados en autobús de ida y vuelta al centro, dejando varadas a Celis y a decenas de personas más en del extenso suburbio bonaerense de Moreno, que dependían de su transporte gratuito y adaptado para poder asistir.

“La solución nunca puede ser cortarle a una persona con discapacidad su servicio terapéutico… el espacio que necesita para su desarrollo”, señaló Lucero. “Es una decisión política”.

Desde que Milei asumió el cargo a fines de 2023, su agenda de austeridad lo ha convertido en un ícono del rechazo conservador global contra el orden establecido liberal. Al igual que sus aliados en el gobierno del presidente Donald Trump, su administración ha presentado los recortes a los programas de discapacidad como parte de un proceso de reforma destinado a eliminar el fraude y el despilfarro en la burocracia federal.

Un portavoz del presidente no respondió a distintas solicitudes de comentarios.

Un sistema que se encamina al colapso

Los prestadores de atención a la discapacidad en Argentina, incluidos centros de atención diurna como Andar, pero también programas residenciales, de educación especial y capacitación laboral y en habilidades, operan con ingresos que reciben a través de la facturación a programas de seguros administrados por el Estado.

Las deudas de estas organizaciones sin fines de lucro han ido en aumento debido a que los pagos del gobierno han sido irregulares y a que las tasas de reintegro se han mantenido por debajo de una inflación que ha alcanzado niveles nunca vistos. Sin embargo, afirman que la situación empeoró hace seis meses, cuando el flujo de dinero se detuvo por completo.

Para reducir costos, han recortado cada vez más personal, demorado salarios, reducido las comidas y acortado sus horarios. No existe un recuento oficial de cuántos centros terapéuticos se han visto obligados a cerrar, pero grupos defensores de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad calcular que hasta 50 de ellos han bajado la persiana este año, muchos en provincias rurales de Argentina.

“Le diría (al presidente) que nos mire a nosotros, que nos mire, que nos vea, que venga acá”, dijo Roman Pontecorvo, de 28 años, con discapacidad intelectual, que descubrió su pasión por la actuación en Andar. “Si cierran (Andar), muchas familias quedarían afuera. Muchos de nosotros quedaríamos sin nada. sería un caos. Un caos total”.

Andar indica que alrededor del 30% de las 150 personas con discapacidad inscritas en su programa diurno ya no pueden llegar al centro, una apacible extensión de terreno con una cancha de fútbol, huerta y una cocina de nivel profesional donde los participantes pueden ganar un salario mensual trabajando para su servicio de catering.

Sin actividades, dicen los terapeutas, las personas con discapacidad pueden retroceder rápidamente.

“Se despierta tres o cuatro veces en la noche, gritando, pidiendo ir a la granja”, afirmó Clementina Tabares, de 74 años y madre de Celis, quien ahora falta a sus propias citas médicas porque su hija requiere cuidados las 24 horas. Celis pasa todo el día en la cama con una manta colgada sobre la ventana para bloquear el sol y música rock sonando a todo volumen desde su teléfono; de vez en cuando, gime con agitación.

“Está metida para adentro, encerrándose”, dijo Tabares. “Y eso me da miedo”.

Milei deja en suspenso una ley de emergencia por discapacidad

Hay una solución simple, dicen los defensores de derechos: implementar una ley aprobada el año pasado que declaró un estado de emergencia para las personas con discapacidad. También aumenta prestaciones que han perdido el 30% de su valor por la inflación y garantiza financiamiento para los prestadores de servicios al menos hasta diciembre de 2026.

Pero Milei ha demorado la entrada en vigor de la ley, argumentando que su impacto fiscal —aproximadamente el 0,35% del producto interno bruto— socavaría su superávit presupuestario, logrado con gran esfuerzo, el primero de Argentina tras décadas de déficit.

“Usando causas nobles promulgan leyes que llevan a la quiebra a la Nación”, dijo Milei después de vetar la ley el año pasado.

El Congreso anuló su veto. Actualmente se desarrollan batallas judiciales por la asignación de fondos.

En una decisión contundente, un juez federal le dio al gobierno 72 horas para restablecer los pagos congelados a los prestadores de servicios en cumplimiento de la ley el 18 de mayo, escribiendo que, para las personas con discapacidad, “La falta de cobertura o la interrupción de un tratamiento genera retrocesos en el grado de desarrollo”. El gobierno apeló.

Mientras tanto, Milei ha presentado un proyecto de ley que desmantelaría formalmente el sistema actual de pagos estatales a centros terapéuticos, otorgando a aseguradoras privadas y a los gobiernos provinciales la facultad de negociar sus propias tarifas con los prestadores de servicios.

También impondría nuevas restricciones sobre quién califica para recibir beneficios, poniendo fin a los subsidios para todos salvo para quienes estén por debajo de la línea de pobreza y tengan discapacidades clasificadas como absolutas y permanentes.

El proyecto, que ha provocado rechazo de grupos de derechos, está a la espera de debatirse en el Congreso.

Sobornos de alto nivel eclipsan un escándalo por la radiografía de un perro

Meses antes de que el multimillonario Elon Musk, del efímero Departamento de Eficiencia Gubernamental (DOGE, por sus siglas en inglés) del gobierno de Trump, afirmara falsamente que millones de personas muertas habían recibido cheques del Seguro Social, funcionarios argentinos denunciaron una estafa igualmente surrealista: que los beneficiarios falsificaban estudios médicos para engañar al gobierno y obtener dinero por discapacidad, incluso, al menos en un caso, presentando radiografías de un perro herido.

El alcance de esas estafas sigue sin estar claro. Las autoridades no han ofrecido pruebas de que exista un abuso generalizado.

Sin embargo, los fiscales investigan acusaciones de corrupción en un nivel más alto: en grabaciones filtradas el año pasado, el exdirector de la agencia nacional de discapacidad, Diego Spagnuolo, habla de sobornos por cientos de miles de dólares que presuntamente habría recibido Karina Milei, hermana del presidente y su asesora más cercana, por parte de empresas farmacéuticas que buscaban contratos públicos.

Milei ha negado irregularidades en nombre de su hermana. A medida que las auditorías cobraron urgencia, el gobierno cerró Andis, la agencia nacional de discapacidad, despidió a cientos de trabajadores y consolidó los programas de discapacidad bajo el Ministerio de Salud.

Pocas personas ponen en duda la necesidad de mayor transparencia. Pero los críticos sostienen que el gobierno parece menos interesado en mejorar el sistema que en desmantelarlo por completo.

“No podés desarmar el sistema y vaciarlo sin generar alternativas, dejás a las personas abandonadas”, advirtió Celeste Fernández, codirectora de la Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia, con sede en Buenos Aires, que el año pasado encabezó una demanda exitosa contra el gobierno después de que Andis suspendiera 140.000 pensiones por discapacidad bajo sospecha de fraude.

En la mayoría de los casos, reconoció luego el gobierno, los beneficiarios simplemente no habían obedecido o no habían entendido la citación para asistir a evaluaciones presenciales, a menudo en oficinas situadas a cientos de kilómetros de sus hogares.

“No están haciendo una revisión seria”, afirmó Fernández. “Simplemente está vaciando el Sistema”.

___

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

Para Radoslav Sekulic y su joven familia, el apartamento debía ser un lugar temporal donde quedarse mientras realizaban trabajos en su casa.

Después de largos días manejando su negocio de detallado de autos en Miami Beach, Sekulic dijo que solo quería un lugar donde él, su esposa y su hija recién nacida, Mila, pudieran descansar.

En cambio, aseguran que fueron estafados.

La familia encontró el anuncio en Facebook Marketplace. El apartamento parecía real, con fotos y un video del recorrido. Pensaron que habían encontrado el lugar perfecto para quedarse entre cuatro y seis semanas.

Pero el día de la mudanza, las cosas cambiaron repentinamente.

“No puedo dejarlos entrar”, les dijo el supuesto propietario. “El apartamento no huele bien y podemos hacerlo en los próximos días cuando terminen el trabajo de plomería”.

Esos próximos días nunca llegaron.

Los detectives dicen que el anuncio de alquiler era falso desde el principio.

Sekulic habló en exclusiva con Local 10 News y dijo que quiere advertir a otros sobre lo que la policía describe como una estafa de alquiler presuntamente vinculada a Joseph Saroza, quien ahora enfrenta varios cargos de fraude organizado y robo mayor.

Sekulic dijo que le suplicó al presunto estafador después de darse cuenta de que algo estaba mal.

“Mi esposa no está trabajando. Tenemos una bebé de un mes. No podemos pagar esto. Actualmente estoy bajo estrés financiero”, dijo.

La policía dice que Saroza presuntamente atraía a inquilinos con apartamentos que no tenía autoridad para alquilar. Los investigadores dicen que de alguna manera obtuvo acceso a las unidades, se las mostraba a posibles inquilinos, hablaba sobre los términos del contrato y cobraba depósitos.

El problema, según la policía, es que no tenía ninguna conexión con los apartamentos.

Sekulic dijo que su familia perdió $2,000 USD. Los detectives creen que otras víctimas podrían haber perdido aún más, entre $4,000 USD y $6,000 USD en algunos casos.

La policía también dice que Saroza presuntamente utilizaba un nombre falso en internet.

El agente Mike Vega, del Departamento de Policía de Miami, dijo que la estafa seguía un patrón conocido.

“Lo publicaba en Facebook diciendo que estaba en alquiler, pedía un depósito de seguridad y un depósito final, y luego al final decía que había un problema con la plomería”, dijo Vega.

Los documentos judiciales indican que Saroza creó contratos de alquiler falsos e incluso tarjetas llave falsas para algunas víctimas. Los investigadores dicen que se reunía con los inquilinos en los apartamentos para hacer que todo pareciera legítimo.

Local 10 News acudió a la última dirección conocida de Saroza buscando su versión de la historia, pero no estaba allí. Según informes, familiares dijeron que se mudó hace algún tiempo.

“Llamándolo, me bloqueó a mí y bloqueó a mi esposa”, dijo Sekulic.

Saroza está libre bajo fianza. La policía de Miami dice que podría haber más víctimas y está instando a cualquier persona que crea haber sido objetivo de esta estafa a presentarse.

El streamer, cuyo nombre real es Nurideen Shabazz, fue detenido alrededor de las 4 a.m. después de que agentes respondieran a una llamada relacionada con una mujer que dijo haber sido pateada fuera de un yate cerca de la cuadra 200 de North Shore Drive.

Según la policía, los agentes llegaron poco antes de las 2 a.m. y se reunieron con la mujer, quien les dijo que Shabazz, de 25 años, la había pateado fuera del yate después de que otros hombres intentaran hablar con ella.

La policía indicó que la mujer les dijo que Shabazz le advirtió que no “entretuviera a nadie más que a él”.

El informe señala que, después de que la mujer salió del yate, Shabazz intentó quitarle el teléfono para evitar que grabara la interacción.

Los agentes dijeron que él la agarró por el antebrazo, pero no logró quitarle el dispositivo. La policía indicó que el encuentro dejó un pequeño rasguño en el antebrazo izquierdo de la víctima.

Luego, la mujer llamó a la policía.

Según el informe, los investigadores revisaron posteriormente imágenes de vigilancia proporcionadas por el propietario de la propiedad, quien dijo a los agentes que había permitido que Shabazz usara el yate prestado.

La policía indicó que el video mostraba a Shabazz gritando para que alguien tomara el teléfono de la víctima y se asegurara de que no lo estuviera grabando. Los agentes escribieron que las imágenes parecían mostrar a Shabazz intentando repetidamente quitarle el teléfono, lo que provocó un forcejeo mientras la víctima trataba de alejarse.

Según el informe, las imágenes mostraban a la víctima “encogiendo su cuerpo en el piso” para evitar que Shabazz le quitara el teléfono.

La policía indicó que finalmente logró alejarse de Shabazz alrededor de la 1:55 a.m. y luego llamó al 911.

Posteriormente, los agentes supieron que el yate regresaba al muelle. Cuando llegó, la policía detuvo a Shabazz para interrogarlo.

Según el informe, después de que le leyeran sus derechos Miranda, Shabazz, residente de Temple Terrace, Florida, dijo a los agentes que creía que la víctima tenía su teléfono. La policía indicó que su declaración contradijo lo que los agentes observaron en las imágenes de video.

Shabazz finalmente fue arrestado por un cargo de intento de robo por la fuerza y fue trasladado al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight.

Hasta la tarde del miércoles, permanecía detenido en TGK con una fianza de $2,500 USD.

Un abogado que representa a Shabazz envió a Local 10 News el siguiente comunicado:

“El señor Shabazz niega las acusaciones reportadas hoy y tiene la intención de defenderse enérgicamente a través del proceso legal. En esta etapa, los hechos siguen incompletos y muchas de las afirmaciones que circulan en línea están basadas en acusaciones preliminares y no en evidencia verificada presentada ante la corte. Este caso será determinado en un tribunal de justicia, no en redes sociales.”

Richard L. Cooper, Esq.

Leer en español

With ocean temperatures already surging, researchers fear another devastating mass bleaching event could further cripple Florida’s struggling reefs.

On a sweltering summer morning, volunteers from Rock the Ocean joined scientists from the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef program on a coral restoration mission off the coast of Key Biscayne.

Their work has become increasingly urgent after recent data revealed sea surface temperatures in parts of Florida Bay reached an alarming 97 degrees.

“Miami has been feeling that heat stress for actually three years straight,” said Dalton Hesley, a coral restoration ecologist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School.

The extreme conditions are reminiscent of the historic summer of 2023, when South Florida experienced the worst coral bleaching event ever recorded. During that crisis, NOAA scientists documented near-total bleaching across many reef systems.

“We’re seeing 100% bleaching. That’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy,” NOAA coral program lead Ian Enochs said during the event.

While NOAA has not yet reported widespread bleaching in the Florida Keys this season, early warning signs are already appearing closer to Miami. Colin Foord, of Coral Morphologic, who operates the Coral City Camera at Government Cut, recently observed bleaching in roughly 25% of corals near PortMiami.

“We’re ground zero for the coral crisis,” Hesley said.

Florida’s reefs have already suffered catastrophic losses over the past several decades. Since the 1970s, more than 90% of the state’s coral cover has disappeared due to warming oceans, disease outbreaks, hurricanes, and pollution.

“There’s been a suite of stressors that have really decimated our reefs to the point that they’re on the brink,” Hesley explained.

Growing Corals Underwater

About three miles offshore lies Paradise Reef, home to Rescue a Reef’s underwater coral nursery. The site functions like an ocean farm where scientists grow young corals before transplanting them onto damaged reefs.

Critically endangered staghorn corals hang from metal “trees” suspended underwater. Volunteers regularly clean the structures to remove algae, barnacles, and sponges that can smother the growing corals.

“If we’re not there to actually clean them, they’re going to get overgrown,” Hesley said. “We want these to be healthy habitats for the corals themselves.”

Once mature enough, the corals are harvested by clipping fragments from the nursery trees. Those fragments are then carefully planted onto nearby wild reefs.

“We easily planted over 150 staghorn corals, a threatened species today, back onto the reef to really fill in this restoration site,” Hesley said.

Over the past decade, Rescue a Reef has restored approximately 2,000 corals at the local site alone. But scientists acknowledge restoration alone will not fully reverse decades of reef decline.

Building “Super Corals”

Researchers are now turning to science and selective breeding in hopes of creating more heat-tolerant corals capable of surviving warmer oceans.

Just weeks before the latest restoration mission, scientists launched a groundbreaking pilot project aimed at reviving Florida’s endangered elkhorn coral using heat-resistant coral strains from Honduras.

“It’s the first time ever that it’s been permitted and we’ve gone ahead and outplanted,” said Dr. Andrew Baker, a marine biologist at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School.

Last year, University of Miami scientists traveled to Tela Bay, Honduras, where they collected fragments from unusually resilient elkhorn corals. Those corals were later crossbred with Florida elkhorn coral in partnership with the Florida Aquarium.

The resulting juvenile corals — now planted on a Miami reef — could represent a critical step toward building reefs better adapted to climate change.

“We’re going to see how well these do over the next few months, particularly over the course of a warm summer, to see if they are more thermally tolerant, as we hope, and better able to deal with the changing conditions in Florida’s corals reef,” Baker said.

Combined with Miami’s own resilient urban corals, scientists believe these so-called “super corals” may help shape the future of reef restoration.

“They are tough, so they are special,” Hesley said. “We’re trying to better understand why, so we can integrate that into gardening and restoration. So we’re building that super coral reef.”

Still, scientists stress that even the most resilient corals cannot survive indefinitely without broader action on climate change.

No matter how resilient we make our reefs, unless we address the root cause behind the coral crisis — climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution — our coral reefs don’t stand a chance.

Con las temperaturas oceánicas ya en aumento, los investigadores temen que otro devastador evento masivo de blanqueamiento pueda afectar aún más los arrecifes en dificultades de Florida.

En una sofocante mañana de verano, voluntarios de Rock the Ocean se unieron a científicos del programa Rescue a Reef de la Universidad de Miami en una misión de restauración de coral frente a la costa de Key Biscayne.

Su trabajo se ha vuelto cada vez más urgente después de que datos recientes revelaran que las temperaturas de la superficie marina en partes de Florida Bay alcanzaron alarmantes 97 grados.

“Miami ha estado sintiendo ese estrés térmico durante tres años seguidos”, dijo Dalton Hesley, ecólogo de restauración de corales de la Escuela Rosenstiel de la Universidad de Miami.

Las condiciones extremas recuerdan el histórico verano de 2023, cuando el sur de Florida experimentó el peor evento de blanqueamiento de coral jamás registrado. Durante esa crisis, científicos de la NOAA documentaron un blanqueamiento casi total en muchos sistemas arrecifales.

“Estamos viendo un 100% de blanqueamiento. Eso es una locura. Es absolutamente una locura”, dijo Ian Enochs, líder del programa de coral de NOAA, durante el evento.

Aunque NOAA aún no ha reportado blanqueamiento generalizado en los Cayos de Florida esta temporada, ya están apareciendo señales de advertencia cerca de Miami. Colin Foord, de Coral Morphologic, quien opera la Coral City Camera en Government Cut, observó recientemente blanqueamiento en aproximadamente el 25% de los corales cerca de PortMiami.

“Somos la zona cero de la crisis de los corales”, dijo Hesley.

Los arrecifes de Florida ya han sufrido pérdidas catastróficas durante las últimas décadas. Desde la década de 1970, más del 90% de la cobertura de coral del estado ha desaparecido debido al calentamiento de los océanos, brotes de enfermedades, huracanes y contaminación.

“Ha habido una serie de factores de estrés que realmente han diezmado nuestros arrecifes hasta el punto de dejarlos al borde del colapso”, explicó Hesley.

Cultivando corales bajo el agua

A unas tres millas de la costa se encuentra Paradise Reef, hogar del vivero submarino de coral de Rescue a Reef. El lugar funciona como una granja oceánica donde científicos cultivan corales jóvenes antes de trasplantarlos a arrecifes dañados.

Corales cuerno de ciervo, en peligro crítico de extinción, cuelgan de “árboles” metálicos suspendidos bajo el agua. Los voluntarios limpian regularmente las estructuras para eliminar algas, percebes y esponjas que pueden sofocar los corales en crecimiento.

“Si no estamos allí para limpiarlos, terminarán cubiertos”, dijo Hesley. “Queremos que estos sean hábitats saludables para los propios corales”.

Una vez que alcanzan suficiente madurez, los corales son recolectados cortando fragmentos de los árboles del vivero. Luego, esos fragmentos son cuidadosamente plantados en arrecifes naturales cercanos.

“Hoy plantamos fácilmente más de 150 corales cuerno de ciervo, una especie amenazada, nuevamente en el arrecife para realmente completar este sitio de restauración”, dijo Hesley.

Durante la última década, Rescue a Reef ha restaurado aproximadamente 2,000 corales solo en el sitio local. Pero los científicos reconocen que la restauración por sí sola no revertirá completamente décadas de deterioro de los arrecifes.

Creando “supercorales”

Ahora los investigadores recurren a la ciencia y al cruce selectivo con la esperanza de crear corales más tolerantes al calor capaces de sobrevivir en océanos más cálidos.

Solo semanas antes de la más reciente misión de restauración, científicos lanzaron un proyecto piloto innovador destinado a revivir el coral cuerno de alce, en peligro de extinción en Florida, utilizando variedades resistentes al calor provenientes de Honduras.

“Es la primera vez que se autoriza y avanzamos con la plantación”, dijo el doctor Andrew Baker, biólogo marino de la Escuela Rosenstiel de la Universidad de Miami.

El año pasado, científicos de la Universidad de Miami viajaron a Tela Bay, Honduras, donde recolectaron fragmentos de corales cuerno de alce inusualmente resistentes. Posteriormente, esos corales fueron cruzados con coral cuerno de alce de Florida en colaboración con el Acuario de Florida.

Los corales juveniles resultantes, ahora plantados en un arrecife de Miami, podrían representar un paso crítico hacia la creación de arrecifes mejor adaptados al cambio climático.

“Vamos a ver qué tan bien funcionan durante los próximos meses, particularmente durante un verano cálido, para determinar si son más tolerantes térmicamente, como esperamos, y capaces de enfrentar mejor las condiciones cambiantes en los arrecifes de coral de Florida”, dijo Baker.

Combinados con los propios corales urbanos resistentes de Miami, los científicos creen que estos llamados “supercorales” podrían ayudar a definir el futuro de la restauración arrecifal.

“Son resistentes, así que son especiales”, dijo Hesley. “Estamos tratando de entender mejor por qué, para poder integrarlo en jardinería y restauración. Así estamos construyendo ese super arrecife de coral”.

Aun así, los científicos enfatizan que incluso los corales más resistentes no podrán sobrevivir indefinidamente sin acciones más amplias contra el cambio climático.

No importa cuán resistentes hagamos nuestros arrecifes, si no abordamos la causa raíz detrás de la crisis de los corales —el cambio climático, las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y la contaminación— nuestros arrecifes de coral no tendrán oportunidad.

Jannik Sinner had won everything there was to win in tennis over the past three months: five straight Masters 1000 titles — three of them on clay — and 30 straight matches.

And with Carlos Alcaraz, his biggest rival, out due to an injured right wrist, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion that Sinner would raise the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy and complete a career Grand Slam.

That’s why Sinner’s meltdown amid the Paris heat wave was so stunning Thursday — especially after he came within just one game of concluding his second-round match in straight sets when he led 5-1 in the third.

The top-ranked Sinner struggled with dizziness and was beaten by 56th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 after wasting two chances to serve for the match.

“I didn’t feel very well on court,” Sinner said. “I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy, very low on energy. ... In the beginning, I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I just kind of hit the wall.

"I didn’t have energy, really. I was very, very flat. The whole body. I don’t remember last time I felt this weak,” Sinner added.

Sinner said that when he woke up on Thursday he “didn’t feel very well.”

Sinner bent over on the clay court in apparent exhaustion multiple times and was hardly even running for shots as the match wore on, resorting to drop shots and serve-and-volley tactics to try and shorten the points.

He attempted to cool himself with a hand-held fan on changeovers and put bags of ice around his neck.

The temperature at the start of the match was 29 degrees C (84 F) and rose to 32 C (90 F).

“It was warm but not crazy warm,” Sinner said. “I feel like it was quite OK to play. Really it was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens.”

Cerundolo didn’t celebrate too much when it was over, just producing a little wave to the crowd.

“It’s tough for him,” Cerundolo said. “I couldn’t win more than three games by set. So I think I was a little bit lucky. … He was deserving to win in this match. But then I don’t know what happened. … I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers.”

When Sinner served for the match a second time at 5-4 in the third set, he bent over at 0-40 and then walked to his chair. He asked for assistance and left the court. His entire light blue outfit was soaked through with sweat.

After losing the set 7-5, Sinner received medical attention and left the court. Minerals were added to his drink when he returned but Sinner wasn't able to recuperate.

Sinner lost 18 of the last 20 games. Asked if he considered retiring before the match ended, Sinner said that in the “fifth set we all know everything can happen. I was in a tough spot."

Sinner's previous loss came Feb. 19 in the Qatar Open quarterfinals. He had won five straight Masters titles while dropping just three sets.

“We’ll definitely do some tests to be sure of what happened today," he said.

“Let’s hope we’re ready for Wimbledon,” Sinner added. “To be ready there, we need to recuperate well and do things right now.”

But Sinner has a history of struggling in the heat. He admitted he was lucky at the Australian Open in January against Eliot Spizzirri when the roof was closed and the third-round match swung his way. And he had to retire from a match in Shanghai in October that was contested amid extreme humidity.

“Shanghai was very tough. Humidity very high. Australia was very, very warm,” Sinner said. “Here, I mean it was warm, but it was OK. It was not like I was dying because of the heat. I think today was completely different scenario.

“It’s tough to accept, of course, because of the position where I’ve been in and everything considered,” added Sinner, who sportsbooks had listed at around -300 to win the tournament.

On the same Court Philippe Chatrier last year, Sinner wasted three match points against Alcaraz and lost an epic final.

A 17-year-old advances

In other matches, 17-year-old Frenchman Moise Kouame became the youngest man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since Rafael Nadal was also 17 at 2003 Wimbledon. Kouame beat Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8).

Frances Tiafoe required nearly five hours to overcome Hubert Hurkacz 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4.

And Cerundolo’s older brother, Francisco, beat Hugo Gaston 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

In women’s action, Naomi Osaka put on another fashion show for her walk-on before beating Donna Vekic 7-6 (1), 6-4.

Defending champion Coco Gauff beat Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2; and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elsa Jacquemot 7-5, 6-2.

___

AP Sports Writers Samuel Petrequin and Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.

___

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

Según la policía de Miami Beach, el incidente ocurrió alrededor de la 1:10 a.m.

La policía indicó que el sospechoso recibió un disparo y fue trasladado al Ryder Trauma Center del Hospital Jackson Memorial en condición crítica.

El policía no resultó herido.

La policía no confirmó de inmediato quién le disparó al sospechoso.

El Departamento de Cumplimiento de la Ley de Florida (FDLE) está investigando.

Vea Local 10 News o actualice esta página para más información.

State-run Yemeni TV said that he died at his residence in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, but gave no other details.

Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council — the leadership body of Yemen’s internationally recognized government — said Hadi believed in the Yemeni people’s “right to a just state, freedom and human dignity.”

“He led the battle to defend the republican system," al-Alimi said on X.

The government announced three days of mourning, during which flags will be flown at half-staff.

Hadi's presidency

Hadi became president in 2012 after the resignation of longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh during the Arab Spring uprisings. Backed by the United States and Gulf states, Hadi emerged as a compromise candidate in a one-person election meant to guide Yemen through a political transition.

But his presidency soon got bogged down in unrest.

During his first years in office, Hadi tried to implement wide-reaching reforms, including the unification of the country’s various armed factions.

His opponents accused him of favoring the country’s eastern oil-rich provinces at the expense of the mountainous heartlands dominated by Houthis, the Iran-aligned movement.

Another challenge came from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long considered one of the global network’s most dangerous branches. The group carried out a bombing in Sanaa in 2012 that killed more than 100 people.

The defining moment of Hadi’s presidency came in 2014, when Houthi fighters swept south from their northern strongholds and captured Sanaa amid growing public anger over economic hardship and political instability.

With support from forces loyal to Saleh, Houthi forces took control of Yemen’s presidential palace in January 2015. Hadi resigned and escaped to Aden. But he later withdrew his resignation, and a Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015 in a bid to restore Hadi’s government.

Although Hadi remained the internationally recognized president, much of the real decision-making was influenced by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the coalition's main players.

His authority weakened further as divisions emerged in the anti-Houthi alliance.

Tensions with the UAE deepened after Hadi dismissed senior Emirati-backed figures, including Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who led the separatist Southern Transitional Council, or STC.

The STC eventually took control of Aden and parts of southern Yemen, leaving Hadi’s government confined to exile in Riyadh and to scattered territories in the east.

While the STC stopped short of openly demanding Hadi’s removal, it refused to place its forces under his command and accused his government of accommodating Islamist factions linked to the Islah party, Yemen’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The STC was dismantled earlier this year.

Hadi spent his final years in office largely out of public view in the Saudi capital. In April 2022, shortly after a U.N.-brokered ceasefire was announced, he transferred power to al-Alimi, who began leading the newly formed presidential council backed by Saudi Arabia.

His rise as a military officer

Mansour Hadi was born Sept. 1, 1945, in Yemen’s coastal Abyan province at a time when the southern of the half country was a British protectorate. His family was part of the influential Al-Fadl tribe, one of the largest and most established in the south.

After completing school, Hadi pursued a career in the army, graduating from the United Kingdom's Sandhurst military academy. His early military years saw him serve in Egypt and Russia, before returning to Yemen.

Hadi was a senior officer when civil war erupted in 1986, following a fallout between rival factions of Southern Yemen’s then governing Socialist party. He sided with President Ali Nasser Mohammed, fleeing with him to northern Yemen, then an independent state.

In the immediate years after Yemen’s reunification in 1990, Hadi was promoted first to the rank of general and later to defense minister by Saleh. As a reward for leading numerous successful military campaigns against southern separatists in 1994, Saleh appointed Hadi as vice president of the new republic.

Hadi is survived by his wife, Hala, and six children. Funeral arrangements weren't yet known.

___

Fatma Khaled reported from Cairo. Jack Jeffery provided reporting for this story from Cairo before leaving The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move was not being announced.

Reworking Thomas' deal comes in the middle of offseason workouts and with No. 5 pick Arvell Reese still not yet signed to his rookie contract. The rest of the draft class, including No. 10 pick Francis “Sisi” Mauigoa, is all signed.

The Giants now have just under $12 million in salary cap space, according to the NFL Players Association’s public accounting. Reese's contract is expected to take up a big chunk of that, so more maneuvering could take place in the coming months before the season begins in September.

Thomas, 27, is one of the team's highest-paid players and the anchor of an offensive line that showed improvement last season from previous years. New coach John Harbaugh said Thomas was dealing with foot and shoulder injuries that led the staff to limit use on the field during organized team activities.

“They have a nice ramp-up planned for me,” Thomas said last week. “Just a precautionary thing. Obviously, what we care about is September, being ready, so I’ve been trusting that. It’s definitely tough sometimes because I want to push it and I want to get better, but I’m trying to trust the process to make sure I’m ready to go when it counts.”

Thomas had surgery to repair a Lisfranc injury in his right foot in October 2024 and missed the first two games of last season before returning Sept. 21. A hamstring injury caused him to miss the final two games, but now it's a lingering shoulder problem that is being managed.

“Something that I’ve been dealing with,” Thomas said. “I think I’m in a good place.”

___

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

Eso es según fuentes de Local 10 News y un número creciente de detenidos dentro del centro que están llamando a WPLG y aseguran que están viendo cómo las operaciones comienzan a cerrarse.

Mientras muchos de los inmigrantes están siendo procesados para deportación o transferidos a otros centros en todo el país, Local 10 está conociendo que un número cada vez mayor de ellos está siendo liberado o saliendo bajo fianza para reunirse con sus familias.

Sammy Aliferis se desempeñó como juez de inmigración y abogado del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas, pero ahora trabaja como abogado representando a detenidos dentro de “Alligator Alcatraz”.

Aliferis dijo que los detenidos están siendo liberados bajo una orden legal conocida como habeas corpus.

Todo esto ocurre después de que recientemente un juez de inmigración declarara que “si la deportación no es razonablemente previsible, la corte debe considerar irrazonable la detención continua y ya no autorizada por la ley”.

Aliferis dice que a los detenidos también se les está concediendo fianza tras una decisión reciente del Tribunal del 11.º Circuito de Florida.

Un vehículo policial sin identificar realizó una maniobra PIT, conocida como Técnica de Inmovilización de Precisión, y detuvo una Cadillac XT5 negra.

El conductor salió del Cadillac en el área de Northwest 18 Avenue y 152 Street y corrió a través de Rail Road Drive, cerca de Opa-locka.

Cuando el conductor se acercó a las vías del tren cerca de Ali Baba Avenue, agentes del orden lo rodearon, le colocaron esposas y lo escoltaron.

El conductor permaneció junto a una patrulla marcada de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade antes de que agentes de la Patrulla de Carreteras de Florida asumieran su custodia.

Esta es una noticia en desarrollo.

Ubicación

Última hora: Reportando en vivo

Última hora: Reporte de seguimiento

The top three candidates competing for the nomination in the Aug. 4 primary are debating on Thursday at the state party’s annual policy conference. It is one of their first big opportunities to sharpen contrasts before a statewide audience.

With the primary season wrapping up across the country, the contentious race in Michigan is increasingly seen as a test case for where the party and its base are headed into the November election and beyond.

Set to appear on the Mackinac Island stage are U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed. The Republican nominee is Mike Rogers, a former congressman who lost the 2024 Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Democrat Gary Peters is not seeking a third Senate term this year. No Michigan Republican has been elected to the U.S. Senate since 1994.

Here’s where things stand in the race:

Messy primary or clarifying vision?

A bruising primary in a must-win Senate seat was hardly Democrats’ preferred scenario.

The debate will also put on full display the ideological divisions Democrats have struggled with since presidential nominee Kamala Harris and the party saw sweeping losses in 2024.

Stevens, a fourth-term congresswoman representing a district just outside Detroit, is seen as the more moderate, establishment-aligned candidate. She has endorsements from senators in battleground states, including Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. Stevens has described herself as a “staunchly pro-Israel Democrat.”

El-Sayed has taken the progressive lane, earning early backing from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. El-Sayed has called for “Medicare for All” and higher taxes on the wealthy and has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide.” He has drawn criticism, including from within the party, for campaigning with controversial streamer Hasan Piker.

McMorrow was first elected to the Michigan Senate in 2018 and gained national attention for speeches rebuking Republicans She has carved out a position somewhere between her two main rivals. She has criticized the Democratic establishment and said she would not support New York's Chuck Schumer to be Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate again.

Winner will face Rogers

Rogers lost to then-U.S. Rep. Slotkin by fewer than 20,000 votes in a state that Republican Donald Trump carried on his way to a second term.

This time, Rogers will not benefit from having Trump atop the ballot. But Rogers heads into the general election with advantages of his own, including an uncontested primary.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Rogers acknowledged the difficulties in the last campaign, saying the financial disadvantage he faced after a tough primary “made it really difficult” to win the general election.

But he said this year is different.

“This is a change election. People want to talk about Washington. This is about Michigan,” Rogers said.

It may prove difficult to localize a race shaped by national issues such as tariffs and gas prices, both of which are hitting Michigan hard. Outside spending is expected to climb into the nine figures. The Republicans’ U.S. Senate campaign organization has reserved $45 million in ads, compared with $20 million by Democrats.

“They're going to spend a lot of money trying to make you not like me. We're going to spend our money trying to tell people what we're going to do for them and make their lives in our state better," Rogers said.

La ferocidad de ese felino es la que promete utilizar para combatir a los grupos armados ilegales y los narcotraficantes que azotan al país.

“Al narcoterrorismo, a quienes he sentenciado y los he declarado objetivo militar, los voy a acabar como unas cucarachas, como unas ratas. Voy a hacer caer sobre ellos la ira de Dios como nunca antes se ha visto”, aseguró De la Espriella en entrevista con The Associated Press en la recta final de la campaña.

De estilo frontal, De la Espriella decidió que su primera aspiración electoral fuera por el cargo más importante del país. Asegura que su campaña se financió con el dinero que ha acumulado en su carrera de abogado y luego como empresario con marcas propias de vino, ron y ropa y se describe como un candidato independiente.

De la Espriella, de 47 años, se hizo un nombre como abogado defendiendo clientes de alto perfil como el expresidente Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) y también polémicos como Alex Saab, un aliado cercano del derrocado presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro que enfrenta problemas con la justicia estadounidense y a quien dejó de representar hace aproximadamente siete años.

Férreo opositor

De la Espriella asegura que Colombia está en sus “horas más oscuras” bajo el mandato de Gustavo Petro, el primer presidente de tendencia izquierdista en la historia del país.

Su postura crítica al gobierno le ha valido la simpatía de sectores opositores como la reserva militar y los uribistas —la corriente del expresidente Uribe— que ven en su figura la representación de los valores conservadores que defienden.

“Representa devolvernos la seguridad a nosotros y rescatarnos de las garras del comunismo que nos tiene azotados, devolver a las aulas a Dios, devolver la seguridad de que los niños no vuelvan a ser adoctrinados", dijo a AP Lucila Poveda, una de sus seguidoras.

De la Espriella recogió miles de firmas de ciudadanos que apoyaron su candidatura por el movimiento Defensores de la Patria y rechazó el apoyo explícito de los partidos tradicionales.

Simpatía por Bukele, Trump y Milei

De la Espriella dijo a AP que es ciudadano estadounidense y miembro del Partido Republicano. En marzo se reunió en Miami con el subsecretario de Estado estadounidense, Christopher Landau, y la representante republicana María Elvira Salazar.

“Hablamos de la cooperación internacional, de la necesidad de estrechar los vínculos y de resolver todo tan pronto se vaya este nefasto gobierno de Petro”, detalló el candidato, quien asegura que no va a permitir que salga más cocaína de Colombia y que quiere fumigar con herbicidas biológicos los plantíos de hoja de coca.

Petro ha tenido una relación tensa con el gobierno estadounidense desde la vuelta al poder de Donald Trump por diferencias en temas de migración, seguridad regional y lucha antinarcóticos, la cual mejoró luego de un encuentro en la Casa Blanca en febrero.

De la Espriella aseguró que adhiere a la política antidrogas de Trump, incluyendo los bombardeos a embarcaciones que presuntamente trafican drogas.

“Lancha que salga cargada de droga voy a dar la orden de que la hundan con la gente que vaya adentro”, sentenció De la Espriella.

Además, es vocal en su simpatía por el presidente salvadoreño Nayib Bukele y el argentino Javier Milei, de quienes dice tomaría algunas de sus políticas como referencia.

“Me gusta mucho el tema de las cárceles y la seguridad del presidente Bukele, haciendo la salvedad que son dos países muy distintos, con conflictos y situaciones muy diferentes”, explicó De la Espriella. “Me gustan del presidente Milei algunos de sus manejos económicos, ha reducido sustancialmente la inflación”, agregó.

Sin embargo, dice que será un “líder original” y no una copia de otros políticos.

De la Espriella nació en Bogotá en 1978, pero se crió en la costa Caribe. Es hijo de María Eugenia Otero Aldana y del abogado Abelardo de la Espriella Juris, simpatizante del uribismo. Se casó con la empresaria Ana Lucía Pineda, con quien tiene cuatro hijos.

El candidato se precia de tener una vida lujosa y sosegada en Italia, donde vivía hasta antes de ser candidato, que cambió por “servirle a la patria” y que le ha costado vivir rodeado de escoltas y vestir chalecos antibalas por amenazas contra su vida denunciadas en la campaña.

The wet weather will continue tomorrow with an isolated shower or two in the morning, followed by numerous showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. The main threat will be pockets of flooding, but an occasional strong thunderstorm with gusty winds and frequent lightning is possible.

A continuous plume of tropical moisture from the Caribbean will run over South Florida this weekend and well into next week. This will keep a similar pattern going with at least 4-8” of rain expected over the next week.

Aunque este linaje pudo abrirle muchas puertas, Valencia —abogada, filósofa y especialista en Economía por la Universidad de Los Andes fundada por su abuelo— dice que se ha labrado su propio camino en la vida pública. Ahora es una de las punteras en la campaña para las elecciones del domingo y podría ser la primera mujer que llega a la presidencia de Colombia.

“Las mujeres estamos preparadas para gobernar a Colombia. El gran sostén del hogar colombiano es la mujer y el único hogar en que no manda la mujer colombiana es la Casa de Nariño y eso va a cambiar”, dijo Valencia, de 50 años, a The Associated Press sobre sus aspiraciones para llegar a la residencia y sede presidencial.

En una contienda con 11 aspirantes, solo tres mujeres participan como candidatas. En las elecciones de 2022, en las que no había representación femenina, Gustavo Petro se convirtió en el primer presidente de izquierda.

Valencia ha ejercido una férrea oposición a Petro en el Senado como parte de la bancada del Centro Democrático, dirigido por el influyente expresidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002-2010).

Su oposición ha ido más allá de los discursos en el Congreso y se ha trasladado a los tribunales con demandas en contra de iniciativas gubernamentales como la reforma del sistema de pensiones.

Uribe, su padrino político

Valencia nació en 1976 en Popayán, en el suroeste del país, pero ha vivido gran parte de su vida en Bogotá. Amapola, de 9 años, es el fruto de su relación con Tomás Rodríguez Barraquer, un profesor de Economía de la Universidad de Los Andes.

Hace una década, Valencia protagonizó una polémica cuando en una transmisión en vivo desde su casa apareció de fondo un óleo que mostraba a Uribe con una aureola y un corazón rodeado de llamas, como es representado el Sagrado Corazón de Jesús.

Valencia defendió la pintura y actualmente el expresidente continúa siendo su padrino político y escudero en múltiples actos de campaña.

“Para mí (Uribe) ha sido un gran mentor. La gente cree que es que él me llama por la mañana a decirme qué tengo que hacer; todo lo contrario. Él le ha dado alas a todas mis ideas, me ha ayudado a convertirme en la líder que yo soy”, aseguró Valencia.

El gobierno de Uribe es recordado especialmente por fortalecer a las Fuerzas Armadas y combatir con mano dura a grupos ilegales, sobre todo de izquierda, como la guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

Su política de “seguridad democrática” aún es defendida por quienes consideran que fue vital para disminuir la violencia armada o cuestionada por quienes aseguran que permitió graves violaciones de derechos humanos como los “falsos positivos” o ejecuciones extrajudiciales de civiles.

“Nosotros vamos a tener lo que funcionó en la seguridad democrática y los aprendizajes que durante todos estos años ha tenido Colombia”, explicó Valencia.

Entre la mano dura y los consensos

Valencia ha prometido fortalecer a la fuerza pública y acabar con los actuales diálogos de paz que Petro ha promovido con múltiples grupos armados ilegales, sin lograr aún desarmarlos.

“Habrá procesos de sometimiento (a la justicia) que implican responder con cárcel por los crímenes”, sentenció Valencia, quien se opuso al acuerdo de paz firmado hace una década entre el Estado y las extintas FARC.

La candidata ha prometido mano dura durante una campaña que se desarrolló en medio de múltiples ataques con explosivos que causaron en el último mes más de 20 muertos y decenas de heridos entre la población civil y las fuerzas de seguridad.

Pero Valencia también ha hablado de consensos políticos y ha buscado conquistar los votos de los moderados con su fórmula vicepresidencial, el economista Juan Daniel Oviedo, con quien sin embargo difiere en temas como el aborto legal y la adopción de niños por la comunidad LGBTIQ+, a los que la candidata se opone.

La postura de Valencia sobre el aborto le acarreó críticas de las feministas. Los dos integrantes de la fórmula aseguran que, de gobernar, llegarán a acuerdos.

La apuesta por Oviedo también le ha costado cuestionamientos de sectores conservadores justo cuando compite por votos con el candidato Abelardo de la Espriella, un abogado millonario simpatizante de los gobiernos del presidente salvadoreño Nayib Bukele y del mandarario estadounidense Donald Trump.

En lo que se refiere a los puntos fuertes y débiles de Valencia, el analista político Sergio Guzmán ponderó que tenga experiencia como legisladora en contraste con el hecho de que no la tenga "ni como gobernadora, ni como alcalde, ni como ministra”.

Reyna and Scally are old friends who've had a blast playing together this season at German club Borussia Moenchengladbach and both made the U.S. roster for the World Cup this week.

“The chemistry’s there and it will always be there,” Reyna said this month in a joint media availability with Scally.

“We’re already close, but it feels like we’ve gotten even closer, which felt impossible, but it's been a good year together,” Reyna said.

He added his wife is friends with Scally's fiancee and even their dogs are buddies.

Reyna told the Associated Press last year his friend was the “cherry on top” in his decision to join Gladbach to revive his career this season after injuries and a controversial time at the 2022 World Cup.

Scally argues their bond brings on-field benefits.

“On the training field, in the locker room, in the car rides every day, I think we’ve definitely enjoyed every day because we know it doesn’t last forever,” Scally said. “I think we understand each other very well on the field. We want to play together more than we have. In the time that we do play together, something good normally comes out of it.”

The 23-year-olds were youth players together at New York City FC a decade ago and have both made their names in Europe but the on-field similarities end there.

Scally is a versatile, reliable defender who rarely misses a game. Reyna’s a creative, unpredictable attacking midfielder who can make a sudden impact in games but has been repeatedly sidelined with fitness and injury issues for large parts of the last few seasons.

It's the second World Cup appearance for Scally and Reyna and follows a dispute which overshadowed Reyna's time with the team in Qatar in 2022.

Reyna played only twice off the bench and then-U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said after the tournament that an unnamed player, later identified as Reyna, was nearly sent home for a lack of effort in training.

Reyna’s parents — Claudio and Danielle Reyna, both former national team players — lobbied the U.S. Soccer Federation for more playing time for Gio and contacted the USSF about a three-decades-old domestic violence allegation involving Berhalter and the woman who later became his wife — Danielle’s former college roommate.

Reyna told the AP last year he’d now handle the 2022 incident differently “in certain ways” and his actions stemmed from frustration, but the dispute wasn’t “completely” his fault or that of his family.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

A white cargo plane with aid donated by the European Union delivered masks, gloves, boots and medications — all of which are in short supply — to the northeastern town of Bunia at the heart of the outbreak in Congo's Ituri province. U.N.-branded forklifts lifted several cases into trucks.

Health workers with scant supplies have been struggling to contain an outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, a kind of Ebola that has no approved treatment or vaccine. In some areas, doctors have resorted to wearing expired medical masks while treating suspected patients.

Dangers faced by health workers have been heightened by anger among residents over the stringent medical protocols for dealing with the bodies of victims, which clash with local burial rites. Residents have launched at least three attacks against health centers in Ituri province.

Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said that during outbreaks people in remote communities can feel overwhelmed by an incoming flood of information and people.

“We’ve seen in every epidemic that there’s always resistance,” Kamba said. "Communities always ask themselves, ‘What’s going on?’ And in epidemics like this one, it is really risk communication and community engagement that ultimately change perceptions.”

Aid donated by the EU is expected to arrive in batches over the next eight days, Jérôme Kouachi, head of emergency operations at UNICEF in Congo, told The Associated Press.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was on his way to Congo to see the efforts first-hand efforts. The WHO has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, in the hope of ramping up aid.

The United States on Thursday said it is increasing its aid to Congo and Uganda by $80 million, bringing its commitment to more than $112 million since the outbreak.

The additional money would pay for personal protective equipment for health care workers, Ebola test kits, support for health screening at airports and contact tracing, the U.S. State Department said.

Africa Centres for Disease Control director-general Dr Jean Kaseya said that the organization on Monday believed it had secured funding pledges of nearly $500 million toward Africa’s emergency response, but that as of Thursday afternoon the amount had dwindled to $290 million as partners withdrew or reduced pledges.

He also said that the Africa CDC hoped to have treatments and a vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus by the end of the year, and that there were some vaccine candidates already in the works.

The Congolese government has confirmed more than 1,000 suspected cases, with at least 220 deaths, since it declared an outbreak on May 15. But the virus had been spreading undetected for weeks, and the WHO suspects it is much larger than what has been reported.

The virus has also reached neighboring Uganda, which has confirmed seven cases and one death.

On Wednesday, the Congolese government said the first survivor to recover from the virus had left a health center.

“We are trying to catch up,” Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said earlier this week. “It is a race against the clock.”

The response on the ground has been hampered by multiple challenges, including customs' red tape, insufficient storage facilities, bad roads and weak telecommunications, humanitarian agencies said in a report on Thursday.

Tedros on Wednesday called for a ceasefire in a region where armed groups have staged violent attacks for decades. “We cannot build community trust or isolate the sick while bombs are falling,” he said.

Tucked in the northeastern part of Congo close to the Ugandan border, Ituri province has been reeling from attacks by the Allied Democratic Force, a rebel group allied with the Islamic State group, and a coalition of ethnic militias. In early May, the ADF killed at least 40 people and burned several homes in Ituri.

The illness has also been reported in two Congolese provinces south of Ituri — North Kivu and South Kivu, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls many key cities, including Goma and Bukavu. The rebels have reported two cases. The region’s main airport in Goma, which doubles as a staging ground for humanitarian efforts into the region, has been closed since January 2025, when M23 seized the city.

The conflict has precipitated one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with at least 7 million people displaced in eastern Congo.

—-

Ope Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Mathew Lee contributed from Washington and Mogomotsi Magome contributed from Johannesburg, South Africa.

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According to Miami Beach police, the incident occurred at about 1:10 a.m.

Cellphone video captured the crime scene at South Pointe Park after the incident.

Miami Beach police and crime scene detectives were seen focusing on a bench along the main walkway after the shooting.

Hours later, after investigators cleared the area, Local 10’s cameras captured blood stains left behind on the bench -- a visible reminder of the violence that unfolded here.

“I am pretty stunned because it is a very nice park and nice people walking around here with their kids and dogs -- a really friendly neighborhood,” park visitor Ann Wessung said.

Police said the off-duty cop was the victim of some sort of incident involving another person.

South Florida Police Benevolent Association President Steadman Stahl said the deputy was protecting not only himself, but also relatives who were with him at the time.

“It just goes to show you we are never really off duty,” Stahl said.

Stahl said the deputy was walking back to his home with family members and his dog when he was attacked.

“The officer was walking back with some family members, back to his house, when he was attacked by a subject really unprovoked and he had to resort back to his police actions and training,” Stahl said.

That’s when the deputy fired his gun, hitting the other person, authorities said.

“Well, I mean, self-defense is self-defense. I guess he knows how to handle a weapon,” park visitor Ole Wessung said.

Police confirmed that the suspect was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition.

The suspect is not facing any charges, as of Wednesday night.

The deputy was not injured.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed it is investigating the “deputy’s use of force” at the request of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Lee County deputies said they saw a car swerving in and out of lanes Tuesday, prompting a traffic stop.

In the video, a deputy is seen approaching the passenger-side window and asking for the names of the driver and passenger.

The deputy tells them a K-9 will search the car and asks both people to step out.

When the woman gets out of the car, the deputy notices her allegedly trying to hide drugs, which fall onto the floor, authorities said.

Deputies said the baggie was filled with cocaine.

After searching the car, deputies also found a shoebox in the trunk filled with cocaine and other drug paraphernalia, according to authorities.

Deputies said all of the drugs belonged to Jacqueline Stacy.

In total, deputies said they found more than 44 grams of cocaine.

Stacy was taken to jail and is facing multiple charges.

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That’s according to Local 10 News sources and a growing number of detainees inside the facility who have been calling Local 10 and claiming they’re seeing operations shutting down.

“There’s less detainees, there’s less detainees now,” one detainee told Local 10 News over the phone. “And there are less officers too as well.”

U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost, from Central Florida, said the number of detainees is dropping drastically.

“They have 655 people there as of yesterday,” said Frost. “They spent nearly a billion of taxpayer dollars. There needs to be accountability and consequences.”

While many of the immigrants are being processed for deportation or transferred to other facilities across the country, Local 10 is learning a growing number of them are being released or bonding out to their families.

Sammy Aliferis has served as an immigration judge and an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement attorney, but now he is serving as a lawyer representing detainees inside “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Aliferus said detainees are being let out under a legal order called habeas corpus.

“It’s supposed to be to effectuate the removal, not to have them there indefinitely,” he said.

This is all coming after an immigration judge recently stated that, “If removal is not reasonably foreseeable, the court should hold continued detention unreasonable and no longer authorized by statute.”

Aliferis says detainees are also being granted bond following a recent decision in Florida’s 11th Circuit Court.

Local 10 News reached out to the Florida Department of Emergency Management, which runs the facility, to ask for comment on our reporting, or to confirm if they are shutting down.

They had not replied as of the time of this story’s publication.

The person who confirmed the existence of the investigation was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The perjury investigation is being led by the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has had no involvement because of his prior work as Trump’s personal attorney, the person said.

Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

It’s the latest in a series of investigations that Trump's Justice Department has opened into perceived adversaries of the Republican president. The actions, including securing an indictment last month against former FBI Director James Comey, have raised alarm from Democrats and former officials that an institution meant to make prosecutorial decisions independent of the White House is being weaponized.

Carroll has said a flirtatious, chance encounter with Trump in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan ended violently. She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her. Trump has called the allegations a “made-up scam," and he has attacked her motivations, saying they were politically driven or arose from a desire to promote her memoir.

A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her, and she was awarded $5 million. The following year, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a defamation case related to Trump's social media posts about her.

The Justice Department is scrutinizing a statement Carroll made in the course of the civil litigation that no one else was paying her legal fees. It later became public that a Chicago-based organization backed by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, had helped fund Carroll's case. Trump's lawyers in the civil case accused Carroll of concealing that information, which they said called into question whether the case was politically motivated.

A month before the first trial in 2023, then-Trump lawyer Alina Habba sought to delay it, saying in court papers that new revelations about Hoffman partially funding Carroll’s case “raises significant questions as to Plaintiff’s credibility, as well as her motive for commencing and/or continuing the instant action.”

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a Dec. 30, 2024, ruling, upheld the $5 million jury award from 2023. The court addressed Carroll’s credibility after Trump accused her of lying, during a deposition, about how her case was funded.

The court cited Carroll’s explanation that when the question about Hoffman's contributions was first posed to her in 2022, she had forgotten about “the limited outside funding” received in September 2020.

“It showed that Ms. Carroll simply was not involved in the matter of who was or was not funding her litigation costs,” the appeals court said.

Hoffman has defended the financial assistance, saying in a social media post that “supporting women fight for progress and justice in philanthropy, politics and business has been a longstanding priority of mine, as is supporting America against the threat of Trump.”

A court entry earlier this month said Trump will not have to pay the award until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal. The appeals court agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let Trump delay the payment to Carroll, though he was required to post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made.

The Carroll investigation was first reported by CNN.

____

Associated Press reporter Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report

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Defense attorney Howard Srebnick argued Wednesday that the case should be dismissed or, alternatively, transferred, as a judge began considering multiple motions in the high-profile case.

Judge Marissa Tinkler Mendez is considering Pino’s request to move the case out of the county, dismiss the charges altogether and other motions as well.

Tinkler Mendez said the proceedings could take a couple of days and she may not issue all rulings from the bench, noting she could reserve some decisions for a later date.

Courtroom 41 was packed for Wednesday’s hearing, which drew family members of the victims as well as supporters of Pino.

The case stems from a Labor Day weekend boating crash in 2022, when Pino was operating a boat carrying his wife, teenage daughter and several of her friends. Investigators said the boat struck a channel marker in waters near Boca Chita Key, throwing passengers into the water.

Seventeen-year-old Lucy Fernandez was killed, and her friend Kathy Puig suffered serious, permanent injuries. Investigators also reported finding dozens of empty alcohol containers on board, and said Pino was seen on video stating he had two beers that day.

The defense has maintained there is no evidence Pino was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

Attorneys also argue he was not speeding and was otherwise following boating rules, contending the incident was the result of a brief lapse in attention.

“There is nothing to indicate anything other than, at best for the state, George Pino had a momentary lapse. He was distracted by something. It was inattention for a moment in time, but it wasn’t some conscious, willful, intentional decision to put people at risk,” Srebnick said. “And that’s what the court, I believe, has to wrestle with.”

Pino faces charges of vessel homicide and manslaughter.

Tinkler Mendez is also considering motions to exclude statements Pino made after the crash, with the defense arguing he suffered a head injury and that his account should not be used at trial.

Attorneys are also seeking to move the case out of Miami-Dade County, citing concerns over pretrial publicity and jury bias.

The state, meanwhile, is seeking to question potential jurors about their exposure to the case and is considering allowing jurors to visit the vessel as part of the proceedings.

Jury selection could begin as early as next week.

She practices yoga. She performs free flow dance. And while she works, she frequently listens to house music tuned to 432 hertz, a frequency lower than typical concert pitch.

“Music is medicine. Sound is medicine,” said Sanchez, who provides telehealth services for a healthcare management organization in California. “It helps me focus and be engaged with the patient I’m assisting, and it also helps me relax."

Music recorded in 432 hertz (cycles per second) is taking off on social media platforms and music streaming services, where users can find an increasing number of tracks and playlists employing the alternate tuning, everything from meditation soundscapes to reggae songs recorded by Ziggy Marley.

Many proponents assert that 432 hertz is aligned with nature. Others assign the frequency healing properties or the power to reduce blood pressure. So far, there's no robust scientific evidence to support those claims.

“There are frequencies going on right now that are higher than what we can hear and lower than what can hear. And they’re not special because they’re one of the billions and billions of frequencies that we’re receiving right now,” said Susan Rogers, a Berklee College of Music professor emeritus who worked as Prince's sound engineer during the 1980s. “To set one aside and say that it is the frequency of the universe is, as far as the science community is concerned, nonsense.”

To Sanchez, it doesn't matter if the pain relief and emotional benefits she ascribes to 432 hertz music have a scientific explanation.

“When it comes to music, it could activate different feelings in people, the vibrations of it. It’s not like a one-size-fits-all,” she said.

The story behind 440 and 432 hertz

Throughout history, as people sang or played music together, they tuned their instruments to the same pitch to create a harmonious sound. Singers and musicians often chose a musical note — typically the A above middle C on a piano — as a reference point.

The music genre known as “432 Hz” is characterized by its tuning, in which the A above middle C is pitch-adjusted to vibrate at 432 hertz instead of the standard 440 hertz. The lower frequency is noticeable to the naked ear, sounding like slightly lower notes. Some people feel the alteration produces a warmer, more harmonious sound that resonates with the human body and the natural world.

Many orchestras and musicians now tune their instruments to 440 hertz. But that wasn't always the case.

Until the 19th century, musicians tuned instruments according to local standards, which varied from one country to the next, said Fanny Gribenski, a music historian at New York University. “For most of music history, people are just singing within their own vocal range,” she added.

Eventually, there were orchestras and musical groups tuning to higher frequencies, and some composers became concerned that singers would be unable to perform music from the past, Gribenski said.

“The idea that it should be mainly a lower frequency than the ones that were in use at the time is really the cultural concern for protecting music from the past, protecting the voices of singers,” she said.

At the same time, as international travel became more widespread, the desire for a common tuning frequency grew. In 1939, representatives from multiple European countries and the U.S. agreed to accept 440 hertz as the international standard.

Artists continued to experiment with pitch over the decades that followed. In the 1980s and ’90s, sound engineers sometimes took a recorded song and sped it up or slowed it down to achieve a brighter or slower sound, moving away from the frequency of 440 hertz, Rogers said.

But Rogers doubts that retuning a whole band or orchestra to 432 hertz would improve its sound since many modern instruments were designed sound prettiest while tuned to 440 hertz.

“Some of those instruments might sound a little sweeter, but it’s likely that most won’t,” she said.

Higher pitch generally means more brilliance, or perhaps a little more power in some instruments, Gribenski said. For those listeners who appreciate the lower 432 hertz music, “I wonder if there is a sense of deceleration, slowing down slightly, and also taking one step down from the bright sounds of modernity,” she said.

Working and 432 hertz music

Fans of working while accompanied by a 432 hertz soundtrack cite a variety of reasons.

Amelia Beamer, who handles marketing at the North Carolina pharmacy her parents own, Andrews Apothecary, says she thinks taking work breaks to listen to music tuned to 432 hertz helps with her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She's noticed that she feels more focused if she listens before she starts a project.

Beamer works for 25 minutes, takes a five-minute listening break and then returns to the task at hand. She also listens to other frequencies, such as music tuned to 528 hertz.

“It definitely helps me feel more grounded and more centered,” Beamer said of 432 hertz music. “It helps me slow down and to take some intentional space and time for myself.”

Diana Wolf Torres, who creates videos and writes a newsletter about robots, frequently gets migraines and is sensitive to noises. If a gardener is using a leaf blower next door, she has difficulty ignoring it. Listening to music tuned to 432 hertz or other sounds such as white noise while wearing noise-canceling headphones helps.

“I just want to be there and get it done and feel like I’m doing my best writing possible, and anything that keeps me in the zone is a fantastic tool,” Torres said.

Torres doesn't think there's any science or special properties behind 432 hertz music but that “maybe some people find this lower tuning more soothing.” She noted that most listeners won't know if music labeled 432 hertz on social media is labeled accurately.

“What does it matter? If you're getting an effect, are you really going to check the resonance? Do you care?” Torres asked.

Sanchez, the telehealth worker, also enjoys listening to tunes fixed to other alternative frequencies, such as 528 hertz and 963 hertz.

“It’s something worth exploring and finding out for yourself whether it has any benefits or not,” Sanchez said. “For me, I find that grounding is beneficial to my overall wellbeing, so I see how it helps my livelihood."

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Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

Sinner was serving for the match at 5-4, 0-40 in the third set when he bent over on the court and then walked to his chair. He asked for assistance and left the court. Hs entire light blue outfit appeared soaked through with sweat.

When he came back with an ice pack around his neck, he proceeded to lose the next point with a poorly sliced backhand wide and lost the third set 7-5. Sinner left the court again.

He won the first two sets 6-3, 6-2.

The temperature at the start of the match was 29 degrees C (84 F), and was forecast to rise to 33 C (91 F).

Sinner is on a 30-match winning streak stretching back to February.

Sinner also struggled in the heat at the Australian Open against Eliot Spizzirri in January. The roof was closed and the third-round match swung his way.

Sinner is attempting to complete a career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open title.

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

The likely death toll rose to 11, including the missing, after another person who was injured died, authorities said Wednesday.

Authorities said there was no hope of finding more survivors following Tuesday’s tank failure at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, which also injured another eight people, including a firefighter who was treated and released by a hospital.

If the 11 deaths are confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest industrial accidents in the U.S. in recent decades — alongside a series of blasts that killed 16 people at an explosives plant in Tennessee last fall; a fire and detonation that killed 14 people at a fertilizer plant in Texas in 2013; the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 people in 2010; and an explosion at a West Virginia coal mine that killed 29 people in 2010.

Officials said Wednesday that the paper mill tank spilled more than 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of “white liquor,” a highly destructive chemical mixture used in paper manufacturing.

After delaying the search over concerns that the tank might collapse further, crews determined it contained less liquid than initially thought and that the tank was stable enough to resume efforts to find the missing. Fire officials said the search will be slow and methodical.

“We do not know where all nine are,” said Scott Goldstein, a Cowlitz County fire chief.

Authorities said the rupture hasn’t affected the safety of the air and drinking water in Longview, a Columbia River city of about 40,000 people with long ties to the Washington and Oregon paper and lumber industries.

Some contamination had reached the Columbia River, one of North America’s largest waterways, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that no effects on the river had been observed. Officials warned residents to keep away from ditches and dikes.

It was the second notable issue with a chemical tank in days on the West Coast, following the evacuation of thousands of Southern California residents due to an overheated tank at an aerospace plant before those orders were lifted Tuesday night.

The paper mill tank could hold about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) and was more than half full when it ruptured, Goldstein said. White liquor, which is made mostly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, is used with heat to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.

The sprawling plant, which employs about 1,000 people, makes material for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, and cartons. It sits along the river next to other timber, paper and chemical businesses.

Paper mill worker was always there to help, friend says

The rupture happened at shift change Tuesday morning, causing the huge circular tank to buckle on one side. The cause remained unclear.

Authorities haven’t released the names of the dead or missing, but some have begun to trickle out.

Todd Cornwell said his friend, Gilbert Bernal, was an electrician at the plant and was the first confirmed death. They knew each other through church and were in the same Bible study group, he said.

“We actually had our group last night and instead of doing Bible study, we talked about him,” Cornwell said. “He was always there willing to help in whatever needed to be done. When the local church school started flooding, he was one of the people there.”

Brian Williquette, a chemical supplier for the region’s mills, was at the plant Tuesday morning when he heard an alarm over the intercom and first wondered if it was drill. He was able to get out safely and didn’t see any of the damage.

“It’s just unfathomable,” he said at a community vigil Tuesday. “There’s not anybody that lives here that doesn’t know somebody at a paper mill.”

Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident, said she has friends at the plant who remained unaccounted for. She said people called and texted each other all day trying to figure out what happened.

“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she said. “There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why.”

Authorities press for answers about the rupture

Nippon Paper Group in a statement said Wednesday that it was offering its “deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families.”

Some of those who were injured suffered burns or inhalation injuries, authorities said.

Following the tank’s rupture, the liquid spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittny Goodsell, a state Ecology Department spokesperson.

Almost every industry uses chemical tanks like this and they are generally quite safe, said Stephen Kmiotek, a chemical engineering professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. But it’s important that companies keep up proper maintenance and inspections, particularly after the tanks get older, he said.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board on Wednesday announced an investigation. Its chairperson, Steve Owens, said the goal was to “determine how it happened and what can be done to prevent something like this from happening again.”

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Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle, Kathy McCormack in Concord New Hampshire, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims were up to 215,000, up from 210,000 the week before. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by nearly 6,300 to 209,000.

“Initial claims are still impressively low, near historic lows,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary. “The uptick from last week to this week is trivial in a labor market of 159 million workers.″

The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits — a proxy for layoffs — has stabilized in a low range of mostly 200,000 to 250,000 a week since the U.S. economy emerged from a brief but nasty pandemic recession in 2020.

The total number of people collecting jobless aid rose by 15,000 to 1.79 million the week that ended May 16.

The persistently low number of claims suggests that most U.S. companies have not resorted to layoffs. But even if they’re not cutting jobs, employers haven’t been adding many either. Last year, companies, nonprofits and government agencies added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month, weakest hiring outside recession years since 2002.

Job creation has picked up a bit so far this year — to an average of 76,000 a month from January through April. By contrast, employers added 122,000 a month in 2024 and averaged nearly 400,000 a month from 2021 through 2023 as the economy roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns.

But the United States now needs fewer jobs to keep the unemployment rate from rising. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and ongoing Baby Boomer retirements means that the monthly “break-even rate″ of monthly hiring may be as low as zero. And the unemployment rate — 4.3% in April — has, in fact, remained low by historic standards.

The Iran war has clouded the economic outlook as higher energy prices squeeze consumers and businesses. Iran responded to U.S. and Israeli attacks by turning to economic warfare — closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes, and causing the biggest disruption of global oil supplies in history. In response, U.S. gasoline prices have surged to an average of $4.43 a gallon from an average $2.98 a gallon on the eve of the conflict, according to AAA.

Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.5% in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4%, down from the 0.7% jump in March but still higher than the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve would prefer.

Thursday’s inflation report also showed that in addition to gasoline, prices for groceries, clothing and electricity are also on the rise, indicating that inflation may be growing more entrenched. Inflation is notably above the Federal Reserve's target of 2%, which means Fed policymakers may decide to forego any cuts to their key short-term interest rate this year. Some officials have signaled that the central bank's most substantial move under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh could be a rate hike, rather than a cut.

Yet Trump and some his top officials are showing little concern about higher prices and the impact of the Iran war on Americans' financial health. Consumers have a dim view of the economy and have soured on the Trump administration's economic policies. Thursday's report showed that Americans' after-tax, inflation-adjusted incomes fell for the third straight month, while spending, adjusted for inflation, barely rose.

Trump has said that increases in gas prices — up more than 50% since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran — amount to “peanuts.” He previously said he does not consider Americans’ personal finances “even a little bit” when mulling his options on the war.

And on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said higher prices would be “transitory,” reviving an ill-fated term used by former Fed Chair Jerome Powell to describe the 2021-22 inflation spike that became a forceful political tailwind for Trump in his campaign for a second presidential term.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose to 3.3% in April from 3.2% the previous month. It is the highest core figure since October 2023. One positive sign in the report: Core prices rose just 0.2% in April from March, down from 0.3% the previous month.

Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade North America, acknowledged the core price increase isn't “huge,” but added, “it’s the wrong way, and we think it will continue in the wrong way because there are so many inflation pressures in the pipeline.”

Americans' incomes were unchanged in April from March, in part because farm incomes fell after a large government aid package ended last month. Adjusted for inflation, personal income actually slipped 0.1% last month.

Spending rose 0.5% in April from March, though most of that reflected price increases. Adjusted for inflation, spending rose just 0.1% in April, down from 0.3% the previous month.

“Signs of stress are building inside the American household across the economy,” Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, a tax advisory firm, said. “Inflation-adjusted spending, disposable income ... point to a slowing in May spending as inflation approaches a peak on the back of a historic supply shock."

The U.S. economy grew at a modest 1.6% annual pace from January through March, according to a separate report from the Commerce Department Thursday. The country’s gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — rebounded from a lackluster 0.5% expansion the last quarter of 2025 when growth was hobbled by the 43-day federal government shutdown.

The first-quarter growth, which covered the first month of the Iran war, was a downgrade from the 2% expansion Commerce initially reported.

Resilient consumer spending — mostly by upper-income households — and ongoing investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure are helping propel modest growth.

Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, slowed to 1.4% in the first quarter from 1.9% at the end of 2025 and was down from the 1.6% preliminary first-quarter estimate. But business investment, likely driven by spending on artificial intelligence, rose at a 7% pace.

Gas prices averaged of about $4.50 a gallon nationwide for three weeks this month before slipping to $4.43 on Thursday, according to the AAA motor club. Gas averaged $2.98 a gallon the day before the Iran war began.

Yet the cost of many other goods and services have picked up in recent months, raising concerns among many Fed officials that inflation is being pushed higher by tariffs and other factors in addition to the war. The cost of services such as dental visits, car repairs and veterinarian visits have been rising sharply, and clothes, toys, and groceries are also seeing outsize price gains.

Rapid investment in artificial intelligence centers also appears to be driving up the cost of computer equipment and software, adding to inflationary pressures. Electricity prices have also spiked from a year ago.

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who has said President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store 30 years ago, lied during the course of civil litigation against the Republican president, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Also, a federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

Here's the latest:

Trump officials: Kenya facility for Americans exposed to Ebola abroad to be operational this week

A new camp in Kenya where the Trump administration plans to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola abroad will be operational with 50 quarantine beds starting Friday, according to a senior administration official.

The government is still working on bringing in additional isolation and biocontainment units for Americans who may contract the disease, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss details of the facility with reporters on Thursday.

While no Americans have yet been identified to be sent to the facility, 30 members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps have so far been trained and deployed to staff the camp at Kenya’s Laikipia Air Base, the official said.

The U.S. government has been in conversation with Kenya’s president on the establishment of the facility, said another senior administration official on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters.

Trump approval still pending, US official says

Another U.S. official said the broad outlines of a tentative deal have been reached but stressed that until the president signs off on it, there is no deal.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomacy, said there are still questions about whether Trump will ultimately accept the agreement.

US and Iranian negotiators reach tentative deal to extend ceasefire and launch nuclear talks

U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and launch talks on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump still needs to sign off on the emerging memorandum of understanding.

The tentative agreement worked out by the two sides comes at a moment when the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appeared to be wavering.

The U.S. military earlier on Thursday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire after Kuwait reported coming under attack following an American strike against the Islamic Republic. It was the latest flare-up of fighting to threaten ongoing negotiations to end the war.

Details of the tentative agreement were first reported by the news outlet Axios.

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Vance tells Air Force graduates to use AI but ‘never submit to it’

In his commencement speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Vance said technology is evolving faster than military institutions have been accustomed to. He endorsed Pope Leo XIV’s recent message warning against outsourcing moral decisions to technology.

“If the warfare of the future is to live up to the moral values of our ancestors, decisions over life and death must be made by humans and not machines,” Vance told graduates Thursday at a ceremony in Colorado Springs.

Vance said he was confident in the class of 2026, saying they will follow in the footsteps of service members who pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was downed by Iran in April.

“Your Air Force, your future force, went in there and did the impossible,” he said.

Iran’s UN envoy calls US action against Venezuela, Iran and now Cuba `dangerous’

Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that the U.S. actions reflect a pattern “of coercion, intimidation and interference” which violates the U.N. Charter, threatens the countries’ sovereignty and independence, and endangers international peace and security.

U.S. forces arrested Venezuela’s president and the Trump administration now oversees the country, and it’s pressuring Cuba by blocking the delivery of oil.

Iravani defended Iran’s right to respond to the U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran on Feb. 28 and to close the Strait of Hormuz, accusing unnamed countries of ignoring the root causes of the current situation in the region and unfairly shifting the blame to Iran.

“Iran’s actions are lawful and consistent with international law,” Iravani said. “Iran could not allow such a critical waterway to be used as a corridor for hostile action and military aggression against its sovereignty, territory and vital interests.”

Trump’s DOJ sues 4 Democratic-run states over denying undercover license plates for federal agents

It’s the latest front in the wider struggle between the White House and Democratic-led states over the Republican president’s immigration crackdown.

The Department of Justice alleges in separate lawsuits filed Wednesday that Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington state are imposing unconstitutional restrictions it says impede law enforcement and threaten agents’ safety.

“By denying undercover license plates to DHS components, including ICE, while issuing them to their own state agencies, these governors are pursuing discriminatory and obstructionist policies against federal law enforcement,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a statement.

“These actions undermine federal immigration enforcement, allow dangerous criminals to escape justice, and terrorize American communities,” Blanche added.

The Justice Department filed individual suits in U.S. district courts in the respective states. The four state governments are accused of trying “to obstruct the Federal Government’s immigration enforcement efforts, even though control over immigration and the nation’s borders is an exclusive federal power.”

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US boosts Ebola response aid to Congo and Uganda by $80M

The Trump administration says it’s boosting its Ebola response assistance to Congo and Uganda by $80 million, bringing the U.S. contribution to those efforts to more than $112 million over the past two weeks.

The State Department said Thursday the additional money would pay for personal protective equipment for health care workers, Ebola test kits, supporting health screening at airports and other points of entry into Central and East Africa, and contact tracing of potential virus victims in the Congo and Uganda.

The U.S. has been criticized for massive reductions in assistance since Trump began his second term, including dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. But current officials say the new aid procedures are more effective and less costly.

In addition to the bilateral assistance it has pledged, the State Department said it also committed $50 million to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to fund up to 50 Ebola clinics and has earmarked $300 million through the agency for regional humanitarian initiatives.

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she won’t run for president in 2028

She put to rest speculation about a potential 2028 presidential bid, saying Thursday that she won’t join what’s expected to be a crowded primary field after leaving office at the end of this year.

Whitmer has long been viewed by some Democrats as a possible White House contender after her decisive election victories in the closely contested state Trump has carried twice in presidential votes. For months, however, Whitmer had offered only cautious answers about her political future.

But she delivered her clearest response yet in an interview Thursday with Fox 2 Detroit.

“I think there will be a robust group of people running for president. I will not be one of them in 2028,” Whitmer said.

Her comments came during Michigan’s annual Mackinac policy conference, where Whitmer is set to be honored and deliver remarks later Thursday.

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Justice Department scrutinizing statement Carroll made that no one else was paying her legal fees

It later became public that a Chicago-based organization backed by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, had helped fund Carroll’s case.

Trump’s lawyers in the civil case accused Carroll of concealing that information, which they said called into question whether the case was politically motivated.

Oil prices climb, but US stocks hold near their records

Oil prices are clawing back some of their sharp drops from earlier in the week Thursday, but U.S. stocks are remaining near their records as companies like Dollar Tree, Snowflake and Hormel Foods keep piling up profits.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% from its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 219 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower after both indexes also set records the day before.

Stocks appear to be less beholden to swings in the oil market, where prices climbed Thursday following the latest threat to the ceasefire in the United States’ war with Iran. U.S. Central Command said Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, following earlier “defensive” strikes by the U.S. military on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran.

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Trump says he’s been invited to watch the Knicks play in the NBA Finals

Trump told reporters Wednesday that New York Knicks owner James Dolan has invited him to the NBA Finals, when the Eastern Conference champion Knicks host either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs next month at Madison Square Garden.

New York, which is riding an 11-game postseason winning streak after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals, is scheduled to host Game 3 on June 8 and Game 4 on June 10.

Trump, a New York native, said he initially planned to attend Game 5 of the conference finals at MSG before the Knicks finished off the Cavaliers in four games. The president called Dolan a “great guy” and marveled at New York’s run.

Trump called the club’s return to the finals for the first time since 1999 “great to see.”

Trump has routinely dropped in on prominent sporting events during his time in politics. He’s taken in the College Football Playoff championship and caught a prime-time NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets just days before the 2024 election.

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Zelenskyy says he’s pressing US for more Patriot missiles for Ukraine to counter Russian strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that he’s being “very persistent” in pressing the United States to provide his country with more Patriot air defense missiles that can counter devastating Russian ballistic missile attacks.

Zelenskyy said he hasn’t yet received a reply to a letter he sent earlier this week to President Trump and Congress asking for more of the American-made ammunition. He warned that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts and depletes U.S. stocks.

“I believe (the U.S.) must act quicker. We are being very persistent,” Zelenskyy told reporters during a visit to Sweden.

Zelenskyy is keen to secure more deliveries of foreign weaponry that it can’t produce itself as it battles Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. In exchange, he’s offering to share the cutting-edge drone expertise Ukraine has built up during the war.

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Carroll has said a flirtatious, chance encounter with Trump in 1996 ended violently

She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue store, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her. Trump has called the allegations a “made-up scam.”

A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, awarding her $5 million. The following year, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a defamation case related to Trump’s social media attacks on her.

A court entry earlier this month said Trump won’t have to pay the award until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let the president delay the payment to Carroll, though it required that he post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made.

Justice Department opens investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of assault: AP source

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who’s said Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store 30 years ago, lied during the course of civil litigation against the Republican president, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person who confirmed the existence of the investigation wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The perjury investigation is being led by the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has had no involvement because of his prior work as Trump’s personal attorney, the person said.

Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

It’s the latest in a series of investigations the Trump administration Justice Department has opened into perceived adversaries of the president.

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— Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker

Key inflation gauge worsens as Americans shell out more for gasoline

Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.5% in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4%, down from the 0.7% jump in March.

The report showed prices have risen for many items in addition to gas, indicating inflation could persist and pose problems for congressional Republicans in this year’s midterm elections. Inflation is also notably above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, which means Fed policymakers may decide to forego any cuts to their key short-term interest rate this year. Some officials have signaled their next move could be a hike rather than a cut.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose to 3.3% in April from 3.2% the previous month. It’s the highest core figure since November 2023. One positive sign in the report: Core prices rose just 0.2% in April from March.

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The Minneapolis immigration crackdown ended months ago. For these little kids, trauma remains

The little girl approached the therapy dog outside the school library, reaching out to touch her fluffy blond coat. Social worker Nicole Herje leaned in.

“How does it feel when you pet Sage?” Herje said.

“I like it,” the girl said. “In Ecuador, I had a dog.”

A few months earlier, this girl and many of her classmates at Valley View Elementary were staying off the streets to avoid the immigration officers flooding their suburban Minneapolis community. Attendance plummeted as families kept their kids from school during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge.

Sage the goldendoodle is not just a cute diversion. She’s part of a broader strategy to address the psychological wounds of children who witnessed arrests, lost relatives to deportation or endured anxious weeks indoors.

Immigration officers made more than 4,000 arrests and shot multiple people, two fatally, before “Operation Metro Surge” wound down in February, leaving an imprint on the psyches of young children that could haunt them for years, mental health providers say.

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Republicans’ recent stumbles in Congress highlight the difficult road ahead for their agenda

A roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement through the remainder of President Trump’s term was supposed to be an easy lift for Republicans.

But progress stalled over concerns about the inclusion of White House ballroom security funding in the package and the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to finance claims of government mistreatment. The stumble hasn’t only delayed action on a top GOP priority but also is raising questions about other parts of the party’s legislative agenda, including whether Republicans can enact another catchall, party-line bill referred to in Washington parlance as “Reconciliation 3.0.”

Republicans have spent recent weeks laying the groundwork for such a bill, which they hope will serve as a final sales pitch to voters going into the midterms.

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Federal judge refuses to block Trump order to create federal voter list and limit mail voting

A federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., a Trump appointee, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups who had argued that Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Trump administration’s contention it was too early to issue the order because it has yet to be implemented.

The legal battle against the provision now shifts to Boston, where voting rights groups have a separate lawsuit against the executive order in federal court.

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US military says Iran fired missiles at Kuwait in the latest challenge to the fragile ceasefire

The U.S. military said that Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, calling the Iranian attack on one of the U.S. top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

The attack on Kuwait was the latest flare-up to shake the fragile ceasefire reached last month between the U.S. and Iran.

Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran announced it had retaliated after strikes earlier in the week on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name.

The Iranian strike came after, earlier in the week, the U.S. said it had struck Iranian missile launch sites, minelaying boats and attack drones it said posed threats near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

US military strikes another alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific, killing 2

The U.S. military on Wednesday struck another vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two men.

U.S. Southern Command posted video on social media showing a boat resting on the water before being struck by an explosion. The last few seconds of the video show smoke and fire rising from the boat.

A day earlier, U.S. forces had launched a strike on an alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing one man and leaving two survivors. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.”

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has gone on since early September and killed at least 196 people in total. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

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A bonus: The brilliant star Antares will photobomb Sunday's spectacle for a celestial three-for-one.

A blue moon occurs every two to three years when a second full moon squeezes into a single month. May 1 saw this month’s first full moon.

Since the moon's orbit isn't a perfect circle, the upcoming full moon will be farther from Earth than usual at a distance of 252,360 miles (406,135 kilometers), making it seem a bit smaller and dimmer. It's the opposite of a supermoon when a full moon comes closer to us than normal. The most recent supermoon, for instance, was just 225,130 miles (362,312 kilometers) away.

The Virtual Telescope Project’s Gianluca Masi, who will provide a live webcast from Italy, said Sunday’s micromoon will appear about 6% smaller and 10% dimmer than that of an average full moon — “differences that are subtle enough to likely go unnoticed by most observers.”

The scene will be especially thrilling south of the equator across the Pacific.

For stargazers in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, eastern Australia, parts of Antarctica and a smattering of other islands, Antares will vanish temporarily as the blue micromoon passes in front of it.

The red supergiant star, 550 light-years away, is known as the “heart of scorpion” in the constellation Scorpius. A light-year is almost 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).

There won't be any disappearing act for those looking up elsewhere in the world, with Antares constantly visible alongside the full moon.

And despite the name, this blue moon won’t appear turquoise, sapphire or any other shade. The term simply refers to the uncommon occurrence of two full moons in one month.

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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.

O’Brien, who graduated from Harvard in 1985 and served as president of The Harvard Lampoon humor magazine, quipped that the university had produced “more Nobel laureates or white-collar criminals” than any other in the country. “So whether you choose good or evil, know that you are among the very best.”

While he joked about “Justice Department spies” being in attendance, he also defended international students — which the Trump administration has attempted to block Harvard from hosting — and criticized what he described as a broader erosion of compassion in American public life.

“Our current leadership in Washington believes that empathy is a weakness,” O’Brien said.

He returns to campus during one of the most fraught periods in Harvard's recent history. The school faces mounting legal and financial pressure from President Donald Trump 's administration, which sued the school in March over accusations its leadership failed to address antisemitism on campus.

Months earlier, a judge sided with Harvard in another lawsuit and ordered the administration to reverse billions of dollars in funding cuts. Harvard says it was being illegally penalized for refusing to adopt the Trump administration’s views.

O'Brien joked that he too was suing the university over everything from uncomfortable dorm furniture to his “less-than-spectacular undergraduate sex life,” claims he said had “more merit than those filed by the president of the United States.”

Reflecting on how his Harvard background shaped the way people perceived him early in his comedy career, he urged grads not to let Harvard define them.

“Maybe my wish for you is not that Harvard becomes the last thing people know about you,” O’Brien said, “but instead that Harvard become the least important thing people know about you.”

Student speaker Andrew O’Donohue, who completed a doctorate studying democratic institutions and judicial independence, described how federal funding tied to his research was wiped out by Trump administration cuts before Harvard stepped in.

“When students self-censor, when professors fear being punished, when scientists worry that research funding is allocated based on politics,” O’Donohue said, “our universities will not produce the next great artist, doctor, scientist, educator, lawyer, entrepreneur, public servant, or innovator.”

Recent Harvard commencements have grown much more political.

Last year, students cheered speakers who defended diversity and international students in the face of Trump administration attacks. The year before was marked by walkouts and chants of “Free Palestine” after weeks of campus protests over the war in Gaza.

This year, graduate workers who are on strike picketed in Harvard Yard, blaring vuvuzela horns, drums and cowbells whenever an administrator spoke. More than 4,000 grad workers want higher pay, stronger protections and an independent process for harassment and discrimination complaints, among other issues. Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators silently held signs condemning the university's “Complicity in Palestinian Genocide.”

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Associated Press writer Leah Willingham in Boston contributed to this report.

They withdrew on Thursday and no reason was given by organizers.

But Baptiste was forced to retire during her second-round singles against Wang Xiyu on Wednesday after landing awkwardly on her left leg late in the first set.

The Americans were replaced by Eudice Chong and Veronika Rejvec in the draw.

Williams, who turns 46 next month, was a singles wild-card entry at the Australian Open. She lost in the first round and became the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw.

A seven-time major singles winner, Williams previously held the No. 1 ranking in singles and doubles.

Williams lost the French Open singles final to younger sister Serena in 2002 and they twice won the French Open doubles together, in 1999 and 2010.

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

Caesars became an iconic name after the opening of Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in 1966. However, its roots date back to the 1930s in Reno, Nevada.

Fertitta Entertainment will pay $5.7 billion and take on close to $12 billion in debt from Caesars, putting the total value of the deal at about $17.6 billion.

As part of the agreement, Caesars can seek competing bids through July 11.

Caesars investors will get $31 in cash for each share they own, a 49% premium over the share price before chatter about a possible tie-up between the two entertainment companies began in February.

Shares of Caesars Entertainment Inc., which are up 15% since merger rumors emerged, rose almost 2% before the opening bell Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups that had argued Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Republican Trump administration's contention that it was too early to block the order because it has yet to be implemented.

Nichols' ruling leaves the door open for further challenges when the Trump administration moves to implement the president's directive. A separate lawsuit seeking to block the executive order is underway in Boston. No matter how rapidly the administration acts, no voting changes are expected during primary elections, which continue into next month.

“The Court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a final rule that directly affects Plaintiffs or their members, or that the Government may develop State Citizenship Lists that omit specific individuals due to particularized flaws,” Nichols wrote. “Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur. Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted.”

The Trump administration has yet to formally issue lists of eligible voters, and those who filed the initial request for a temporary halt said they'd be back if the administration moves in that direction.

“We are ready to resume the fight if and when the administration takes those next steps,” said Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the organizations that sought the stay from Nichols.

Democratic party organizations that sought the order issued a joint statement with similar promises. “We are confident we will prevail in the end when this illegal and completely unworkable executive order is fully adjudicated,” the statement said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump issued the order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting stalled in Congress. The order would have had the federal government create a list of eligible voters and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list. Election officials argued it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos, and the postal union has objected to the idea of mail carriers policing ballots.

Since his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that year's vote, even though repeated audits and investigations, including ones run by Republicans, found it was free of widespread fraud. Trump also has said he wants to “take over” election administration in Democratic areas.

Democrats and civil rights groups argued it was urgent that Nichols issue a restraining order in the midst of primary season and with states already gearing up for the fall midterm elections.

This was Trump's second executive order seeking to overhaul elections and voting. His initial election executive order, issued just months after he took office in his second term, has been blocked by multiplefederal judges. That order sought to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, among other changes.

The seizures included more than 12 kilograms (26 pounds) in gold bars, millions in cash, premium watches and some 20 luxury properties, investigators told a news conference.

Messina Denaro died in a prison hospital some nine months after he was arrested in January 2023, ending three decades as a fugitive. He had been tried in absentia and convicted in dozens of murders, including helping to mastermind a pair of 1992 bombings that killed top anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

As part of the investigation into a decades-long drug-trafficking money trail linked, authorities arrested three people and ordered the seizure of assets, companies and financial holdings worth more than 200 million euros.

More than 150 Italian financial police officers carried out searches in Italy and abroad, including in Andorra, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Lebanon, Monaco and Spain.

Italy’s national anti-mafia prosecutor, Giovanni Melillo, said the seizures form part of a broader effort to dismantle the Sicilian Mafia’s economic infrastructure and prevent it from rebuilding criminal networks capable of exerting global financial and social influence, including intimidation.

But progress stalled over concerns about the inclusion of White House ballroom security funding in the package and the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to finance claims of government mistreatment. The stumble has not only delayed action on a top GOP priority but also is raising questions about other parts of the party's legislative agenda, including whether Republicans can enact another catchall, party-line bill referred to in Washington parlance as “Reconciliation 3.0.”

Republicans have spent recent weeks laying the groundwork for such a bill, which they hope will serve as a final sales pitch to voters going into the midterms.

Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both of Louisiana, have been meeting with committee and caucus chairs to screen for proposals that have strong buy-in from the rank and file. They are aiming to follow up on last summer's big tax and spending cuts bill with a measure that would increase Pentagon spending by hundreds of billions of dollars and would include cuts elsewhere to help pay for it, which they are couching as tackling government waste and fraud.

It's a high-stakes gambit in an election year. Success will reinforce the GOP's message of being able to deliver on legislative priorities. Failure will underscore some of the Republican fractures under Trump that could leave voters seeking an alternative.

Here's a look at the coming debate as Republicans hope to pass a bill before leaving for their August recess.

House Republicans sound confident

Johnson navigated the House GOP's slim majority in passing Trump's tax and spending cuts bill last summer. The vote was 218-214. At the time, Republicans could afford to lose three votes from within their ranks. They lost just two.

They'll have a thin margin of error again, but Johnson said he's even more confident of success this time around.

“It will be just as beautiful, but not as big, so it’ll have less provisions and less things to get everybody to yes on," he said.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said Republicans are just as motivated as they were last year on the tax cuts bill.

“This one, I think you’ll have potentially money to support our troops in conflict," said Arrington, of Texas. "I can’t imagine a Republican not wanting to support our troops and military community in a time of conflict.”

The Trump administration has called on Republicans to provide $350 billion to defense through a reconciliation bill.

But Rep. Brendan Boyle, the lead Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said Republicans will have a more difficult path than they did with Trump's big tax and spending cuts bill.

“I think it will be for a couple of reasons. First is the president’s approval rating. He was at a much higher level a year ago than he is right now,” said Boyle, of Pennsylvania. "Number 2, we are much closer to the November midterm elections. So, if you’re one of a dozen or a couple dozen House Republicans who are really vulnerable in a swing district, you have to think even more carefully about voting for something that has even more health care cuts in it.”

The tax cuts bill that passed last summer reduced spending on Medicaid by more than $900 billion over a decade. It also reduced spending on nutrition assistance by about $187 billion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Caution in the Senate

Senate Majority Leader John Thune called a third reconciliation bill to get around the filibuster a “potential option,” hardly a ringing endorsement.

“We haven’t made any commitments on that, but we’re hearing people out,” said Thune, of South Dakota.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said lawmakers should know what will be in the bill before the legislative process begins. That way, it's less likely to unravel.

“If it just becomes another exercise where you’re not really sure what’s going to be the end product, then I think it’s a mistake even to pursue it,” Tillis said. "We ought to be smart about it if we do a third one, but it is kind of a moonshot.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she worried about the strategy.

“A third reconciliation may or may not happen. I’m just being direct," she said.

Little time and fractured relations

The House is expected to be in session for about 24 more days before it breaks for its August recess. That leaves little time to pass a budget blueprint in both chambers, which is the first hurdle for pursuing party-line tax and spending bills. Committees would also have to wrap up their work advancing their portions of the legislation.

Another hurdle could be Trump's treatment of current senators whose votes he will need for any package to become law. Trump endorsed opponents of two senators who faced stiff primary challenges and eventually lost — Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas.

Cassidy has already shown more willingness to buck the president. Fresh off his primary loss, he voted last week to advance a bill that seeks to force Trump to withdraw from hostilities with Iran.

What could make it into the bill

Lawmakers said they could tweak and resurrect some proposals that did not pass muster with the Senate parliamentarian for inclusion in last year's reconciliation bill. For example, Republicans tried to prevent states from providing Medicaid coverage for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said the bill should rest on three pillars, making the country more affordable and secure while reducing fraud.

Among the group's recommendations is a proposal to eliminate the capital gains tax on the sale of homes to first-time homebuyers, which they say would incentivize the market, and a proposal to impose a 5% tax on funds sent by noncitizens back to their home countries.

Arrington said he would also like to tighten the rules for the earned income tax credit, a program that increases the financial reward for working but that also has a high rate of improper payments. He also called for prohibiting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally from living in housing units financed by a housing tax credit paid to developers who construct and rehab affordable housing for renters.

“There's a lot more work to be done to build on what we did in the first one with Medicaid and SNAP (nutrition assistance), with respect to fraud,” Arrington said.

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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

Police officers accused Victoria Roman, who works as a graphic designer, of sharing an image of a victim on Nov. 19 on Instagram, according to an arrest warrant.

According to an email sent to Local 10 News by a man who identified himself as Roman’s husband, she is accused of “giving someone a breast” in the photo. He said the alleged victim in the case is an adult.

Roman surrendered to police officers on Thursday in Davie, and corrections booked her at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, records show.

Roman, of Miramar, appeared in bond court on Friday morning. A judge ordered her to stay away from devices with internet access.

Roman faced four counts of promotion of altered sexual depiction. Her bond was set at $60,000.

Roman later released the following statement to Local 10 News: “I have been subjected to prejudicial discrimination by the alleged victim in the case. There was no valid reason for her to kick me out like trash because 4 of my black students attended a free seminar that someone else approved of. (The alleged victim) slandered my name in a horrific way and took several thousand dollars from my family and didn’t fulfill her business agreement. Please watch the YouTube Video, ‘American Tigers Martial Arts - Student Unjustly Kicked Out’ for more information. There’s much more to this unfortunate situation.”

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.

Useful links

• The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center
• The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s cyber tip line

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated that Roman faced charges in a “fake porn” case, however records show she is facing four counts of “promotion of altered sexual depiction.”

The 27-nation EU's fine follows preliminary findings last year that Temu was exposing consumers to a high risk of products sold on its platform like baby toys and small electronics that didn't comply with EU consumer safety rules.

The bloc's executive arm issued the penalty under the Digital Services Act, or DSA, a wide-ranging rulebook that requires online platforms to do more to keep internet users safe from harmful content or dodgy goods, under the threat of hefty fines.

It's the second time Brussels has issued a fine under three-year-old DSA, following a $120 million penalty last year for Elon Musk's social media site X.

Temu said it disagreed with the decision and considered the fine “disproportionate.”

The decision relates to the commission's first DSA evaluation of Temu in 2024 “and does not reflect the current state of our systems,” the company said.

“Temu engaged constructively with the Commission throughout the process and has since taken further steps to strengthen risk assessment, platform governance, and user protection," it said in a statement.

The company is popular because it offers cheap goods - from clothing to home products — shipped from sellers in China. The platform has 92 million users in the EU and is owned by PDD Holdings Inc., which also owns the popular Chinese e-commerce site Pinduoduo.

The European Commission said Temu failed to identify, analyze and assess the systemic risks of illegal goods for sale on the platform and the resulting harm to European consumers.

Investigators had carried out a “mystery shopping exercise” that turned up a number of "non-compliant" products, including many electronic device chargers that failed basic safety tests. They also found a very high percentage of baby toys that posed safety risks, either because they contained chemicals at levels that exceeded safety limits or because they had parts that came off and could be a suffocation risk.

The commission said failing to do proper risk assessments is a particularly serious breach of the bloc's digital rules.

Risk assessments are “not box‐ticking exercises," European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkunnen said.

“Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence, and is not comprehensive,” she said in a prepared statement. "It leaves regulators, users, and the public in the dark about the true scale of potential harm posed by illegal products sold on Temu. Now it is time for Temu to comply with the law.”

Temu has until the end of August to submit an “action plan” to remedy the problem. It could be hit with additional daily, weekly or monthly fines if it fails to comply.

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AP writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

“It’s been so eye-opening to see who my people are,” Adler said. “I feel the love, I feel the compassion, the care — it’s nice to have a family again.”

Adopted by an American family when he was 9 months old, the 36-year-old is one of thousands of children who were stolen from Chilean families during the 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and among hundreds who have been reunited with their birth families thanks to DNA tracing and organizations that are helping Chilean adoptees investigate their pasts. Others are also working toward justice for the families ripped apart.

The American family that adopted Adler in 1990 raised him in an affluent Chicago suburb.

“My parents didn’t steal me; they didn’t name me Kyle out of malice. They saw me as who they wanted me to become, and there’s a lot of love that was put into that,” Adler said of his adoptive parents Mike and Connie Adler. Adler believes neither of them knew the circumstances surrounding his adoption. He said neither were initially supportive of his decision to find his birth mother before they died in 2022.

He grew up to be an overachiever who in adulthood wanted more meaning to his life, he said.

“Suddenly now I found myself where I didn’t know what to do. I knew I was adopted and at that point, I was just like, I need to find my mom.”

The day he was taken

Adler’s biological mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, was a 19-year-old single parent working nights at a fish shop in the seaside city of Coronel, some 533 kilometers (331 miles) south of the capital. She had named him Marcos Antonio Navarrete.

She could only afford a room for herself, so she hired a woman who took Adler into her home as a baby and looked after him. Navarrete told The Associated Press she visited him whenever she was not working.

One day, the caregiver told her he was taken by an American couple after a local priest made arrangements for a baby “in need of a family.”

“And she let them have him,” Navarrete told AP, furious and ashamed. The AP could not independently verify all the details of what occurred.

A police investigator told her the baby had likely been taken as part of a wide-reaching counterfeit adoption network that involved adoption agencies, immigration officials, judges, nurses and even doctors.

No one was held accountable, Navarrete said, and “those years afterward were some of the worst years of my life.”

Lacking family support, she said she eventually surrendered the idea she would get her son back.

No justice

“Justice for the poor did not exist in Chile and it still does not,” said Constanza Del Rio, founder and executive director of Nos Buscamos, a nonprofit organization with online data for thousands of cases. The government estimates more than 20,000 children were stolen from families.

Children of the poor and Indigenous populations were targeted during the Pinochet regime from 1973 to 1990, said Jimmy Lippert Thyden González, who was also illegally adopted and became a human rights lawyer.

“It was an effort to eliminate and eradicate the poor class. It was a way of eradicating the Indigenous population, the uneducated population,” he said.

Uncovering the past

In early 2017, Adler came across the Nos Buscamos Facebook group while Googling the term “Chilean birth mom search” online, he said. And that’s when he messaged Del Rio.

Within three months, Del Rio had confirmed Adler's origin story and organized a virtual reunion.

Initially, Adler felt crushed to find out he was adopted illegally, sending him into an identity crisis that led to years of therapy.

Then last year, Adler finally felt ready for answers.

A DNA test provided by genealogy platform MyHeritage, a global family history company based in Israel, confirmed a match between Adler and 56-year-old Navarrete of Santiago and “made it official,” he said.

MyHeritage partners with both Nos Buscamos and Connecting Roots, and other nonprofits doing similar work, to provide free at-home DNA testing kits for distribution to Chilean adoptees and suspected victims of child trafficking.

Tyler Graf, the founder and CEO of Connecting Roots, traveled with Adler.

Graf had also reunited with his birth mother Hilda Quezada Godoy decades after he was taken from her, and said it is now his mission to track others taken from families in Chile.

“Now it’s time to mend these families and bring everyone back home so they can see where they came from,” Graf told the AP.

Fighting for justice for the families that were separated

Lippert Thyden González sued the Chilean government two years ago and hopes to lead the fight all the way to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He also founded the organization Grafting Hope, a nonprofit focused on educating U.S. lawmakers and fighting for the rights of survivors of counterfeit adoptions.

The Chilean government didn’t immediately respond to several messages seeking comment from AP.

“I want justice. Not just for me, but also for him because I don’t know the type of life he had,” Navarrete told AP days after reuniting with her son.

Navarrete is working with a law firm and hopes those involved will get jail-time.

The reunion

“My birth mom’s just been wanting me to be alive,” Adler said ahead of boarding the flight from Miami in February.

The two were reunited two days after her 56th birthday on Valentine’s Day and an AP team was with them in Miami and Chile.

Tears flowed as Adler exited the international arrivals gate in Chile. Both mother and son were wearing white as Navarrete ran to embrace him. The tall, dark-haired son bent over to bury his face in his mother's hair.

“I’m so happy to be finally meeting him, my dream has finally come true,” Navarrete said.

The emotional reunion led to a fruitful week together visiting the beach in Coronel, the hospital where Adler was born and the house where he was taken from. They recovered a copy of his original birth certificate, and he met one of his four siblings. In Miami, he had previously met another sister and her daughter.

Back in Santiago, the two enjoyed keepsakes Adler brought with him as gifts: A framed graduation diploma, childhood photographs and a pair of baby shoes his adoptive parents had kept.

Adler is not a Spanish speaker so Connecting Roots provided a translator. These days, translation apps help them continue the conversation.

Navarrete said the time spent with her son was joyful but it also made her relive much of the pain of the past 35 years.

“It took me so long to find him. And then to spend a week together only to have him leave,” Navarrete said amid tears, “it's like I found him but I've now lost him all over again.”

She said she's hopeful the family will reunite in December. For Adler, the road to forgiveness continues but he hopes Navarrete is able to let go of the trauma.

“I’m not just the son that you lost, I’m the son that you found. I’m back to being your son,” he said.

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The story has been updated to correct that Lippert Thyden González sued two years ago, not three years ago.

Among the dozens of companies taking part, including well-known players like Boston Dynamics and Toyota Motor Corp., the big stars now were clearly the Chinese.

Chinese newcomers, like Booster Robotics and LimX Dynamics, took the technology initially developed in Japan and the U.S. and fine-tuned it, often for cheaper mass production. It’s a repeat of what happened in other Japanese industries, from consumer electronics to cellphones and electric vehicles. In humanoids, Japan was initially ahead but then failed to produce major commercial solutions.

Tim Hornyuk, author of “Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots,” who was at the event, categorized it as the so-called “Galapagos syndrome,” referring to how innovative Japanese products evolve in isolation and end up not translating for the international market.

“I really hope that Japan can come up with a Ford Model T-version of humanoid roots. But I think China has already stolen their lunch. It’s a bit too little too late,” he said.

The dancing and wiggling Mini Pi Plus robot from High Torque of China, for instance, still can’t help at an auto plant or do your dishes. But it’s cute. And it doesn’t come with an eye-popping price tag, starting at $5,500.

Chinese robots are dominating

One telling example of Chinese robotics use in Japan was GMO, a Tokyo-based AI and robotics company working on a humanoid with camera eyes that will help with Japan Airlines cargo and other chores at an airport.

The key is to have the robot do the work in the same way as people so they would be interchangeable, an initiative meant to tackle the labor shortage problem that is increasingly serious in Japan.

The inner robotics workings were all courtesy of Unitree, a Chinese outfit, which is also working on a four-legged dog-like “stellar explorer.”

Experts say Japan, with its finesse in manufacturing, proved a good breeding ground for robotics development. The sociological backdrop of a public receptive to robotics also helped.

A recent Pew global survey showed that people in Japan are highly aware of AI but are less anxious about it, at about 28%, than people in the U.S. at 50%.

Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co., a leader in robotics with its walking humanoid Asimo, first shown in 2000, was demonstrating a motorized four-fingered robotic hand that could screw on and off tiny bolts, or thread a needle.

It didn’t seem to bother Keisuke Tsuta, assistant chief engineer, that similar mechanical hands were on display galore near his booth, many of them from Chinese makers.

Japanese robotics show their prowess

The technology Honda had developed is more durable and powerful than rival offerings, and the Japanese have historically shown they can excel at quality mass production, according to Tsuta.

The looming threat of a Chinese robotics domination didn’t seem to phase Osaka University Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has worked on humanoids for decades, including one that’s his clone.

“What’s significant is that Japan has a culture that’s receptive to robotics. If we’re going to really start using robots in society, Japan is the ideal place,” he said, stressing that Japanese don’t discriminate against robots.

His robotic counterpart, dressed all in black like the professor, did as good a job, if not better, of answering a key existentialist question on the meaning of robots.

“I think robots will coexist with people. Robots are the mirror of human beings,” the robot replied in a slightly monotonous but human-like voice.

Earlier, the professor had answered a similar question, but a bit differently.

“No one is interested in me. All everyone cares about is my robot,” he said, sitting next to his twin-like humanoid.

“As long as people identify with what I have produced, I am a success,” he added.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

Zelenskyy said he hasn’t yet received a reply to a letter he sent earlier this week to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress asking for more of the American-made ammunition. He warned that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts and depletes U.S. stocks.

“I believe (the U.S.) must act quicker. We are being very persistent,” Zelenskyy told reporters during a visit to Sweden.

Zelenskyy is keen to secure more deliveries of foreign weaponry that it can’t produce itself as it battles Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. In exchange, he's offering to share the cutting-edge drone expertise that Ukraine has built up during the war.

Russia has used its long-range ballistic missiles to damage Ukraine’s power grid and hammer cities.

The Ukrainian capital is bracing for further heavy bombardments. But no foreign diplomats are known to have heeded Moscow’s recommendation to leave Kyiv before what the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this week would be upcoming “systemic strikes” on Kyiv.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that all diplomatic missions in the capital have continued operations.

Sweden's advanced fighter jets

Ukraine plans to buy 20 advanced Gripen fighter jets from Sweden for 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion), with Sweden also donating 16 older Gripen models once the purchase goes through, Zelenskyy announced on his trip to Sweden.

The money for the jets will come out of a 90 billion-euro ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine that the European Union recently approved, Zelenskyy said during a trip to Sweden.

The combat aircraft will be especially helpful in stopping Russian planes that launch powerful glide bombs at Ukraine, he said at an aircraft hangar standing in front of Gripen jets alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Ukraine will get the older models early next year and the new models from 2030, Kristersson said. The planes will be equipped with weaponry, and Sweden will provide maintenance and training, he said.

Ukraine eventually wants 150 Gripen jets, Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, Sweden is “extremely eager” to learn from Ukraine’s drone warfare experience, Kristersson said.

Ukrainian drones limiting Russian advances, analysts say

Zelenskyy says Ukrainian specialists have helped countries in the Middle East — specifically the Gulf Arab region — strengthen their air defenses during the Iran war. They have helped at American military bases in the Middle East as well, he says.

Ukraine has also entered into joint drone production agreements with countries in the European Union, which fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin has military ambitions beyond Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones that patrol the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line and strike deeper at supply routes have pinned back Russia's bigger army.

“Ukraine’s successful midrange and front-line drone strike campaigns are limiting Russia’s ability to transport personnel to the front line and to supply and sustain front-line positions,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in an assessment late Wednesday.

Russia has occupied about 20% of Ukraine so far. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014. The cost of capturing that land has been huge, with the head of the U.K. intelligence agency GCHQ saying Wednesday that almost 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

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

For her walk-on before a second-round win at the French Open, the tennis star wore a metallic gold bomber jacket over her sequined gold playing dress, offset by an ivory train in a look that mixes sportswear with couture.

“The inspo was, I don’t want to say Victorian, but you know the ladies that have the dresses with the poof in the background?" Osaka said. “(It's) so terrible of me to not know the correct term of that.”

The term Osaka was looking for is likely bustles, which were padded undergarments used to add fullness to dresses in the mid to late 19th century.

After the walk-on, Osaka took off the train and jacket and handed the garments to a ball kid to remove them before the match against Donna Vekic on Court Simonne-Mathieu on Thursday.

“I like to keep people on their toes and I think it’s really fun,” Osaka said in her post-match interview on court, refusing to reveal if she has a new outfit for every possible match of the tournament. “There’s a community I feel like that’s been built over my on-court outfits. So I just like to just keep you guys guessing.”

Osaka won 7-6 (1), 6-4 to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time since 2019.

“It means a lot,” she said. “I just feel so grateful. It’s another milestone.”

For her opening match two days earlier, Osaka walked on in a ceremonial black skirt and sleeveless beaded bodice before revealing her gold dress, which she said reminded her of the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night.

“Athletes are in show business,” Osaka said after beating Laura Siegemund in her opener. “Grand Slam walk-ons are the only time that I possibly feel like I’m an entertainer.”

Osaka's opponent says walk-ons ‘problematic’

Siegemund said Osaka’s walk-ons were “yet another example of big names being treated differently” in tennis.

Siegemund told Eurosport Germany she didn’t mind the outfits but found it “a bit problematic” that it took Osaka so long to get ready and lesser-known players were under pressure to unpack their gear as fast as possible to avoid time violations.

“I came here to play tennis, not to put on a fashion show," Siegemund added after losing to Osaka. "If other people want to do a fashion show, they can do that. It’s fine for me.”

Vekic had no issues.

“It’s just something different,” Vekic said. "Some people take tennis way too seriously. Just relax. It’s just an outfit. It’s no big deal. She has an opportunity to do that so why not.”

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AP Fashion Writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.

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

Dong Guangping, 68, was aboard a 3.3-meter (10.8-foot) rubber boat in the waters off a western South Korean island on Monday night when he was detained by South Korea's coast guard for allegedly violating the country’s immigration law.

The coast guard sought a warrant to formally arrest him, but a local court on Thursday refused, saying it's “difficult to recognize sufficient grounds and necessity” for his arrest. The coast guard said later Thursday it will hand him over to an immigration office but will continue to investigate him.

Dong's prospects are unclear. Investigative authorities could pursue his arrest again or indict him without his physical detention. If Dong applies for refugee status, South Korea’s Justice Ministry said it will review it.

While Dong's possible submission of evidence of his political oppression in China could increase his chances for getting refugee status, observers still note that South Korea's acceptance rate for refugee status applications has been less than 2% in recent years.

Dong, a former police officer in China, had previously been detained in China several times for his activism. He was imprisoned for three years in 2001 for “inciting subversion of state power” and spent more than eight months behind bars after being arrested in 2014 for participating in a memorial for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to past statements from Amnesty International.

It is his fourth known attempt to flee China. Appearing at the court hearing Thursday, he told reporters that he hopes to go to Canada via South Korea to reunite with his wife and daughters, who already resettled there, according to South Korean media.

He previously escaped to Thailand and Vietnam, but authorities there deported him back to China. Dong also unsuccessfully tried to swim to a Taiwanese island.

In a post Wednesday on X, Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian activist, praised Dong's braveness. She said Dong had discussed fleeing by boat with her, though she felt it was too dangerous. She said she talked again to Dong through Messenger, after he arrived in South Korea.

“Dong Guangping said that when he reached Korean waters, he was already in a state of unconsciousness. He hadn’t slept for over 50 hours and had been blown by sea winds for over 30 hours,” she said.

A local coast guard office handling Dong's case said he had no major health issues when he was detained. The office said Dong told investigators that he came from Weihai city in China’s eastern Shandong province though he’s refused to respond to most other questions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, asked about Dong's case at a regular briefing Wednesday, answered that she was “not familiar with that.”

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il told reporters Thursday that Dong's case would likely be handled in line with the local law, though he referred questions to immigration authorities at the Justice Ministry.

Danielle Hickey, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, told The Associated Press in an emailed statement that the department could not comment on individual cases but that the country has a “proud tradition of protecting refugees and supporting their resettlement with compassion, respect, and dignity.”

Dong is not the first Chinese dissident to flee to South Korea by boat, though such an incident is highly unusual. In 2023, Kwon Pyong, another Chinese dissident, reached South Korea on a jet ski, saying he was trying to escape persecution in China for mocking its communist leadership. He was initially detained in South Korea but later reportedly moved to the U.S. to seek asylum.

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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

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This version corrects the pronoun referring to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson to “she.”

In two international studies, about 1 in 5 patients given the experimental drug saw their virus reduced to levels low enough for the immune system to keep in check.

“We have not had a treatment which has come to this level of cure,” Dr. Seng Gee Lim of the National University Health System of Singapore, who helped lead the GSK-funded studies, told reporters before presenting the findings at a scientific meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

The data also was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Chronic hepatitis B can cause liver cancer or liver failure, and kills about 1.1 million people around the world each year. Improvements to today’s lifelong therapy, which can be hard to stick with or to access in some countries, have been sought for decades.

The new findings “represent a major step,” Dr. Anna Lok, a hepatitis expert at the University of Michigan who wasn’t involved in the research, wrote in the journal. But she cautioned that more study is needed to see how long that remission-like state lasts.

The drug is bepirovirsen, nicknamed “bepi” and developed by GSK and Ionis Pharmaceuticals. It is under fast-track review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with a decision expected in October. Regulators in Japan, China and Europe also are considering the drug.

Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection spread through contact with blood or other bodily fluids, including childbirth. A highly effective vaccine can prevent it. For people who are infected, many have an “acute” illness that lasts several months. But for some — about 1.7 million people in the U.S. and more than 250 million worldwide — it becomes a chronic form that gradually damages the liver.

Standard treatments, including daily pills, reduce levels of the virus and prevent liver damage. But a true cure is elusive because hepatitis B has an unusual ability to hide in the body, ready to rebound if therapy stops.

The new drug attacks hepatitis B by binding to its genetic components, suppressing viral replication as well as a key protein, the “S” or surface protein, and stimulates the immune system, said GSK vice president Melanie Paff.

The trials included 1,838 patients assigned to get either a bepi shot or a dummy shot weekly for six months, in addition to their regular pills. If the virus was undetectable for six months after stopping the shots, they could stop their regular pills, too. In about 20% of the bepi recipients, the virus remained undetectable for six more months after they stopped all treatment — that “functional cure” — something no patients given the dummy shots achieved, the researchers reported.

Bepi recipients who started the study with lower levels of that S protein were slightly more likely to achieve a functional cure, Lim said. He is doing additional research to try to determine why only some people respond.

As for how long the functional cure lasts, GSK has tracked a small number of patients from earlier-stage studies and found most still faring well up to three years later, Paff said.

Lim said side effects included mild injection-site redness or pain and a temporary rise in enzymes that can indicate liver stress.

Lok, the Michigan hepatitis expert, noted the trials didn’t include patients with cirrhosis, high S protein levels or other complicating factors.

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

The strike hit an apartment building, but the target of the attack wasn't immediately clear. White smoke billowed from a residential neighborhood in the suburb of Choueifat, close to Beirut's international airport.

Tensions have been increasing in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops recently crossed the strategic Litani River, which the Israeli military has used as a de facto boundary. Large areas to the south are under Israeli military control, despite the Washington-brokered ceasefire from April 17.

This was the first attack close to Beirut since May 6, when an Israeli strike killed a military official with Hezbollah militant group’s elite Radwan Forces in another southern suburb.

Overnight, Israeli forces pounded Tyre, Lebanon's fourth-largest city, and killed at least 14 people across the south of the country in their ongoing military escalation against Hezbollah before the Lebanon-Israel talks in Washington.

Five women and children and a Lebanese soldier were among those killed in the strikes. Dozens of others were wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and the state-run National News Agency, or NNA.

The Israeli military said, meanwhile, that one of its soldiers was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack in northern Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the widespread attacks on Tyre and Nabatiyeh, describing them as “onslaughts” and calling the ongoing displacement “collective punishment.”

“This only strengthens our resolve for the necessity of an immediate ceasefire, working toward a complete Israeli withdrawal from our land,” Salam said in a social media post.

Lebanese minister seeks end to Tyre attacks

On Thursday afternoon, the Israeli military issued another evacuation warning for Tyre and its suburbs.

Considered one of the oldest metropolises of the world, Tyre has several archaeological sites, some of them submerged. The city was officially declared a UNESCO World heritage site in 1984.

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said in a statement Thursday that he's been following “with deep pain and profound concern” the ongoing Israeli attacks on Tyre.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced an expansion of the Israeli military's attacks in Lebanon, apparently sparked by Hezbollah's use of fiber-optic exploding drones that have struck Israeli troops in Lebanon and reached some of Israel's northern border towns. The Israeli military said that it has launched hundreds of attacks targeting what it said were Hezbollah military assets.

Lebanese and Israeli military officials will hold their first security talks on Friday in Washington. Despite the nominal ceasefire, Israeli attacks have recently intensified, while largely sparing Beirut.

Hezbollah has dismissed the talks, and has repeatedly called on Lebanon's leadership to withdraw from them. The militant group believes that Beirut doesn't have the leverage to stop the war and have Israel withdraw its troops.

“The ruling authority persists in pursuing a downward trajectory, compromising both sovereignty and rights under the pretext that it is compelled to continue direct negotiations with the enemy,” Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc said in a statement Thursday.

The group instead endorsed its key ally Iran, which has made ending the war in Lebanon a condition for its own talks with Washington brokered by Pakistan.

“Yet, instead of seizing this opportunity, the Lebanese authorities are attempting to undermine it — actively working to obstruct it, even at the cost of their own people’s blood,” the statement said.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said that Netanyahu instructed the military “to deepen our operation in Lebanon” to protect the communities of Israel’s north.

Mencer said that Israel would continue U.S.-mediated negotiations with Lebanon in Washington, saying that the talks aim to disarm Hezbollah and reach “a peace agreement that will strengthen security and stability in our region and promote prosperity and peace."

Further north in the city of Sidon, an Israeli drone struck an apartment building where some displaced families lived, killing five people and wounding 21 others, among them five children.

Mohammad Al-Gharbi, who lived across the street from the building in Sidon, woke to the sound of the explosion.

“I was in my room when part of the wall and shattered glass fell on me, and everything was thrown into chaos,” he said. “This building that was hit had six apartments occupied by poor families who had fled from the south to escape the attacks there, only to be hit here.”

In the nearby coastal town of Adloun, an Israeli drone struck a car with a family that was fleeing, killing six people, of which four were two children and their parents, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Another drone strike that came without warning killed two people on a motorcycle near Tyre. The target of the attack wasn't immediately clear, NNA reported.

Elsewhere near the city of Nabatiyeh, the Lebanese military said that a soldier was killed in an Israeli drone strike while he was riding his motorcycle.

Hezbollah attacks target Israeli forces

The Israeli military said Thursday that a soldier in northern Israel was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack and two reservists were wounded.

Hezbollah says it has carried out dozens of drone and rocket attacks targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The group said Thursday that it launched several attacks on Israeli troops and tanks that have crossed the Litani River into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqieh near Nabatiyeh, as close-range fighting continues.

More than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war, which was sparked when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, two days after the Iran war began.

At least 3,269 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, with more than 9,800 wounded.

According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 23 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, the vast majority by drones.

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Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Koral Saeed in Abu Snan, Israel, and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.

The government’s largest-ever claim for compensation relates to contamination with per- and polyfluoroaklyl substances, known as PFAS, at 28 bases. Human-made PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don't break down naturally.

Australia filed the suit in the Federal Court of Australia against Minnesota-based 3M Company and its subsidiary 3M Australia.

3M said it would fight Australia’s claim.

“3M has never manufactured PFAS in Australia and ceased sales of the products at issue in Australia around two decades ago,” 3M said in a statement. “Despite this, the (Australian) Department of Defense continued to use PFAS-containing firefighting foams for nearly two decades longer.”

PFAS has been used since the 1950s in household and industrial products that resist heat, stains, grease and water. The firefighting foam containing PFAS was effective against fuel fires.

The Australian Defense Department warned residents near its Richmond Air Base outside Sydney in 2018 to reduce their consumption of locally produced fish and eggs, after PFAS was found in nearby groundwater.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland on Thursday accused 3M of withholding information about environmental risks the foam posed.

“The Commonwealth (of Australia) is seeking more than AU$2 billion ($1.4 billion) in damages to recover significant past and future expenses incurred in investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historic storage and use of this foam,” Rowland told reporters.

Assistant Defense Minister Peter Khalil said his department had already spent AU$1.3 billion ($920 million) on managing and mitigating environmental impacts of the foam. The department had removed 200,000 metric tons (220,000 U.S. tons) of contaminated earth from bases and treated 13 billion liters (3.4 billion gallons) of contaminated water, Khalil said.

“We are prepared to take on powerful corporations when Australians and Australian communities have been impacted,” Khalil said.

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This story has been corrected to show the lawsuit has been lodged in an Australian court.

Los congresistas del partido gobernante Morena y sus aliados aprobaron la iniciativa que envió la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum para trasladar las elecciones judiciales y depurar la selección de los candidatos a jueces que fue criticada en la votación del año pasado luego de que personas cercanas al oficialismo resultaron electas en la Suprema Corte y otros tribunales.

El Senado convocó a una sesión el jueves para discutir las reformas y someterlas a votación.

En junio del año pasado, los mexicanos eligieron en una inédita y compleja votación a unos 2.600 jueces federales y locales en medio de un gran desinterés y desconocimiento de los candidatos, lo que favoreció una abstención que alcanzó el 13%. En la reforma se estableció que en 2027 se elegirían otros 800 jueces y magistrados federales, y 2.800 jueces estatales.

En la elección del año pasado fueron elegidos algunos jueces, magistrados y ministros de la Suprema Corte cercanos al partido gobernante, lo que alimentó las dudas sobre la pérdida de independencia de la judicatura.

Entre los cambios que plantea la reforma está la demora de los comicios para el 4 de junio de 2028. También se prevé la creación de una comisión coordinadora integrada por representantes de los comités de evaluación de los tres poderes públicos, que se encargará de verificar el cumplimiento de los requisitos legales de los aspirantes y establecer los mecanismos de selección.

La iniciativa contempla reducir a cuatro personas la lista de aspirantes por cargo, y luego realizar un sorteo público para dejar las opciones en apenas dos.

Durante la maratónica sesión, que duró más de 14 horas, se generó una controversia cuando el oficialista Sergio Gutiérrez propuso a último momento que se permita que los magistrados de la Sala Electoral participen como candidatos en 2028. La propuesta recibió objeciones de oficialistas y opositores, que señalaron que podría extender la permanencia de esos jueces en los cargos por 17 años. Pese a las críticas, el cambio fue aprobado.

Al anunciar su propuesta la semana pasada, Sheinbaum dijo que era necesario trasladar la segunda etapa de la elección porque el próximo año habrá comicios regionales en 17 de los 32 estados para renovar gobernadores, congresos locales, miles de alcaldías y la Cámara de Diputados.

Contra la injerencia extranjera

La cámara también aprobó el jueves por la mañana una reforma que permitirá al Tribunal Electoral de México invalidar comicios cuando existan indicios de “intervención de individuos, organizaciones o gobiernos extranjeros con la intención de influir en las preferencias o en los resultados electorales”, según el texto de la iniciativa que pasará en las próximas horas al Senado para el debate final.

El diputado oficialista Ricardo Monreal afirmó que la propuesta busca “proteger las elecciones nacionales” como en Estados Unidos y otros países. Pero expertos y opositores sostienen que es “ambigua”, que será difícil de comprobar la injerencia extranjera en una votación y podría utilizarse para desestimar resultados electorales empleando criterios subjetivos.

Monreal promovió la iniciativa tras la crisis interna que se generó a finales de abril luego de que la fiscalía de Nueva York acusó a 10 funcionarios y exfuncionarios mexicanos —entre ellos el gobernador del estado de Sinaloa Rubén Rocha — del partido Morena— de narcotráfico, lo que alentó las críticas de la oposición a esa fuerza política y a Sheinbaum. Algunos calificaron el proceso como un intento de Estados Unidos de intervenir en la política mexicana.

“En la circunstancia actual, con esta ofensiva que estamos viendo desde afuera es importante que quede claro que en México decidimos los mexicanos”, indicó la mandataria a periodistas. Acotó que sectores de derecha han arreciado las críticas contra México ante la cercanía de las elecciones intermedias en Estados Unidos de noviembre.

La Organización Meteorológica Mundial también prevé un sobrecalentamiento en el Ártico, cuya temperatura se incrementará 1,66º Celsius (casi 3º Fahrenheit) entre ahora y 2030, y una peligrosa sequía con posibles incendios forestales en la Amazonía, una parte crucial de las defensas naturales de la Tierra para reducir el cambio climático causado por el ser humano. Científicos señalaron que un planeta más caliente por la quema de carbón, petróleo y gas implica un clima más extremo, incluyendo inundaciones, sequías y olas de calor.

Las proyecciones de la agencia climática de la ONU y de la Oficina Meteorológica de Reino Unido indicaron que hay un 75% de probabilidades de que la temperatura media global entre 2026 y 2030 supere los 1,5º C (2,7º F) más con respecto de la era preindustrial. Ese umbral es el límite de calentamiento acordado —promediado a lo largo de 20 años— fijado en 2015 por el Acuerdo de París sobre el clima.

Un informe científico de la ONU, publicado unos años después, determinó que superar esa marca de 1,5º significa una mayor probabilidad de muerte, peligro y pérdida de especies. Aunque se trate apenas de unas décimas de grado, algunos ecosistemas, como los corales y los glaciares, no pueden soportar esa presión.

Superar el límite tiene consecuencias, pero no es un precipicio

El reporte de la OMM indicó que hay un 91% de probabilidades de que al menos uno de los próximos cinco años rebase el umbral de 1,5º y un 86% de probabilidades de que uno de esos años pulverice el récord del año más caluroso de la Tierra, establecido en 2024. La agencia proyecta que, de aquí a 2030, cada año estará entre 1,32 C (2,3º F) y 1,9º C (3,4º F) por encima de finales del siglo XIX.

“Es importante señalar que (1,5) no es una especie de precipicio por el que vayamos a caer”, afirmó la coautora del reporte, Melissa Seabrook, científica climática de la Oficina Meteorológica británica. “Cada 0,1 grados tiene un impacto cada vez más severo”.

Y apuntó al calor sin precedentes para un mes de mayo registrado esta semana en Europa.

Un año completo o más por encima de la marca de 1,5 grados “significa toda una gama de fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, probablemente muchos tan calurosos/húmedos/secos que superarán cualquier cosa que hayamos experimentado en el pasado y, por lo tanto, de manera crucial, cualquier cosa que nuestra planificación urbana, agricultura, etc., haya previsto”, dijo en un correo electrónico la científica del clima del Imperial College de Londres, Friederike Otto, que no participó en el informe. “Esto significará que muchas personas perderán la vida, nos esperan muchos sobresaltos en los precios de los alimentos e incendios forestales más intensos”.

Casi todos los pronósticos a corto plazo apuntan que pronto se formará un fuerte El Niño —un calentamiento natural de partes del Pacífico central que altera el clima en todo el mundo y dispara las temperaturas globales. El informe de la OMM indicó que podría prolongarse hasta 2028. Por ello, Seabrook sostuvo que 2027 probablemente batirá el récord de calor de 2024.

Y si los próximos cinco años promedian más de 1,5º C por encima de los niveles preindustriales, eso significaría que la Tierra se habrá calentado un cuarto de grado Celsius (0,45º F) en una década, más rápido que las tasas anteriores, que estaban más cerca de dos décimas de grado Celsius por década.

Los científicos climáticos debaten si el calentamiento global se está acelerando, “lo cual, obviamente, da bastante miedo”, y que, si estas proyecciones se cumplen, aportarían evidencia adicional para quienes ven una tasa de cambio acelerada, sostuvo Seabrook.

Se prevé calentamiento acelerado en el Ártico

Las proyecciones, basadas en el promedio de unas 200 simulaciones por computadora con 13 modelos climáticos diferentes de varios países, muestran que el calentamiento en el Ártico aumenta 3,5 veces más rápido que en el resto del planeta, porque hay menos hielo y nieve que antes reflejaban la radiación solar hacia el espacio, explicó Seabrook. Se convierte en un círculo vicioso.

“A medida que la temperatura sube, se derrite más hielo marino, lo que empeora la situación", comentó Seabrook.

Desde 2020 a 2025, los inviernos en el Ártico fueron, de media, 1,2º C (2,1º F) más cálidos que el promedio de 1991 a 2020. Seabrook indicó que la OMM proyecta que los próximos cinco inviernos promediarán 2,8º C (5,1º F) por encima de esa marca reciente.

El reporte también prevé que el hielo marino del Ártico seguirá reduciéndose en verano.

La Amazonía podría secarse, avivando temor a incendios

El reporte prevé condiciones aún más cálidas e inusualmente secas en la cuenca amazónica, y eso podría ser devastador tanto para los residentes como para el planeta, dijo Seabrook.

La población depende del Amazonas para el abastecimiento de agua y unas condiciones más cálidas y secas deberían aumentar el riesgo de incendios forestales, apuntó, lo que amenaza con convertir a la Amazonia —que ahora absorbe dióxido de carbono, que atrapa el calor, de la atmósfera— en una región que agrave el problema.

Es probable que la región africana del Sahel, que ha estado especialmente seca, reciba más lluvia de la habitual, lo que podría provocar inundaciones, según Seabrook.

Funcionarios de Naciones Unidas dijeron que los esfuerzos para frenar el cambio climático no han sido suficientes.

“A pesar de los avances de los últimos años, está claro que el calentamiento global sigue superando los esfuerzos globales para contenerlo, y las temperaturas abrasadoras en Europa, India y otros lugares muestran una vez más los brutales impactos humanos y económicos de que la humanidad siga quemando cantidades colosales de carbón, petróleo y gas”, manifestó Simon Stiell, jefe climático de la ONU, acerca del reporte de la OMM.

“Ya sea calor extremo, megatormentas, inundaciones, incendios forestales masivos o sequías que afectan al suministro y precios de los alimentos”, añadió, “cada nación ya está pagando un precio enorme por esta crisis climática global”.

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

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

Apart from social media and messaging, Tencent’s WeChat offers payment services called WeChat Pay, or Weixin Pay, in mainland China. Tencent said in a statement that the feature will be available to U.S.-based PayPal users first, with more markets to follow.

Since cashless payments have become increasingly common in China, the move is likely to provide greater convenience to foreign visitors.

WeChat Pay and Ant Group’s Alipay, part of the Alibaba e-commerce empire, are widely available across China including in taxis and restaurants.

Making cashless payments easier for tourists aligns with China’s efforts to bring in more foreign tourists, said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia Pacific at French bank Natixis.

Tourism contributed more than 4% of China’s economy in 2024, official data show.

China has been expanding visa free access to travelers from dozens of countries including the U.K., Spain and Australia. That change has not yet been extended to U.S. travelers, who still need a visa to enter China, except for brief transits for those heading on to third countries.

The number of foreign visitors, excluding those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when China closed its doors to most foreign arrivals and imposed stringent quarantines in many places.

But it has since surged past the nearly 32 million visitors recorded in 2019, to over 35 million last year.

Ng said the PayPal move also aligns with a global trend of integration of payment platforms through mutually recognized cross-border QR codes.

Ivan Su, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said the impact of the QR code option with PayPal initially may be limited in terms of its overall benefit for Tencent given the current low volume of U.S. travelers to China.

WeChat Pay has allowed users to link their foreign bank cards since 2019. Tencent also said it will also be offering a transaction fee waiver for first time users linking their international bank cards to WeChat to encourage wider use of that option.

Tencent said such transactions by foreign travelers in China jumped nearly 80% year-on-year in January-April.

The National Assembly voted 254-0 — a rare show of unanimity — to adopt a bill repealing Code Noir, or Black Code, the 1685 decree King Louis XIV signed to govern slaves across France’s colonies.

The law turned human beings into chattel, allowing them to be worked, beaten, sold, raped and murdered.

And the realization that France never formally did away with it left many aghast. Debate in the chamber turned raw on Thursday.

Steevy Gustave — a lawmaker descended from enslaved people on the Caribbean island of Martinique, now a French overseas department — told colleagues that the repeal was necessary, “but no vote alone can repair centuries of shattered lives.”

“We are not descendants of slaves,” he said, bursting into tears. “We are descendants of human beings born free, then reduced to the worst — reduced to slavery.”

The code’s reach was total. Article 44 declared the enslaved “movable property” — assets a master could acquire like real estate. Those who fled faced branding, the amputation of their ears, and even death. The word of an enslaved person counted for nothing.

Code Noir’s 60 articles “should never have survived the abolition of slavery” in the 19th century, President Emmanuel Macron said last week.

“The silence, even the indifference, that we have maintained for nearly two centuries toward this Black Code is no longer an oversight,” Macron said. “It has become a form of offense.”

Like French presidents before him, Macron stopped short of an apology.

France ran the third-largest slave trade, shipping about 1.4 million Africans to plantations whose sugar wealth built the French cities of Nantes and Bordeaux. The French empire later spanned four continents.

Others see the repeal as something more telling — a symptom, they argue, of a country that has yet to reckon fully with that past, one of many slow steps along the way.

Calls for France to face its past

In law, officially eliminating it is the easy part, observers say. Code Noir lost all authority in 1848, when France abolished slavery.

France didn't relinquish its slave colonies: the four oldest — Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion — were made full French overseas departments in 1946. That means they're governed from Paris like any other.

Their roughly 1.9 million people, most descended from the enslaved, are French citizens.

Despite being fully part of France, the overseas departments remain among its poorest territories. Unemployment runs roughly double the mainland rate, and more than three-quarters of households in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte live below the national poverty line.

Shocked to find the law wasn't annulled

Before he discovered the truth, the French lawmaker who put forward the proposal to repeal the law didn't know it still existed.

Max Mathiasin, from Guadeloupe, had bought copies of the text over the years and left them on his shelf.

“As the great-great-grandson of people who were enslaved, I had never been able to read it in full,” he said. “This was made by human beings — against human beings.”

For him, the vote is “a way of restoring our ancestors, restoring our humanity” before a France whose motto is liberty, equality, fraternity. “It means living up to the Republican promise.”

That promise, he says, is still unkept at home.

“In Guadeloupe,” Mathiasin said, “in the most important positions, in the structures of the state, they are white.”

A colonial exception that never ended

The Foundation for the Memory of Slavery is chaired by a former prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, and its deputy director is Pierre-Yves Bocquet — both white men.

Bocquet calls Code Noir the birthplace of France’s “colonial exception” — the principle that the French Republic’s founding rights could be suspended for those under its rule.

The principle outlived the empire, he said: “Even today, we accept that people in the overseas territories can have fewer rights than in mainland France.”

France is hardly the only country still holding fragments of empire — the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands still have overseas territories.

But what sets France apart, observers say, is that it made its slave colonies equal departments of the Republic, not dependencies it governs from afar.

The state insists that the overseas departments are France like anywhere else, even as the people who live there say they are treated as less.

Most major colonial powers, including Britain, Spain and Portugal, had laws governing slavery in their colonies. In each case, those laws fell away when slavery itself was abolished, leaving no single text to repeal.

France’s Code Noir was different, experts say: a single, named royal law that no one ever formally erased, even after France abolished slavery.

France is 'still in a form of apartheid’

For Max Relouzat, 81, president of the Association for the Memory of Slaveries, the repeal matters, because so little else has.

His African ancestor had no name under the law, only a number and a registration code — the family that lived in Martinique was given the name Relouzat at emancipation, likely after Nelouzat, a village in the Auvergne region of central France.

What galls him, he said, is what the symbolism leaves untouched: systemic racism in France.

“Under the cover of departmentalization, a colonial system was maintained,” Relouzat said. “If the overseas departments are part of France, why is there a ministry for the overseas?”

In France, he said, “we are still today in a form of apartheid … a form of colonial continuity.”

‘Racism is the legacy of slavery itself’

For some who have fought longest, Thursday isn't the milestone it appears.

For Florence Alexis, a slavery expert and daughter of the Haitian writer Jacques Stephen Alexis, the real turning point came 25 years ago. In 2001, the Taubira law made France the first country to call the slave trade, and slavery, crimes against humanity.

“That is what changed my life,” Alexis said.

For her, racism is the legacy of slavery itself, not of one edict.

“When I was a child at school, they called me the little monkey,” she said. “People made animal cries when I walked past — as they still do in football stadiums today.”

Paris-born Élodie Léon, 29, whose family is from French Guiana, welcomes the repeal, but resents the delay.

“Symbolic neglect is also neglect,” she said.

“It shocks me,” said Muriel Jean-Baptiste, a Paris-born nurse whose parents are from Martinique. “A law that treated Black people as property was left sitting there.”

The history of reparations

At the Taubira law’s 25th anniversary on May 21, Macron floated the idea of reparations — something that France has long stayed away from addressing.

He called it “a question we must not refuse,” but one on which “we must not make false promises.”

He committed no money, instead defining repair first as truth-telling, education and historical work.

The wealthiest of France's plantations were in Saint-Domingue, in the Caribbean, where the enslaved rose up and won independence in 1804 as Haiti. France then forced the freed to pay reparations for the loss of their masters — a debt cleared only in 1947.

France isn't alone. In the United States, federal reparations legislation has stalled for decades. California approved an apology, but no cash.

But the timing of Macron's latest speech was awkward. Two months earlier, France abstained when the U.N. General Assembly voted 123-3, with 52 abstentions, to call the trans-Atlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.

And this month at the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya, days after declaring himself a “pan-Africanist,” Macron seized a microphone and ordered the room to quiet down.

“As soon as he sets foot on the African continent,” French opposition lawmaker Danièle Obono said, “he can’t help but behave like a colonizer.”

The repeal of the nCode Noir, said Bocquet, “will have no direct effect.” Whether it helps France fight racism and inequality in its overseas territories, he said, “remains to be seen.”

“It is easy for the French authorities, and for Macron, to do this,” Alexis added. “Because it commits them to nothing.”