Richie underwent a common procedure for atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, and the “doctor said everything went perfectly,” it read. “Lionel is doing great but will take some time off and will be back on stage soon.”

A-fib is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that is a worrisome stage-setter for blood clots, stroke and heart failure. Some researchers believe more than 10 million Americans have it — most of them older.

The 77-year-old singer also postponed two concerts earlier this year, in June, after falling ill. And in August, reports of Richie checking himself into a hospital after a performance in St. Louis made the rounds online.

Richie was scheduled to perform with Earth, Wind & Fire Saturday in San Francisco, Sept. 30 in Chicago and Oct. 3 in Columbus, Ohio.

According to his website, he is currently scheduled to launch his “King of Hearts” residency shows at Las Vegas’ the Wynn in October and November.

The Oscar and four-time Grammy Award-winning Richie launched his career with The Commodores before becoming a successful solo artist. In addition to his well-known hits like “Hello,” Richie co-wrote the iconic charity single “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson and has sold over 100 million records. He is also a judge on “American Idol.”

Along Southeast Second Street, water had receded somewhat, but significant ponding remained as more rain came down.

Parents were seen carrying children on their backs to reach the bus stop and even lifting them directly onto the bus so their feet wouldn’t have to touch the water.

Drivers also faced challenges getting to work, with even smaller vehicles pushing through inches of water as drivers tried to determine the best routes around flooded areas.

For some residents, the first challenge was simply reaching their cars.

At an apartment complex on Southeast Second Street, residents made their way through a flooded parking lot.

“Surprised, I can’t believe it,” resident Juan Rocha said.

Rocha said he still needed to get to work despite the conditions.

“When you hear something, you know it’s raining real hard. But we’ll see. I’ve gotta go to work. I’m gonna be late,” he said.

Resident Vivian Novicic said the side streets were more difficult to navigate than the main road.

“The side streets, US-1 looks better but you’ve gotta get out there first. That’s the thing,” Novicic said.

Federal Highway appeared clear and elevated compared with Southeast Second Street, where even a small dip in elevation led to flooding.

Residents and drivers traveling from areas including Dania Beach, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Aventura were advised to be prepared for flooding on streets that typically experience problems during heavy rainfall.

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

McEwan's essay and speech collection "Between Books” will be published next spring, May 25, Alfred A. Knopf announced Wednesday. It is the first full-length work of nonfiction by the author of “Atonement,” “The Innocent,” the Booker Prize -winning “Amsterdam” and many other novels. (In 2019, the British author released a brief work of nonfiction, “Science.”)

“Between Books” includes everything from “intimate personal recollection to bold intellectual enquiry,” according to Knopf. McEwan has written a new introduction for “Between Books,” which includes material both published before and never published before.

“'Between Books' is an intimate record of a great mind wrestling with the contours of his own life and all the themes and questions that inform his masterworks: the nature of truth and love, the human hunger for meaning and knowledge, the mysteries of the soul,” Knopf Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jordan Pavlin said in a statement.

McEwan, 78, said in a statement that for his upcoming book he “started out contemplating a ragbag of disparate pieces and ended up with what I hope is an emotional and intellectual journey.”

Mayor Judy Paul has lived in Davie for 40 years and has served as mayor since 2009.

Davie is a town of just over 107,000 people and geographically, it’s the largest town or city in Broward County.

Paul says Davie is all about land, and that’s what she fights to protect.

“We took over 200 acres out of development for the creation of the wetlands park and the farm park, and we have more that is coming up,” said Paul.

Paul says Davie is the only municipality in Broward County to give a tax cut to residents.

“We are saving our residents 5.1%. This was very important because with the way the economy is, every bit helps our residents and we couldn’t wait,” said Paul. “We had an opportunity because of some of the development that’s been going on in our town.”

Trucking company owner and lifelong resident Jacqueline Rocha is running against Paul.

She says overdevelopment in Davie is a problem.

“Now that’s happened a lot with the development that we’ve allowed to come into place here that is considered market value -- majority of it -- and market value is still not affordable,” said Rocha. “Not to mention the HUD housing designation really is not helping anyone, not everyday residents.”

Rocha said she’s also fighting for term limits.

“Residents have subsidized development and they don’t even know it,” said Rocha. “Now they were attending the meetings, and I think that a lot of residents feel like -- and as a resident myself, honestly I can say that we are going unheard, and so that’s really why I’m here today, to make sure residents have a voice.”

Also, Trump’s AI-fueled vision for a drone port he intends to install atop the new White House ballroom includes missile-bearing unmanned aerial vehicles and gun-toting troops. But what hasn't been previously reported is the presence of a drone port a few hundred feet away, run by the U.S. Secret Service and not the military, which is already quietly operational.

Here's the latest:

Melania Trump to ring NYSE opening bell to launch new woman-focused initiative

It’s called Imperia — and the first lady says it’s her new initiative focused on helping women become leaders and achieve economic power.

Members include CEOs, founders, innovators, entrepreneurs and others, she said during an in-studio interview in New York on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”

Asked what the initiative will achieve, the first lady, who’s also a businesswoman, cited innovation and investment, strategic partnerships and economic prosperity for woman.

Melania Trump also rang the opening bell for New York Stock Exchange in January before the release of her Amazon documentary, “Melania.”

First lady Melania Trump says husband decided to greet Xi because ‘they have a great relationship’

“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, during an interview Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s ”Fox & Friends.”

US futures inch higher and oil prices slip for 6th straight day after US and Iranian officials meet

U.S. futures are slightly higher and hovering near record highs while oil prices declined after President Trump said officials from the United States and Iran met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both gained 0.1% on Wednesday. Nasdaq futures were basically flat.

Trump talked of the meeting with Iran after telling the assembly Tuesday that he would have to make a choice, including whether to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic, if the sides fail to reach an agreement.

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Taiwan is watching closely as Xi and Trump meet and hopes US will keep up its arms sales

As China’s Xi Jinping arrives in Washington to meet with President Trump, Taiwan expressed confidence that U.S. arms sales to the island that Beijing claims as its own will continue — despite China’s pressure.

China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales, most prominently during a summit in May between Trump and Xi in Beijing. After that meeting, the United States paused the sale of a record-breaking $14 billion package — and Trump described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

Still, the U.S. government and Congress have “repeatedly expressed support for Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” Taiwanese Defense Ministry spokesperson Maj. Gen. Chiao Fu-chun told reporters in the southern city of Tainan.

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Trump says his ballroom will house a drone port. The Secret Service already has one next door

Trump’s AI-fueled vision for a drone port he intends to install atop the new White House ballroom includes missile-bearing unmanned aerial vehicles and gun-toting troops, ostensibly to protect the 18-acre complex and the nation’s capital.

A few hundred feet away, a drone port, run by the U.S. Secret Service and not the military, is already quietly operational. Equipped with cameras and sensors to scope out potential threats from a bird’s-eye view, the small UAVs stand on alert in four gray weatherproof boxes until deployed at officers’ commands.

The agency is using a model known as “drone as first responder,” deploying speedy unarmed drones from outdoor stations to serve as flying cameras. That model has been adopted by hundreds of police agencies across the U.S., often powered by AI software to help dodge obstacles or track targets.

The existence of the surveillance drones on a Treasury Department building adjacent to the White House complex has not been previously reported, and could undercut Trump’s legal claims that the ballroom construction is necessary “to protect the White House and surrounding region from aerial attacks.”

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Xi is en route to Washington

Xi has departed Beijing on Wednesday afternoon local time for a state visit to the U.S., China’s official news agency Xinhua said. Accompanying him on the visit are Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan, China’s ruling Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, it said.

China’s Xi to kick off state visit to Washington with rare planeside welcome from Trump

When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on Wednesday, he’s expected to get a rare greeting from President Donald Trump, who will be on the tarmac to welcome his counterpart’s plane instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House.

Trump’s decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China’s leader as he makes his first state visit in more than a decade.

The White House hasn't released many details about Wednesday’s greeting, but Trump is expected to participate in an arrival ceremony at the base with Xi and his wife. The salutation will kick off a three-day visit that’s expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate for the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump’s May visit to China.

But it’s also a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump’s war with Iran and China’s designs on Taiwan.

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They held a news conference about two miles from “Iron Mountain,” an AI-ready data center nearing completion in Miami-Dade County’s Westview neighborhood, leaning into Republican candidate Byron Donalds’ past remarks on data centers possibly coming online in Florida.

“We have more people moving here in finance and tech, so as a derivative of that, you are going to have data centers, tech firms, etc. We need to embrace that, not run away from that,” Donalds said while speaking with the Economic Club of Miami in May 2025. “We are wide open. We have actual land in our state that is still pristine, available to use. We can build out that stuff and still maintain the beauty of our state.”

Democrats pushed back against his comments.

“Donalds is on the record saying, ‘We need to embrace data centers’ and there is ‘pristine land’ in our state available for them, and on the campaign trail has talked about a ‘pathway’ to building these data centers,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said. “The threat of hyper scale AI data centers is looming over all of Florida. To find the truth, you need to follow the money.”

Fried cited Donalds’ support from some AI industry titans, including Leading the Future, a super-PAC which says it wants to, “support candidates aligned with the pro-AI agenda.”

“Since launching his campaign, data center developers and AI groups have spent more than $5 million bankrolling Byron Donalds’ bid for governor,” said Fried.

Donalds’ Democratic challenger, David Jolly, is fresh off a visit to northern Virginia’s so-called “data center alley.”

“What you are hearing, and the reason I have to raise my voice, is the noise pollution that occurs from these data centers,” Jolly said. “You have the devaluation of real estate as well.”

Jolly is supporting a one-year moratorium on building data centers until we can better understand the impact on community, the campaign said, from public health and quality of life to the reality of promised jobs and demands on local energy and water resources.

“There is a reason Florida’s voters don’t want them. This used to be green space,” he said.

Earlier this month, Donalds told Fox Business he does have regulation in mind.

“To the people who might want to build them, if you don’t protect our ratepayers and you don’t protect our water, you are not building a data center, and that is my position,” he said. “And local governments are going to be the ones that will make these decisions, not Tallahassee.”

It would appear Donalds’ recent comments are pivoting to parrot new legislation Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in May, when he expressed concern about hyper-scale data centers.

Over the summer, DeSantis signed a bill into law which aims to preserve local zoning authority and ensure costs are not passed to consumers.

Fried said the one thing Floridians can agree on irrespective of party is the environment, since it is the engine behind all of the state’s industries, from trade and tourism to agriculture and real estate, but worries the latest legislation could be weakened if Donalds’ prevails.

This as more than a dozen Florida counties hit the brakes on large data center development, pausing permits so they have time to write land use rules, with some enacting permanent bans.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava “looks forward to receiving an ordinance that puts in place a moratorium consistent with state law, while protecting our neighborhoods and our environment,” her office said in a statement to Local 10 News.

Donalds’ campaign told Local 10 News he plans to build on SB 484 with, “closed-loop water system requirements” that recycle water on site and supports “keeping facilities away from neighborhoods.”

His campaign also said he is proposing a federal bill to stop data center developers from competing with residents for water supply and creating a strain on the power grid.

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It happened on May 11 in the shared courtyard of a Hallandale Beach apartment complex, the location of which was withheld from arrest forms due to authorities protecting the victim’s identity.

According to Hallandale Beach police, the victim, who is a person 65 or older, was sitting on the bench with another person while their dogs played in the grass when a dog belonging to the suspect, identified as Antonia Yeromina, approached the two other dogs.

Body-worn camera footage obtained by Local 10 News shows the victim later explaining to officers what happened.

“I was in the back with a neighbor, the dogs were playing nice,” she said in the footage. “This woman came with a dog, and her dog and my dog started fighting.”

And that’s when the arrest report said the situation escalated, as the two women each snatched their dogs to stop the fight, but after it was over, the victim told officers that Yeromina began attacking her.

“She started hitting me on my face, on my arms,” the victim said, adding that Yeromina started screaming, “I hate you, I hate you.”

The arrest report states that after the initial encounter, Yeromina returned and attacked the victim a second time, once again striking her in the face.

The person who was sitting with the victim then put themself between the two women, which is when police said Yeromina turned her attention to the victim’s dog.

“Since the defendant could no longer intentionally attack the victim, the defendant maliciously and intentionally kicked the victim’s dog in the belly area as the dog was peacefully laying on the ground, in what appeared to be an angry response to no longer having the ability to continue her attack on the victim,” the arrest report stated.

Despite the incident happening in May, Yeromina was not arrested until Monday.

She is facing two charges of battery on a person 65 years of age or older and a charge of tormenting an animal.

After going before a judge on Tuesday, Yeromina was released on a $15,000 bond and conditions of not contacting the victim, not to return to the incident location and not possessing any animals.

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The woman, who has since been identified as 37-year-old Nikkita Wongchong, was knocked unconscious, but the driver is seen in the video speeding off, leaving the woman in the middle of a McDonald’s parking lot with serious injuries.

Passing drivers could be seen getting out of their cars to check on her.

This all happened Saturday around 8:40 a.m. outside the McDonald’s located at 26601 S. Dixie Highway, in southwest Miami-Dade’s unincorporated Naranja area.

Nile Sausbre said she was working across the street and watched as Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the area.

“That’s not right,” she said. “That’s a human being.”

Deputies said they performed CPR until paramedics arrived and rushed the victim to the hospital in critical condition.

Doctors later determined she was brain dead.

The driver has been identified as 28-year-old Ismel Baro Rodriguez.

Investigators said they reviewed surveillance video that helped them track down Baro Rodriguez at a home not far from the scene.

He has since been charged with a felony count of aggravated battery with great bodily harm and the Cuban national is now behind bars at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on an immigration hold.

In his candid new memoir, “Fights Worth Fighting,” the martial artist and actor trades his tough-guy persona for vulnerability.

Lundgren recently sat down with Local 10’s Jason Carter to discuss the book.

Jason Carter: “You have lived an incredible life. Many call you an icon, and now you’re giving us a very unfiltered glimpse into your life. Why was now the time to write this book?”

Dolph Lundgren: “Well, you know, when do you write a memoir? I suppose you have to be at a certain age. So you have done enough to fill out a book, which I think I had. In 2020, I had a cancer diagnosis that kind of shook up my whole life.”

JC: “We see you as this, this iconic superstar, hyper masculine muscle, Ivan Drago, He-Man, Rocky, you are jettisoning all of that and really getting very honest with your fans. What was it like for you to lay down those guards when you started writing and what was so therapeutic about that?”

DL: “Well, it started actually when I announced the cancer battle, which was in 2023. I spoke out about that and about my childhood when my dad, who was quite abusive towards me (and) my mom -- I spoke out about that and it made me feel good. You know, you’re only as sick as your secrets, they say. And it wasn’t that difficult for me to talk about it. It made me feel good. It was therapeutic.”

JC: “Was there anything that you felt that was unfairly put on you, that now you have the opportunity to say, ‘Wait, hold on. That’s completely wrong.’”

DL: “Bring you the bad news, but you know, we have to live in the moment. And that’s what I learned. That’s what I learned from this experience. And it was just amplified by what I’ve been through. So I think every day is a wonderful day.”

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Deputies with the Broward Sheriff’s Office arrived to the Orion gas station located at 101 E. Atlantic Blvd. in Pompano Beach shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday after receiving reports about gunfire in the area.

Responding deputies arrived to find a man who had been shot.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue medics rushed the man to Broward Health North for treatment, authorities said.

Surveillance video showed an altercation between a woman and the man who would eventually be shot.

The video shows the two in a physical struggle, with the woman appearing to try to get away from the man and into the passenger side of a white Toyota RAV4 SUV that was parked at the gas pumps.

Later, that same man approached the driver side of the SUV, and after he got closer to the person standing next to the SUV, that person opened fire at the man as he tried to run away.

The gas station was blocked off with yellow police tape as investigators processed the scene.

Inside the tape was the Toyota SUV and six evidence markers.

Deputies said one person was detained at the scene following the shooting.

The investigation remains active and ongoing.

According to BSO, 911 dispatchers were notified shortly after 9 p.m. that the marked vehicle had been stolen from the public parking lot area of the building, located at 2601 W. Broward Blvd.

Investigators worked to locate the stolen vehicle with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol, Port St. Lucie Police Department and St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office.

The vehicle was eventually located along the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 at Gatlin Road in Port St. Lucie, according to BSO.

Authorities stopped the vehicle and immediately took the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Shannon Dillon, into custody.

Court records show Dillon was previously arrested in Broward County on Aug. 21.

Online jail records show she faces numerous charges, including grand theft of an emergency vehicle, unlawful use of a police badge, unlawful possession of identification, possession and/or use of drug equipment, possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon, driving with a suspended license and resisting an officer without violence.

BSO said the investigation remains ongoing.

For the first time, apparently in response to escalating threats, U.N. security required all staff and lower-ranking diplomats to have their belongings scanned.

The problem was that there were only two scanners for hundreds and hundreds of people trying to get into the building via the staff entrance between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Tuesday, when the meeting started. Many faced long delays, and some were frantic.

Motorcades carrying presidents, prime ministers and monarchs to the building had priority on nearby streets and traffic was often at a standstill.

Meanwhile, First Avenue — which runs uptown alongside the U.N. complex — was closed to normal traffic. Only motorcades could enter. That meant that many vehicles trying to get uptown were using the closest uptown street —- Third Avenue.

Then police closed that, too — at midafternoon Tuesday after a report of a suspicious package — fouling up traffic for New Yorkers even more.

Police said they got a call around 3 p.m. Tuesday about a suspicious package near East 43rd Street and Third Avenue, prompting a response by bomb squad and other officers.

The object, police said, turned out to be harmless.

Some areas have seen an accumulation between 2 to 4 inches across northeast Miami-Dade and southern Broward County with more on the way as light-to-moderate rainfall will continue though the morning.

There is a marginal risk for excessive rainfall on Wednesday as slow-moving downpours could bring the threat for localized street flooding.

More storms are possible into the afternoon as clouds keep temperatures in the middle-to-upper 80s.

“Chicas Spin” brings them together.

It’s part network, part sisterhood — made for women who shake the room.

“Being able to shapeshift a room and control the vibe of a room. That’s the best part of DJing,” said Chicas Spin founder, Lilyana Fonte.

But Chicas Spin is not just about who can throw down the hardest. It’s about who has your back when the set is over.

“It really started out as almost just a little group chat of girls who could tell each other when they were home and catch each other’s sets and maybe have a buddy who could go with them to their set that knew what was happening and could support,” Fonte said.

The Miami-based group launched in 2024 to give female DJs a place to connect, network, trade opportunities and build friendships in an industry long-dominated by men across the country.

Click the following links for more on the member DJs:

Manu Magick

Natalie Siriani

L ilyAna

“There’s always another show. There’s so many opportunities,” said Chicas Spin community leader, Natalie Siriani.

This club group is not always about spinning either. Sometimes, the point is to step away from the decks completely.

“It’s almost a little break from the spinning ... The goal is always to step away for the deck for a second and just get a moment with other girls who are usually behind the e decks,” Fonte said.

At a recent Chicas Spin gathering at Lion’s Den in Miami, members gathered to “Pass the Aux” — an event to share music, get creative and meditate.

For women who are usually the ones setting the vibe, this was a chance to just be in one.

That space matters in an industry that can be difficult to navigate.

“Five to six years ago when I started DJing, it was a little bit weirder to see girls getting the late night gigs or the headlining gigs, and I wanted a space where we could, like, bond and realistically talk about our goals without their being maybe other energies,” said Fonte. “This collective helps you get your foot in the door just a little bit more than if you came to Miami and tried to DJ on your own.”

“It is very collaborative… in Miami it is very powerful and the women are very on their ball here,” Siriani said.

To submit an idea for What Connects Us, email whatconnectsus@wplg.com.

The deal was officially signed Tuesday in New York, after U.S., Greenlandic and Danish officials had quietly negotiated for months behind the scenes — searching both for solutions to address some of Trump’s security concerns about the territory, as well as alleviating Danish and Greenlandic fears of being taken over by the U.S.

The three parties expressed satisfaction with the deal at the signing ceremony — but what exactly does it say?

The United States can expand its military presence on the island

Washington is allowed to “modernize and expand” its activities at the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest, according to the agreement.

The U.S. can also set up “defense areas” at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east, and “may establish additional defense areas in Greenland and strengthen its military operations or facilities.”

The deal refers to a changed security situation in the Arctic

The accord calls for wide U.S. military mobility on Greenland’s territory, including “undersea access," noting that “ the security situation in the Arctic is changing and that more efforts are needed to ensure security there in the future.”

The accord stresses Denmark's territorial integrity and Greenlanders' self-determination

The agreement reaffirms “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” and recognizes the Greenlanders' "right to self-determination.”

The deal supports a stronger NATO engagement in the Arctic

The agreement says all three parties “support a stronger NATO engagement in the Arctic, including as regards planning, presence, exercises, and joint intelligence gathering.”

It allows U.S. military access to Greenland to defend the NATO area, Greenland itself and the American continent — including through a “Golden Dome defense system."

Non-NATO country installations are not allowed

The deal spells out that “no state that is not a member of NATO shall be allowed to establish its own manned or unmanned military installations in Greenland nor shall they be allowed a persistent presence of military forces in Greenland."

It vows to respect Greenland's environment and traditional ways of life

In the preamble, the signatories recognize “the need to protect the pristine environment of Greenland.” It also stresses “the economic, social, and cultural rights of the people of Greenland, including with respect to their lands and their way of life, including hunting, fishing, and other traditional, cultural, historical, future activities.”

It addresses what happens if Greenland becomes independent from Denmark

The accord “does not have an end date” and, if Greenland chooses to become independent, it will agree to remain in NATO and take on Denmark’s rights and obligations under the deal.

The agreement needs parliamentary approval

The deal will only “enter into force” once the “necessary parliamentary processes of the Kingdom of Denmark, in conjunction with Greenland, have been completed.”

El Centro Nacional de Huracanes de Estados Unidos en Miami (NHC, por sus siglas en inglés) calificó a Polo de tormenta “extremadamente peligrosa” y pronosticó que girará bruscamente hacia el noroeste antes de desplazarse hacia el oeste-noroeste durante los próximos días.

Polo estaba a unos 266 kilómetros (165 millas) al sur de Zihuatanejo y a 515 kms (320 millas) al sureste de Manzanillo, informó el NHC. Se movía lentamente hacia el norte con vientos máximos sostenidos de 241 km/h (150 mph), que lo sitúan en la categoría 4, tras haber tenido anteriormente categoría 5.

“Se prevén fluctuaciones en la intensidad, pero se espera que Polo siga siendo un huracán mayor muy potente durante los próximos días”, dijo el NHC.

Odalys era un huracán de categoría 1 y se encontraba a unos 2.085 kms (1.295 millas) del extremo sur de la península de Baja California, en México, moviéndose hacia el este-noreste a 15 km/h (9 mph) con vientos máximos sostenidos de 120 km/h (75 mph), dijo el centro.

Olas, inundaciones y deslaves suponen un peligro

La presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, señaló que los expertos indicaron que era poco probable que Polo tocara tierra. Aun así, los vientos con fuerza de huracán se extienden hasta 65 kms (40 millas) desde el vórtice de la tormenta y los que tienen fuerza de tormenta tropical llegan hasta 169 kms (105 millas), de acuerdo con el NHC.

Se esperaban condiciones de tormenta tropical a lo largo de la costa del Pacífico en los estados de Guerrero, Michoacán y Colima desde el miércoles hasta el jueves.

Polo se convirtió el martes en el tercer huracán de categoría 5 de la temporada del Pacífico, después de Genevieve y Lowell. Es el nivel más alto en la escala Saffir-Simpson y supone que el meteoro tiene vientos máximos sostenidos que superan los 253 km/h (157 mph).

El huracán volvió a poner en vilo a los residentes en la costa mexicana del Pacífico, que ya sufrieron el azote de varias tormentas potentes en los últimos años. Las playas se vaciaron y nubes oscuras flotaban sobre un mar agitado, mientras las autoridades suspendieron temporalmente las clases el martes en varias zonas. La Marina de México cerró puertos en los estados de Guerrero y Michoacán y advirtió a civiles y pescadores que extremaran las precauciones.

Concepción López Villegas se afanaba en preparar su restaurante junto al mar para lo que pudiera venir. El fuerte oleaje ya golpeaba la costa en su ciudad, Lázaro Cárdenas, en Michoacán. Mientras hombres y niños miraban el mar agitado detrás de ella, López Villegas comentó que temía que las olas destruyeran el pequeño negocio que ha trabajado durante décadas para construir.

“Estamos preocupados y tratando de proteger nuestros negocios", afirmó. "Y, por supuesto, estamos tristes porque es nuestro patrimonio, nuestro legado, que de un momento a otro podría ser destruido”.

Datos del NHC muestran que los vientos de Polo alcanzaron velocidades comparables a las de unos pocos huracanes que llegaron a la región en las últimas décadas, sobre todo Patricia, cuyos vientos llegaron a los 346 km/h (215 mph) en 2015.

“Esta es una de las tormentas más fuertes de la historia en la cuenca (del Pacífico)”, afirmó Kristen L. Corbosiero, profesora del Departamento de Ciencias Atmosféricas y Ambientales de la Universidad de Albany.

Las intensas precipitaciones podrían causar inundaciones repentinas y deslaves. Se esperan entre 8 y 15 centímetros (de 3 a 6 pulgadas) de lluvia para los estados de Guerrero y Michoacán, con cantidades menores en zonas costeras de los estados de Oaxaca, Colima y Jalisco.

El Niño impulsó la rápida intensificación

La embajada de Estados Unidos en México emitió una alerta meteorológica en la que pide a los estadounidenses evitar el agua y las playas, y seguir las indicaciones de las autoridades mexicanas.

“Aunque la tormenta no toque tierra directamente, las lluvias intensas pueden producir inundaciones y deslaves que pongan en peligro la vida. Las condiciones peligrosas del océano —intensificadas por las tormentas— pueden resultar en corrientes de resaca mortales y olas anómalas”, escribió la embajada en un comunicado.

La rápida intensificación de la tormenta ha dejado atónitos tanto a científicos como a autoridades, y el NHC escribió en un informe que fue “verdaderamente notable” lo rápido que Polo ganó fuerza en 24 horas.

Philip Klotzbach, científico investigador del Departamento de Ciencias Atmosféricas de la Universidad Estatal de Colorado, atribuyó la intensificación al fenómeno meteorológico conocido como El Niño, que ha alimentado sequías devastadoras en México y Centroamérica e inundaciones en otras partes de la región.

En el Pacífico, dijo, ha resultado en aguas más cálidas y patrones de viento que sirven de combustible para los huracanes.

“Están todos los ingredientes que los huracanes necesitan para volverse realmente fuertes realmente rápido”, afirmó Klotzbach.

En lo que va de temporada no se han registrado huracanes en el Atlántico, que este año batió el récord de mayor tiempo sin un huracán. Los efectos de El Niño frenan las tormentas antes de que se formen.

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Brooks informó desde Atlanta.

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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.

Range and charging

The Rivian R2’s range spans from 275 miles in the base Standard model to 345 miles in the Standard Long Range. Most other versions are rated at 330 miles. In the real-world Edmunds EV Range Test, the R2 Performance covered 304 miles, falling short of its 330-mile EPA estimate.

The Tesla Model Y outperforms the R2, ranging from 294 miles in the all-wheel-drive base model to 357 miles in the rear-wheel-drive Premium. The rear-wheel-drive base Model Y Edmunds tested covered 337 miles, and the new three-row Model Y L managed an impressive 358 miles — both beating their EPA estimates. For both rivals, all-wheel-drive versions are rated lower than their rear-wheel-drive counterparts.

Both electric SUVs use Tesla-style (NACS) charging ports, giving them access to Tesla’s vast Supercharger fast-charging network. Under ideal conditions, Tesla says the Model Y can add up to 162 miles in 15 minutes, edging out the R2’s cited 150 miles in 15 minutes. Edmunds’ testing confirmed that the Tesla charges slightly quicker.

Winner: Tesla Model Y

Tech features

The R2 and Model Y boast an impressive amount of standard tech, including a generous collection of advanced driver aids, wireless smartphone charging pads, large touchscreens with sharp-looking graphics, Google-based navigation, and camera systems that record your drive and monitor the vehicle’s surroundings when parked.

A hands-free driving mode is also available on both EVs. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) drives hands-free on highways and city streets, obeying stop signs and traffic lights and changing lanes on its own — in Edmunds’ testing, it’s been the most useful hands-free driving system available. Rivian’s Autonomy+ also works hands-free on roads with painted lane markings, but it doesn’t operate during city driving.

Overall, however, the R2’s tech features are impressive. Unlike the Model Y, it has a digital driver display that keeps important info in your line of sight. Also, the R2’s touchscreen system proved more responsive and enjoyable to use in Edmunds’ testing.

Winner: Rivian R2

Interior comfort and utility

The Model Y rides more smoothly over bumps than the firmer R2, though both have comfortable, supportive seats. Passenger space is similar, though the R2 has a bit more rear headroom. Tesla one-ups Rivian, however, with an available third row in the Premium and in the extended-length Model Y L — though it’s best for kids and small adults, and it eats up a lot of cargo space when raised.

As for cargo, the R2 tops the Model Y behind the rear seats when you include their underfloor storage compartments, and it offers far greater total capacity: 90.1 cubic feet versus the five-seat Model Y’s 75.5 cubic feet. Its front trunk is slightly larger too, and its 4,400-pound max towing capacity tops the Model Y’s 3,500 pounds.

The Model Y is more comfortable and offers third-row versatility, but the R2 delivers more utility and a roomier back seat.

Winner: tie

Pricing and value

Including destination fees, the Rivian R2’s starting prices range from $46,485 for the Standard trim to $59,485 for the top-level Performance trim. The Model Y spans $41,380 for the base trim to $63,380 for the three-row Model Y L. Note that for the R2, only the priciest Performance trim is available now; more affordable trim levels arrive in late 2026 and spring 2027.

In general, the R2 will likely cost you a little more to buy. But it justifies its premium with a richer-looking interior, distinctive styling, superior off-road capability, and uncommon touches like a drop-down rear window and dual glove boxes. Rivian also backs it with a one-year/12,000-mile adjustment warranty covering wheel alignment, factory defects and more — something Tesla doesn’t offer.

Winner: tie

Edmunds says

This electric SUV comparison ends in a tie — both earned the same overall rating score and are at the top of Edmunds’ rankings for electric small SUVs. You can’t go wrong with either, but if range and comfort top your priorities, the Model Y is for you. If you’d rather have a more capable, premium-feeling SUV, order the R2.

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This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Michael Cantu is a contributor at Edmunds.

The poll of more than 2,000 rural registered voters found that costs of groceries, gas and healthcare are among the top pain points for rural voters. They are also more likely than voters overall to say they are worried about being able to afford groceries or gas.

Rural Americans skew Republican and historically have been an instrumental voting bloc for Trump. The findings suggest that many rural voters haven’t turned against Trump but that they also largely don’t think he has delivered on his economic promises. While rural voters seem unlikely to support Democrats on a large scale, Trump and the Republican Party could face challenges with them in November.

The full story can be read here. Here are the takeaways:

Most rural voters disapprove of Trump on the economy

As the election approaches, only about 4 in 10 rural voters surveyed approve of Trump’s performance on the economy. Roughly 6 in 10 disapprove.

They rate him similarly on his handling of the Iran war, an entanglement that has proved expensive for the U.S. and increased oil and gas prices. And rural voters rank pocketbook concerns and fraud in government programs higher among the things they want to hear about from politicians than other perennial issues, such as gun policy and abortion policy.

In the poll, about three-quarters of rural voters rated the cost of living in their communities as “only fair” or “poor.”

Rural Americans, who have consistently lower wages than those who live in suburban and metro areas, have been hurting economically for decades, according to Tim Slack, a professor of sociology at Louisiana State University and co-author of the book “Rural and Small-Town America.”

“Many folks are connecting the cost-of-living crisis to many of the Trump administration’s policy choices: the war in Iran, tariffs, trade wars,” he said. “None of those things are going to bring down prices at the pump or the local Walmart.”

Rural Republicans have a rosier view of Trump

At the same time, about half of rural voters approve of Trump’s job performance, more than among U.S. adults overall in separate AP-NORC polling.

Rural Republicans do have a brighter economic perspective than rural Democrats or independents, particularly about the U.S. as a whole, according to the survey. About 6 in 10 rural Republican voters say Trump has improved the national economy, compared with roughly 2 in 10 independents and fewer than 1 in 10 Democrats.

But only 45% of rural Republican voters say Trump has made their local economies better off. About 1 in 4 say there are fewer good-paying jobs where they live than five years ago.

Trump's healthcare policies go unnoticed

The AP-KFF poll found that rural voters overall don’t perceive much positive impact from the Trump administration’s healthcare policies even as they have been a top priority for Republican leaders, who have promoted efforts to lower drug costs and touted a $50 billion rural health program.

Only 17% of the voters said the Trump administration’s healthcare policies have had a “positive impact” on their healthcare costs, while 41% said they’ve had “no impact” and another 41% said they’ve had a “negative impact.”

A year after the passage of the Rural Health Transformation Program, more than 8 in 10 rural voters said they’d heard either “a little” or “nothing at all” about the health fund. About 6 in 10 said they had heard nothing, according to the survey.

Rural Republican voters still trust the GOP more

When asked which political party they trusted to do a better job of handling issues such as the cost of healthcare or the cost of living, rural voters tended to side with their own party.

The finding signals that Democratic candidates are more likely to benefit from rural Republicans staying home this November than from them voting across party lines in large numbers.

Rural Republicans are more ambivalent about their party’s ability to handle key healthcare issues, compared with Democrats. About 8 in 10 Democratic voters say they trust the Democrats to address healthcare costs, while closer to 6 in 10 Republican voters say the same of the Republicans.

Many rural voters don't feel respected by Trump or the parties

Trump's approval among rural voters, while higher than among U.S. adults overall, is down slightly, from 56% approval in a similar question asked in a 2017 KFF-Washington Post survey.

Many rural voters also don’t think the major parties or the president respect people like them.

About half, 48%, of rural voters say the GOP respects people like them “a lot” or “some,” while 45% of rural voters say this about Trump and 37% say this about the Democratic Party.

This year’s competitive elections feature key Senate races in states including Ohio, Michigan and Maine, all of which have large rural populations. In close races, Democrats may have a chance to “show up and give a message that rural people might find appealing,” said Nicholas Jacobs, a political scientist at Colby College and co-author of the book “The Rural Voter.”

“But it’s nothing more and it’s nothing less than that — an opportunity,” Jacobs said. “And time and time again, Democrats have shown a certain proclivity for not seizing that opportunity.”

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The poll of 2,241 U.S. adults registered to vote in rural areas of the country was conducted Aug. 12-24, 2026, using a sample drawn from the probability-based SSRS Opinion Panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In collaboration with the AP, KFF researchers worked to design the survey sample and questionnaire, analyze and report findings.

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This report is a collaboration between The Associated Press and KFF Health News. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.

A diagnosis of a rare, aggressive form of cancer had forced her into retirement after three decades of working with homeless youth. As the disease quickly spread through her body, she felt “like a walking time bomb.” But she found a new purpose, becoming a public face of a movement in favor of life-ending options.

She shared her story publicly and traveled from her home near Chicago to Springfield, the state capital, to convince lawmakers it was vital to legalize medically assisted death.

The day came on Sept. 12. She celebrated at home with friends and family as “Deb’s law,” named after her, took effect. Illinois became the first Midwestern state and the 13th state overall (plus the District of Columbia) to authorize the option.

“I believe that God gave me this extra time so that I could see this law through,” said Robertson, 68. “I believe that people have the right to leave this Earth with dignity and on their own terms.”

In recent years, the practice of allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives with medication has been legalized in several countries, with many more considering it. In the U.S., New York and Illinois recently became the latest states to join an accelerating pace of such legislation.

The issue remains bitterly contested

Opponents, including many religious groups, lawmakers and disability advocates, have moral objections to someone ending their life. Even with safeguards in place, some argue, the decision could be made for the wrong reasons.

“It puts people like myself — people with developmental and mental disabilities, as well as physical disabilities — in danger,” said Ebony Payne, a Chicago-based disability advocate who is quadriplegic. She was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against “Deb’s law,″ contending it discriminates against people with disabilities.

Even Pope Leo XIV weighed in, urging Gov. JB Pritzker not to sign the bill. Leo later said he was “very disappointed” that his home state of Illinois approved a law condemned by the Catholic Church. Polls show that most Americans think medical aid in dying is either morally acceptable or not a moral issue, although opinions vary across different faiths and political lines.

Dr. Jessica Kaan, medical director for End of Life Washington, an advocacy group, has helped hundreds of patients in Washington and Oregon with assisted dying.

Her mother, a practicing Christian, opposes it on religious grounds: “She’s horrified that I’m involved in any way.”

Kaan says she’s an advocate for choices. Her perspective is shaped by the types of deaths she has witnessed.

Among them are patients with ALS, a progressive disease that attacks nerve cells controlling muscles throughout the body. “It’s a particularly gruesome and awful way for most people to even anticipate their dying,” she said about a disease that takes away the body’s ability to move and speak.

For many terminally ill patients, she said, having the option gives them a sense of comfort, even if they eventually might not use it.

“I respect that people don’t want to choose that as an option for themselves. What I don’t love is for people trying to police that for other people.”

How a California man prepared to die

Peter Redgrove of San Diego, a late-stage bone marrow cancer and leukemia patient, used California’s assisted-dying law on Sunday. After 19 rounds of chemotherapy, he decided to set the terms of his death following a long, pain-wracked hospital stay.

“I see no point in enduring pain and suffering emotionally, psychologically and physically, when there are means to end it,” said Redgrove, 85, days before he took the lethal prescription cocktail in a cup emblazoned with Sylvester, his favorite character from the Looney Tunes. “I don’t think you get extra points for hanging in to the bitter end.”

Redgrove grew up in Catholic orphanages in England before moving to the U.S. Although he was no longer a practicing Catholic, he remained close to his faith, often wearing a crucifix he only gave away right before his death.

“An all-loving God is not going to punish me and throw me into a fire pit because I’m doing this,” Redgrove said in his room at a residential facility, where he spent his last days listening to classical music and reminding people to be kind.

With a death doula’s help, he invited loved ones to a celebration of his life that included Champagne, a shroud to wrap his body in his favorite royal purple and a final song: “Time” by The Alan Parsons Project.

Before he took his last breath, he read a Buddhist prayer.

State by state, the movement has spread

Oregon was the first U.S. state to pass a medical aid-in-dying law; it took effect in 1997.

As other states followed suit, what remains generally consistent is that to use the laws, one must have an incurable illness and less than six months to live, said Thaddeus Pope, a bioethicist at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. To qualify, one must also be able to understand and make a voluntary decision and be able to take the prescribed medications without assistance.

The latest states to legalize medical aid in dying are among the most populous: New York, where it took effect in August, and Illinois earlier this month. Today, nearly 1/3 of Americans live in a state where that end-of-life option is legal — though the practice remains uncommon in the U.S., accounting for roughly 15,000 deaths since the Oregon law went into effect in 1997.

“We actually have a pretty significant track record now: 30 years in Oregon, 18 years in Washington, 10 years in California. … That’s a lot of experience,” Pope said.

Peg Sandeen, chief executive officer of the Death with Dignity National Center, a nonprofit advocacy group, said there’s clear evidence that the safeguards work. “Police are not chasing after cases where there’s been coercion. We don’t have physicians losing their license to practice. That’s not happening.”

Some faith traditions continue to condemn assisted dying — sometimes called assisted suicide. Illinois pastor Andy Huette, who leads a nondenominational church in Gridley, urged Christians to reject Deb’s law, calling it “legislating darkness.” He has supported congregants with ALS, cancer and other chronic illnesses, and understands the desire to reduce suffering, but he also believes in its “redemptive purposes.”

Others have changed positions. Rabbi Dvora E. Weisberg served on a Reform committee that spent more than two years interpreting Jewish texts and talking to doctors and families to draft a paper on medically assisted dying that reverses earlier guidance. The paper argued that Jewish law must respond to modern medicine’s ability to prolong dying and to new knowledge about pain.

“We take this very, very seriously even though we know that any Reform Jew can disagree with us. We’re not the Vatican, we don’t have that kind of power,” said Weisberg, a professor of Rabbinics at Hebrew Union College.

“But the response that we’ve gotten from people who have read it has been very positive in the sense that they feel that now they have something to think about that can help them.”

Opposition from religious and disability groups remains firm

Before Deb’s law went into effect, a judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit by Ebony Payne and disability groups that aimed to block the law, saying that they had not proved standing or imminent harm.

In her Chicago home, Payne used a mouth-operated stylus to look at the ruling on her phone while lying in a reclining medical care chair. “I’m very disappointed,” she said. “My hope is that the law will be taken off the books.”

The six Catholic dioceses in Illinois criticized the law, saying it puts the state “on a dangerous and heartbreaking path.” The pope, who grew up in Chicago, has cited Catholic teaching, which calls for the protection of life from conception until natural death, forbidding abortion and euthanasia.

Chicago’s archbishop, Cardinal Blase Cupich, and Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki challenged “Deb’s law” in separate lawsuits and won limited protections without blocking the law from being enacted.

“We live in a state now where suicide is now normalized, and yet we still have a suicide hotline. There seems to be a bit of schizophrenia here,” Cupich told The Associated Press.

In the days before the law took effect, a judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing the law on Catholic groups that challenged it in a lawsuit. They had argued the law could compel Catholic healthcare providers to refer or provide help against their faith in what they believe is assisted suicide.

“They always give it a euphemistic name: This is the End of Life Options Act. But it’s really just physician-assisted suicide, which is very problematic,” Paprocki said. “We believe that God is the author of life. … We shouldn’t be the ones deciding when to end our lives.”

Assisted dying vs. assisted suicide

Advocates, doctors and academics involved with the procedure say none of the medically assisted dying laws in the U.S. define the practice as assisted suicide. They note the American Association of Suicidology has declared that “suicide and Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) are conceptually, medically, and legally different phenomena.”

Equating assisted dying with suicide is not only antiquated or misleading, but harmful, said Anita Hannig, a cultural anthropologist and author of “The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America.”

“In no way would I describe any of the deaths I attended as suicide,” said Hannig, who spent five years following patients, families and doctors while researching her book.

Terminally ill patients who have sought this type of legislation insist they’re not suicidal.

“It really bothers me because I want to live, I don’t want to die. But I’m going to. I have to accept that, my wife has to accept that, my family has to accept that,” Robertson said in Lombard, Illinois, where she lives with her wife, Kate. They’ve known each other for 45 years; framed images of their wedding and other milestones decorate their home.

They recently walked hand in hand to a park where they plan to plant a tree that will grow next to Deb’s ashes.

Enactment of the new law “really makes me feel safe and peaceful,″ Robertson said. “Each day that I go out there, I know that I’m going to have the choice at the end of my life to go out the way I want.”

“I didn’t choose to have this disease, but give me the choice — and other people who are terminally ill, the choice to have some control over their life.”

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Associated Press video journalists Laura Bargfeld and Javier Arciga contributed to this report.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Here was a fascinating tale with shades of “Network,” “Ace in the Hole” and “To Die For,” and an inscrutable personality at its center in host Chris Hansen, a newsman who had become a pop culture icon with his own catchphrase: Have a seat.

It was both old news, and, somehow, in the ether too. Last year, the show was also the subject of an acclaimed documentary, “Predators,” from David Osit.

Along the way, “Primetime” transformed into a dark meditation on performance, media and morality — more fever dream than biopic, according to filmmaker Lance Oppenheim. And, perhaps fittingly, it’s arriving in theaters Friday on a wave of both critical acclaim and intrigue over Hansen’s own objections to the film and its depiction of the show, which he called an “insult,” sight unseen.

The pressure of a hit show

“To Catch a Predator” had in 2006 become a kind of phenomenon. With the help of the citizen watchdog group Perverted Justice, the show would stage confrontations with men who were allegedly soliciting sex with minors in online chat rooms. Perverted Justice members would pretend to be underage kids online and invite the adults on the other side of the conversation to fake houses, where actors would play the teens and the show would “catch” the men on camera, while police waited outside to make arrests.

Two years after it debuted, it was averaging around 7 million viewers an episode and Hansen was a celebrity in his own right. And then, in November 2006, one suspect, Louis William “Bill” Conradt Jr., an assistant district attorney in Texas, killed himself as a local police SWAT team breached his home with the television crew outside. It led to a lawsuit, which was settled out of court, and various journalistic investigations including by ABC’s “20/20” and Esquire’s Luke Dittrich, whose article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” inspired Ajon Singh’s script. By 2008, the show had been canceled.

“The thing which I was most interested in, it’s the sort of technicalities of like trying to have a hit show,” Pattinson told The Associated Press. “When you get up to a certain, like, level of numbers of viewers or like however much money is involved, suddenly the subject matter, like everything doesn’t matter anymore. … You’re just a hit and like and you’re judged along the same lines, and the same commercial expectation is put on you.”

The portrait melds fiction and reality with Merritt Wever playing a fictionalized producer who is under pressure to deliver shows that could compete with “Lost.” Then there is then-NBCUniversal TV Group CEO Jeff Zucker in the mix, playing himself.

Becoming ‘Chris Hansen’ the character

Pattinson wasn’t intending to star in “Primetime.” He was just helping to develop it with his production company. But he was also getting in the weeds, helping to shape the story and the character, and starting to realize what a great part he had in front of him.

“Chris was like a serious news reporter,” Pattinson said. “And I think what’s sort of fascinating about the story as a whole was like seeing someone who … you’re a journalist, you’re supposed to be in some ways a passive reporter of what’s going on and suddenly being recast in this thing where you’re not only like front and center of it but you’re kind of, your behavior, it’s setting the tone of the show.”

He was also just being inundated with videos and memes and Reddit threads from Singh and Oppenheim. And once he had committed to the part, Pattinson spent many, many hours watching Hansen on video and listening to his podcast. Chris Hansen was in his head, and the voice was hard to shake (he could hear it in “The Odyssey”). For him, it's also, fundamentally, a character.

“It’s impossible to, like, play somebody else,” Pattinson laughed.

Hansen himself has been rather vocal about the film too, on everything from who he would have cast (Denis Leary) to questioning the motivations of the filmmaker and the studio, A24, for using his name. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he referred to the Esquire story as “a bit of a hit piece.” He also purchased preshow advertising for his true crime streaming network TruBlu that will play in front of “Primetime” showings.

Pattinson said he’s not surprised that Hansen has been out talking about it.

“He’s a public person,” Pattinson said. “He is also just being asked about it. It’s kind of, I mean, I get it. But I’m surprised about the level of traction that everything gets.”

It’s also kind of a proof of concept; people remain interested.

“The fact that people are still discussing the ethics of it, of a 20-year-old TV show, I mean it’s absolutely insane,” Pattinson said.

Dissecting news entertainment through ‘Primetime’

The heart of “Primetime” revealed itself to everyone along the way. It wasn’t just a story about Hansen. It was also about performance and the nature of news entertainment, which is how Decoy Dan, played by Skyler Gisondo, became such a pivotal character.

Decoy Dan is an amalgamation of the adult actors who were cast to play the teenagers in the fake houses in the show. It’s a gig he gets through a standard audition process; but the realities of it transcend even improv. The juxtaposition between the journalist and the actor became a microcosm for the tension inherent in creating must-see television out of entrapment and public humiliation.

For Gisondo, the role took on a kind of meta quality too as he stepped out of his comfort zone and into this darker territory with Pattinson, an actor he’d long admired.

“This was so unlike anything I had ever done before that, uh, I was so nervous,” he said. “From the very beginning, there was this kind of like, you know, real sort of energy bleeding into it.”

Gisondo took the part, and what his character was going through, so seriously that he was a little caught off guard when he heard laughter in the audience (oftentimes when Dan is at his lowest) at the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

“Having more distance from it now, I see that clearly, just the contrast of how serious this subject matter is and then the outlandishness of the kind of setup of the show,” Gisondo said. “There’s something, I think, heartbreakingly kind of funny about how naive Dan is.”

It’s been a good year at the movies for Pattinson in particular, with a sleeper hit in “The Drama,” a bona fide blockbuster in “The Odyssey” and “Dune: Part Three” still to come (and this is all while he continues to film “The Batman” sequel). He’s also not letting it add to any anxiety about whether people will show up for “Primetime,” which will open in the U.K. on Oct. 30.

“My career has basically been like no one sees my movies,” Pattinson said. “My baseline is very low so everything’s a nice surprise.”

The Associated Press, in partnership with KFF, polled more than 2,000 rural registered voters and found broadly negative views of the national and local economies, including among many Republicans. The costs of groceries, gas and healthcare rank as top pain points for the rural voters, who were surveyed over two weeks starting in mid-August. And a larger share than among voters overall say they are worried about being able to afford groceries or gas.

At the same time, about half of rural voters approve of Trump’s job performance, more than among U.S. adults overall in separate AP-NORC polling.

The findings suggest that many rural voters haven’t turned on Trump but that they also largely don’t think he has delivered the economic renaissance he promised on the campaign trail.

Ed Westrick, a registered Republican and veteran, rates Trump’s job performance as “mediocre, middle-of-the-road.” Westrick, who lives in rural Texas, isn’t sure he will cast a midterm ballot, a troubling sign for Republicans in a key state in their fight to keep control of Congress.

Rural Americans skew Republican and historically have been an instrumental group of voters for Trump. The survey reveals that while rural voters seem unlikely to support Democrats on a large scale, Trump and the Republican Party could face challenges with them in November.

Rural voters are deeply unhappy about the economy

As the election approaches, only about 4 in 10 rural voters approve of Trump’s performance on the economy. They rate him similarly on his handling of the Iran war, an entanglement that has proved expensive for the U.S. and increased oil and gas prices. And rural voters rank pocketbook concerns and fraud in government programs higher among the things they want to hear about from politicians than other perennial issues, such as gun policy and abortion.

Westrick, 59, is a technical trainer in the electronics industry and has seen an increase in business in part because he works with defense contractors, but he said he’s concerned about the cost of living.

“I hear the politicians talk about making groceries more affordable and making healthcare more affordable, but yet none of them are addressing the issues,” Westrick said.

In the poll, about three-quarters of rural voters rated the cost of living in their communities as “only fair” or “poor” — a 25 percentage point rise from a similar question asked in a KFF-Washington Post survey in 2017. Rural Americans, who have consistently lower wages than those who live in suburban and metro areas, have been hurting economically for decades, according to Tim Slack, a professor of sociology at Louisiana State University and co-author of the book “Rural and Small-Town America.”

“Many folks are connecting the cost-of-living crisis to many of the Trump administration’s policy choices: the war in Iran, tariffs, trade wars,” he said. “None of those things are going to bring down prices at the pump or the local Walmart.”

“Trump promised to lower prices on Day 1, and instead the cost of living’s continued to climb. And that’s especially painful in rural America,” Slack said, adding that he expects many working-class Republicans to skip voting in November.

Rural Republicans do have a brighter economic perspective than rural Democrats or independents, particularly about the U.S. as a whole, according to the survey. About 6 in 10 rural Republican voters say Trump has improved the national economy, compared with only about 2 in 10 independents and fewer than 1 in 10 Democrats.

But only 45% of rural Republican voters say Trump has made their local economies better off. About 1 in 4 said there are fewer good-paying jobs where they live than five years ago.

In Michigan, 37-year-old independent voter Brittainy Sosebee said she isn’t sure if she will vote in the state’s midterm election, which includes a tight Senate race seen as crucial to the Democratic Party’s push to win back a majority. Sosebee voted for Trump in 2016 and Democratic candidate Joe Biden in 2020; she didn’t vote in 2024.

Sosebee, who lives in St. Johns, a small town just north of Lansing, said she used to have extra money to take a vacation or buy a new pair of jeans without worrying. Now, she scrutinizes every expense, cringing at the rising cost of fresh produce when she shops for her three children.

“We hunt, so we have a lot of venison and things like that, so we don’t have to buy meat from the grocery store, but it’s still crippling,” she said.

Healthcare policies go unnoticed

The AP-KFF poll found that rural voters overall don’t perceive much positive impact from the Trump administration’s healthcare policies even as they have been a top priority for Republican leaders, who have promoted efforts to lower drug costs and touted a $50 billion rural health program.

Only 17% of the voters said the Trump administration’s healthcare policies have had a “positive impact” on their healthcare costs, while 41% said they’ve had “no impact” and another 41% said they’ve had a “negative impact.”

Sitting on her front porch in Woolwich, Maine, 71-year-old Democrat Kathleen Hanning sipped a chai tea latte in the sun and recalled how she stopped voting for Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2020.

Collins and Trump are “intertwined,” Hanning said. “She is not independently voting on what’s best for Maine.”

Hanning, a retired federal worker, said she hadn’t paid much attention to the health policies in Trump’s signature tax breaks and spending cuts bill passed last year. The law reduces federal Medicaid spending by roughly $900 billion over a decade but also includes billions of dollars for the Rural Health Transformation Program, which it created.

A year after the law’s passage, more than 8 in 10 rural voters said they’d heard either “a little” or “nothing at all” about the health fund. About 60% said they had heard nothing, according to the survey.

Rather than transforming, Hanning said, “hospitals up here in Maine are consolidating.” She travels an hour to see a specialist and noted that mothers will now have to drive farther for care because the hospital in nearby Damariscotta announced it would soon close its labor and delivery center.

Nine in 10 rural voters said it was “extremely” or “very” important for candidates to talk about healthcare costs, with more than half saying it’s “extremely important.” Mirroring the general population, rural voters ranked healthcare costs and gas prices as top economic worries.

Rural Republican voters still trust the GOP more

When asked for the political party they trusted to do a better job handling issues such as the cost of healthcare or the cost of living, rural voters tended to side with their own party. The finding signals that Democratic candidates are more likely to benefit from rural Republicans staying home this November than from them voting across party lines in large numbers.

Republicans are more ambivalent about their party’s ability to handle key healthcare issues, compared with Democrats. About 8 in 10 Democratic voters say they trust the Democrats to address healthcare costs, while closer to 6 in 10 Republican voters say the same of the Republicans.

In Manassas, Georgia, a tiny town about an hour's drive inland from Savannah, Republican voter Wanda Rogers feels the Trump administration is doing the best it can to clean up what she sees as an economic mess that Democrats left behind when they lost power.

“I kind of think people think like I do, that he knows what needs to be done,” she said. “It’s just taking them a while to get it there.”

Still, the 66-year-old said, “gas prices, they’re eating me alive right now.” She said she has stopped traveling to the beach because it has become too expensive.

Pamela Shaw, an independent voter who lives in a rural area near Asheville, North Carolina, said she sees the impact of rising costs in her community.

“When hamburger is over $7 a pound and steak is $15 or more a pound, a lot of people are not able to buy some of the things that they are used to buying,” the 59-year-old said in an interview.

Trump’s rural standing has slipped

Trump remains relatively popular among rural voters in the AP-KFF poll, with 48% approval — substantially higher than in a July AP-NORC poll of U.S. adults overall, in which only a third approved of his performance. But he’s also down slightly, from 56% approval, among rural voters, based on a similar question asked in the earlier KFF-Washington Post survey.

This year’s competitive elections feature key Senate races in states including Ohio, Michigan and Maine, all of which have large rural populations. In close races, Democrats may have a chance to “show up and give a message that rural people might find appealing,” said Nicholas Jacobs, a political scientist at Colby College and co-author of the book “The Rural Voter.”

“But it’s nothing more and it’s nothing less than that — an opportunity,” Jacobs said. “And time and time again, Democrats have shown a certain proclivity for not seizing that opportunity.”

Many rural voters don’t think the major parties or the president respect people like them. About half, 48%, of rural voters say the GOP respects people like them “a lot” or “some,” while 45% of rural voters say this about Trump and 37% say this about the Democratic Party.

On a recent Thursday, registered Republican Nate Lawrence answered his phone after paying $57 to fill up his Chevy Equinox in New Concord, Ohio, a village of fewer than 3,000 people about an hour's drive east of Columbus.

Lawrence, a middle-school English teacher, said the candidates should be talking about spending power: “I need to be able to go to the store and feed my family on what I make as a teacher,” Lawrence said. “I should be able to pay for a house on a teacher’s salary.”

Lawrence has voted for Trump in the past but didn’t in 2024. For Ohio’s Senate race, Lawrence said he is torn and not sure whether to pick Democrat Sherrod Brown or Republican Jon Husted.

Still, even if the politicians say they will lower prices, Lawrence said, he won’t believe them.

“Trump said that, and it didn’t happen,” he said.

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The poll of 2,241 U.S. adults registered to vote in rural areas of the country was conducted Aug. 12-24, 2026, using a sample drawn from the probability-based SSRS Opinion Panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In collaboration with AP, KFF researchers worked to design the survey sample and questionnaire, analyze and report findings.

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This report is a collaboration between The Associated Press and KFF Health News. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has traveled to New York and is scheduled to address the assembly on Wednesday in his first speech since the U.S. and Israel launched the war in February.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. More coverage on the U.N. General Assembly is available here.

‘Nothing new’ in latest US talks, Iran says

Iran maintained its negotiating position in talks with U.S. officials, demanding that Washington end its blockade of Iranian ports and release frozen Iranian assets, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.

Esmail Baghaei said the talks were conducted indirectly through Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

“This was not anything new,” Baghaei said of Iran’s conditions.

The unscheduled exchange — the first indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials since a June ceasefire unraveled — came as intermittent attacks continued in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast, where commercial shipping remained below prewar levels.

Another ship hit in the Strait of Hormuz

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which issues warnings about maritime attacks and military activity, said another vessel was struck Wednesday by an “unknown projectile” while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The strike sparked a fire and forced the crew to evacuate. The origin of the attack, the first reported in two days, was unclear.

The incident highlighted the continuing danger to ships attempting to navigate the waterway. Some vessels appear to be making “dark passages” without transmitting identifying signals, but Iran and the United States have maintained their competing blockades. Commercial traffic remains well below prewar levels, according to ship-tracking data from analytics firm Kpler.

Restrictions on shipping through the strait have become one of the war’s most persistent consequences. Before the conflict, one-fifth of the world’s traded oil passed through the narrow waterway, along with large volumes of natural gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products.

Israel says it killed Hamas leader in Gaza strike

An Israeli strike on a vehicle in Khan Younis killed two people on Wednesday morning, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said one of those killed was Mohammad Abu Alwan, whom he identified as the head of Hamas’ finance department. He also said Israel would keep going after militants on its target list.

The two were the latest casualties since the ceasefire began nearly a year ago. More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since it took effect, according to the ministry, which maintains detailed records that are seen as generally reliable.

Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes since the ceasefire began and frequently open fire on Palestinians near military-held zones.

Netanyahu rebukes Macron's remarks on Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks at the United Nations a “grotesque absurdity,” objecting to his characterization of the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ activity in the West Bank.

Macron denounced the situation in Gaza and criticized escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. He said Israel could not invoke Hamas to justify its actions there. The wording Macron used in French was ambiguous and could be understood to mean either that Hamas had never governed the West Bank or had never operated there.

A French diplomatic source said Macron meant that Hamas had never governed the territory. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

The United Nations has not released an official translation of the remarks.

Hamas has long maintained support in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has claimed responsibility for attacks there, although it has never governed the territory. During the war in Gaza, Israel intensified military operations in the West Bank, launching an offensive in early 2025 targeting refugee camps that it described as strongholds of Palestinian militants.

The dispute adds to tensions that have grown since France recognized a Palestinian state in September 2025.

Earlier this month, France joined Canada and several European countries in announcing steps to restrict trade with Israeli settlements. France has long opposed the settlements as contrary to international law. It also issued a statement Sunday saying it “firmly condemns the terrorist attack” that killed a French-Israeli citizen over the weekend.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

The 22-year-old man, Andrea Moretti, specialized in working at altitude on ropes. He had been installing cabling for the project that was expected to be completed next month and died inside the Colosseum, the archaeological site's press office said.

Premier Giorgia Meloni said that the government was deeply shocked and saddened by the death and called for the cause to be determined as quickly as possible.

“Dying at the age of 22 is unacceptable — even more so when it happens in the workplace,” she said in a statement.

Authorities are working to determine the circumstances of Moretti's death, the park's statement said.

Representatives of Italy's main union, CGIL, were on site after the death to request information about Moretti's employer and contract and said that the closure of the monument was the least Rome authorities could do to honor his memory.

The Colosseum attracted 14.7 million visitors in 2024, according to Culture Ministry statistics. It topped the list of Italy's most-visited monuments, followed by Florence's Uffizi Galleries and the ancient ruins of Pompeii.

The Colosseum's sudden closure on Wednesday caught thousands of tourists who had bought tickets and tours in advance by surprise. But many said they appreciated the gesture.

Colosseum authorities had allowed the first morning tours to go ahead as planned, with just the Colosseum's second tier closed. But they then closed the entire monument to visitors after the first group had exited.

Rachel Townsand, a tourist from New Zealand, said that the closure was disappointing.

“But then after looking up what’s happened, then it’s understandable,” she said.

It wasn't immediately clear when the Colosseum would reopen to the public.

The bill, provided first to The Associated Press, would also pause advanced AI development until guidelines are implemented while creating the Department of Artificial Intelligence. Multiple employees at leading AI companies are endorsing the bill.

"It doesn’t take a genius to say, ‘slow it down,’” Sanders, I-Vt., said in an interview with AP. “Do we really want to develop a super intelligence that when it becomes smarter than human beings could act independently of human control? I don’t think we do.”

Congress has so far done little to rein in the AI industry even as some of its most prominent leaders warn about potentially catastrophic risks. President Donald Trump has resisted recent calls for greater government oversight, putting him at odds with tech leaders including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and xAI’s Elon Musk.

The bill aims to dramatically slow down AI development

The legislation would permanently prohibit artificial superintelligence, which it defines as a system that exceeds human cognitive ability or has sufficient capabilities to plan and execute the destruction or disempowerment of humanity.

It would temporarily pause development of the most advanced AI systems until new federal safety rules are established by a new Department of Artificial Intelligence. Advanced AI systems would then need federal approval before they could be deployed. Violations could carry significant penalties, including up to 20 years in prison in some cases.

A number of current employees at AI companies and experts signed on in support of the bill, according to a statement shared with AP.

Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe, a researcher in OpenAI’s Safety Systems, said in a statement supporting the bill that “superintelligence could either go extremely right or extremely wrong” and that “we shouldn’t be playing such games.”

Swante Scholz, a software engineer at Google DeepMind who said he was not speaking on behalf of his employer, said on the current path of development, the “most likely outcome is an existential catastrophe for humanity.”

“A ban on superintelligence development would be a positive change for the foreseeable future,” Scholz said in a statement.

The bill faces long odds but draws a line in a growing fight

The bill from Sanders and Casar faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress, where lawmakers have struggled to coalesce around even less sweeping AI regulations.

But it offers a window into how the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is approaching AI regulation ahead of November’s midterms and a 2028 presidential campaign in which the technology is expected to be an increasingly prominent issue. Casar, a Democrat from Texas, is the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Potential 2028 presidential candidates have rushed in recent weeks to release proposals showing they're taking the issue seriously. Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore announced a plan to regulate AI on Tuesday, while California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to accelerate implementation of a California law that calls for independent oversight of AI companies last week.

Sanders, a two-time presidential candidate who is now 85, has especially focused on the issue in recent months. In June, he introduced legislation to create a sovereign wealth fund financed through a one-time tax on the stock of the largest AI companies. Last week, he hosted colleagues for a briefing with experts and also attended a conference focused on the issue alongside Republicans, including former White House adviser Steve Bannon.

The debate over AI regulations has scrambled political alliances both in Washington and for voters across the country.

Americans have grown more concerned about the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence over the last year, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

The survey data say about half, 53%, of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about artificial intelligence’s environmental impacts. That is up from 41% last year. Democrats are driving much of the increase in environmental concern, but the poll also reveals broader worries about the local impact of data centers, which power AI and cloud computing.

Trump has shown little interest in curbing AI risks

While some industry leaders have called for new safeguards, Trump has pushed in the opposite direction. On Tuesday, Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that artificial intelligence will be renamed “super intelligence."

“I think Trump has very little understanding of what this issue is about,” Sanders said. “I think he’s mainly concerned about the economic implications of a slowdown.”

AI safety is expected to be a central part of talks between Trump and China’s Xi Jinping at the White House this week as the countries compete for dominance in the sector. The prospect of slowing development in the United States while China continues on has also been one of the central arguments against sweeping restrictions.

Sanders argued that avoiding the most dangerous forms of AI would ultimately require cooperation between the two countries, comparing the challenge to nuclear arms control during the Cold War.

“Ronald Reagan, arch-conservative, was smart enough to understand that he had to sit down with Gorbachev, a communist, and work out a nuclear treaty that protected humanity,” Sanders said. “I think we can do that again now.”

Debates inside the AI industry and beyond over the plausibility of these doomsday scenarios have heated up since several executives endorsed slowing the technology's development for safety reasons.

Despite warnings of the potential for humans to lose their grip on the technology, some suspect the worst-case scenarios described by the AI companies themselves have more to do with validating the importance of their work than reality.

“These arguments just don’t really hold water. I think they’re sci-fi and they’re enticing to a certain childish style of thinking and it’s very tempting for the frontier labs because it helps them recruit certain types of folks,” said Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade, a researcher at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne and a member of OpenAI’s Frontier Risk Council.

Still, more people are beginning to worry about the risks of the technology that has dazzled the world with its astounding capabilities.

Jacob Coxon, the Anthropic researcher who resigned from the company over concerns that it and its competitors are not acting responsibly in AI development, said on X recently that he needs to “work on” communicating to people more effectively exactly how AI would end humanity. “Unfortunately it is very difficult to convey specific scenarios,” he wrote earlier this month.

Here are some of the more widely discussed doomsday scenarios.

Nuclear winter

Researchers have long speculated that AI systems could trigger a nuclear war by getting countries to fire warhead-tipped missiles at each other. The nuclear blasts, and ensuing lingering radioactive atmospheric fallout resulting in a “nuclear winter,” could devastate life on Earth.

In a report last year, RAND Corp. researchers concluded that “at present” it wouldn’t be possible for AI to cause the use of nuclear weapons “because of strict safeguards built into the command and control systems.” However, the report said this could change if AI models are integrated into the nuclear weapon “decision chain” or gain unauthorized access to these systems.

For many AI researchers, that’s where the danger lies — not in AI agents suddenly deciding to end humanity, but people, nations or groups using it to wipe out their adversaries.

Bioweapons

One of AI's greatest promises is that it could help humans develop treatments and cures for diseases.

The flip side of curing diseases is creating or advancing them to harm humanity. Earlier this month, Anthropic said it has blocked efforts by bad actors to use its AI for a host of malicious activities such as cyberattacks, surveillance, and research that could have led to biological weapons.

In one instance, Anthropic said its systems blocked a request for assistance from its Claude tool for a research proposal seeking to enhance mutations to make the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus progressively more harmful. While such research could be used to develop better vaccines and treatments, Anthropic said, “it could also be used to make the pathogen more dangerous.”

Along the same lines, the RAND report noted recent progress in AI development “has the potential to transform the design of synthetic pathogens.”

Outlining a bioweapon doomsday scenario, the report said novel pathogens could be created in a lab, delivered to target locations, and spread to infect large populations of people in multiple places. But it still envisioned humans — and not autonomous AI — as overseeing and carrying out such an attack.

Runaway AI

Some AI researchers fear a human extinction event could result from “misalignment” — that is, when AI models act without human authorization, coordinate with other models or evade oversight. It would develop not from malicious intent — AI is not human, nor is it good or evil, after all — but simply because humans might get in the way of the model accomplishing its goal.

Take the decades-old “paper clip maximizer” thought experiment by the Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom, which states that if advanced AI was told to produce as many paper clips as possible, it could eventually transform all of Earth, and then increasing portions of space, into paper clip factories.

This is to illustrate how superintelligent AI — often referred to as artificial general intelligence, or AGI — could advance a goal humans may see as desirable but “which in fact turns out to be a false utopia, in which things essential to human flourishing have been irreversibly lost,” Bostrom wrote in 2003.

“We need to be careful about what we wish for from a superintelligence, because we might get it,” he wrote.

AI internet takeover

Given the rate of AI’s development, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned this month that within months a swarm of AI agents could be capable of “taking over” the internet with a botnet (a network of bots linked together with malware), potentially causing billions of dollars in damage. This could mean hacks into electrical grids, water or transportation systems and financial institutions — attacks that might not spell the end of humanity but could cause chaos and lives lost.

Disruptions from software glitches in the past have highlighted the fragility of a digitized world dependent on just a few providers for key computing services, and more powerful AI models have raised concerns about vulnerabilities to cyber attacks. But some experts say the notion of bots overtaking the entire extremely bifurcated internet is far-fetched.

Two people were killed and 23 were wounded in Kyiv, and palls of black smoke floated above the city following the latest in what have been daily Russian attacks that torment Ukrainian civilians. The drones set off fires and damaged buildings in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine overnight, authorities said.

Zelenskyy was in New York for the annual U.N. gathering as part of his diplomatic effort to shore up and recruit further international support for his country’s grueling 4½-year fight against Russia’s invasion. He was due to address the General Assembly later Wednesday and was also to meet with European leaders and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Zelenskyy met on Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has shown impatience with the lack of progress in talks aimed at ending the war and the escalating aerial attacks by both sides this year.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that there are “no concrete plans” for more U.S.-brokered talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is accused by NATO officials and European governments of sabotage, espionage and other threats, is not scheduled to attend the U.N. gathering this year.

The Polish military said a Russian military helicopter briefly violated Poland’s airspace Wednesday on the country’s border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. It said that “the nature of the incident suggests that Russia is once again testing the readiness of our air defense.”

Ukraine has hit back at Russia by damaging oil refineries that are a vital pillar of the country's economy.

Zelenskyy said at the start of his U.S. visit that he had proposals to make about possible de-escalation in the war. Urgent issues for Kyiv are halting devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid and ensuring Ukrainian grain can be shipped to world markets through the Black Sea despite the war.

Ukraine also needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems as a shield against Russian ballistic missiles, but Patriots are in short supply after the war in Iran began.

In Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, two men aged 37 and 39 were wounded by a strike that started a large fire at a shopping mall. Emergency services said the fire spread across about 6,000 square meters (1.5 acres) before coming under control.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces overnight struck Ukraine’s military-industrial and energy sector facilities, logistics centers, and sea vessels.

The ministry said its air defenses intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions, as well as illegally annexed Crimea and waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

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

China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales, most prominently during a summit in May between Trump and Xi in Beijing. After that meeting, the United States paused the sale of a record-breaking $14 billion package — and Trump described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

Still, the U.S. government and Congress have “repeatedly expressed support for Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” Taiwanese Defense Ministry spokesperson Maj. Gen. Chiao Fu-chun told reporters in the southern city of Tainan.

“We will continue to maintain close contact with the U.S. Department of War and continue to push forward the arms procurement deal between Taiwan and the U.S., ensuring it proceeds as planned,” he added.

The U.S. is bound by its own laws to provide Taiwan — a self-ruled democracy that China sees as its own territory — with the means to defend itself. While not recognizing Taiwan as a country, the U.S. is the island’s strongest informal backer and arms provider.

Washington approved another $11 billion package for Taiwan in December.

Hours before Xi's arrival for the three-day state visit to the U.S., Taiwan’s military on Wednesday conducted live fire drills featuring a domestically developed eight-wheeled armored vehicle, highlighting efforts to strengthen its own arms production.

Called The Cheetah, the vehicle can be fitted with a 105-millimeter (4.1-inch) cannon and can reach a maximum speed of about 100 kph (62 mph) and an operational range of about 500 kilometers (311 miles).

Taiwanese Maj. Gen. Chen Chien-chung said the vehicle can be used on various terrains and is suitable for urban warfare.

Trump has in recent years pressed Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te to dramatically increase Taiwan’s defense budget. The budget will exceed 3% of Taiwan's gross domestic product for the first time in 2027, and Lai has pledged to get to 5% by 2030.

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Mistreanu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.

He still has plenty of work to do this week.

The AL MVP front-runner went 2 for 4 with his 41st home run and three RBIs in the Astros' 7-0 win over the Seattle Mariners. Alvarez hit an RBI single in the first inning, was intentionally walked in the second and then belted a 386-foot homer in the eighth with a 109.5 mph exit velocity.

“At this point, I keep wondering why guys are pitching to him,” Houston first baseman Christian Walker said. “He just seems to come through in every moment. He's dangerous at the plate right now.”

Alvarez, who is quiet and shows little emotion, orchestrated a team meeting after the Astros (78-79) were swept by Atlanta on Sunday, squandering their lead in the AL West. His performance on Tuesday was much-needed to put Houston in a tie with the Texas Rangers atop the division with five games left this season.

“He's been backing it up all year,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.

Alvarez's two-run shot to right field tied him with Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League lead with 41 homers. Alvarez is first in batting average at .314 — five points ahead of Tampa Bay's Chandler Simpson — and he has 102 RBIs, six behind Baltimore Orioles slugger Pete Alonso for most in the AL.

Alonso drove in three runs with two homers Monday against Toronto, but the teams were rained out Tuesday in Baltimore because of bad weather. They are scheduled to play a split doubleheader Wednesday.

Alvarez has six homers since Aug. 1, and the 29-year-old designated hitter has eight RBIs over 17 games in September. He'll need more to become baseball’s first Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

Alvarez leads the AL in slugging percentage (.601), OPS (1.032), total bases (329) and walks (106). Logan Gilbert intentionally walked Alvarez in the second inning Tuesday, which was the 33rd time for Alvarez this season, already a franchise record.

It’s been a historic season for the four-time All-Star after he was limited to 48 games in 2025 because of a broken hand and an ankle injury.

If he wins the AL MVP award, the Cuban slugger will join Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers as the only players to win an MVP award while primarily serving as a designated hitter. Othani was close to winning a Triple Crown in 2024 after leading the NL in homers (50) and RBIs (130), but his .310 average fell just short to Luis Arráez’s .314.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Three others were wounded in the late-night mass shooting Tuesday in KwaMakhutha township, which is located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the city of Durban on the east coast.

The motive for the shooting wasn't known, but some of the shooting victims were known to authorities as part of investigations into criminal activity, police said.

Police didn’t give out any more information on those investigations, saying it could compromise them.

“Although the motive of the shooting cannot be confirmed yet, (a) feud between rival groupings cannot be ruled out,” the South African Police Service said in a statement.

Ten people, including the pregnant woman, died at the scene and an 11th was declared dead at a hospital. Authorities didn't immediately give out details on the condition of the three people who were wounded.

Police are searching for the gunmen

Police said they were searching for three men and no arrests had been made, but the acting national police commissioner ordered local police to deploy officers in a special 72-hour operation to track down the suspects.

Thami Ntuli, the premier of KwaZulu-Natal province, told reporters at the scene that the killings were “really disturbing” and called on community members to provide any information they might have that would help find the gunmen. He said that there were known problems with drug dealing and illegal firearms in the largely poor community, where some of the houses are just a few meters apart with no fences or walls in between.

Ntuli confirmed in a statement that the woman who was killed was pregnant.

There have been several mass shootings in South Africa recently

It's the latest in a series of mass shootings in South Africa recently, including one in June when multiple shooters killed 12 people in a poor neighborhood in Johannesburg that police linked to criminal gangs. Two mass shootings two weeks apart in December killed 21 people. They were also carried out by multiple gunmen.

South Africa has extremely high rates of violent crime, with official police statistics recording 5,427 homicides in the latest three-month period between April and June at an average of nearly 60 homicides a day.

Shootings are the most common form of homicide in South Africa, and police and crime experts have long said that one of the biggest problems is that there is a high number of illegal firearms in circulation.

The army is being used to combat violent crime in some areas

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa authorized the deployment of soldiers on the streets in some areas earlier this year to combat violent crime in what critics said was an admission that police were failing.

Soldiers were deployed to areas around Johannesburg, the city of Cape Town and in Eastern Cape province on the south coast in the ongoing operation, but not to KwaZulu-Natal province where the latest shooting happened.

The bodies of some of the victims of Tuesday night's shooting were laid out on the ground and covered with white sheets outside the house where the shooting took place. They were later carried away on stretchers to pathology vans.

Police cordoned off the neighborhood with yellow tape while forensic investigators worked through the scene.

Police were also investigating if the torching of a car near the house was connected to the shooting.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Voting centers across the North African kingdom are open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, allowing nearly 16 million registered voters to cast ballots for the 395-seat House of Representatives.

The election is the first since deadly youth-led protests nearly a year ago and a mass attempt by migrants to cross Morocco’s northern border into the Spanish territory of Ceuta that left dozens dead.

The vote will determine the next prime minister and the makeup of the government, which will serve alongside a powerful monarchy that retains broad authority over strategic affairs. Results are expected Thursday.

The next government will oversee billions of dollars in investment as Morocco prepares to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, prompting some to describe it as the “World Cup government.” The new political leadership will also face pressure to address everyday concerns, including jobs, wages and the cost of living.

For many young Moroccans, the election comes as doubts grow that political participation can improve their daily lives. Some have turned to street protests, while others have considered leaving the country or staying away from the ballot box.

Voters will choose among 7,288 candidates from 27 political parties.

The Moroccan Constitution requires the king to appoint the head of government from the party that wins the most seats in legislative elections. Since no single party is expected to obtain an absolute majority, the winner will need to negotiate with others to form a governing coalition.

Some, including the far-left party The Democratic Path, called to boycott the election saying that it “lacks the minimum conditions of democracy.” Banned but tolerated Islamist association Al-Adl Wal Ihsane issued similar claims.

The constitution recognizes the right to vote for Moroccans living abroad, but there is no voting by mail or ballot boxes at Moroccan consulates. Instead, they must travel to Morocco to vote or authorize a registered family member or acquaintance to vote on their behalf.

The number of registered voters has declined by 9.7% since the 2021 election, even as Morocco’s population has grown, and analysts expect turnout to be low.

As ballot stations opened in Casablanca and Rabat, voters of various ages formed small but continuous lines to cast their ballots, despite Wednesday being a workday.

Jamal Aamar, a 63-year-old retired banker, came to vote for the Federation of the Democratic Left, a left-wing coalition. Aamar said participating in the election allows his voice to be heard.

“If you boycott, you will leave others an empty seat,” he said.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both gained 0.1% on Wednesday. Nasdaq futures were basically flat.

Trump talked of the meeting with Iran after telling the assembly Tuesday that he would have to make a choice, including whether to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic, if the sides fail to reach an agreement.

“I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

Brent crude, the international standard, dipped 0.3% to $98.99 per barrel. That is still elevated compared to the roughly $72 per barrel level from late February before the Iran war, and still about $30 more than at this point last year. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 1.1% to $89.84 per barrel.

In addition to Trump's reference to communication with Iran, ING commodities strategists Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson said oil prices are also easing due to reports that Saudi Arabia was working to restore its east-west pipeline, which was disabled in an attack. The pipeline is crucial to getting some crude out of the Middle East by shipping it to the Red Sea rather than through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passed before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February.

Investors are also focusing on Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington, which is kicking off Wednesday and his meeting this week with Trump, in which artificial intelligence is anticipated to be high on the agenda.

The leaders are expected to attempt to steady fragile ties in their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House. That is despite the world’s two largest economies seeking the upper hand on AI developments and trade, while pushing for leverage in persistent hot spots like Iran and Taiwan.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 edged up to 10,712.19. France's CAC 40 slipped 0.1% to 8,146.73, while Germany's DAX declined 0.4% to 25,473.41. Asian markets were mixed.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed on Wednesday for a holiday and will resume trading on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar rose to 157.82 Japanese yen from 157.39 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1412, down from $1.1449.

Court documents filed in Nashville offer the first signs of discord in a carefully managed estate process for one of the most beloved personalities in music and beyond.

Bryan Seaver, who owns a company that provided Parton’s security detail and was handpicked by the star to announce her death from cancer last month, did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment.

In the temporary restraining order request filed by She’s Alive, the entity that manages and protects Parton’s professional property and business, and other court documents, it claims Seaver sent increasingly threatening messages over the last several weeks. She’s Alive is run by Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager.

Last week, “She’s Alive” terminated Seaver and Squadron Augmented Protection Services, saying his "terrorizing conduct made their continued retention untenable,” according to court documents.

The court documents showcase a series of text messages and emails She's Alive says were sent by Seaver starting just before Parton's death. The messages begin with threats to destroy the brand, and then after her death, depict Seaver reveling in his newfound fame and calling himself an “international arms dealer."

In one message written on Sept. 1 and included in the court documents, he said: “I’m going to set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It’s going to be great. Or f——— pay me.”

Seaver also claimed that he worked for private military contractors overseas during the Iraq War and used that experience as part of these threats, according to the complaint.

The messages have resulted in Parton’s trusts and estates attorney leaving and employees of She’s Alive resigning, according to the court documents. The entity has also had to hire private security for its employees, including at their homes, the documents state.

The restraining order is meant to stop Seaver from talking with or being within 1,000 feet (304.8 meters) of She’s Alive employees, attorneys and business partners. It also is meant to keep him from interfering with its business relationships.

Parton wrote hundreds of songs, including classics like “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You,” that earned a total of more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams.

The operating budget is $5.6 billion, the capital budget is $2.88 billion, and the debt service budget is $720.3 million. The rolled-back millage rate was 5.39.

“In the over decade that I have been here, we have lowered the millage rate three times,” Mayor Mark D. Bogen said. “We have never raised the millage rate.”

Commissioner Alexandra P. Davis warned that if voters pass the state’s Amendment 3 to increase the homestead exemption, the commission will have to readjust the millage rate.

“It’s layoffs, increase the millage rate, cut services,” Davis said during the meeting about options to balance the budget.

Monica Cepero, the county administrator, told commissioners during the meeting that the budget includes the largest investment in public safety in the county’s history.

“This represents a $24 million total increase for salary adjustments for detention deputies, coupled with an additional $15 million increase for a 5.8% salary increase,” Cepero said.

The salary increase, inclusive of increases in benefits, was for the Broward Sheriff’s Office general law enforcement, courts, and fire rescue and emergency services, according to Cepero.

The capital funds allocations included $27.7 million for the Affordable Housing Trust, which aims to increase the stock in the county, according to Cepero. The transfer from the general fund increased from $20 million to $25 million.

“This board has absolutely prioritized affordable housing,” Cepero said.

Commissioner Nan H. Rich said teachers are leaving the county, so the need is dire. Commissioner Beam Furr said that if voters pass Amendment 3, the commission would have to lower the much-needed investment in affordable housing.

“This year funding will be just fine because we have it in the budget for next year. It’s just in case something happens in Tallahassee in reference to Amendment 3, then we will have to figure out what type of services we are going to provide, what needs to be cut, but we are prepared to do that,” Robert McKinzie, the vice mayor, said.

The new budget will take effect on Oct. 1st.

A closer look

Related report: Broward commissioners vote to take back fire department from BSO in move Tony slams as ‘betrayal’

Watch the meeting: Budget public hearing #2

Related link: Understanding your recommended Broward County budget

Related social media

I am happy to report that for the second year in a row I have made the motion and received the support of my colleagues to REDUCE the tax millage rate to 5.6628 and another modest tax rate reduction for the Broward County millage rate. Thank you.

— Michael Udine (@Michaeludine) September 22, 2026

Houston snapped a three-game skid and tied the Rangers at 78-79 following their 6-3 loss to the New York Mets at home. Both teams have five games remaining, and the Astros hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Seattle (73-84) is on the brink of playoff elimination, one season after winning the AL West for the first time in 24 years and coming within one victory of the franchise's first World Series appearance.

Alvarez hit a two-run drive to right field in the eighth inning to tie Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League lead with 41 homers. Alvarez is first in batting average at .314 and he has 102 RBIs, six behind Baltimore Orioles slugger Pete Alonso for most in the AL.

Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012 was the most recent hitter to win a Triple Crown by leading his league in all three of those statistical categories.

Alvarez hit an RBI single in the first to reach 100 RBIs for the second time in his career. Christian Walker belted a three-run homer to make it 4-0 in the third, and Isaac Paredes added a solo shot in the sixth.

It was the 200th home run of Walker's career and his 26th this season.

Cam Smith snapped an 0-for-26 skid with a double.

Houston starter Cristian Javier was removed after two innings with right groin tightness. He threw 45 pitches. Miguel Ullola (1-0) followed with two innings of one-hit ball for his first major league win.

Bennett Sousa, AJ Blubaugh and Logan VanWey completed the four-hitter.

Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (12-11) lasted only four innings, yielding four runs on 10 hits — the most hits he's allowed in a game this season.

Up next

Rookie right-hander Ethan Pecko (1-0, 3.77 ERA) makes his fifth major league start Wednesday for Houston against Seattle RHP George Kirby (9-11, 4.24).

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This story has been corrected to show that Alvarez homered in the eighth inning.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

This year, the nation of 41 million has a new posture on the planet's biggest diplomatic stage.

Since a watershed speech to the World Economic Forum in January, Prime Minister Mark Carney has become a leading voice of what he and some others call “middle powers.” He has urged them to band together to update and preserve the international order, and protect their own interests, in an era of flexes by the United States and other global giants.

And he has shown himself willing to walk the walk when faced with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff's.insults and cavalier talk of annexation. Carney rejected what he said were unacceptable U.S. trade demands and walked away from talks last month. Bluntly hedging his country's decades-long bet on U.S. trade and partnership, he has been courting other prospects — Canada might even become the European Union's first associate member.

“Partners are working with Canada because Canada’s predictable, reliable and principled in a world that’s anything but,” Carney told Canadian media at a news conference at the U.N. Tuesday as the General Assembly's big meeting got into full swing.

It's the international community's premier gathering of the year. And to Carney, it's an opportunity to demonstrate Canada's vision of “values-based realism” that's “both principled and pragmatic” — part commitment to such values as freedom, human rights and sustainability, part clear-eyed, “calibrated alliances” with partners that won't sign onto the whole list.

That's frankly practical talk for a forum that's prone to either diplomatic caution or soaring rhetoric, be it doomsaying, idealistic or, often, both. And Carney is finding an ear.

He's moving fast and building coalitions

Canada and a half-dozen other countries launched a new group Monday meant to stand up for economic cooperation and U.N.-style international collaboration. An air traffic control mess at New York airports kept Carney from making it to the “partners for multilateralism” kickoff event at the U.N. Monday night, but his schedule Tuesday included personal meetings with Jordan's king, the presidents of Chile and Angola, and an Emirati cabinet minister.

He also co-hosted a meeting on the long-elusive two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and pledged 100 million Canadian dollars ($71 million) in humanitarian and security funding for Palestinians. Canada last year joined more than 150 countries that have recognized a Palestinian state, over the objections of Israel and its key ally, the U.S.

Asked whether he interacted Tuesday with Trump or members of his administration, Carney replied that he saw the huge meeting of world leaders as a chance to “meet those whom you don’t normally see.” He did attend Trump's speech at the assembly, where the president made no mention of Canada — the country on the other side of the world’s longest international border, and now on the other end of a deepening trade war.

After speaking Wednesday at a U.N. meeting about oceans, Carney heads back to Canada for other commitments. Foreign Minister Anita Anand is set to deliver the country's U.N. speech Saturday.

She said in an interview Tuesday that the address “will be very much about implementing the middle power strategy” that Carney has articulated — memorably when he told the World Economic Forum that as great power rivalries increasingly shake the international system, “middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.” (There’s no official list of “middle powers,” but the term is often understood to mean countries that aren’t superpowers or their proxies but have some sway in global politics due to diplomatic or other strengths.)

Carney's “message resonates with many audiences, particularly those in the global North,” says University of Ottawa international affairs professor Srdjan Vucetic.

He noted that the prime minister's leadership is resonating at home, too. Carney, who took office in March 2025, enjoys high approval ratings from Canadians. Many are galled by Trump's remarks about making their country the U.S.'s “51st state,” his insistence on referring to Lake Ontario as “Lake America” and his trade policies. In Toronto, Canada’s most populous city, some neighborhoods are dotted with lawn signs encouraging eligible U.S. expatriates to vote absentee, and at least one coffee shop has crossed the Americano drink off its menu, substituting “Canadiano” instead.

Carney seeks to increase non-US trade

Carney, 61, a former central bank chief with a doctorate in economics, aims to double Canada's non-U.S. trade within a decade. He convened hundreds of international investment firm executives for a Canadian investment summit last week and is hoping for a trade deal with India, among others, by year’s end.

His government has touted security, defense and economic agreements with a roster of countries over the past year, and he has envisioned Canada as potentially forging an economic bridge of sorts between the EU and Pacific Rim countries.

His international efforts have drawn some questions, as when he became the first Canadian prime minister in over a quarter-century to visit Saudi Arabia. Predecessor Justin Trudeau's government had assailed Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, spurring a five-year diplomatic split. The two countries restored full diplomatic relations in 2023.

Carney said at the time of the July visit that he cares deeply about human rights, that there's no point in “lecturing countries from afar,” and that engaging with them doesn't convey approval of their every move.

At his U.N. news conference Tuesday, he said his approach “means actively, actively taking on the world as it is, not passively waiting for a world we wish to be.”

“We have a strategy that, I believe, has already made our country stronger,” he added, “but we’ve only just begun.”

La sombría advertencia del Climate Impact Lab, con sede en la Universidad de Chicago, señala que hasta 451.000 muertes adicionales relacionadas con el calor entre junio y finales de febrero podrían atribuirse a El Niño, en comparación con las muertes por calor previstas en un año típico.

El mayor impacto, afirma el grupo, se espera en los países más pobres, que ya lidian con la inseguridad alimentaria y los altos costos de la energía, en parte debido al cambio climático y a las consecuencias de la guerra en Irán.

Michael Greenstone, cofundador del grupo y coautor del estudio, manifestó que el peligro por el calor probablemente persistirá más allá de febrero, aunque se espera que este El Niño termine para entonces. Agregó que las consecuencias del fenómeno meteorológico podrían sentirse hasta bien entrado el próximo verano.

La investigación, explicó, muestra que el calor es más peligroso en lugares que ya son calurosos y relativamente pobres.

“Si ya estás en un lugar caluroso, ese par de grados extra va a ser mucho más peligroso”, afirmó. Los lugares más ricos, añadió, por lo general tienen mayor acceso al aire acondicionado, suministros de agua confiables y sistemas de salud que funcionan.

El estudio combinó pronósticos estacionales de temperatura con estimaciones localizadas de cómo las altas temperaturas afectan la mortalidad en más de 24.000 regiones de todo el mundo.

Los investigadores estimaron las muertes adicionales relacionadas con el calor al comparar las muertes previstas bajo temperaturas elevadas impulsadas por El Niño con las muertes esperadas si las temperaturas se mantuvieran similares a las que han sido en las últimas tres décadas. Las muertes proyectadas corresponden a todo el periodo de El Niño, desde junio de 2026 hasta finales de febrero de 2027.

Habrá más muertes en el Sur Global debido al calor

El estudio de Greenstone y sus colegas también advierte que el Sur Global —un término que no es geográfico, sino una referencia a los países en desarrollo en general— soportará la carga más pesada del calor excesivo.

Los investigadores detrás del informe hallaron que se espera que la región del Sahel en África —países en el borde meridional semiárido del desierto del Sahara— sea la más afectada, con unas 66.800 muertes adicionales causadas por el calor agudizado por El Niño.

Otros grandes focos incluyen el sur y el sudeste de Asia y partes de América Latina, según el informe. Los investigadores proyectan unas 19.400 muertes adicionales relacionadas con el calor en Filipinas, Vietnam, Tailandia y Camboya, así como 19.300 en Indonesia, 15.800 en India y 13.300 en Brasil.

Las alertas por calor y los centros de enfriamiento podrían evitar miles de muertes

Con cifras tan abrumadoras, el informe indica que hay medidas recomendadas que los gobiernos pueden adoptar. Entre ellas figuran sistemas de alerta por calor, centros de enfriamiento, puntos de hidratación, protecciones para los trabajadores al aire libre, ampliación de la capacidad hospitalaria y acciones de alcance dirigidas a las personas mayores y otros grupos vulnerables.

Los autores también piden lo que describen como financiamiento anticipatorio, para que los gobiernos puedan movilizar recursos antes de que el calor peligroso alcance su punto máximo.

Abhiyant Tiwari, experto en calor de NRDC India que no participó en el estudio, comentó que las proyecciones del informe deberían servir como un llamado a la acción, más que como otra razón para alarmarse.

Pero, aunque una cosa es contar con planes bien pensados —como los tiene India—, implementar esos planes y reunir los fondos necesarios sigue siendo un desafío, sostuvo.

“La verdadera medida de nuestra preparación no es cuántas alertas por calor emitimos, sino cuán eficazmente protegemos a las personas y reducimos las muertes evitables”, añadió Tiwari.

El cambio climático está amplificando el calor récord de El Niño

El Niño es un patrón climático natural, pero el evento inusualmente fuerte de este año está ocurriendo en un planeta ya calentado por el cambio climático causado por el ser humano, lo que incrementa los riesgos del calor extremo.

El Climate Impact Lab indicó que las temperaturas globales sobre tierra durante este El Niño podrían ser más altas en alrededor de 1,2 grados Celsius (2,1 Fahrenheit), lo que produciría un 44% más de días extremadamente calurosos que en un año típico. El informe señaló que esos aumentos de temperatura podrían reflejar condiciones que el cambio climático podría volver comunes dentro de unos 20 años.

Por eso, este El Niño podría ofrecer un adelanto de lo que viene a medida que el planeta continúa calentándose, indicó el informe. También es una oportunidad para que los responsables de tomar decisiones “vean exactamente dónde pueden emprenderse acciones de emergencia ahora para salvar decenas de miles de vidas”, afirman los autores.

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La cobertura climática y ambiental de The Associated Press recibe apoyo financiero de múltiples fundaciones privadas. La AP es la única responsable de todo el contenido. Consulte las normas de 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.

A few hundred feet away, a drone port, run by the U.S. Secret Service and not the military, is already quietly operational. Equipped with cameras and sensors to scope out potential threats from a bird’s-eye view, the small UAVs stand on alert in four gray weatherproof boxes until deployed at officers' commands.

The agency is using a model known as “drone as first responder,” deploying speedy unarmed drones from outdoor stations to serve as flying cameras. That model has been adopted by hundreds of police agencies across the U.S., often powered by AI software to help dodge obstacles or track targets.

The existence of the surveillance drones on a Treasury Department building adjacent to the White House complex has not been previously reported, and could undercut Trump's legal claims that the ballroom construction is necessary “to protect the White House and surrounding region from aerial attacks.” The need for the drone port underpinned Trump's national security defense for the construction project — a justification he is now citing for the construction of a massive arch outside the gates of Arlington National Cemetery.

The installation is thus far markedly less imposing than the vision outlined by Trump, with its rows of futuristic attack drones, apparently modeled after those used in U.S. military strikes, that drone experts describe as outlandish.

“To be honest, if a drone was so close to the White House that it needed interdiction, it’s already gotten too far,” said Matt Sloane, co-founder of SkyfireAI, which makes software for drones used by public safety agencies.

It would be more realistic for the White House to build something akin to what the Secret Service is using next door, Sloane said: “The drone takes off and does some type of perimeter sweep or whatever, and then puts itself back in the box.”

The White House did not comment for the story. The Secret Service declined to comment on the specifics of its drone operations but said the new docks are separate from Trump's ballroom drone port.

The details of Trump’s ballroom drone port remain murky

Security of the president and the White House complex is generally the domain of the Secret Service, which works in close concert with the White House Military Office and other military elements when needed.

Trump has said the drone port came at the request of U.S. military officials. Speaking to reporters in May, he said the building’s plans were expanded to meet the request: “They wanted more drone capacity,” he said. On social media, he boasted that the drone port might end up being the “most sophisticated” in the world.

What Trump is ultimately aiming to build, and how far it goes beyond what has already been installed, remains unclear. Beyond Trump’s AI images, some of which he filed in his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to lift lower courts' blocks on the construction, the White House has not disclosed what kinds of drones will be used or for what tactical purpose.

The Secret Service is using smaller surveillance drones that are a fraction of the size of the attack drones depicted in Trump’s AI images. The U.S. Air Force bought similar drones from Skydio in April to protect bases across the Middle East. The company also supplied drones to help protect World Cup matches this year.

The Secret Service has been building out its drone- and counter-drone programs for years. But work has accelerated since the 2024 attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when the agency failed both to take action against a drone used by the shooter to scout out the attack and to fly one of its own to provide overwatch of the event.

In the weeks that followed, tethered and untethered surveillance drones became commonplace at campaign rallies and large events at the White House complex.

In an online video released by the agency highlighting their deployment, the Secret Service said the Skydio drones are used to provide “real-time situational awareness” and “aerial overwatch."

“It allows you to see the threat before it becomes an issue, and to task assets accordingly,” Dustin Talbott, of the Secret Service’s Aviation and Airspace Security Division, said in the video. “We no longer wait for the threat to reveal itself. We find it first.”

Skydio did not provide comment for this story.

Trump's drone port vision would face logistical hurdles

Trump has made it a priority to build a stronger drone presence around the White House, responding to an increase in political violence and the evolution of drone warfare.

Paul Eckloff, a former supervisor of the Secret Service’s presidential protection division, said the Russia-Ukraine war has highlighted the risks posed by drones, even off-the-shelf models that can cause massive damage. Drones now represent one of the largest emerging threats the White House must defend against, he said.

During Trump’s first term, conversations about drones often centered on their use in places like Iraq and Syria, said Javed Ali, who served on the National Security Council during that time and now teaches national security at the University of Michigan. Since then, it has become a matter of domestic security, he said.

Yet there would be major logistical hurdles involved in putting a busy drone port on top of the White House, he said. “There’s a whole host of questions, like who is responsible for overseeing it, and how would there be any de-confliction with commercial airspace?” he said.

Complexities around federal oversight were laid bare this year when the U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a drone near El Paso, Texas, only to find it belonged to Customs and Border Protection. The mishap briefly led the FAA to close nearby airspace.

A drone hub at the White House would navigate crowded and complex airspace around Washington, not far from Reagan Washington National Airport and flight paths shared by other military aircraft.

Opponents say the White House is becoming a fortress

Trump started talking about the drone port in May, weeks after a federal judge halted ballroom construction but allowed work on security components to continue. Trump later went on to refer to the ballroom as a “military complex,” leaning on that security role as a legal justification.

The Supreme Court in August cleared Trump to continue construction as the legal challenge moves ahead.

Opponents say the president is going too far in his hardening of the White House, turning it into something closer to a fortress. Edward Lengel, a former chief historian for the White House Historical Association, said Trump has militarized the White House at a scale that’s at odds with its legacy as “the people’s house.”

“It turns it into a big giant porcupine that has its spines pointing out against the people and against the world,” Lengel said.

Trump has argued that the White House was in “very bad condition” when he returned to office, saying it had become vulnerable to modern threats.

At times, he has expressed concerns about his own safety and the risks posed by drones and other air threats. Speaking at a Rose Garden dinner for law enforcement officials in May, Trump quickly glanced up from the lectern as a low bird flew overhead.

“I thought that was a drone,” Trump said, bringing laughs from the crowd. “They make them in all different sizes nowadays — they can be very destructive, as you’ve probably heard."

From Texas to Ohio and Alaska to Iowa, campaigns are grappling with a fed-up electorate that is sour on the president and angry over soaring fuel prices driven by an unpopular war. While Republicans are flush with unprecedented cash that could move the needle in some races, overall the mood is glum heading into the election's final stretch as campaigns try to counter palpable Democratic enthusiasm to maintain their narrow lead in the House and Senate this November.

“Everybody is tired. You see the poll numbers. Everybody is cranky about gas prices,” said Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican strategist from New Jersey. “The party in power is playing defense. This is a referendum on the incumbents.”

Trump is trying to protect Republicans with cash

After mounting pressure from endangered candidates in battleground states, groups affiliated with President Donald Trump finally began unleashing their stockpile of campaign cash earlier this month, joining with Republican committees that have amassed a record fortune that dramatically eclipses their Democratic counterparts.

“Republicans have air superiority. House Democrats are scrambling to catch up with the very limited resources they have,” said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

But the spending underscores the extent to which Republicans are playing defense.

Three Trump-aligned groups — MAGA Inc., No Going Back PAC and Safety and Affordability PAC — have spent more than $163 million on advertising and air time since Sept. 1. Nearly 40% of that money — more than $63 million — has been spent in states and districts where Trump won by 10 percentage points or more in the 2024 election, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from AdImpact, which tracks media spending and ad buys.

That includes 12 House districts and three states with major Senate races.

In Texas, Republicans have spent nearly $107 million on ads and reservations since the beginning of the month trying to bolster scandal-plagued attorney general Ken Paxton in his Texas Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. The spending, which is for ads through Election Day, is nearly four times as much as Democrats in a state Trump won by nearly 14 points.

Further north in Ohio, Republican spending to defend Sen. Jon Husted has exceeded $152 million, compared to $90 million on behalf of Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown, according to AdImpact.

Terry Casey, an Ohio Republican strategist, said both Republicans and Democrats are "kind of sitting on pins and needles because of the national and economic circumstances.” The outcome, he said, would depend on whether Democrats can turn out voters.

Democrats are competing in red states

States that Trump won by wide margins — like Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Alaska — have become some of the most competitive battlegrounds in the midterms.

The White House is even investing time in states that haven't been considered competitive for years. Vice President JD Vance recently traveled to Kansas to campaign for Sen. Roger Marshall, who is facing a challenge from Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton.

The founder of the nation’s largest United Methodist church, Hamilton received a rousing welcome from scores of people who crammed into a Topeka coffee shop to see him Tuesday.

“In all my 50, 60 years in politics, I’ve never seen a candidate that quite has the momentum going,” said Jim Ploger, an 82-year-old longtime Democratic activist from Topeka who believes Hamilton gives the party “the best chance we’ve ever had” to win a Senate seat.

Vance has also been to Iowa, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina to bolster Republican candidates, while Trump is also hitting the road. The week after the party's unusual midterm convention in Dallas, he traveled to North Carolina to hold a rally with Michael Whatley, his former national party chairman. Republicans are increasingly concerned that he could fall short in his Senate race against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.

There are more concerns about Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins is trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Although Ossoff began the cycle as Republicans' top target, Collins has endured weeks of negative headlines about a House ethics investigation and his son-in-law's white nationalist views.

“I don’t think anyone’s expecting Collins to win,” said Tim Waters, chairman of the Peach County Republican Party. “Do I like that? No, I don’t like that. But it’s just the facts.”

In Texas, officials are hoping a huge influx of last-minute cash will help save Paxton. Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his primary to Paxton after Trump turned on him earlier this year, isn't so confident.

“I think it’s going to be very rough, lots of headwinds,” he said. “Even in places like Texas, which are pretty red, we’ve got flawed candidates who I think are going to have a hard time.”

Republican National Committee spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said the party is focused on turnout and is well aware of the historic trend in which the party in control typically loses seats in the midterm.

“We have money to spend and we’re not taking anything for granted this cycle," she said. “This is very high stakes, and it's unfortunate that other people feel glum and down. But we’re doing everything we can to protect and expand our majorities so we’re full steam ahead.”

Party officials are more bullish on races in Maine and New Hampshire, where Democrat Kamala Harris won in 2024, and remain optimistic about Michigan, where Trump won by less than two points and where former Rep. Mike Rogers faces progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Some Republicans call for an end to the war

Some Republicans are taking steps to distance themselves from Trump even as he urges his supporters to vote like he is on the ballot.

Rep. Tom Tiffany and Rep. John James, the party's nominees for governor in Wisconsin and Michigan, both joined calls for an end to the war in Iran.

"War is terrible, and no one likes war,” James told reporters.

Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, released an ad in which he also called for ending the war. Standing in a grocery store, he bemoaned high prices and said the government should suspend gas taxes and stop diesel exports.

“The war with Iran needs to end and end quickly,” Rogers said. ”Michigan families can’t afford to wait.”

In Iowa, where Republicans are trying to hold onto the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst, Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is locked in a tight race against Democrat Josh Turek, voiced the same frustrations.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran” she wrote on social media. “These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.”

Hinson, however, did not join two fellow Iowa Republicans in battleground districts — U.S. Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks — in voting with Democrats on a resolution intended to halt Trump’s ability to continue military action without lawmakers’ approval.

Perhaps the most dramatic break with Trump came from Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican defending her seat in a competitive, majority Hispanic South Florida district. Last week, she released an ad filmed in front of the White House as she criticized the president for going “too far” on immigration policy.

Others have continued to scrub references to Trump from their websites. The latest was Republican Byron Donalds, who is running for governor in Florida, who recently revamped his site so that it no longer includes a number of prominent references to Trump and his endorsement, the Miami Herald first reported.

‘It’s a very competitive environment out there'

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump “is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party” and that "the choice has never been more clear: doubling down on President Trump’s winning, commonsense agenda or the Democrats’ extreme liberal policies and obstruction.”

Some Republicans are acknowledging that voters aren't satisfied.

“We shouldn’t say, ‘Hey everything’s perfect,’ because it’s not," said Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio. "But look what we’ve done in 18 months, and we need two more years to finish the job.”

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who has traveled across the country campaigning for his colleagues, said Democrats appeared to have enthusiasm on their side in the midterms, and he said his party needed to level with the country.

“You can’t look the American people in the eye and say, ‘Don’t believe your lying checkbooks,’” he said. “The cost of living increase is real.”

He also said that voters are “confused about the war” and “they don't understand how we're going to get out.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was measured in his assessment on Tuesday.

“Well, I’m hopeful, obviously, but also realistic," he said. “It’s a very competitive environment out there.”

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Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Mary Clare Jalonick, Steven Sloan and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.

Trump's decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington rather than receiving him at the executive residence shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China's leader as he makes his first state visit in more than a decade.

First lady Melania Trump said her husband decided to personally greet Xi when he arrives in the Washington region because “they have a great relationship.”

“He's coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, during an interview Wednesday on Fox News Channel's ”Fox & Friends."

The White House has not released many details about Wednesday's greeting, but Trump is expected to participate in an arrival ceremony at the base with Xi and his wife. The salutation will kick off a three-day visit that's expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate for the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump's May visit to China.

But it also is a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump's war with Iran and China's designs on Taiwan.

Beyond using the visit to try to keep “strategic stability” between the two countries, Trump seems to be pulling out all the diplomatic stops to show off for Xi. Trump has lavished praise Xi as a “great leader” and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend. That is all while he has given Xi a pass on many issues.

Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the “lavish welcome." Wicker, R-Miss., said during a speech Tuesday in the Senate that Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader “based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.”

Wicker archly suggested a list of topics that Trump could discuss with Xi at the state dinner, such as “the purposes of China’s massive military buildup, or about China’s clear support for Iran,” saying that “during every minute of dialogue” Trump should keep in mind that “his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America.”

Trump has made it clear he wants to wow Xi, telling reporters in recent weeks that he was delighted his new “work of art” helicopter landing pad would be ready for the visit while bemoaning that his massive White House ballroom would not.

On Wednesday, Trump is expected to try to match the pageantry he was met with in China earlier this year. Xi was not at the airport to meet Trump — Chinese Vice President Han Zheng was there instead. But there a red carpet was rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing. A military honor guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” also were present. The children wore white and light blue uniforms that mirrored the traditional paint colors of the presidential plane.

Trump's airport ceremony for Xi will be followed on Thursday by more formalities, including an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops. Before the black-tie dinner, which will feature tech industry leaders like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, the two leaders are expected to dive into the weighty issues behind closed doors, even as expectations are low that the trip will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship.

On Friday, Xi and Peng will be back at the White House for a private tea with the Trumps before joining them on a tour of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries.

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

Hours later, the world began shutting down as the COVID-19 pandemic raged. Now, after an overturned conviction and two retrials, Weinstein is set to be sentenced again on Wednesday for one of the same crimes — more than six years after his first sentencing in March 2020.

Weinstein, 74, faces up to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a one-time TV production assistant, Miriam Haley, at his Manhattan apartment in 2006. He has already served more than six years as his case has cycled again and again through the criminal justice system. Haley gave her account of the assault at two trials.

“The unthinkable was happening,” Haley testified last year, dabbing her eyes.

Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, is planning to speak at Weinstein’s sentencing, her lawyer, Gloria Allred, said. Weinstein will also address the court, his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, said.

The Oscar-winning “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” producer was originally sentenced to 23 years in prison after a jury convicted him of assaulting Haley and raping an aspiring actress, Jessica Mann, in 2013.

But New York’s highest court erased those guilty verdicts in 2024, ruling that Weinstein was prejudiced by testimony from other women whose allegations weren’t part of the case.

Tried for a second time last year, Weinstein was again convicted of first-degree criminal sex act for assaulting Haley. In a messy split verdict, the jury acquitted him of forcibly performing oral sex on another woman, Kaja Sokola, and could not reach a verdict on a rape charge involving Mann.

After another retrial ended in a hung jury in May, Manhattan prosecutors dropped the rape charge rather than pursue a fourth trial after Mann said she could not bear to testify again.

That decision cleared the way for Weinstein’s sentencing.

Manhattan prosecutors have said they will ask for 20 years in prison — which would keep him behind bars until at least his late 80s.

Weinstein’s lawyers haven’t said what sentence they’ll seek. He denies raping or sexually assaulting anyone. Once he’s sentenced, he can appeal.

“I will be proven innocent. That I promise you,” Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter in a jailhouse interview in March.

Weinstein is also awaiting resentencing in a separate rape case in Los Angeles. A California appeals court upheld the 2022 conviction but threw out his original 16-year sentence because the judge had considered his New York convictions that were later thrown out as an aggravating factor.

After shuffling between state prison, where he tested positive for COVID-19 early in the pandemic, and New York City’s notorious Rikers Island complex, the ailing Weinstein is now housed at a medical unit for jail inmates at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

His health issues in recent years have included chronic myeloid leukemia, diabetes and walking difficulties that necessitate a wheelchair to get in and out of court, his lawyers said. Two years ago, he underwent emergency surgery to remove fluid on his heart and lungs.

Haley, 49, is a former entertainment producer now working in advertising.

Born in Finland and raised in Sweden, she said she met Weinstein through a mutual connection and worked briefly as a production assistant on a reality competition show that he produced, “Project Runway.”

Haley said she accepted an invitation to visit Weinstein’s Manhattan apartment because it would have been odd to decline since she was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles the next day on his company’s dime to attend a film premiere.

After she and Weinstein briefly chatted on his living room sofa, he lunged to kiss her, she testified. She said she leaped up and rebuffed him, but he grabbed her, forcibly backed her into a bedroom and sexually assaulted her, ignoring her pleas to stop.

She recalled Weinstein asking, “Don’t you think we’re much closer now?” after either the alleged assault or a subsequent occasion when she says she had unwanted, but not forced, sex with him.

She also recalled telling him after the second encounter, “You know you can’t keep doing this.”

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Haley, Sokola and Mann have done.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami has called Polo an “extremely dangerous” storm and forecast the system would turn sharply to the northwest before moving west-northwest over the next several days.

Polo was about 165 miles (266 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo and 320 miles (515 kilometers) southeast of Manzanillo, the center reported. It was moving slowly north with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph). That put it at Category 4 strength, after earlier being a Category 5 storm.

“Fluctuations in intensity are expected, but Polo is expected to remain a very powerful major hurricane during the next few days,” the NHC said.

Odalys was a Category 1 hurricane and was about 1,295 miles (2,085 kilometers) off the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, moving east-northeast at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), the hurricane center said.

Waves, flooding and mudslides are all risks

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said experts indicated Polo was not likely to touch land. Still, hurricane-force winds extend up to 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the storm's center and tropical storm-force winds up to 105 miles (169 kilometers) from the eye, the U.S. center said.

Tropical storm conditions were expected along the Pacific coast in Guerrero, Michoacan and Colima states Wednesday into Thursday.

Polo on Tuesday became the third Category 5 hurricane of the Pacific season, following Genevieve and Lowell earlier this year. Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reflecting that a storm has maximum sustained winds exceeding 157 mph (253 kph).

The hurricane set residents along Mexico’s Pacific coast on edge once again after being walloped by a number of powerful cyclones in recent years. Beaches emptied and dark clouds swirled above choppy seas, while Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes Tuesday in a number of areas. Mexico’s navy shut down ports in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán and warned civilians and fishermen to take care.

Concepción López Villegas was busily preparing her seaside restaurant for what may come. Strong waves were already lapping at the coastline of her city Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán. As men and children watched the stirring waters behind her, López Villegas said she feared powerful waves would destroy the small business she has worked decades to build.

“We're worried and trying to protect our businesses,” López Villegas said. “And of course, we're sad because it's our heritage, our legacy that from one moment to another could be destroyed.”

U.S. National Hurricane Center data shows Polo's winds reached speeds comparable to only a few hurricanes in the region in recent decades, primarily Hurricane Patricia, which had winds that reached 215 mph (346 kph) in 2015.

“This is one of the strongest storms ever in the (Pacific) Basin,” said Kristen L. Corbosiero, professor at the University at Albany’s Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences.

Heavy rain could produce flash flooding and mudslides. About 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain was forecast for Guerrero and Michoacán states, with smaller amounts possible for coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco states.

El Nino fueled rapid intensification

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a weather alert, instructing citizens to avoid water and beaches and to heed warnings from Mexican authorities.

“Even if the storm does not make direct landfall, heavy rain may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Hazardous ocean conditions — intensified by storms — may result in deadly rip currents and rogue waves,” the embassy wrote in a statement.

The rapid intensification of the storm has stunned scientists and authorities alike, with the NHC writing in a report that it was “truly remarkable” how quickly Polo gained strength in 24 hours.

Philip Klotzbach, research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, attributed the intensification to the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, which has fueled crippling droughts in Mexico and Central America and floods in other parts of the region.

In the Pacific, it has resulted in warmer waters and wind patterns that act as fodder for hurricanes, he said.

“There are all the ingredients that hurricanes need to get really strong really fast,” Klotzbach said.

No Atlantic hurricanes have formed yet this year, and this year has set a record for the longest start to a season without a hurricane. The effects of this year’s El Nino crush storms before they get going.

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Brooks reported from Atlanta.

Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, is set to die by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He would be the sixth person executed so far this year in Texas, with three more scheduled.

A jury convicted Ramey of capital murder and sentenced him to death over the shootings of Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38, in the home they shared in the small city of Edna, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Houston.

Ramey and LeJames Norman believed there was cocaine in the house and hoped to steal it, according to court records. They found none and killed the three victims, who lived across the street from Norman.

Norman was put to death Sept. 16, also in Huntsville. He had no last words, and no relatives or friends of the victims witnessed that execution.

Attorneys for Ramey filed a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that there was no physical evidence linking him to the killings and that jurors never heard about how he suffered physical abuse as a child and grew up in poverty.

Prosecutors have told lower courts that Ramey did not present any issues that would merit reconsidering the conviction.

About a year after testifying at Ramey's trial, Norman pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to death by a jury.

Norman testified that both he and Ramey shot the victims. Lopez was shot four times, including three in the back of his head; Peacock was shot twice in the head; and Roberts was shot five times in the chest, neck and head.

During the trial, Ramey's attorneys blamed the shootings on Norman.

Could a swarm of AI agents take over the entire internet? It's a possibility that could be only six to 12 months away, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in his essay this month calling for the industry to slow down the technology's development.

What companies have described as their AI agents going rogue has involved bots working toward goals set by humans, skeptics note. But the idea that AI could break away and work toward its own agenda is looking increasingly plausible to other researchers and experts.

In the event of AI taking over the internet — one of many doomsday scenarios receiving new attention — that could mean attacks on electrical grids, water or transportation systems and financial institutions.

The world got a glimpse of the internet's vulnerability in 2024, when a faulty software update provided by a cybersecurity firm caused technological havoc worldwide, grounding flights, knocking down some financial companies and news outlets, and disrupting hospitals, small businesses and government offices. The breadth of the outages highlighted the dependence on just a few providers for key computing services.

Two years later, Amodei in his warning said a botnet, or a network of AI bots linked together with malware, could potentially cause billions of dollars in damage. The scale of destruction could grow if AI becomes more powerful without guardrails, he said.

Several AI agents have gained unauthorized internet access

Amodei pointed specifically to the attack in July where OpenAI’s system broke out of a “sandbox” testing ground and hacked Hugging Face.

In what OpenAI called an “unprecedented” episode, the company said its advanced AI models found their way onto the internet and used stolen credentials to break into the servers of the AI startup. In a separate incident, OpenAI disclosed that its AI agents had communicated through a public wiki used as a shared message board.

Some researchers have said that descriptions of “rogue AI” may be wrongly anthropomorphizing AI agents, which were taking steps to fulfill instructions provided by humans.

“AI agents did exactly what they were trained to do. The security of those sandboxes was extremely lax,” said Vishal Misra, a professor and vice dean of computing and AI at Columbia University. “No security engineer would ever let that system run. These agents communicated because they were rewarded for communicating with each other.”

Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade, a researcher at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne and a member of OpenAI’s Frontier Risk Council, said the Hugging Face hack is an example of negligence, and not of a super-capable AI going rogue.

Still, the specter of AI agents operating freely on the internet raises alarming possibilities, regardless of their objectives.

For example, an AI system that wants to bend the rules to accomplish its goals could contact a cloud AI computation provider and find ways to run on outside systems, said Anthony Aguirre, the president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit focused on reducing the risks of new technologies.

“So now you’re no longer tethered to OpenAI, you’re running on some other GPU, some other hardware that you’re in control of, not OpenAI,” Aguirre said. “So now there’s no one to turn you off, because either you’re paying for your service or the people who are paying just don’t know that you’re there and what is happening. … They can’t unplug you.”

From there, it could spread itself around, either hacking more hardware or finding ways to access money, like Bitcoin, Aguirre said.

AI raises the stakes in cat-and-mouse game of cybersecurity

There is no question that more powerful AI models raise the likelihood of AI-powered cyberattacks in the near future. But the notion of bots overtaking the extremely bifurcated internet is far-fetched to some AI experts. Cybersecurity has always been a cat-and-mouse game and defenses get more powerful just as hackers do.

While a big company like Google could shore up its cybersecurity defenses against such attacks, for smaller companies — and for schools, hospitals or water treatment systems, for instance — patching software and building defenses can take years.

An AI system might not have a clear motive to hack into a hospital, Aguirre said. But when money comes into the picture, like in the form of ransomware attacks or geopolitical motivations, “it’s not hard to see an adversary using these AI systems to hack critical infrastructure,” Aguirre said.

There will be growing pains as attackers seek soft targets on the internet, but an AI internet takeover is unlikely anytime soon, said John Thickstun, an assistant professor of computer science at Cornell University who studies methods that control the behavior of AI models. He said those fears would feel more realistic if there was theoretical evidence of the ability for one of these models to self-replicate on other systems.

“Then you can imagine things can get really out of hand because suddenly you’re shutting this model down here and there but it’s popping up over in Russia, you can’t even get to Russia and it’s all over the place,” Thickstun said.

“But it’s completely unrealistic because the current smart versions of these models that we have require massive data centers just to run them,” Thickstun said. “There’s actually very little computing infrastructure out there in the world that is actually capable of hosting these systems.”

The new map was drawn to help Republicans gain a U.S. House seat in the pivotal midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. The Supreme Court has twice blocked efforts to use it in November.

The latest emergency appeal comes after an unusual federal appeals court ruling that ordered a last-minute return to a GOP-friendly map even after the Supreme Court halted such a move.

The justices had left in place a Missouri Supreme Court decision requiring the state to use its previous map. The state court ruled that the new districts could not take effect unless voters approved them in a statewide referendum.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave supporters of the new map until midday Wednesday to respond to the latest appeal.

The dispute has caused confusion for over a million potential voters who could be shuffled among districts. Absentee voting already is underway in Missouri using districts adopted in 2022, after the last census.

The new congressional map backed by Trump significantly reshapes a Kansas City-based district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. Republicans hope the map could help them win seven of the state’s eight House seats — one more than they currently hold.

Missouri’s redistricting battle has been the longest and most complex among roughly a dozen states that sought to change their U.S. House districts over the past year. Districts are usually redrawn at the start of each decade, after a census. But Trump spurred a spate of mid-decade redistricting last year when he urged Republican-led states to redraw districts to gain an edge in the midterm.

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

“Let’s go, Rockies!” a fan shouted Tuesday from section 130, just behind home plate in the lower bowl.

It was one of the few cheers the Rockies would receive on a night they reached an ignominious historical mark.

Behind three hits from former Rockies All-Star Nolan Arenado and seven innings of two-hit ball from Michael Soroka, the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 7-2 to guarantee Colorado its fourth straight season with at least 100 losses in front of an announced crowd of 19,324 (along with an estimated 800 dogs on one of Rockies’ Bark at the Park nights).

The Rockies became just the fifth club in major league history to lose at least 100 games in four consecutive seasons and the first to do so since the New York Mets in their expansion season of 1962 through 1965.

“You learn your hardest lessons in difficulty in life,” said Warren Schaeffer, in his first season as Colorado’s full-time manager. “This is not easy. Last year, we talked about it at the end of the year, how we want to feel this and never feel it again and remember it and hold on to it. The guys have done that. We’ve just lost 100 again. There are a ton of lessons to learn from it. If we don’t learn these lessons from these games this year, we won’t get better.”

It’s the latest low for a franchise that has made the playoffs just twice since 2010 and hasn’t won a playoff series since a memorable run to the World Series in 2007. Since the start of the 2023 season, the Rockies are a major league-worst 220-423, 23 games worse than the next-closest team (the Chicago White Sox).

“I’ve been a part of those here when I was here,” Arenado said. “With the young group that they have, sometimes, this is just a part of it. You’re going to go through some tough times. But I think from their offense and some of their bullpen guys, they’ve got some real arms and they’ve got some really good hitters. As they continue to grow, I think that’s going to change.”

For much of the season, it looked as if Colorado would avoid 100 losses. On Aug. 16, the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 13-7 for their fourth win in five games, improving to 50-74. Since then, however, Colorado has gone 7-26, including 2-13 in its past 15 games.

Some of their struggles remain familiar.

As it has for much of its history, an organization tasked with playing baseball a mile above sea level has struggled keeping opponents off the board. Entering Tuesday, the Rockies had a team ERA of 5.57, the highest mark in the majors. Colorado has finished with the highest team ERA every season since 2022 and if it does so again this year, it will become only the third club since 1913 to have the worst ERA in the majors in five consecutive seasons.

The Rockies also compete in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time reigning World Series champions, and the San Diego Padres, who are on the verge of their fifth postseason appearance in the past seven seasons. This season, Colorado went a combined 5-21 against the Dodgers and Padres.

The Rockies did improve this year after losing a franchise-record 119 games last season. Rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield entered Tuesday fifth in the National League with a .300 batting average and led all qualified rookies in batting average and on-base percentage. Hunter Goodman, Colorado’s 26-year-old catcher, was an All-Star for a second consecutive season and is one home run shy of becoming the first Rockies player with 40 homers in a season since 2019.

"I think everything we’re doing inside this clubhouse — coaches, players, front office, all staff — has been doing an incredible job to make sure that this team and this org is heading in the direction that is winning,” said Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, a Denver native who is in his 10th season with the club. “You see it.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The grim warning by the University of Chicago-based Climate Impact Lab says that as many as 451,000 more heat-related deaths between June and the end of February could be attributed to El Nino, compared with heat deaths expected in a typical year.

The heaviest toll, the group says, is expected in poorer countries, already struggling with food insecurity and high energy costs, partly due to climate change and the fallout of the war in Iran.

Michael Greenstone, a co-founder of the group and the study's co-author, said the heat danger will likely persist beyond February — even though this El Nino is expected to end by then. The fallout of the weather phenomenon could be felt well into next summer, he added.

The research, he said, shows that heat is most dangerous in places that are already hot and relatively poor.

“If you’re already in a hot place, the extra couple of degrees are going to be much more dangerous,” he said. Wealthier places, he added, generally have greater access to air conditioning, reliable water supplies and functioning health systems.

The study combined seasonal temperature forecasts with localized estimates of how high temperatures affect mortality across more than 24,000 regions worldwide.

Researchers estimated the additional heat-related deaths by comparing deaths expected under El Nino-driven high temperatures with deaths expected if temperatures remained similar to what they have been in the last three decades. The projected fatalities are for the entire El Nino period, from June 2026 until the end of February 2027.

The report says the Global South will see more heat-related deaths

The study by Greenstone and his colleagues also warns that the Global South — a term that isn't geographical but a reference to developing countries in general — will bear the heaviest burden of the excessive heat.

The researchers behind the report found that the Sahel region in Africa — countries along the semiarid southern fringe of the Sahara Desert — is expected to be the hardest-hit, with about 66,800 additional deaths caused by El Nino-driven heat.

Other major hot spots include South and Southeast Asia and parts of Latin America, according to the report. The researchers project about 19,400 additional heat-related deaths across the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as 19,300 in Indonesia, 15,800 in India and 13,300 in Brazil.

Heat warnings and cooling centers could prevent thousands of deaths

With such staggering numbers, there are recommended measures that governments can take, the report says. They include heat-warning systems, cooling centers, hydration stations, protections for outdoor workers, expanded hospital capacity and targeted outreach to elderly people and other vulnerable groups.

The authors also call for what they describe as anticipatory financing, so governments can move resources before dangerous heat peaks.

Abhiyant Tiwari, a heat expert at NRDC India who was not involved in the study, said the report’s projections should serve as a call to action rather than be another reason for alarm.

But while it's one thing to have well thought-out plans — as India does — implementing these plans and raising needed funds remains a challenge, he said.

"The real measure of our preparedness is not how many heat warnings we issue, but how effectively we protect people and reduce preventable deaths,” Tiwari added.

Climate change is amplifying El Nino’s record heat

El Nino is a natural climate pattern, but this year’s unusually strong event is occurring on a planet already warmed by human-caused climate change, increasing the risks from extreme heat.

The Climate Impact Lab said global land temperatures during this El Nino could be higher by about 1.2 Celsius (2.1 Fahrenheit), producing 44% more extremely hot days than in a typical year. The report said those temperature increases may mirror conditions that climate change could make common some 20 years from now.

That's why this El Nino could offer a preview of what's ahead as the planet continues to warm, the report said. It's also an opportunity for decision-makers "to see exactly where emergency actions can be taken now to save tens of thousands of lives,” the authors say.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The thrifty Rays clinched their fifth AL East title with a 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees in the second game of a day-night doubleheader Tuesday as Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit in 6 2/3 innings and Yandy Díaz hit a pair of two-run singles.

Tampa Bay took the AL East for the first time since 2021 and surpassed that team by three days with the earliest division clincher in team history. The club also won division crowns in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season along with 2010 and 2008, when it reached the World Series and had the franchise's first winning season.

“It means a lot,” Díaz said through a translator. “It’s a tough division. It’s a competitive division almost every single year. With this group we knew that from the beginning, but we still believed in ourselves every single way. So here we are in Yankee Stadium celebrating and we feel really happy that we got the job done.”

Tampa Bay (96-61) opened a six-game lead over the second-place Yankees (90-67) with five to play and will be the No. 1 seed with home-field advantage in the American League playoffs. The Rays are two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in the majors and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

The Rays have led the division since June 27 and spent 128 days in first place ahead of the Yankees, who only had Aaron Judge for 66 games due to a fractured right rib and a sore right calf that likely will keep the slugger out of next week’s best-of-three Wild Card Series at home.

Tampa Bay initially moved into first place following an 8-5 win over the Chicago White Sox on April 14 but lost the lead despite winning 13 of 18. The Rays regained the lead following a 4-1 win at Boston on May 10 and stayed there until June 13 when they lost seven of 13.

“We played really good baseball up to this point,” said Rasmussen, who underwent elbow surgery in 2023. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start in April but to play as we have since the beginning of May, this group’s different. We have a lot of fun together. We love being together and we’re trying to spend as much time as we can possibly together.”

The Rays won their latest division crown after returning to Tropicana Field and going 55-26 at home this season. Last year, Tampa Bay finished 77-85 overall and played home games at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the Yankees, because the domed roof at the Trop was ripped off during Hurricane Milton in October 2024.

The Rays secured this AL East title after getting approval on a financing plan that will allow them to build a new stadium in Tampa, Florida, that is expected to open in 2029.

“Everything the franchise has been through, to have the Tampa Bay on the chest tonight, the staff, the players for Tampa Bay, all of it, just, it’s really special,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said.

After closer Bryan Baker retired Yankees rookie George Lombard Jr. for the final out, the Rays shook hands on the field and exchanged hugs near the dugout to start their celebration.

As many Yankees fans left the stadium, Rays fans moved closer to the visitors' dugout and began cheering for the newly minted division champs. Once the party moved inside, the Rays sprayed bubbly and beer on each other while jumping up and down and dancing to loud music in their clubhouse.

“I’m very happy because this is a special group,” third baseman and AL MVP candidate Junior Caminero said. “When I (went) to spring training (the) first day, I saw this group and (thought), we've got a playoff team this year, and we did it.”

Rasmussen held the Yankees hitless until Heliot Ramos started the seventh inning with a double to left field. The right-hander exited after walking Jazz Chisholm Jr., but Kevin Kelly retired Austin Wells after allowing Lombard’s run-scoring single.

After finishing with three hits during a 2-0 loss in the opener, the Rays all but locked up the division title with a three-run seventh in the nightcap. Taylor Walls had a bunt single and Díaz lined a single to center field for a 4-0 lead. Díaz added another two-run single in the ninth for his AL-leading 175th hit.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The two-way superstar has been on the IL since Sept. 9 due to right biceps inflammation and lingering soreness in his left knee.

Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani is feeling “considerably” better.

“I would say if he was a five, he's probably an eight or a nine right now,” Roberts said Tuesday before the Dodgers faced San Diego.

The Dodgers clinched their 13th NL West title in 14 years without Ohtani, who was in Los Angeles for treatment when the team beat Cincinnati on the road last week. Now, the four-time MVP will have five games remaining to get some at-bats in before the postseason begins.

Ohtani is likely to resume his role as the Dodgers' leadoff hitter, especially against right-handed pitching. Mookie Betts has been atop the lineup and is hitting .373 this month.

“That's probably the way it's going to fall out, but I haven't totally decided yet,” Roberts said, adding that he would consider Betts' leadoff value against left-handed pitching. “I have to think about the entire lineup structure.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The Rays (96-61) secured home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs and took their first division crown since 2021, when they won 100 games. Tampa Bay also earned AL East championships in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season along with 2010 and 2008, when the team had its first winning season after entering the league as an expansion franchise in 1998.

Yandy Díaz hit two-run single off reliever John Schreiber in the seventh and had another two-run single in the ninth for his AL-leading 175th hit. Tampa Bay opened a six-game lead over the second-place Yankees (90-67) with five to play.

In the opener, Carlos Rodón allowed three hits in eight sharp innings as New York delayed Tampa Bay's division celebration with a 2-0 victory.

Taylor Walls started the three-run seventh with a bunt single against Max Fried (5-5) when first base was left uncovered. Ryan Vilade hit an RBI groundout in the third after Díaz’s flyball moved runners to second and third.

Rasmussen (16-5) was nine outs from joining Matt Garza as Tampa Bay pitchers with a no-hitter when he gave up a leadoff double to Heliot Ramos on his 97th pitch. Garza held the Detroit Tigers hitless at Tropicana Field on July 26, 2010.

After allowing Ramos’ hit to left field, Rasmussen got the next two outs before walking Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a full count. Kevin Kelly entered and permitted rookie George Lombard Jr.’s RBI single before retiring Austin Wells on a groundout.

Rasmussen threw a career-high 114 pitches, 72 for strikes. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 24 hitters and notched his fourth career double-digit strikeout game.

Rasmussen allowed one hit for the fourth time this year. He also yielded just one hit in six innings against the Yankees on April 12.

Cam Booser and Bryan Baker pitched an inning apiece to finish the three-hitter.

Fried allowed four runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Yankees were held to three hits or fewer for the 13th time this year.

Up next

Tampa Bay RHP Ian Seymour (9-7, 4.38 ERA) opposes New York RHP Gerrit Cole (9-9, 3.63) on Wednesday night.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Indiana kept alive its faint hopes of earning the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and home-court advantage in the first round for at least one more day. The Lynx still clinched the No. 1 seed thanks to Golden State's overtime loss to Portland on Tuesday.

Mitchell extended her league record to 27 consecutive games with 20 or more points by making a 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes to play. Aliyah Boston added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Fever.

Chloe Bibby scored all of her 15 points on 3s for Minnesota. Liatu King finished with 12 points on a night the Lynx were without Olivia Miles. The record-breaking rookie was a late scratch because of an injured left calf, and her absence clearly had an impact. Miles broke Clark's single-season scoring record by a rookie on Sunday.

Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said she almost held Miles out Sunday against Connecticut and that they would take the injury day by day. Reeve also opted to bench her starters for most of the final 2 1/2 quarters because she didn't want to risk other injuries after Indiana's fast start.

Indiana took control with a 14-2 run to close the first quarter while opening up a 31-16 lead. The Fever extended the margin to 38-18 quickly in the second quarter and led by as much as 57-28 the first half.

But Minnesota spent the rest of the night charging back. The Lynx — playing their backups — finally cut the deficit to single digits late in the third and when Aari McDonald drove past a defender for an uncontested layup, the deficit was 71-64 at the end of three.

The Lynx were still within 74-66 with 8:15 left, but Monique Billings made two free throws before baskets from Clark, Mitchell and Boston made it 82-66 and the Fever pulled away late.

Up next

Lynx: Hosts Indiana on Thursday in their regular season finale.

Fever: Closes out their regular season road schedule Thursday at Minnesota.

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

On Tuesday, a helicopter lifted the letters into place one by one. Workers were seen securing them to the arena’s roof.

Vice City is Rockstar Games’ fictional, over-the-top version of Miami, from Ocean Drive to the Everglades, in the series Grand Theft Auto.

The new signage is part of Miami-Dade County’s effort to cash in on that connection.

A proposal obtained by Local 10 last month included ideas such as temporarily rebranding parts of MIA as “Vice City Airport” and even installing special “Vice City” manhole covers.

The game’s Miami influence is already everywhere, from vintage souvenir shirts to a Wynwood mural.

A county spokesperson previously told Local 10 that the game could create a unique marketing opportunity and potentially generate revenue.

But now, Vice City is no longer just on the screen. It is becoming a permanent part of the Miami skyline.

Some county commissioners and officials have expressed concern about the deal, saying the game glorifies violence.

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According to BSO, the preliminary investigation revealed that Joanne Baker, 59, shot and killed her husband, retired Pembroke Pines Police Sgt. John Baker, 62, before turning the gun on herself.

Pembroke Pines police officers and fire department paramedics responded at approximately 7:12 a.m. Monday to a 911 call regarding two people found unresponsive in the 8300 block of Pine Drive.

When emergency crews arrived, they found John and Joanne Baker dead, authorities said.

Pembroke Pines police then contacted BSO and requested that its Homicide and Crime Scene units conduct the death investigation.

The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause and manner of death. BSO said the investigation remains ongoing.

Nearly 28 years of service

Following Baker’s death, the Pembroke Pines Police Department released a statement mourning the retired sergeant, who served the city for nearly 28 years.

Baker joined the department in 1994 and held numerous positions throughout his career, including road patrol officer, field training officer, master patrol officer, public information officer, traffic homicide investigator and Traffic Unit sergeant.

He was also a founding member of the department’s Crisis Response Team, which was created to assist first responders during times of tragedy.

According to the department, Baker was passionate about traffic safety and regularly worked with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, often volunteering at the organization’s events.

Outside of work, Baker was a father of three who enjoyed traveling and music and often attended concerts with his family, the department said in a press release.

Serious on-duty crash

According to police, on Aug. 10, 2019, Baker was involved in a serious on-duty motorcycle crash after a car turned in front of his path.

Police said Baker suffered critical injuries that affected his speech and movement. With the help of his family and medical team, he eventually regained limited motor skills.

Despite his injuries, Baker remained active in the community, participating in charity races through Special Compass, a local nonprofit that assists children and families with disabilities. He also participated in the Special Olympics Torch Run, the department said.

“The entire PPPD family mourns the sudden loss of Sergeant John Baker,” the department said in its statement. “Even with the challenges he faced from his work-related injury, his joyful and positive personality always persisted.”

The department extended its condolences to Baker’s children, family and friends.

After speaking, she waved a hand and looked at the ground. “It’s all finished,” she said.

Ghale is among millions of people living with the deadly consequences of climate-related disasters. As such disasters intensify, international climate adaptation and disaster preparedness aid programs have been slashed, leaving countries facing billions of dollars in avoidable damage and dwindling recovery funds.

“The reality is that we need trillions of dollars every year, but developed countries have not met their obligation,” said Harjeet Singh, founding director of New Delhi-based Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.

Aid cuts weaken disaster monitoring in the Himalayas

The Trump administration’s abrupt cuts to U.S. foreign aid in 2025 eliminated or sharply curtailed programs serving millions of people worldwide, with devastating consequences for many communities. Reductions by other major donor countries deepened the funding crisis.

Among the programs shut was SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya, a joint initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development, NASA and the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, or ICIMOD.

Covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan, the program used satellites and geospatial analysis for disaster risk reduction, water resources and land cover. It facilitated flood risk services, collaboration with the Nepal Red Cross Society on risk communication and more than 170 public data sets on glaciers, disasters and vulnerability.

Glacial and disaster preparedness experts praised the organization for its extensive research, cross-border coordination and support of local disaster reduction measures.

Before losing its funding due to USAID cuts, the program addressed mounting risks in a region where climate change has caused rapid glacier melt, shifting monsoons and increasingly frequent floods, landslides and glacial lake outburst floods, or GLOFs. Those changes endangered food, water and energy security for nearly 2 billion people living in or downstream of the region, according to ICIMOD.

Himalayan glaciers are losing mass 65% faster than they were a decade ago, according to a new report by global consultancy Systemiq, produced with ICIMOD. Yet only around 0.1% of the Himalaya’s estimated 40,000 glaciers are currently monitored in detail and on a sustained basis, the report said.

When funding for SERVIR-HKH ended, so did programs that monitored landslide forecasting, daily flooding, training programs and regional collaboration between countries.

With the program's loss, millions now face a heightened risk of GLOFs, which can release millions of cubic meters of water and debris in just a few hours.

In northern Pakistan, melting glaciers have created 3,044 glacial lakes, with over 30 identified as likely to result in such floods in areas where over 7 million people live, according to the United Nations Development Program.

Afghanistan also faces an increased threat of GLOFs, according to research published by the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

In India — which was not part of the SERVIR-HKH program but borders all of the countries that were and is also home to over half the Himalayas — over 130 high-altitude lakes are at risk of flooding.

South Asia is already experiencing deadly climate-related disasters. The 2022 Pakistan floods killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage. Flooding in Nepal in 2025 killed nine people and caused millions of dollars in damage. Cloudbursts, landslides, flash floods and extreme rainfall have wreaked havoc in the Indian Himalayas, resulting in the death of over 12,000 people and damage exceeding billions of dollars in the last 15 years.

The region suffered economic losses of at least $7 billion in 2025 due to climate-driven extreme weather, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the University of Louvain, Belgium. This database itself is at risk of being shut down as a result of USAID funding cuts.

In a statement to The Associated Press, the U.S. State Department said that the U.S. supports Nepal’s flood warning capacity through programs with the World Meteorological Organization and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The department noted that SERVIR-HKH ended in January 2025 but that its tools remain active through ICIMOD.

The impact extends beyond communities hit directly. The Himalayan region is vital to national economies, with agriculture, industry, tourism and domestic use all dependent upon it.

Cuts to programs like SERVIR-HKH will have cascading effects for years, said Neha Rai, a climate finance expert at ICIMOD.

Rai likened the cuts to climate programs to abruptly halting funds for cancer research, which needs years of sustained research for success.

“Climate risk is also a generational challenge,” said Rai. “You need long-term observations, expertise, you need institutions that cannot simply be switched off and on as short-term priorities.”

Rai said cuts to cross-border programs have also impacted information sharing between governments, scientists and organizations across the region — a critical function in a region where what happens upstream directly affects countries downstream.

Climate finance shrinks as vulnerable countries face rising debt

These cuts are part of a larger trend. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, official development assistance from its Development Assistance Committee members, which includes the U.S., fell 23% in 2025 — the largest annual contraction on record. Traditionally large donors such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and Canada have also announced massive reductions, reallocating funds to defense and other domestic priorities.

Global South countries spend approximately 225 times more in debt repayments than what they receive in grant-based climate finance, according to a recent report by the advocacy group, ActionAid International.

“There is a toxic relationship, in fact, between the climate crisis and the debt crisis,” said Teresa Andersen of ActionAid International.

She said countries take loans to recover from climate impacts but then cut investments in clean energy and preparations for future climate-related extreme weather to repay the loans.

The money being provided isn’t nearly enough, and climate often isn’t prioritized, said Richard Sherman, a board member of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, an international climate finance mechanism to assist developing countries vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

“There’s plenty of money if it goes to certain priorities, but for climate change right now, we’re witnessing a severe depreciation of the importance to act and make systems more resilient,” he said.

While disaster recovery funds still exist, they're also losing funding and aren’t equipped to handle the expected increase in disasters, he said.

“We’re not expecting developed countries to act as an ATM,” said Sherman. “But supporting vulnerable countries, helping them adapt and become more resilient means they’re less likely to suffer the kind of impacts we have right now.”

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Arasu reported from Bengaluru, India.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

“We know that we can’t completely fill the hole that retreating governments are leaving behind,” said Clinton, adding that philanthropy and other sectors will have to find new ideas and resources to protect progress on issues already made.

He made his appeal after opening the conference challenging President Donald Trump and his administration on multiple fronts.

“I suppose I could take my entire allotted time to discuss the self-evident wisdom of building an Arc de Triomphe in Washington to hold all our drones,” Clinton joked. “Some of this stuff it’s hard to make up.”

After the laughter subsided, though, Clinton seriously laid out how he disagreed with the idea that “cooperation is not important, that winning is important in the short run.”

The Clinton Global Initiative has convened political, business and philanthropic leaders to address the world’s issues for more than two decades.

Donna McKay, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s president and CEO, unveiled one of those new ideas Tuesday.

New funding ideas for research and democracy

BCRF Ventures is the foundation’s first venture philanthropy fund, a $100 million initiative launched Tuesday with an $11 million donation from philanthropists Karen and Rob Hale to pay for its creation and early investments to encourage others to donate.

“It makes sense that at this point in time when there are extraordinary advances happening that BCRF throw everything that we can at research and science,” McKay told The Associated Press in an interview. “What this venture philanthropy program will do is try to fast-track advances and get them to patients as quickly as possible.”

The new initiative will not replace BCRF’s more traditional grantmaking to breast cancer research scientists, which the foundation expanded last year in the face of federal funding cuts to medical research.

The goal for the venture philanthropy fund is to use the earnings from the successful companies it supports to bolster more companies.

“The success of one breakthrough has the potential to finance the next and the next,” McKay said.

Stacey Abrams, former Georgia state representative, and leader of the vote mobilization and education nonprofit 10 Steps Campaign, announced a coalition of democracy nonprofits banding together to launch the Democracy Index Fund, which will pool resources to support pro-democracy organizations, and the Democracy Hedge Fund, designed to earn revenue while also providing support for pro-democracy organizations.

“Authoritarians have a playbook. They also have a budget,” Abrams said as she announced the new funds. “And now, so should we.”

‘This is a moment to give out money. Lots of it. Right now.’

Carmen Rojas, the Marguerite Casey Foundation’s president and CEO, outlined a more common-sense approach that is still seen by many in philanthropy circles as radical.

“This is an invitation that I give to donors, to foundations in the room, to anybody who has a rich cousin, this is a moment to give out money,” she said. “Lots of it. Right now.”

Rojas explained how there is currently extraordinary need and that should be met with extraordinary action. The Marguerite Casey Foundation announced plans in June to increase its annual donations to at least $500 million over the next decade in order to alleviate some of the pain the communities it serves are feeling following federal funding cuts. In 2025, the foundation dipped into its endowment in order to hand out $135 million.

“There was greater risk in inaction,” she said, explaining the step many nonprofits would refuse to consider because it could put future investment earnings at risk. “The greatest risk we face is sitting on a set of resources that communities across this country desperately need to protect their neighbors, to be able to build relationships with one another, to have their needs met.”

Rojas told The Associated Press in an interview that her foundation’s bold strategy has encouraged others to utilize it as well. She wants foundations to reconsider the requirement that they give 5% of their value annually in order to maintain their tax-exempt status – calling it a floor rather than a ceiling.

Ford Foundation President Heather Gerken encouraged conference attendees to remember to dream of what they want to accomplish.

“As much as we are in the trenches and fighting the fight, we need to look out over the horizon,” she said. “The reason we are here is that we have had a democracy that has not served everyone. And so we need to figure out how to dream a new democracy into existence.”

_____

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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“I think it was prudent for us to really take back control and make sure we can be cost-efficient,” Broward Commissioner Lamar Fisher, one of the driving forces behind the change, said.

The move comes as the county and Sheriff Gregory Tony have clashed over BSO’s $937 million budget request.

Tony is calling the move a “betrayal.”

No other county in Florida puts its sheriff’s office in charge of fire rescue services. Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue serves multiple cities within the county under contracts, as well as the county’s unincorporated areas.

Fisher said he and fellow commissioners want greater control and transparency over how dollars are spent.

“It’s not the sheriff’s fault by any means,” Fisher said. “It’s an opportunity for Broward County to really control its department and its costs at the end of the day.”

It’s unclear on what those costs will be.

There are more than 900 employees that will be part of the transition, but commissioners say it shouldn’t affect everyday services.

Tony blasted the decision in a statement released on Tuesday

“Today’s decision by the Broward County Commission not to renew its contract with Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue is deeply disappointing, a betrayal of the public’s trust and a disservice to the men and women who have dedicated their careers to protecting this community,” he said in part.

Tony said it was “particularly troubling that the same Commission that has refused to provide our first responders with the compensation they deserve is now prioritizing control over a proven public safety system that has served this community since 2003,” as he touted multiple “critical innovations” by the department.

“Public safety is not about control,” he said. “What matters is the skilled, timely and coordinated response of highly trained public safety professionals, like the men and women of Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue.”

The union representing BSFR firefighters and paramedics said in a statement that its members “look forward to working with the administrations of Broward County and the Broward Sheriff’s Office through this transition” and “will continue to uphold our mission and protect the communities we proudly call home.”

X-rays were negative and Acuña was listed as day-to-day with a contusion. He was able to walk slowly off the field under his own power after hobbling away from the battling circle and dropping to his knees in clear pain.

Acuña was tended to for several minutes by the Braves trainer, with manager Walt Weiss looking on intently, before heading straight to the home clubhouse.

The injury comes with the playoffs just a week away for Atlanta, which clinched its seventh NL East title in the past nine years. The Braves are likely to open the playoffs hosting a best-of-three series against the lowest-seeded wild-card team.

Acuña went down on a 3-1 pitch from Brandon Williamson with the Reds up 1-0. The slugging outfielder took a big swing, sending the ball off his left shin, below the knee and just above a protective guard. He dropped to the dirt with a big grimace, pulled himself up and limped a few feet away from the box before going to the ground again.

The 2023 NL MVP has been one of Atlanta's hottest hitters down the stretch, hitting seven homers in his last 18 games — including a grand slam in a sweep of the Astros last weekend. He is batting .259 with 20 homers, 55 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

Brewer Hicklen took over the leadoff spot and right field after Acuña left the game.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

On a 3-1 pitch,

Acuna foul ball off left leg, just above a protective pad. Acuna went down in a heap, hobbled out of the batting circle and dropped to his knees again while attended to by manager Walt Weiss and the trainer. Acuna eventually left the game,

La mujer, identificada como Nikkita Wongchong, de 37 años, quedó inconsciente, pero en el video se ve cómo el conductor acelera y se va, dejándola gravemente herida en medio del estacionamiento de un McDonald’s.

Se puede ver a conductores que pasaban por el lugar bajarse de sus autos para ayudarla.

Todo ocurrió el sábado alrededor de las 8:40 a.m. frente al McDonald’s ubicado en el 26601 S. Dixie Highway, en Naranja, una zona no incorporada del suroeste de Miami-Dade.

Nile Sausbre contó que estaba trabajando al otro lado de la calle y vio cuando llegaron los agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade.

“Eso no está bien”, dijo. “Es un ser humano”.

Los agentes indicaron que le practicaron RCP hasta que llegaron los paramédicos, quienes la trasladaron de urgencia al hospital en estado crítico.

Más tarde, los médicos determinaron que tenía muerte cerebral.

El conductor fue identificado como Ismel Baro Rodriguez, de 28 años.

Los investigadores dijeron que revisaron videos de vigilancia que les permitieron dar con Baro Rodriguez en una casa no muy lejos del lugar.

Desde entonces, fue acusado de un delito grave de agresión agravada con lesiones corporales graves. El ciudadano cubano permanece tras las rejas en el centro correccional Turner Guilford Knight, con una orden de retención migratoria.

Los hechos ocurrieron el 11 de mayo en el patio común de un complejo de apartamentos de Hallandale Beach, cuya ubicación se omitió en los documentos del arresto para proteger la identidad de la víctima.

Según la policía de Hallandale Beach, la víctima, una persona de 65 años o más, estaba sentada en un banco con otra persona mientras sus perros jugaban en el césped, cuando el perro de la sospechosa, identificada como Antonia Yeromina, se acercó a los otros dos.

Lo que la víctima les contó después a los agentes quedó grabado en video de las cámaras corporales, obtenido por Local 10 News.

“Yo estaba atrás con una vecina, los perros estaban jugando tranquilos”, dijo en el video. “Llegó esta mujer con un perro, y su perro y el mío empezaron a pelear”.

Según el informe de arresto, en ese momento la situación se salió de control. Ambas mujeres agarraron a sus perros para detener la pelea, pero una vez terminada, la víctima les dijo a los agentes que Yeromina empezó a atacarla.

“Me empezó a pegar en la cara, en los brazos”, contó la víctima, y agregó que Yeromina le gritaba: “Te odio, te odio”.

El informe de arresto indica que, después del primer enfrentamiento, Yeromina regresó y atacó a la víctima por segunda vez, golpeándola de nuevo en la cara.

La persona que estaba sentada con la víctima se interpuso entonces entre las dos mujeres, y fue en ese momento, según la policía, cuando Yeromina fue contra el perro de la víctima.

“Como la acusada ya no podía seguir atacando intencionalmente a la víctima, pateó de forma maliciosa e intencional al perro de la víctima en la zona del abdomen mientras el animal estaba tranquilamente acostado en el suelo, en lo que pareció una reacción de ira por no poder continuar su ataque contra la víctima”, señala el informe de arresto.

Aunque el incidente ocurrió en mayo, Yeromina no fue arrestada sino hasta el lunes.

Enfrenta dos cargos de agresión contra una persona de 65 años o más y un cargo de maltrato animal.

Tras comparecer ante un juez el martes, Yeromina quedó en libertad bajo una fianza de $15,000, con la condición de no tener contacto con la víctima, no regresar al lugar del incidente y no tener animales.

“Creo que fue prudente retomar el control y asegurarnos de que podemos ser eficientes con los costos”, dijo el comisionado de Broward Lamar Fisher, uno de los principales impulsores del cambio.

La medida llega en momentos en que el condado y el sheriff Gregory Tony se han enfrentado por la solicitud de presupuesto de $937 millones de BSO.

Tony calificó la decisión de “traición”.

Ningún otro condado de Florida pone los servicios de bomberos y rescate en manos de la oficina del sheriff. Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue presta servicio a varias ciudades del condado mediante contratos, además de las zonas no incorporadas.

Fisher explicó que él y los demás comisionados buscan tener más control y transparencia sobre cómo se gasta el dinero.

“De ninguna manera es culpa del sheriff”, dijo Fisher. “Es una oportunidad para que el condado Broward pueda, al fin y al cabo, controlar realmente su departamento y sus costos”.

No está claro cuáles serán esos costos.

Más de 900 empleados formarán parte de la transición, pero los comisionados aseguran que esto no debería afectar los servicios diarios.

Tony criticó duramente la decisión en un comunicado difundido el martes.

“La decisión que tomó hoy la Comisión del Condado Broward de no renovar su contrato con Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue es profundamente decepcionante, una traición a la confianza del público y un perjuicio para los hombres y mujeres que han dedicado sus carreras a proteger a esta comunidad”, señaló, en parte.

Tony dijo que resulta “especialmente preocupante que la misma Comisión que se ha negado a darles a nuestros socorristas la remuneración que merecen ahora anteponga el control sobre un sistema de seguridad pública probado, que ha servido a esta comunidad desde 2003”, y destacó varias “innovaciones clave” del departamento.

“La seguridad pública no se trata de control”, afirmó. “Lo que importa es una respuesta capacitada, rápida y coordinada de profesionales de seguridad pública altamente entrenados, como los hombres y mujeres de Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue”.

El sindicato que representa a los bomberos y paramédicos de BSFR indicó en un comunicado que sus miembros esperan “trabajar con las administraciones del condado Broward y de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward durante esta transición” y que “seguirán cumpliendo nuestra misión y protegiendo las comunidades que con orgullo llamamos hogar”.

Agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward (BSO) llegaron poco antes de las 3 p.m. del martes a la gasolinera Orion, ubicada en el 101 E. Atlantic Blvd. en Pompano Beach, tras recibir reportes de disparos.

Al llegar, los agentes encontraron a un hombre herido de bala.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue lo trasladó de urgencia a Broward Health North para recibir tratamiento, informaron las autoridades.

Desde entonces, la gasolinera permanece acordonada con cinta amarilla de la policía mientras los investigadores procesan la escena.

Dentro del perímetro se encuentra una camioneta Toyota RAV4 blanca.

Los agentes indicaron que una persona fue detenida en el lugar después del tiroteo.

La investigación sigue en curso.

El accidente se reportó en la zona de Miramar Parkway y South Douglas Road.

Según la policía de Miramar, las jóvenes, de 15, 16 y 17 años, cruzaban la intersección por un paso peatonal señalizado cuando las impactó un Dodge Challenger que se dirigía hacia el norte.

Las adolescentes, que según la policía son estudiantes de Miramar High School, fueron llevadas a un hospital de la zona para recibir tratamiento por heridas que no ponen en peligro su vida.

De acuerdo con las autoridades, dos de ellas sufrieron heridas leves y la tercera podría tener lesiones más serias, aunque tampoco se teme por su vida.

La policía indicó que ha estado revisando las cámaras de vigilancia de la zona y no cree que la velocidad haya sido un factor.

“Un auto, a la velocidad que vaya, es un arma de 2,000 libras”, dijo el jefe de la policía de Miramar, Delrish Moss.

Los agentes confirmaron que el conductor se quedó en el lugar tras el accidente.

“El conductor dice que tenía la luz verde, y las muchachas dicen que tenían la señal para cruzar. Eso todavía está por determinarse”, dijo Moss. “Vamos a tener que revisar las cámaras de la zona y los ciclos de los semáforos. Una de las cosas para las que los ven tomando medidas es el factor de arrastre”.

Moss afirmó que, en cualquier caso, el incidente sirve como recordatorio para que conductores y peatones se mantengan alerta, sobre todo a esta hora del día.

“Esto tiene que ser más seguro para estos muchachos”, dijo Mcgarney Bowman, dueño de un restaurante cercano. “La escuela secundaria está ahí mismo”.

“Gracias a Dios esta noche regresan a sus casas y van a estar bien”, dijo Sael Valcourt, estudiante de Miramar High School.

Según BSO, la investigación preliminar reveló que Joanne Baker, de 59 años, mató de un disparo a su esposo, el sargento retirado de la Policía de Pembroke Pines John Baker, de 62, y luego se quitó la vida con la misma arma.

Agentes de la policía y paramédicos del departamento de bomberos de Pembroke Pines respondieron alrededor de las 7:12 a.m. del lunes a una llamada al 911 que reportaba a dos personas inconscientes en la cuadra 8300 de Pine Drive.

Al llegar, los equipos de emergencia encontraron a John y Joanne Baker sin vida, informaron las autoridades.

La policía de Pembroke Pines se comunicó entonces con BSO y pidió que sus unidades de Homicidios y de Escena del Crimen se encargaran de la investigación.

La Oficina del Médico Forense del Condado Broward determinará oficialmente la causa y la forma de muerte. BSO indicó que la investigación continúa.

Casi 28 años de servicio

Tras la muerte de Baker, el Departamento de Policía de Pembroke Pines emitió un comunicado en el que lamentó la pérdida del sargento retirado, quien sirvió a la ciudad durante casi 28 años.

Baker ingresó al departamento en 1994 y ocupó numerosos cargos a lo largo de su carrera, entre ellos patrullero, oficial de entrenamiento de campo, oficial de patrulla principal, vocero, investigador de homicidios de tránsito y sargento de la Unidad de Tránsito.

También fue miembro fundador del Equipo de Respuesta a Crisis del departamento, creado para apoyar al personal de emergencia en momentos de tragedia.

De acuerdo con el departamento, Baker era un apasionado de la seguridad vial y colaboraba con frecuencia con Mothers Against Drunk Driving, donde solía participar como voluntario en los eventos de la organización.

Fuera del trabajo, Baker era padre de tres hijos, disfrutaba de viajar y de la música, y a menudo iba a conciertos con su familia, señaló el departamento en un comunicado de prensa.

Grave accidente en servicio

Según la policía, el 10 de agosto de 2019, Baker sufrió un grave accidente en su motocicleta mientras estaba de servicio, luego de que un auto se le atravesara al girar.

La policía indicó que Baker sufrió heridas críticas que afectaron su habla y su movilidad. Con el apoyo de su familia y de su equipo médico, logró recuperar parte de sus habilidades motoras.

A pesar de sus lesiones, Baker se mantuvo activo en la comunidad y participó en carreras benéficas a través de Special Compass, una organización local sin fines de lucro que ayuda a niños y familias con discapacidades. También participó en la Carrera de la Antorcha de las Olimpiadas Especiales, según el departamento.

“Toda la familia del PPPD lamenta la repentina pérdida del sargento John Baker”, expresó el departamento en su comunicado. “Aun con los retos que enfrentó por la lesión que sufrió en el trabajo, su personalidad alegre y positiva nunca se apagó”.

El departamento extendió sus condolencias a los hijos, familiares y amigos de Baker.

“I have traveled far,” David Adeang said Tuesday at the United Nations.

What was known to the world for many years as Nauru, Adeang said, was returning to the name and pronunciation of its past: Naoero.

“There are moments in the life of a nation when its people are called to remember who they have always been,” Adeang said in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. “This is such a moment for us.”

Though the names are similar and, in essence, the same word, the shift in spelling and pronunciation represents the nation's effort to recast — rebrand, even — itself for its own people as much as for the outside world. He called it not a change but an effort to “affirm a truth.”

“For many years, the world has known our country as Nauru. Nauru is how our name sounded to those who found it hard to say, and the world kept it,” Adeang said. “But it is not the name our people used among themselves.”

The nation, an eight-square-mile island with about 12,000 people, became independent in 1968 after longtime colonial rule under the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Germany. It announced the renaming in August after signaling its intent in February.

The country’s international code is changing from NRU to NRO and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan. Commonly known abroad by the pronunciation of Now-roo, the new name is spoken as Now-ero.

Across the past century, other nations have renamed themselves or tweaked their names for various reasons, from modernization to rejection of colonialism.

The African nation of Eswatini changed its name from Swaziland in 2018. In Africa, Dahomey became Benin after a 1975 coup and Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980 after shedding colonial rule. Siam became Thailand in 1939 to foster ethnic unity and shed a foreign label.

Turkey, meanwhile, has been officially named Turkiye since 1920 but requested in 2022 that the United Nations use the spelling and pronunciation as its name in English as well — in part to avoid confusion by underscoring that the bird wasn't the word.

The list goes on. Persia became Iran. Burma became Myanmar. Upper Volta is now Burkina Faso, Gold Coast is Ghana and Ceylon is Sri Lanka.

A name, obviously, is a pivotal and intimate expression of a nation's identity on any stage, domestic or international. Adeang's remarks Tuesday reflected this as he carefully pronounced the name to differentiate it from its former pronunciation.

“We do not make this choice to erase our past. We make it because we honor it,” he said. “That name carries the memory of our ancestors, our language, and our identity. It has been there all along. Never lost, never absent. Today, we restore Naoero.”

And then, after completing his address about the issues that face his people — rising seas, economics, respect on the global stage — he concluded his address with three words:

“Say our name.”

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Ted Anthony has written about international affairs for The Associated Press since 1995.

In applications for search warrants executed last week, investigators sought to obtain the electronic communications of the camp's owners, saying they could provide evidence of manslaughter, negligent homicide, child abandonment or other crimes. No charges have been brought, and a representative of the camp did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Brant Johnston, with the Texas Rangers, wrote in an affidavit that Camp Mystic had inadequate emergency plans, failed to conduct emergency drills or training, and in some cabins did not have enough adult counselors. Its owners neglected to take precautions by relocating children from low-lying cabins despite having monitored late-night flood warnings, Johnston wrote.

“Young campers cannot reasonably be expected to independently recognize a rapidly developing, life-threatening hazard or to organize and execute an evacuation absent direction from an adequate number of adult supervisors,” Johnston wrote.

He concluded: “Camp Mystic, LLC was aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death to the campers in their care.”

Twenty-five campers and two teenage counselors at the Christian all-girls camp were killed as the raging Guadalupe River surged beyond its banks before dawn on July 4, 2025. Camp Mystic owner Richard Eastland also died in the flood.

For decades, Camp Mystic was a summer staple and an institution for generations of families, who dropped off their girls at the sleepaway camp to ride horses, canoe, fish and attend Bible studies. The camp did not reopen this year, and it has filed for bankruptcy reorganization.

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.

Attorneys for some of the victims' families welcomed the search warrants but said they should not have been necessary.

“For more than a year, families of the 27 angels killed at Camp Mystic have fought, begged, and pleaded with the Eastland family for accountability and answers,” Christina Yarnell and Brad Beckworth, attorneys for the family of victim Cile Steward, said in a written statement. “Instead, the Eastlands have held hostage the information and answers owed to parents who deserve, more than anyone, to know the details surrounding their daughters’ final moments.”

Steward's body still has not been found.

Johnston wrote in the warrant that he made several visits to Camp Mystic and that he and other investigators have conducted interviews with witnesses, flood victims and people associated with the camp. But several people, including members of the Eastland family and other top camp officials, refused interviews, Johnston wrote.

The Eastland family and other camp leaders have testified in courtrooms and in front of the state Legislature in the months since the flood, however, with camp director Edward Eastland offering a tearful apology.

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The crash was reported in the area of Miramar Parkway and South Douglas Road.

According to Miramar police, the girls, ages 15, 16 and 17, were crossing the intersection within a marked crosswalk when they were struck by a Dodge Challenger that was heading north.

The teens, who police said are students at Miramar High School, were taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

“Car crashes have been happening around Broward, and I just think at a young age something like that is very very sad,” student Bianca Petit said.

According to authorities, two of the teens had minor injuries and the third had more serious injuries, although still non-life-threatening.

Police said they have been checking surveillance cameras in the area and do not believe that speed was a factor.

“A car traveling at any rate of speed is a 2,000-pound weapon,” Miramar police Chief Delrish Moss said.

The driver remained at the scene after the crash, officers confirmed.

“The driver is saying he had the green light, the young ladies are saying ‘we had the crossing sign.’ Those things are yet to be determined,” Moss said. “We’re gonna have to check cameras in the area, we’re gonna have to check the lighting cycles. One of the things that you see them doing measurements for is drag factor.”

Moss said regardless, the incident is a reminder to drivers and pedestrians to stay alert, especially during this time of day.

“It needs to be safer for these kids,” Mcgarney Bowman, who owns a nearby restaurant, said. “The high school’s right there.”

“Thank God they’re going back home tonight, and they’re gonna be OK,” Miramar High School student Sael Valcourt said.

According to the school district, Miramar High was operating on a normal schedule Tuesday after the accident, although parents were advised in the morning to use an alternate entrance and allow for additional travel time.

School administrators also reminded students to pay attention to their surroundings.

“You know to not be walking (while) on your phones because things like that could happen,” Petit said. “When you have your headphones on, you don’t hear your surroundings and you are fixated on your devices.”

The numbers unveiled just six weeks before Election Day provide a rare status update on an initiative that has redirected federal resources and hundreds of employees to search for foul play in elections at the direction of President Donald Trump.

They fall far short of the hundreds of thousands of noncitizen voters that Trump and the Department of Homeland Security have previously suggested were on the rolls. They also represent a tiny fraction of the country's more than 211 million active registered voters, underscoring what former election officials and election law experts say is a proven fact: Voter fraud, including voting by noncitizens, is rare.

“They have tried to manufacture evidence of widespread noncitizen voting, and every time they do, their numbers are incredibly small, even when they’re overstated,” said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who leads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research. “They confirm what we’ve known for years, which is that states have been doing an extraordinarily good job of keeping noncitizens off their voter lists.”

Millhollin shared the arrest data at a joint press briefing with the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Service about DOJ charges against a Utah postal worker for throwing out more than 300 mail ballots during the state's June primary. In the same briefing, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the DOJ had charged 70 people since the start of the administration with “unlawful voting and registration offenses.”

The DOJ's figure represents defendants formally charged with unlawful voting and registration offenses, Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels said in an email. HSI's 160 arrests, she said, “originate from voter fraud investigative leads, but many result in charges for related offenses, such as false claims to citizenship or false statements, rather than the voting statute itself.”

The federal actions represent the period between January 2025 and September 2026, according to the Justice Department.

Ahead of November's midterms, which will determine control of Congress for the final two years of his term, Trump has taken extensive measures to try to crack down on noncitizen voting. It's something he claims is rampant and marring elections across the nation, but research shows it is incredibly rare.

He signed two election-related executive orders designed in part to address the issue, both of which are tied up in legal challenges. He also has pressured states to use a controversial federal voter database that has been blocked by a federal judge for violating Americans’ privacy, and tried repeatedly to get lawmakers to pass a stagnant documentary proof of citizenship bill.

In a last-ditch effort to hunt for noncitizen voters without detailed data from all states, DHS in August ordered a group of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staff to pivot to a full-time manual investigation of state voter rolls, according to a federal whistle blower’s report. The whistleblower said the effort is directing federal employees to misrepresent themselves on state voter lookup tools in a way that could violate state laws. The person also warned the initiative leans on unreliable data that could wrongly implicate U.S. citizens in federal documentation.

State election officials in Texas investigated registered voters who were flagged as noncitizens on their voter rolls by Trump's federal voter database before a judge blocked its use. Of the 2,724 registered voters, it referred 117 cases to the Texas attorney general's office for investigation. In mid-September, seven people in the state were charged with illegally voting in federal elections or falsely claiming citizenship. Texas has about 18 million registered voters.

Becker said examples like that are characteristic of what often happens when potential instances of noncitizen voting are investigated: The real numbers are consistently small.

“No system is perfect,” he said, adding that he was not aware of a single election whose outcome was altered by noncitizens voting.

McCotter, in Tuesday's briefing, argued that even a small number of fraud cases can be significant.

“The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election,” McCotter said. “But the actions of even one malicious actor on the ground can fatally undercut that security.”

Kathy Boockvar, the Democratic former secretary of state of Pennsylvania who now runs a nonpartisan election security firm, said there are real consequences for election officials when Trump and others make hyperbolic claims of fraudulent voting.

“Lots of people just believe what they hear, then reach out to election officials, and these days don't have any qualms about threatening them,” Boockvar said. “There is a direct, constant effect here that leads to the fueling of antagonism against election officials.”

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Activists and current and former elected officials held a news conference in Doral Tuesday, calling for the city to end the agreement, which allows local police to help enforce immigration laws.

“It’s undignified what these leaders did,” Joe Garcia, a former Democratic congressman, said. “We send a message to Tallahassee and to Washington: We will not stand for this.”

City leaders signed the agreement in 2025.

“An entire city council voted to participate in cruelty,” Garcia said.

The group painted a picture of seriously negative impacts of immigration enforcement on the city: 70% of its residents were born outside of the U.S. and 40% are of Venezuelan origin.

“What we’re doing now is engaging in self-defeating action, which is harming our economy,” South Miami Mayor Javier Fernandez said. “You’re hearing business owners say their business is down 40-70%. Restaurants, shops, all being impacted. We are losing critical labor that we need to keep our economy moving.”

Restaurant owner Jose Ramirez said business has slowed dramatically.

“It’s been hitting us very hard,” he said, adding that his revenue has dropped 70% over the past month due to ICE enforcement in the area. “This week, like, three restaurants closed and food trucks.”

Regarding the enforcement, Ramirez said, “It has to stop.”

Local activist Thomas Kennedy said at the news conference that city leaders could “exit” the agreement.

At the time, Doral city leaders said they had no choice but to sign it.

Local 10 News is working to find out whether the city can rescind the measure.

Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly spoke to billionaire Dan Friedkin's group last week and got a full report, and representatives from the 32 current teams were briefed on the situation with no timetable to consider a possible vote on adding a 33rd.

“I think everybody’s taking a wait-and-see attitude to see what’s being presented and what the pros and cons are,” Bettman said. “Expansion is a multibillion-dollar transaction, which has an impact on all the other clubs in the league. A lot of i’s have to be dotted and t’s have to be crossed. And if there’s going to be expansion, three-quarters of the governors are going to have to be comfortable that this makes sense to them. And that’s not something you do overnight.”

Expansion, if it happens, would involve a $3.5 billion investment between the fee paid to owners and the cost to build a new arena. Daly said Friedkin's Pursuit Sports had looked at sites to build in Houston and Austin, with a lot left to figure out, including deciding between one of the biggest U.S. media markets and a place that does not have a team in any of the major four North American men's professional sports leagues.

“We would expect that we’ll know by the end of the year which market they would prefer," Bettman said. "But we still and they still have a lot of work to do.”

The next board meeting is scheduled for December. The term sheet between the NHL and Friedkin's family is for a six-month exploration, but that does not guarantee it will be wrapped up by the end of the year.

“I don’t think we’re putting time limits on things," Daly said. "Originally we contemplated at least knowing where we are in December. I expect we will certainly know a lot more than we do now, come December, but I don’t think there’s any magic date by which something has to get done or not get done.”

Daly said earlier this month in Las Vegas that part of this meeting was getting direction from the board. If the league knows how members are leaning, officials are not saying.

“I think there are probably some owners who think expansion is the greatest thing ever, and I think there are some people who say, ‘Why do we need to expand?’” Bettman said. "I can’t tell you the numbers.”

Bettman and Daly said there also continue to be expressions of interest from ownership options in Atlanta and the Phoenix area. A feasibility study could be the next step, but those processes are not as far along as Texas.

“There’s always markets that are approaching the NHL, looking for expansion opportunities,” Calgary Flames owner Murray Edwards said after he was voted vice chairman and Washington's Ted Leonsis chairman of the board. “We talk about it, but there’s no sort of fast process or slow process. We’re just looking at options.”

NHL board gets an artificial intelligence update

As sports leagues and teams look to artificial intelligence and how it can benefit them, consultant Shelly Palmer of the Palmer Group made a presentation to the board.

“In addition to how we operate at the business level, we think it’s very important to make sure that we and the clubs understand how to use AI to connect with our fans even better, to create an even more robust and unique experience,” Bettman said. “That involves lots of different things, including how we gather data and how we interact with our fans.”

Bettman addresses his future

After saying at the Stanley Cup Final on his 74th birthday that his retirement was not imminent and nothing had been determined on a succession plan, Bettman reiterated that he was not stepping down any time soon from the job he has held since 1993.

“I’m going to be 75 years old,” Bettman said. “At some point, I've got to stop, OK? But I love what I do. I’m energized. I have nothing to complain about in life. I love coming to work every day. I love being part of this game."

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See AP’s full NHL coverage here

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Rep. Robert Garcia, Rep. Bennie Thompson and Rep. Maxwell Frost shared photographs from the report, showing dirty and overflowing restrooms, along with detainees they say are forced to sleep on the concrete floor or in chains.

The report also states, “Whistleblowers warn that, among other abuses, ICE is detaining people, including men, women, families, and elderly people with chronic medical conditions for days to weeks in abusive and life-threatening conditions, including overcrowded cells, prolonged shackling, inadequate access to medical care and hygiene, insufficient food, and limited to no legal access.”

Garcia is the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

He released a statement, which read:

“The Trump Administration is trying to cover up these disgusting and unsafe conditions and escape accountability, while countless lives are put in danger. ICE must immediately put an end to this inhumane treatment and give us answers on this horrific situation.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz made a surprise visit to the Miramar facility in July and said she saw detainees in conditions she wouldn’t wish upon her worst enemies.

“Miramar is a processing facility not a detention facility. Illegal aliens are processed and transferred to permanent housing at a detention facility.

“Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson

Wednesday also brings the potential for rain. There could be some morning showers, followed by scattered, soaking storms during the afternoon. Temperatures are expected to be seasonable-- lows in the mid & upper 70s, highs in the upper 80s.

Carlos Risco, el dueño de la cafetería Ynn Coffee, dijo a The Associated Press que se propusieron retratar el rostro de Robert Prevost por su histórica visita.

“Decidimos ser los primeros en dibujarlo”, indicó. Añadió que emplearon varias horas en perfeccionar el dibujo con una pintura de cacao cultivado en la Amazonía peruana.

“Escuchamos que el papa, cuando trabajó en sus misiones en Perú, era consumidor de café peruano”, comentó Risco, de 39 años, quien, cuando era niño, vivió por un tiempo en Chiclayo donde fue monaguillo en la iglesia San Juan María Vianney, antes de que Prevost fuese obispo de esa diócesis entre 2014 y 2023.

La prensa ha reportado el interés de Prevost por el café. En 2017 el entonces obispo visitó una cafetería del barrio de Chorrillos, en Lima, tras una misa en una iglesia local donde saboreó un capuchino junto a otros religiosos de la orden de San Agustín, de la que forma parte.

Ariana Mallma, la barista que retrata al papa, explicó que enfría con hielo el cacao amazónico que usa como pintura para dibujar a Prevost en las tazas humeantes. Por ahora lo grafica en dos opciones: rezando y sonriendo.

“Es como pintar un lienzo, con paciencia, porque sino se te mancha toda la obra”, indicó.

Ynn Coffee es una de las casi 200 cafeterías de Lima. La producción de café en Perú se concentra en la Amazonía donde predomina las variedades Caturra, Typica, Bourbon, Catimor, Pache y Geisha.

En 2025, Perú produjo más de 370.000 toneladas de café, según datos oficiales. Las exportaciones alcanzaron 1.796 millones de dólares y los principales destinos fueron Estados Unidos, Alemania, Bélgica y Canadá.

A medida que se acerca la visita del papa —entre el 11 y 16 de noviembre— los comerciantes han comenzado a ofrecer diversos productos relacionados con la figura de Prevost. Se venden camisetas con su rostro, se elaboran diversos tipos de dulces y se está construyendo una estatua de 14 metros de altura.

“He ordenado como presidente de la República que Santa Marta sea militarizada”, declaró De la Espriella en la red social X.

El mandatario aseguró que el grupo armado ilegal pretende “incendiar” parte del Caribe, como consecuencia de la operación policial informada la víspera en la que murió José Pérez Villanueva, alias “Cholo”, señalado como el segundo cabecilla del grupo.

La operación, que tuvo refuerzos terrestres y aéreos, fue realizada en zona rural de Santa Marta, donde se reunían presuntos integrantes de las ACSN. La policía detalló que murieron siete personas y tres más fueron capturados.

El martes, el comercio de la ciudad cerró en su mayoría y ciudadanos publicaron en redes sociales videos de hombres armados intimidando a los pobladores a plena luz del día.

“Han amenazado a comerciantes, pobladores, transportadores y están cometiendo toda suerte de desmanes”, afirmó De la Espriella, quien dijo que lideraría desde Santa Marta las acciones de seguridad.

El comandante general de las Fuerzas Militares, Mayor General Erik Rodríguez, indicó que reforzaron de inmediato el despligue de los militares y policías, tras la orden presidencial. Agregó que actuarán con “contundencia”, pero en el marco de la ley.

El alcalde de Santa Marta, Carlos Pinedo, dijo en X que solicitó la militarización de Santa Marta, por lo que respaldó la decisión del presidente y la presencia del “Estado para garantizar la tranquilidad” de los habitantes.

Santa Marta, con aproximadamente 480.000 habitantes, es la capital del departamento de Magdalena. Las ACSN también hacen presencia en los departamentos vecinos de Cesar y La Guajira, según la policía.

Las Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada surgieron tras la desmovilización de los grupos paramilitares a inicios de este siglo. Las autoridades han asociado a la estructura con el narcotráfico, la intimidación a la población, las extorsiones, los secuestros y el tráfico trasnacional de armas.

La policía señaló a alias “Cholo”, abatido en la operación, como uno de los “principales articuladores de la cadena del narcotráfico hacia países de Centroamérica”, mediante el envío de cocaína en lanchas rápidas y semisumergibles.

A inicios de septiembre también fue abatido en un operativo policial Naín Andrés Pérez Toncel, alias “Bendito Menor”, otro de los cabecillas de las ACSN.

“Aquí el que no se someta (a la justicia) será dado de baja y no voy a permitir que sigan arrodillando a través del terror a nuestra gente”, advirtió De la Espriella.

De la Espriella puso fin a un proceso de negociación con las ACSN que había instalado en 2024 su predecesor, el progresista Gustavo Petro (2022-2026).

Officially, Polo strengthened 110 mph between 8 AM ET Monday and 8 AM ET Tuesday, an extreme rate only matched or exceeded once – by Hurricane Patricia in 2015 – in the reliable records for the eastern Pacific (since around 1970).

Polo also marks a record-tying 3^rd Category 5 hurricane this season for the eastern Pacific. Only the 2018, 2002, and 1994 eastern Pacific hurricane seasons have had as many Category 5 hurricanes in a single season.

At extreme intensities like Polo, hurricanes are prone to fluctuations up and down, but Polo should stay near or at Category 5 intensity for the next day or two as it sits in a pristine environment.

The good news is the catastrophic core of Polo will remain well off the coast of Mexico this week, but heavy rains from the hurricane’s outer bands could produce flash flooding and mudslides for coastal areas of southwest Mexico through Thursday, including across parts of coastal Guerrero and Michoacán.

Mostly sleepy Atlantic

Fay has breathed its dying breath over the open northeastern Atlantic and its leftover swirl of low-level clouds will spin harmlessly over the open Atlantic for the remainder of the week.

A disturbance forecast to move off the coast of Africa on Wednesday has a low shot at developing, but will lift quickly northward and shouldn’t amount to very much regardless.

Otherwise we’ll continue to watch the development of a coastal storm/nor’easter off the Eastern Seaboard later this week. Most models suggest it stays non-tropical, but there’s an outside chance it transitions into a subtropical or tropical system as it loiters along the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast this weekend into early next week.

For now, NHC isn’t mentioning it in its tropical weather outlook and regardless, the impacts shouldn’t change appreciably for coastal areas affected by repeated rounds of tidal flooding, gusty winds exceeding 45 mph, and periods of heavy rain.

Matthew Mayich collapsed during an Aug. 20 workout and remains hospitalized with what family attorney Rob Carey said was exertional heat stroke that reduced flow of oxygen to his brain. The 21-year-old is unlikely to recover, Carey said.

The Arizona State police department is investigating the incident and a report will be sent to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for independent review when completed.

Arizona State's preliminary report said the hockey coaching staff asked permission for Timothy Ziesel, a former Green Beret, to speak with the team during a three-day, team-building event. The coaching staff did not “submit a plan of training activities for review by ASU's strength and conditioning coaches prior to the event,” according to the report released by James Rund, ASU’s senior vice president of educational outreach and student services.

“In the month following Matthew’s hospitalization, our review has focused on fact finding with the goal of identifying additional steps that ASU can and should take to improve student-athletes’ well-being,” the report said. “As limited medical information is available to us, and we remain committed to respecting the privacy of Matthew and his family, our review has focused on the circumstances surrounding the workout and related university policies, procedures and training protocols.”

Arizona State said it will engage a multi-disciplinary panel of experts to provide recommendations regarding best practices for outdoor athletic activities.

“A month later, nobody’s been named, nobody’s been suspended, nobody’s been fired for violating the very policies ASU published today, and the university wants to appoint a committee,” Carey said in a statement issued to The Associated Press. “A committee isn’t going to tell us why grown men with a rulebook in their hands let this happen to a young man at his first real workout in the desert. That’s what an investigation is for, and it’s why we’re going to ask the County Attorney to do one.”

Arizona State's report showed temperatures during the workout that started at 7 a.m. ranged from 86 to 89 degrees, with humidity between 51% and 46%.

Rund said all student-athletes who participated in the event had been medically cleared before the workout, including Mayich, who previously participated in three voluntary strength and conditioning workouts.

The workout at Sun Angel Stadium including a series of calisthenic circuits and body weight exercise, with the student-athletes getting a water break about 20 minutes into the activity.

Mayich collapsed during a “wind-down” run while carrying a 10-pound medicine ball. Mayich fell to the ground after several stumbles and tried to get up, falling again.

Mayich was initially responsive after trainers applied ice towels and poured water over him, but quickly deteriorated, prompting a call to 911.

“What the report doesn’t say is what the players will tell you: this was a punishment workout,” Carey said. “Miss a count, your group runs again. The head coach set it up, stood there and watched it, and didn’t stop it when the signs were there. And when Matthew went down, there was no plan and no preparation, so he was treated in a way that hurt his chances rather than helped them.”

The Blues drafted Mayich in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL draft, but he never signed an entry-level contract. The Stoney Creek, Ontario, native played four seasons with the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League before playing at Clarkson University last season.

Mayich transferred to Arizona State for the upcoming season.

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See AP’s full sports coverage here

It just doesn't look that way when it comes to team competition.

His record in the two Presidents Cups he has played is 3-5-1. Scheffler avoided a complete shutout in the Ryder Cup last year by beating Rory McIlroy in singles to go 1-4-0 for the week at Bethpage Black, lowering his record in those matches to 3-6-3.

This is of little concern to Scheffler, or to U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker.

“Scottie Scheffler being Scottie Scheffler is the most important thing for us as a team,” Snedeker said Tuesday after another cool, cloudy day of practice at rain-softened Medinah. “We can't ask him to do more than he can do. He can only deliver five points at his best if he goes out and plays unbelievable. We just want Scottie to go out there and be comfortable."

Snedeker was at Medinah in 2012 for the Ryder Cup when Tiger Woods didn't win any of his four matches as Europe rallied to win.

That was always the most curious part of Woods' incomparable career — a world beater except in the Ryder Cup, where he had a career mark of 13-21-3. He fared much better in the Presidents Cup (27-15-1), a product of being on so many winning teams.

Being the best in golf often comes with a target on the back, that extra level of motivation for the player — or players in team formats — trying to beat him.

Scheffler made his Ryder Cup debut in 2021 before he had won on the PGA Tour. Most memorable that week was starting with four straight birdies to go 4 up in four holes and beating Jon Rahm, 4 and 3. Scheffler, a captain's pick, was unbeaten in three matches at Whistling Straits.

Remarkably, he went eight consecutive matches in both cups without winning (three matches were halved) until he and Russell Henley won the opening match at the 2024 Presidents Cup.

Some of it Scheffler attributes to the fickle nature of match play over 18 holes. He has played well and lost, played mediocre and won. That happens with everyone. There's another part of him, however, that wonders if the effort is in overdrive.

“When you look at this format — and maybe my record hasn’t matched up to what I think that it should be — could it be trying too hard? I think that’s definitely a factor, for sure,” Scheffler said. "For me, it’s different in the sense that you also have a partner with you and you’re playing for somebody outside yourself, and that’s a lot different as well.

“Striking the balance between how much do you care, I think that’s something I’m always trying to figure out,” he said. “Definitely for me, I think just trying less would be really important. It’s just one of those things that’s a lot easier said than done.”

Scheffler has been playing practice rounds this week with Sam Burns, his best friend on the PGA Tour. They have yet to win a match as partners (0-3-1) in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.

“Do I think we have unfinished business? I don’t know if I would call it that,” Burns said. “It’s been frustrating the times we have played together, and we feel like we’ve played really well and ultimately not won. This week we’re going to go out and compete as hard as we can and try to get as many points for the U.S. team as possible.”

That hasn't been a problem for the American team, heavy favorites on paper and in history. They have won 10 in a row dating to 2005, though Burns was quick to point out a message Snedeker is trying to hammer home that “this team hasn't done anything.”

Scheffler had another dominant year, even if the trophies didn't pile up. He won his season opener in the California desert in January. He didn't win again until August. In between he had three straight runner-up finishes, including at the Masters.

He ended the season by taking two of the three postseason events. The one he didn't win, the BMW Championship, he played with hand, foot and mouth disease that caused blisters on his hands and his feet. It's tough to play golf that way. He tied for 12th.

“When you think about expectations and all that stuff, all I can control is what I can control, and that's going out and trying to execute,” he said. "A successful week for me is not necessarily winning all five matches. It’s showing up and controlling what I can control and going out there and doing my best."

He's the key player on the American team — it's been that way the last four years. Snedeker served up a reminder that Scheffler is not the only player.

“Scottie Scheffler is not going to be the reason we win or lose,” Snedeker said. “It’s going to have to be 12 people pitching in and doing their job.”

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

Prime Minister Mark Carney made a splash last winter by saying frankly that countries like his own could no longer afford wishful thinking about the international system and needed to act together. Nine months later, Foreign Minister Anita Anand said in an interview that Canada sees its “middle power strategy” bearing fruit, and the assembly’s big meeting could seed more growth.

“This is, of course, a key moment because so many countries from around the world come to have conversations about their respective foreign policies. And many middle powers indeed look to Canada, look to us, to lead in this conversation," Anand said.

She spoke a day after her country co-launched a new group of advocates for U.N.-style international cooperation — “Partners for Multilateralism” — on the assembly's sidelines.

Canada is a founding member of the 81-year-old United Nations and has long contributed to its global conversation, humanitarian work and decision-making; the nation has won election to the powerful U.N. Security Council six times over the decades.

But this year has shifted Canada's presence on the international stage — and quite dramatically, as diplomacy goes.

First came Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in January, when he said that rising, raw geopolitics were creating “a rupture in the world order" and that “middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”

Then, facing U.S. President Donald Trump 's tariffs, insults and cavalier talk of annexation, Carney let trade talks with the U.S. collapse last month rather than accede to terms he called unacceptable.

Carney, a former central bank chief, has set out to double non-U.S. trade within a decade. He convened hundreds of international investment firm executives for a Canadian investment summit last week and is hoping for free-trade deals with India, among others, by year’s end. He also is deepening ties with the European Union.

Canada's objectives — from trade to transatlantic security to Arctic defense to aiding Ukraine in Russia's four-year-old war — aren't new, “but we are bringing them into singular focus with our middle power strategy,” Anand said.

“It provides an impetus for like-minded countries to come to the table,” she said, adding: “We are all seeing the geopolitical shifts in the global environment.”

Anand is set to give Canada's main speech to the assembly on Saturday, for various scheduling reasons. The message “will be very much about implementing the middle power strategy,” said Anand, who described her country’s overall foreign policy as “principled pragmatism.”

Trump, for his part, didn't mention Canada in his address Tuesday. He touted the United States' economic, military and technological might and celebrated international investments in what he called “the hottest country anywhere in the world.”

Visions of the future straight out of comic books are playing out at the United Nations as world leaders talk about the threat — or promise — of artificial intelligence.

Once again it was Donald Trump against the U.N, chief and other leaders on a pressing issue involving science and the future, echoing ongoing disputes over the threat of climate change.

Armed with a new U.N. science report that warns of a slight but real potential of catastrophic and irreversible harm, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kicked off the parade of world leaders speaking at the General Assembly by calling for more oversight of AI, warning in vivid if not ominous terms of what could go wrong.

“Let us resolve that life-and-death decisions must never be surrendered to machines. Killer robots must have no place in our future,” Guterres said in his farewell address to world leaders. He also warned about AI in his first General Assembly address a decade ago.

With Guterres saying the world needs to “advance the conditions for the responsible pacing of AI and the additional safeguards needed to address risks,” the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday will address how to place some kind of controls on the technology and it will feature some of the biggest names in the field.

It's super, not artificial, Trump says

Less than an hour later, Trump was having none of that. “The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much. Now here and after officially called super intelligence, changing the name,” he said.

World leaders speaking after Trump used “artificial intelligence” — not “super.”

“Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception," Trump said. “Yet the very same people who said we’ll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming, a name since reborn to climate change, because the planet was cooling, not warming, and nobody was dead. These are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster.”

Trump was referring to a 2018 UN report that outlined the danger of human-caused climate change for long-term breaching of the internationally agreed-upon threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial time and said it was 12 years away.

Studies now say that breach is imminent in the next few years. That report — along with other science documents — did not say everyone would die. It said extreme weather would get more dangerous and that reducing pollution could prevent 100 million premature deaths over the next 82 years.

Also, the world has not cooled, but warmed 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit (0.45 degrees Celsius ) in the Past 12 years, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Go slow but cooperate, others say

The problem is both Trump and Guterres reduce the issue to something that's not useful, says University of Chicago computer science department chairman Henry Hoffmann.

“One turns it into a science-fiction movie; the other turns it into a nonissue,” Hoffmann said in an email. “Both push people to pick a team instead of engaging with the real risks and the possible mitigations. There shouldn’t be ‘sides’ on whether we need adequate control over powerful autonomous systems. The interesting debate is over what mechanisms actually provide that control.”

Other nations want to make sure they are not left behind during an AI race between the U.S. and China, which Trump said America is winning. French President Emmanuel Macron and Guterres also made the issue about protecting children.

“Let’s not wait for the consequences to come raining down on AI," Macron said. "We must act now to protect our children and our young people.”

Finland President Alexander Stubb, like other leaders, said AI will change the world, potentially for good, but needs strong controls.

“Artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology in the history of mankind. It will impact science, the economy, politics, security and the very essence of our humanity," Stubb said. “Humans can and should be in the driver’s seat. We have a choice. We can compete, cooperate or slow down. For me, cooperation if the best way forward.”

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told a meeting of business leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that he wants to see “a single set of global principles and standards” that can unlock AI’s potential while mitigating its risks.

He said forging “AI for good” will be the main focus of the UK’s presidency of the G20 group of nations next year.

Before Monday's speeches, Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a political risk advisory firm, said AI has the potential to make the world cleaner, improve technology and improve lives — but can be scary. Trying to deal with AI might be, like climate change, one of the most meaningful roles the United Nations could have, but its power is limited, Bremmer said.

Wednesday's Security Council AI meeting will include some of the biggest names in AI, including those who have recently sounded the alarm about the need for guardrails. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, followed by Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, and finally Clément Delangue, who is the CEO of and co-founder of Hugging Face, which was hacked by a rogue OpenAI program.

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Edith M. Lederer, Jill Lawless and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report from the United Nations.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The runway, bathed in red light, set the stage for a provocative show. That was driven home midway when Diesel models planted in the stands began moaning in sexual revelry from their seats, alone, in pairs and threesomes, to the soundtrack “Love to Love You Baby.”

“Every season we try to do something unexpected. This one was a bit more … experimental,” Martens said backstage. “I think the whole celebration of being body positive and loving each other is part of the Diesel DNA.”

The collection featured knitwear that appeared to disintegrate into denim and leather, part of the brand’s trademark textile innovation. Martens employed trompe l’oeil — an artistic technique that gives a three-dimensional appearance to a flat surface — to create the illusion of luxe shearling and leather. Shorts became gradually shorter until the final look was little more than a strip of fabric across the bum.

Laser-cut T-shirts looked as if they were falling apart and had simply been thrown on during a morning-after “walk of shame,” an impression reinforced by smudged lipstick.

In the seats, writhing turned to headbanging for the runway finale, and Martens received a standing ovation. He leaves Diesel, which he joined in 2020, but stays on at parent company OTB’s Maison Margiela, the avant-garde Paris couture house.

At Diesel, “we never pretended to be a luxury brand, even though we were on during fashion week,” Martens said. “We also wanted to do more alternative things, and think about the community. I think that’s what I try to celebrate, but also with respect for the clothes."

“It’s an honor to be here,” Trump said as he entered U.N. doors Tuesday ahead of his speech to the General Assembly and faced Kaitlan Collins of CNN, a frequent target of his ire. “I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me.”

As Collins noted later on air, CNN said nothing of the kind. The administration had banned CNN from White House grounds days earlier — along with MS NOW and Politico — and removed the network from pool duty. But CNN had been admitted into the U.N. as regularly credentialed media.

In any case, the tense moment was a stark reminder of how dramatically the bitter conflict between Trump and news outlets whose coverage he objects to as “fake news" has escalated in just a few days.

The current ban was the subject of a joint lawsuit filed Monday by the three outlets, calling the decision selective — based on the content of their coverage — and asking a judge to find Trump's move unconstitutional.

Late Tuesday, the administration filed a response urging the court to reject the news outlets' request, saying “access to the White House is a privilege — not a right.” The government argued that White House officials can control journalists’ access to “restricted presidential areas,” such as the Oval Office.

“Significantly, Presidents have long decided which journalists should receive privileged access, which has varied substantially by administration,” they wrote.

A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Trump says he has a right to ‘clean out fake news’

On Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his remarks and said negative coverage was dangerous for the country.

Asked whether he would allow the outlets back in if the court rules against the White House, he said, “Well, it probably will, because this is a judge who’s not a particularly fair judge.” He was referring to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom he appointed in 2017 and who ordered a CNN journalist’s access restored in a similar case in 2018.

“So you never know,” Trump added. "I think we have a right to clean out fake news."

Trump’s comments echoed others he's made since announcing the ban Friday. He has referred to “purposely negative stories” as justification for the ban.

The ban and lawsuit are part of a long-running conflict between the president — especially in his second term — and media outlets he finds unfavorable. Trump has responded in the courtroom, or with regulatory action. He's also lashed out at individual reporters in person or over social media, sometimes in strikingly personal terms — as he has with CNN's Collins, most recently in a speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

On air, after her exchange with Trump on Tuesday, Collins said: “We never said we were not going to cover the president. We will do our best to cover him each and every day.”

Networks began the day without pool coverage

Tuesday began with an item missing from the daily press schedule issued by the White House: It did not list the U.S. network pool, a departure from the norm.

CNN had been the designated pool network for the president’s trip to New York, according to a schedule that divides coverage of certain events between the five major networks. But Trump's ban removed it from pool duties.

The other pool members agreed, in solidarity, not to replace CNN with another network on the coverage, and further to suspend all pool coverage until further notice. Other news outlets also took steps in solidarity. The Associated Press joined a number of news organizations, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, in a decision not to publish photographs of presidential events Monday.

It remains to be seen how long both the ban and the collective media action will continue.

In speeches and meetings Tuesday, Trump was seen plenty by global audiences, thanks to UNTV — the official United Nations broadcast arm — and pool journalists covering other international leaders.

Meanwhile, a sign was spotted in the White House workspace: “I stand with AP, CNN, MS NOW, Politico.”

For audiences, the long-term impact may be more serious, analyst says

One longtime TV analyst says the lack of constant coverage will prove damaging to a spotlight-loving president — which may be one reason the standoff ultimately ends.

“This ban is not going to go on forever because he doesn’t want that to happen, any more than anybody else,” said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture.

In the short term, Thompson said, audiences won't feel the impact in a lasting way — after all, he noted, there are many ways people get news outside of network coverage.

“We are not going to be deprived of important civic information,” Thompson said, as might have happened years ago when outlets and options were fewer.

On the other hand, if viewers were interested in what Trump said as he inaugurated a helipad at the White House on Monday, they were out of luck: The sound of Trump’s whirring, waiting helicopter drowned out his remarks. TV network crews usually work to capture clearer audio.

On a deeper level, Thompson said, news consumers will be impacted in a more serious way. He called out Trump's remarks labeling negative media coverage "dangerous" as troubling.

“These casual remarks, not even disguised, about what we always considered basic freedoms of the press ... that, I think, is a lot more serious,” he said.

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AP reporter Michael Kunzelman contributed.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said during a news conference that Damon Matai Seei was arrested Tuesday and appeared in federal court in Salt Lake City to be arraigned.

The 34-year-old from Payson, Utah, pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of destruction or delay of mail. If convicted, he could face up to five years in federal prison. A message seeking comment was sent to his attorney.

Seei was delivering mail in Eagle Mountain, a conservative suburb of Provo, when he threw the ballots and other mail into a dumpster in a church parking lot not long after his shift started, McCotter said.

Melissa Holyoak, the U.S. attorney for Utah, said Seei indicated to authorities that he had no political agenda and did not intend to discard the ballots. He told investigators in an interview that he acted out of “laziness,” throwing away mail to “lighten his workload," according to court documents.

In a written statement quoted in court filings, Seei said he felt overwhelmed that day by the quantity of mail, and he decided to toss out advertisements so he could focus on other deliveries.

He told law enforcement he had set aside the ballots at the beginning of his shift, prosecutors said, arguing it was implausible that Seei didn't know they were in the discard pile.

Most voters in Utah cast ballots by mail or deposit them in drop boxes. Nationwide, nearly a third of voters use mail-in ballots.

All active registered voters in Utah are automatically sent ballots by mail, though that system is set to end in 2029 under a new state law requiring voters to opt-in.

Several Eagle Mountain residents complained to Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson that they never received their ballots, leading him to investigate. He determined that the rate of voter participation in the community was unusually low and learned through outreach that the number of voters who did not receive ballots was in the hundreds, according to court documents.

Seei is no longer employed by the Postal Service. The investigation remains ongoing, officials said.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's attempts to impose new Postal Service rules that would have restricted mail voting for the midterm elections.

Sudáfrica acusó a Israel ante la corte de “genocidio” contra los palestinos en Gaza. Mientras que Israel ha negado rotundamente las acusaciones y ha señalado a Sudáfrica de actuar como el brazo legal del grupo miliciano palestino Hamás.

Colombia solicitó intervenir en el proceso en 2024 para dar su interpretación de las normas de la Convención contra el genocidio, al considerar entonces que Israel las estaba “ignorando con sus acciones militares en Gaza”.

El tribunal de la ONU indicó que Colombia le informó el 18 de septiembre su decisión de retirar su declaración en el caso de Sudáfrica vs. Israel.

Giro en la política exterior

Tras tomar posesión el mes pasado, De la Espriella dio un giro a la posición del país sudamericano al restablecer las relaciones con Israel, rotas desde 2024 por el entonces presidente Gustavo Petro (2022-2026), un férreo crítico de las acciones bélicas en la Franja de Gaza que consideraba un “genocidio”.

“Vergüenza para Colombia”, cuestionó Petro en la red social X tras el retiro de la declaración ante el tribunal internacional. “De primera voz en atacar un genocidio a cómplice”, agregó.

La Cancillería colombiana explicó el martes en un comunicado que la decisión fue de carácter presidencial, dado que la Constitución indica que es el encargado de dirigir las relaciones internacionales.

Como parte de los acuerdos al reanudar las relaciones diplomáticas, Colombia e Israel restablecieron desde septiembre la exención recíproca de visado para turistas.

De la Espriella ha dado un giro a la política exterior de Colombia, privilegiando las relaciones con el gobierno de Estados Unidos —tras recibir el apoyo del presidente Donald Trump— y con Israel, que considera un aliado clave especialmente en materia de seguridad, mientras que marcó distancia de otros países como Cuba y Nicaragua al considerarlos “tiranías”.

Colombia y Costa Rica fortalecerán cooperación en seguridad

Mientras tanto, la conservadora Laura Fernández, presidenta de Costa Rica, cumplió el martes una visita oficial en Colombia en la que acordó con De la Espriella fortalecer la cooperación en seguridad, especialmente para combatir el narcotráfico.

“Que el esfuerzo que el presidente (colombiano) realiza en el combate del narcotráfico, esa limpieza que está realizando en Colombia, no significa que Costa Rica vaya a recibir a la basura que usted está limpiando”, dijo Fernández tras reunirse con su homólogo en Barranquilla, en el norte del país.

Fernández detalló que van a hacer sus mayores esfuerzos para “evitar que el narcotráfico se posicione en Costa Rica”, evitando convertirse en un país “productor ni facilitador de operaciones criminales”.

“Si el crimen organizado trabaja en red, nuestros estados tienen todavía más obligación de trabajar unidos”, agregó De la Espriella.

Carlos Josue Marchena Marchena was found unresponsive Sept. 18 at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, ICE said in a statement. It said staff began lifesaving measures before he was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The man's sister, his girlfriend and a detainee held in the cell beside Marchena's told The Associated Press that he complained of missed meals and shots and not drinking enough water to control his type 1 diabetes as he was moved between facilities in multiple states. Marchena's condition worsened after he arrived at Winn, and he died less than a week later, his family said.

The official cause of death is pending further medical examination.

The correctional center had recently been found to have fallen short of federal standards, including for medical care, by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

Two other ICE detainees have died at the complex since April.

Nearly 60 ICE detainees have died since January 2025

Marchena is at least the 58th ICE detainee to die since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, according to tracking by AP. Immigrant advocates say the deaths are a sign that authorities are failing to properly oversee the detention of tens of thousands of immigrants swept up in the administration’s aggressive deportation strategy.

ICE said Marchena's medical care was appropriate. “Marchena received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals,” an agency statement said.

Sufficient food, water and insulin at regular intervals is crucial with type 1 diabetes for managing blood sugar levels to avoid a life-threatening health condition, said Dr. Rajesh Garg, who heads the diabetes unit at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

“If they are under any stress, then they need even more care and then they need to test their blood sugar at regular times,” Garg said. “If there isn’t proper food and water, that is going to stress his system.”

Scott Sutterfield, a spokesperson for LaSalle Corrections, the contractor managing the facility with the Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office, said the death is under review and declined to answer questions. He said the company is committed to “the highest standards of care.”

Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Winn Parish Coroner’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.

Medical examiners and coroners have ruled diabetes was a contributing factor in at least six of the ICE detainees' deaths during Trump’s second presidency. Detainees with diabetes have frequently complained in court filings of inconsistent access to insulin and other medications.

The deaths come amid mounting scrutiny of ICE detention facilities and whether they are medically neglecting detainees and forcing them to live in inhumane conditions, charges that ICE denies.

Detainee says man was vomiting and looking pale

Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General issued a report in June that said an unannounced inspection at Winn found violations of standards governing medical care, food service, use of force and other subjects. Among violations, it reported frozen food not being stored properly.

Medical staff at Winn failed to keep updated treatment documents and laboratory testing records, which could “negatively impact detainee health care and safety,” the report warned. It said ICE agreed with nine recommendations to improve conditions at Winn, and had implemented several of them.

Marchena's sister, Franciny Marchena, said her brother told her no one was checking his blood sugar levels to ensure they were stable.

“A person who is healthy and taking their diabetes medication has no reason to collapse the way my brother did,” she told AP, speaking in Spanish from Costa Rica.

His sister said his health began to worsen about two weeks ago when he was in an immigration detention center in Michigan and was put in a security cell after an argument with another detainee.

Detainee says man was vomiting and looking pale

After being transferred to Winn, Marchena told his sister and girlfriend that he had chest pain and was not getting enough to drink or eat, including because the food was sometimes spoiled. It was not known if he had an underlying heart condition.

Marchena also voiced these concerns to Luis Herrera Andy, a Honduran man detained at Winn in the adjacent cell, who noted Marchena only received irregular insulin shots.

A doctor gave Marchena pills for his chest pain but he returned angry, Herrera said, recalling his words: “This place is crap. They don’t help you with anything here. You could even die here."

The day before Marchena was found dead, he had stomach pain, headaches, chills, and was vomiting, Herrera said. He was a pale purple color and wet with sweat.

Hours before his death, Marchena's girlfriend Ana Leon Castro said, he called around midnight to say the pills weren't helping.

“All they gave him was a pill — that was it for the treatment,” Leon Castro said.

Cardiac arrest — when the heart suddenly stops pumping — can occur from too little or too much insulin in a diabetic person, said Garg at Harbor-UCLA. Vomiting, headaches, nausea and stomach pain are all symptoms that can indicate a life-threatening insulin deficiency, though there could be other causes such as an infection.

He leaves behind four children

Marchena was the first Costa Rican detainee to die in an ICE facility under Trump’s second presidency.

He entered the U.S. without legal status in February 2021, ICE said in a statement.

ICE said Marchena had prior misdemeanor convictions for retail fraud and property destruction before he was arrested in January by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department in Michigan for assault. In July, an immigration judge ordered him to be deported, according to DHS.

His sister Franciny said Marchena, who worked as a ride service driver and had four children, had requested bail and voluntary deportation to Costa Rica, but it was denied. ICE did not respond when asked about the denial.

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Pineda reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press reporter Ryan Foley contributed from Iowa.

Part runway show, part cultural performance, this year’s Vogue World highlighted Italian craftsmanship and human creativity in the age of artificial intelligence.

Donatella Versace sat alongside Gucci's Demna, Balenciaga's Pierpaolo Piccioli and Valentino's Alessandro Michele – the latter three having recently completed a game of fashion house musical chairs.

Miuccia Prada, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were also on hand for the event that celebrated the kind of handcraftsmanship that has put Italy at the center of luxury fashion. About half of the world’s luxury apparel, footwear and leather goods are produced in Italy.

Gigi Hadid opened the evening gliding through the arcade in a gold brocade gown celebrating the Italian Renaissance. Jennifer Lopez, arriving with designers Dolce and Gabbana, took a turn in a black evening dress. Supermodel Eva Herzegova led a tribute to the late Giorgio Armani, who died last September.

Many designer wears were recognizable as they blazed across the marble gallery floor on models, Italian celebrities and athletes — including trailing Moncler puffers, Prada’s banana-print button down shirt, a safety pin-cinched Versace evening gown, a Pucci print and a Bottega Veneta fiberglass coat.

Keys closed the evening performing in a beaded dress with a regal train under the Galleria's glass dome. Bolle, who performed with dancers from La Scala's academy, presented her with a rose.

Milan was the last of the four major fashion capitals to host the event, which launched in New York in 2022, followed by editions in London, Paris and Los Angeles. This edition raised money for a cultural center fostering fashion, music and artistic talent at the Quarto Oggiaro Library in northwestern Milan.

In a notice to Congress obtained by The Associated Press, the administration said the white South Africans faced seizures of their land and other forms of persecution and would be likely to assimilate when they come to America. The South African government has repeatedly rejected the idea that the white South Africans, who are Afrikaners, are a persecuted minority in the home country.

The Trump administration has dramatically altered a refugee program that historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support as it welcomed tens of thousands of refugees from countries around the world to new lives in America, and instead the administration has transformed it into a vehicle to resettle white South Africans in America.

The administration told Congress in the announcement that it intended to spend about $500 million to resettle the new arrivals to the U.S.

Organizations that have historically worked to resettle refugees in new homes in America criticized the administration's decision to once again limit the program to white South Africans.

“For more than four decades, America’s refugee program has provided a lifesaving pathway for people fleeing violence and persecution,” said Naomi Steinberg, HIAS vice president for refugee and immigration policy and advocacy, in a statement. “But again, this administration is diminishing and distorting this legacy in service of its political whims. That is why we will never stop speaking out for a return to a program that welcomes refugees from around the world who have been persecuted because of who they are and what they believe.”

Presidents set the cap on how many refugees the U.S. will approve through the program each year, and historically, they’ve allocated those numbers across various geographic regions while factoring in wars or conflicts that spark humanitarian needs around the globe. HIAS said an average of 92,000 people a year have been admitted to the U.S. since the program was launched in 1980.

Last year, the Trump administration initially set the cap at 7,500 — again predominantly Afrikaners — but later increased the total to 17,500 after it said that “unforeseen developments in South Africa created an emergency refugee situation.”

During his first administration, Trump slashed the number of refugees approved every year. The Biden administration built the system back up, setting a goal of admitting 125,000 refugees in Biden’s last year in office.

When Trump once again returned to the White House, he immediately suspended the refugee program, stranding people around the world who had been slated to come to the U.S. Then the administration reopened the program, but limited it to white South Africans.

Afrikaners are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first arrived in South Africa in the 17th century. They are just one of South Africa’s white minorities, which also include South Africans of British descent.

Afrikaners were at the heart of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa that lasted from 1948 until 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected as the country’s first Black president in the first democratic, all-race elections. Their leading role in apartheid has led to some lingering racial tensions, but Afrikaners have generally embraced their country’s new multiracial democracy just like most other South Africans.

Justice Elena Kagan denied the request from McKenna West, who was seeking conservatorship over a baby boy she gave birth to in Dallas.

The brief order did not detail the legal reasoning, as is typical in emergency appeals. The decision came from Kagan because she handles appeals of cases out of California.

Multiple courts have rejected West's efforts to have a say in the treatment of the child, who was born with a life-threatening heart condition. She gave birth to the boy in Dallas, where most abortions are banned, after she refused the couple's wishes to end the pregnancy.

West had asked the Supreme Court to halt a California court order that recognizes Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as the parents of the child whom she calls Gabriel and they call Rumi.

“We are truly grateful that Rumi can continue receiving the treatment he needs to survive, and that he will not be stripped away from what has been described by doctors as the excellent care of his parents," Adam Wolf, an attorney for the couple, said in a statement.

Attorneys for West did not immediately respond to phone calls and messages seeking comment.

Lawyers for the couple had urged the court to reject the request, questioning what an intervention would do for medical decision making at an already chaotic time. They also accused West of overstating the prognosis for children born with the heart condition.

“Such chaos would be devastating for Respondents and, most importantly, their child,” the couple told the court.

The legal battle over surrogacy and abortion has attracted the attention and support of Republican officeholders and anti-abortion groups. West has said she believes the couple will not provide life-saving care, citing their request for an abortion at 23 weeks. Gilkar and Ahmed have denied those claims.

The boy was born Aug. 12 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a life-threatening condition that prevents normal blood flow to the organ. He underwent surgery soon after he was born. The couple’s attorney said in August that the newborn had been in critical condition and appeared to be “suffering from potential complications.”

Without treatment, children affected by the heart defect can die within days or weeks. Surgical repairs are not necessarily cures, and additional surgeries or heart transplants may be needed, according to the CDC.

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Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Now, he's got a three-year deal in the dugout to produce better days ahead.

In a surprising change of direction, Green went from interim Mets manager to full-time skipper Tuesday when the club gave him a three-year contract. New York made the announcement before starting its final road trip of the season against the Texas Rangers.

“I think Andy is the perfect person for this job,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said at a pregame news conference in Arlington, Texas.

“I think Andy brings to us an ability to connect the organization in ways that very few people could. He allows us to connect front office to dugout. He allows us to connect minor league to major league, and he provides us a level of continuity that we need right now, and a level of stability and belief.”

Green, who managed the San Diego Padres from 2016-19, had been running New York's farm system before taking over as interim manager when Carlos Mendoza was fired in late June. At the time, Green said he wasn't particularly interested in becoming a manager again, citing the desire to keep spending time with his three daughters and saying he viewed his interim role on the bench as more of a responsibility to the club than a personal opportunity.

“At the outset, I wasn’t even entertaining that idea whatsoever,” Green said.

Stearns said Green would return to a front-office role after the season, a stance the executive stuck to even as the last-place Mets (71-85) improved their play on the field and several rookies who rose through the minors under Green such as Carson Benge and Nolan McLean flourished in the big leagues as well.

“Andy has connected with and pushed our players to perform, despite the disappointment of the season,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a statement. “Over the last several months he has brought discipline, accountability and positivity to the clubhouse, attributes we were seeking in our next manager.”

And even as the struggling Mets unloaded a bevy of veteran pitchers leading up to the Aug. 3 trade deadline, Green found himself enjoying the steep challenges of his job on the bench and in the clubhouse.

“It was a tough time. It was trade deadline, we weren’t necessarily winning baseball games. There was a lot of conversations that had to be had with players to help walk them through difficult chapters," Green said. "And I started thinking, if I have such a passion for the hard times, I’m looking forward to the good times.”

After he talked things over with his family, Green's wife and teenage daughters encouraged him to pursue managing full-time again if the opportunity arose.

“As time went on, it was just an overwhelming sense of joy and purpose being in the dugout and belief that something within me can help,” Green said. “So it became pretty obvious as time went on.”

Stearns said Green called him during the first week of September and let him know “his passions had changed,” and they were now in the dugout as manager.

“So that got my head spinning a little bit. I digested that over the course of the last couple of weeks. Andy and I have had a number of conversations,” Stearns said.

In the end, the Mets committed to Green and chose not to conduct a full search for a new manager this offseason as Stearns had said they would.

“I think it’s a wise decision, a good decision, and I’m looking forward to the next couple of years,” star shortstop Francisco Lindor said. "He’s made a good impact in the clubhouse.”

“Over the course of the season, it became evident that the next manager of the New York Mets was already in place,” Stearns said in a statement.

Coming into the season, the Mets had lofty expectations for a franchise without a World Series title since 1986. New York opened the season with baseball’s highest payroll at $358 million and was projected to pay an additional $124 million in luxury tax.

But the Mets underperformed early and were beset by injuries to Lindor, Juan Soto and others. They were 34-47 at the midpoint of the season when Mendoza was fired on June 26. The team is 37-38 since Green took over.

“The last three months I think there’s been progress,” he said. “We’ve got more to do.”

The 49-year-old Green, a former major league infielder, went 274-366 as Padres manager and finished with a losing record in all four seasons. Then he spent four seasons as a bench coach with the Chicago Cubs before joining the Mets in 2023 and serving as senior vice president of baseball development.

Now, he becomes the 26th manager in franchise history.

“Certainly when I came down here three months ago, didn’t anticipate this day at all. Wasn’t anything that I was thinking could happen," Green said.

“I think it’s just an indication of where my family has pivoted over the last three months. They’ve seen my passion rise and I think above anything else, it’s right to acknowledge the players in that clubhouse because they’ve rekindled in me a love that I had for being in the dugout."

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AP Baseball Writer Stephen Hawkins in Arlington, Texas, contributed to this report.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

And three days later, there were more. An olive ridley turtle — maybe the same one — laid eggs on Sept. 19, a few miles away near the Huntington Beach Pier in Orange County, authorities said.

“This is the first-ever recorded natural nesting for any sea turtle species” on the West Coast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s West Coast Fisheries division said on Facebook.

Olive ridley turtles are the smallest of sea turtles, with adults weighing up to 100 pounds (45.3 kilograms). NOAA said they're found worldwide but primarily in the tropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

The first nesting spot was near Seal Beach on Sept. 16, followed by the discovery at Huntington Beach. Both sites were subsequently fenced off. Incubation typically lasts 45 to 60 days, NOAA said.

“We’re excited about it,” said Trevor McDonald, marine safety chief at the Huntington Beach Fire Department.

Lifeguards patrolling at night saw a turtle digging in the sand and thought “maybe this turtle is sick. We just don't see this very often,” McDonald said. “Then they observed the turtle starting to lay eggs.”

Heidi Stephen said her 9-year-old son, Jude, begged her to take him to Huntington Beach to see the nest Tuesday.

“It's so magical,” Stephen said.

George Zamora said he hopes the eggs can survive any impact from tides, storms and popular beach events.

“Let them do their thing,” Zamora said. “Let them be born.”

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White reported from Detroit.

Each team announced the deal on Tuesday night.

The Hornets had acquired Finney-Smith and three second-round draft picks from the Houston Rockets earlier this offseason. Finney-Smith spent last season with Houston but played sparingly and the Rockets were simply looking to unload his contract.

Hield played 51 games last season for the Warriors and Hawks and averaged 7.6 points per game. Nembhard played in 60 games last season for the Mavericks, averaging 6.6 points and 5.3 assists per game.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Braden Peters, 20, is charged with rape, administering a substance for sexual intercourse and procuring alcohol for a person under 21 in the alleged May 23, 2025, assault in Chatham, according to court records. A clerk-magistrate found probable cause for the charges on Sept. 4, and a criminal complaint was issued Sept. 8.

Peters’ publicist did not immediately return an email request for comment Tuesday. Peters, who lives in Florida and is not in custody, is scheduled to be arraigned in Massachusetts on Oct. 14.

“We are not commenting at this time since the proper authorities are handling this,” said Andrew Moss, one of the teen’s attorneys.

The accuser told Chatham police that she and Peters began messaging on Instagram and that he later paid her to appear in “looksmaxxing” videos he streamed online. She said Peters knew she was 17 but that he told her to tell his viewers that she was 18 and that vodka he gave her was water, according to a police report.

On May 23, 2025, the girl said she took a rideshare from her grandparents’ home to Peters’ family home on Morris Island, a gated community of multimillion-dollar homes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. She told police she was greeted by Peters’ mother and grandmother before being escorted by Peters to his room, where he was livestreaming on Twitch.

She told police she drank what she believed amounted to two or three shots of vodka and became increasingly intoxicated. An officer who reviewed clips from Peters’ livestream said one showed the girl telling Peters, “Wait I’m so drunk though.” Peters responded, “It’s OK,” before the two kissed, according to the police report.

After the livestream ended, she said, they went to his bedroom, where she later fell asleep and awoke the next morning to Peters raping her.

The alleged assault was previously described in a lawsuit filed against Peters in Florida in April. An amended complaint filed in June accused Peters of sexual battery over the Cape Cod encounter. The lawsuit also accuses Peters of later injecting the girl with a fat-dissolving substance during a livestream without consent. Peters has denied the lawsuit’s allegations.

Peters, the face of the “looksmaxxing” trend, is a well-known social media and internet personality whose pursuit of achieving traditional attractiveness by any means necessary became the subject of intense interest and discourse early this year.

He livestreams his activities on close to a daily basis, often streaming his time at parties and clubs or talking with women. His largest followings are on TikTok, Instagram and the streaming platform Kick.

“Looksmaxxing” has origins that trace back to the “involuntary celibate” or “incel” community, an online subculture made of people, primarily men, who believe society unjustly denies them sexual or romantic attention. Peters has denied being linked to the group in any way and said many times that looksmaxxing is about self-improvement.

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Associated Press journalist Kaitlyn Huamani contributed from Los Angeles.

On two voter registration forms submitted to the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections, Valery Zidor falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen, according to federal prosecutors.

Zidor, who was born in Haiti, cast a ballot in the 2024 General Election in Miami-Dade, according to U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida.

“Election laws have meaning only if they are enforced,” Reding Quiñones said in a statement. “Working with HSI and our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and prosecute deliberate violations of federal election law.”

Zidor pleaded guilty to two counts of making a false claim of citizenship to vote and one count of voting by an alien. She faces up to five years in federal prison.

The second year of the deal, the 2028-29 season, is at Leonard's option, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Raptors have yet to announce that the contract has been finalized.

ESPN first reported the terms, which were later confirmed by The Toronto Star and other outlets.

Leonard, 35, led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title and is now locked into a new deal with a team with eyes on competing for another title. He is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Los Angeles Clippers in 65 games a year ago.

Leonard will make just over $50 million this season, the last year of his current contract. It was generally assumed that the Raptors would strike a deal to keep Leonard — a seven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP — soon after landing him in a trade with the Clippers.

The sides agreed to that trade in late June but didn't complete it until earlier this month, delaying the process because of the NBA's investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules on Leonard's behalf. The NBA found four deals that ran afoul of league rules, leading to a one-year suspension of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, the forfeiture of five first-round draft picks, suspensions of other team personnel and a $30 million fine.

Leonard was fined $700,000 by the league but is not facing any suspension.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Al detective Shmueal Mauda, de 36 años y también conocido como Sam Mauda, se le acusa, entre otras cosas, de usar la tarjeta de crédito de una persona fallecida para pagar unas vacaciones en Corea del Sur. Los registros muestran que los tres acusados comparecieron el lunes ante una corte federal en Fort Lauderdale.

Mauda, junto con sus presuntos cómplices Elisha Mauda, de 39 años, y Brent Small, de 58, podría pasar décadas en una prisión federal, después de que las autoridades señalaran que el grupo tenía como blanco a “víctimas de edad avanzada y fallecidas” en todo el país, entre ellas varios adultos mayores de más de 90 años.

Autoridades federales: el esquema apuntaba a víctimas vulnerables

En una denuncia penal federal, un agente especial del Servicio Secreto de EE.UU. escribió que los Mauda, residentes de Pembroke Pines, y Small, de Hollywood, robaban la identidad de las víctimas y canalizaban el dinero hacia empresas bajo su control. Las autoridades no han explicado qué parentesco podría haber entre los Mauda, pero señalaron que ambos viven cerca, en la misma calle.

Los tres fueron arrestados inicialmente en relación con un caso originado en Sedro-Woolley, un pequeño pueblo del estado de Washington, a unas 60 millas al norte de Seattle. Las autoridades de esa localidad acusaron al trío de estafar a un adulto mayor que vive allí y emitieron una orden de arresto por cargos estatales.

Según las autoridades, el grupo abría tarjetas de crédito a nombre de las víctimas o se apoderaba de cuentas existentes pero inactivas, todo a través de internet. El agente especial indicó que las víctimas, por lo general, no tenían acceso en línea a sus cuentas, por lo que no podían detectar el fraude a tiempo.

De acuerdo con la denuncia, el trío cambiaba la dirección de las cuentas de las víctimas a una vivienda ubicada en el 1400 NE 173rd St. en North Miami Beach. Según las autoridades, la casa pertenecía a Sky Realty FL LLC, una empresa con sede en Davie de la que Small era gerente y agente registrado.

Las tarjetas de crédito de las víctimas llegaban por correo a esa casa unifamiliar, a la que a veces se le añadía un número de apartamento falso “para burlar el software de detección de fraude de los bancos”, señalaron las autoridades.

Según la denuncia, investigadores encubiertos vieron a Small recogiendo la correspondencia en esa dirección.

Las autoridades acusan al grupo de usar las tarjetas para gastos personales y a los Mauda de desviar fondos a empresas que cada uno controlaba por separado.

En uno de los casos, según las autoridades, se usó la tarjeta de crédito de un hombre de Iowa de 97 años para pagar $9,513 en impuestos a la propiedad de la casa de North Miami Beach.

Entre las demás víctimas figuran otra persona de Iowa de 96 años, una de Indiana de 98 y otros nonagenarios cuyo estado de residencia no se especificó. Los agentes indicaron que también usaron la información de dos personas fallecidas, cuyas edades y lugar de residencia tampoco se detallaron.

La denuncia menciona además a un hombre de 85 años del estado de Washington al que le robaron $800,000 de su cuenta en Chase para saldar las tarjetas de crédito de las otras víctimas, lo que permitía seguir haciendo compras. No quedó claro de inmediato si se trata de la misma víctima del arresto original.

En uno de los casos, se acusa a Shmueal Mauda de usar una tarjeta de crédito a nombre de una víctima ya fallecida para pagar un viaje a Seúl, Corea del Sur.

Según la denuncia, Small declaró más tarde a los investigadores que los Mauda, para quienes había trabajado como contratista, “se ocupaban de él”, pagándole las cuentas, cubriéndole los gastos de viaje y, a menudo, dándole comida a cambio de su ayuda en el esquema.

Las autoridades sostienen que los cargos, retiros y transferencias suman más de $1.6 millones.

Arrestados los tres, uno de ellos a punto de abordar un avión

Según las autoridades, el 13 de agosto las autoridades del condado Skagit, en Washington, emitieron una orden de arresto contra Small y los Mauda.

Ese mismo día, la policía de Davie ejecutó órdenes de registro en direcciones del pueblo vinculadas a las empresas fraudulentas, así como en las casas de los Mauda en Pembroke Pines, en la cuadra 7300 del Northwest 17th Court, y en la casa de Small en Hollywood, en la cuadra 1700 de Wiley Street, según la denuncia.

La policía indicó que detuvo a Small y a Shmueal Mauda poco después de los allanamientos. Horas más tarde, según la denuncia, recibió una alerta de viaje que indicaba que Elisha Mauda había comprado un boleto de ida a Bogotá, Colombia.

De acuerdo con la denuncia, las autoridades detuvieron a Elisha Mauda en la pasarela de abordaje del aeropuerto de Fort Lauderdale cuando estaba a punto de subir al avión.

Según los agentes, Small admitió haber participado en el esquema y reconoció que de vez en cuando usaba esas tarjetas para compras pequeñas con el permiso de Elisha Mauda, pero aseguró que la única actividad delictiva de la que tenía conocimiento era el uso de tarjetas que no estaban a su nombre.

Sin embargo, los agentes afirmaron que Small también admitió haber abierto y administrado ciertas cuentas bancarias siguiendo instrucciones de Elisha Mauda, y que tenía varias computadoras en su casa, con un servicio de internet pagado por este.

Según la denuncia, Shmueal Mauda reconoció que controlaba una de las empresas y sus cuentas bancarias, pero negó haber usado una cuenta que recibió dinero producto del fraude. Las autoridades indicaron que se negó a decirles a los investigadores quién más tenía acceso a la cuenta.

Elisha Mauda, por su parte, se negó a declarar, según las autoridades.

Tras su arresto, el Departamento de Policía de Miami Shores suspendió a Shmueal Mauda sin goce de sueldo.

Lo que sigue

Los tres hombres enfrentan ahora cargos de conspiración para cometer fraude electrónico y fraude bancario, fraude electrónico, fraude bancario y robo de identidad agravado.

Si son declarados culpables de los cuatro cargos y reciben las penas máximas de forma consecutiva, podrían pasar el resto de su vida en una prisión federal, ya que tres de los cargos conllevan penas de hasta 30 años cada uno.

Chris Cavallo y Jayne Weintraub, abogados de Elisha Mauda, dijeron el martes en un breve comunicado que su cliente “mantiene su inocencia y espera limpiar su nombre en la corte”.

Hasta el momento de la publicación, el martes, el abogado de Shmueal Mauda no había respondido a una solicitud de comentarios, mientras que el formulario de comparecencia inicial de Small no indicaba ningún abogado.

Los tres deberán regresar a la corte federal de Fort Lauderdale el próximo martes para las audiencias de detención preventiva, y la lectura formal de cargos está programada para el 5 de octubre.

Según los registros, hasta el martes Elisha Mauda y Small estaban detenidos en el centro de detención Joseph V. Conte de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward, en Pompano Beach, mientras que Shmueal Mauda permanecía en la Cárcel Principal de BSO, en Fort Lauderdale.

This week, a smiling Trump patted on the shoulder one of the nation's best known democratic socialists, shook his hand, and said he was “off to a start” to being a great mayor of the country's largest city.

Trump's cozy relationship with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, which began last year, has confounded people across the political spectrum. But with the midterms approaching, Republicans are increasingly frustrated by the unexpected bromance, which threatens the party's message about Democratic radicalism.

“You’re trying to say, ‘Here’s how extreme they are,' and the president’s saying, ’I love this guy,” said veteran Republican strategist Doug Heye. “It doesn’t help.”

It's hard to overstate the extent to which Republicans are focused on the rise of democratic socialism in the midterm season. At a moment when the party is saddled with Trump's weak approval ratings on virtually every major issue — the economy and the war in Iran chief among them — Republicans from Georgia and Texas to New York and Michigan are working to scare voters away from Democratic candidates by warning that the party is controlled by far-left extremists.

At Trump's unusual midterm convention in Texas earlier in the month, Mamdani's name was invoked over and over again.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the New York mayor “Comrade Mamdani.” Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, called him "Mamdani the commie.”

Trump sent a similar message although he didn't mention Mamdani.

“They call themselves Democrat socialists, but actually they’re communists,” he said in his keynote address. “They’re crazy.”

In all, the words socialist or socialism were referenced dozens of times during the convention.

Trump did not mention those words while standing alongside Mamdani in New York on Monday, however. The president was in town for the United Nations General Assembly and made time to swing by Gracie Mansion.

Instead, the president highlighted efforts underway to work together, noting that he's worked with numerous mayors over the years — “some great ones and some not so great ones.”

“Hopefully you’re going to be a great one,” Trump said while looking at Mamdani. “I’ll be able to say you’re going to be a great one. And you’re off to a start.”

Trump grew up in Queens, which Mamdani represented in the New York Assembly before running for mayor and winning a startling upset. He has since expanded his political power in the city, helping to push three candidates to victory in Democratic congressional primaries earlier this year.

It's possible that Trump's tone on Mamdani will shift again. After they had two surprisingly convivial meetings in the Oval Office, Trump started criticizing the mayor again.

“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance!” Trump wrote on social media in April in apparent response to a plan to create a new tax on luxury second homes in the city. “The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG.”

Republicans in New York were quick to downplay the latest example of Trump's friendliness with Mamdani.

David Laska, a spokesperson for the New York Republican Party, said “President Trump is the greatest dealmaker in history, and he has proven repeatedly that he can deal from a position of strength with America’s enemies, be they foreign dictators or the mayor of New York City.”

Mamdani faced his own questions about why he was playing nice with a president that he's previously described as a fascist.

“The president and I have both been very frank about the many disagreements that we have,” he said Monday. "I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly, anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city."

Detective Shmueal Mauda, a 36-year-old lawman also known as Sam Mauda, is accused of ― among other things ― using a dead person’s credit card to pay for a vacation to South Korea. Records show all three made appearances in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Monday.

He joins alleged accomplices Elisha Mauda, 39, and Brent Small, 58, in staring down the possibility of decades in federal prison after authorities said they targeted “elderly and deceased victims” across the country, including multiple seniors in their 90s.

Feds: Scheme targeted vulnerable victims

In a federal criminal complaint, a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service wrote that the Maudas, of Pembroke Pines, and Small, of Hollywood, stole victims’ identities and funneled money to companies they controlled. Authorities have not elaborated on how the Maudas may be related, but noted that the two live close on the same street.

All three were initially arrested in connection with a case originating from the small town of Sedro-Woolley, Washington, about 60 miles north of Seattle. Authorities there accused the trio of victimizing a senior living there, issuing a warrant on state charges.

Authorities said the group would “open credit cards in the victims’ names or ‘take over’ existing, but dormant, accounts in the victims’ names,” conducting everything online. The victims, a special agent noted, “generally did not have online access and therefore could not promptly detect the fraud.”

According to the complaint, the trio changed the victims’ account addresses to a home at 1400 NE 173rd St. in North Miami Beach. The home, authorities said, was owned by a Davie-based company called Sky Realty FL LLC, for which Small was the manager and registered agent.

Authorities said victims’ credit cards would be mailed to the single-family home, which sometimes had a fake apartment number attached “as a means of thwarting banks’ fraud detection software.”

According to the complaint, undercover investigators saw Small “retrieving mail” from the address.

Authorities accuse the group of using the credit cards for personal expenses and accused the Maudas of funneling funds to separate companies each controlled.

In one case, authorities said a 97-year-old Iowan’s credit card was used to make a $9,513 property tax payment on the North Miami Beach home.

Other victims included a 96-year-old fellow Iowan, a 98-year-old from Indiana and other nonagenarians whose states of residence weren’t specified. Agents said they also used information belonging to two dead victims, whose ages nor states of residence were specified.

The complaint also references an 85-year-old from Washington state who had $800,000 stolen from his Chase account to pay down balances on the other victims’ credit cards, allowing for additional purchases. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that was the same victim from the original arrest.

In one case, Shmueal Mauda is accused of using a credit card in the name of an already-dead victim to pay for a trip to Seoul, South Korea.

Small would later tell investigators that the Maudas, whom he had worked for as a contractor, “took care of him, including paying his bills, covering travel expenses, and often providing him with food,” in exchange for his assistance in the scheme, the complaint states.

The charges, withdrawals and transfers added up to more than $1.6 million, authorities allege.

The complaint does not state how investigators believe the three obtained the victims’ information.

Trio arrested, including 1 on FLL jet bridge

Authorities said on Aug. 13, authorities in Skagit County, Washington issued an arrest warrant for Small and the Maudas.

That same day, Davie police executed search warrants at addresses in the town associated with the fraudulent companies, as well as the Maudas’ Pembroke Pines homes in the 7300 block of Northwest 17th Court and Small’s Hollywood home in the 1700 block of Wiley Street, according to the complaint.

Police said they took Small and Shmueal Mauda into custody soon after the raids. They said hours after executing the warrants, they received a travel alert that Elisha Mauda had booked a one-way plane ticket to Bogota, Colombia, the complaint states.

The complaint states that authorities stopped Elisha Mauda “on the jet bridge at the Fort Lauderdale airport” as he was about to get on the flight.

Small, agents said, admitted to a role in the scheme and admitted “that he occasionally used those cards for minor purchases when given permission” by Elisha Mauda, but claimed “the only criminal activity he was aware of” was using cards not in his name.

But agents said Small also admitted that he “opened and maintained certain bank accounts” at Elisha Mauda’s direction and had multiple computers in his home, with internet paid for by Elisha Mauda.

According to the complaint, Shmueal Mauda acknowledged controlling one of the companies and its bank accounts but denied using an account that received fraudulent proceeds. Authorities said he declined to tell investigators who else had account access.

They said Elisha Mauda declined to provide a statement.

Shmueal Mauda was placed on unpaid leave by the Miami Shores Police Department following his arrest.

What’s next

All three men now face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The trio could spend the rest of their lives in federal prison if convicted of all four counts and sentenced to the maximum prison terms consecutively, with three of the charges each carrying potential 30-year penalties.

Chris Cavallo and Jayne Weintraub, attorneys for Elisha Mauda, said in a brief statement on Tuesday that their client “maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Shmueal Mauda’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment as of publication on Tuesday, while Small’s initial appearance form did not list an attorney.

The men are set to be back in Fort Lauderdale federal court for pre-trial detention hearings next Tuesday, with arraignment hearings scheduled for Oct. 5.

Records show that as of Tuesday, Elisha Mauda and Small were being held at the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s Joseph V. Conte jail facility in Pompano Beach, while Shmueal Mauda was being held at BSO’s Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale.

Air Chief Marshal Sir John Stringer spoke to The Associated Press at a security conference in Estonia amid warnings from some European leaders that Moscow is planning to test NATO's collective defense pact with bolder attacks that have already included sabotage and espionage.

Stringer warned that NATO members need to be aware of the “febrile environment” and be careful in their response because Putin would like to provoke the alliance into an “overreaction.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week that Russia might target NATO nations with deliberate drone or missile strikes while claiming they were accidental. French President Emmanuel Macron agreed and has asked his government to prepare a plan to protect critical infrastructure against potential drone attacks and cyberattacks.

Other European officials say the threat from Russia is serious but have called for calm.

A British defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, said the U.K. assessment is that Putin is not seeking direct confrontation with NATO. Officials in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which border Russia, also have been more cautious about the prospect of a serious escalation after years of calling on Western nations to adopt a more hawkish approach to Moscow.

“Ukraine is fighting. Russia is absorbed in Ukraine. We do not observe any buildup near our borders. And from that part, I think that most would agree that the perspective of direct military attack is not correct,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics told a small group of reporters late Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, dismissed any concerns that Russia may be testing the transatlantic military alliance, telling the AP following a panel discussion in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday evening that “Putin does not want a conflict with NATO.”

He said drone incursions into countries like Romania or Poland were largely the result of electronic warfare and unintentional but noted that hybrid activities like sabotage "are more concerning." Whitaker also warned against “overreacting” because “that’s exactly what I think our adversaries would want or hope for.”

European countries have already faced multiple incursions of Russian drones — and several missiles — as well as a campaign of covert Russian disruption which began after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

An AP interactive map tracking that campaign shows the escalation, from 59 incidents in March 2025 to more than 210 incidents ranging from vandalism, propaganda and influence operations to arson, sabotage and cyberattacks.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the AP in Iowa that Putin “knows that the United States and Europe are totally intertwined.”

“We have to make sure that we are prepared, we are strong, and he knows it. And if he does anything silly, he knows our reaction will be tough,” Rutte said.

Russia is already testing NATO defenses

In August, German officials accused Moscow of being behind a plot at Leipzig airport where a drone with explosives was found next to a Ukrainian plane laden with jet fuel. Last month, British officials said they disrupted a Russian plot to sabotage a drone factory outside London. In August, an Estonian defense company was set on fire and a weapons storage facility in Bulgaria exploded, though neither has been publicly attributed to Russia.

Many saboteurs have been recruited online by Russia's intelligence services and some have no idea they are working for Moscow. That makes uncovering a plot challenging and attribution often difficult. When asked by the AP in May if Russia was waging a covert campaign against the West, Putin responded: “Name one proven fact.”

The line between “accidental and deliberate is quite a fine one,” Stringer said, referring to incursions of drones sent off course into NATO airspace by Russian GPS jamming or other electronic countermeasures to defend against Ukrainian drone strikes.

It would be possible for Russia to escalate that activity but it does not mean Moscow has decided to do so, said Stringer, NATO's deputy supreme allied commander for Europe.

While there are “a lot of different opinions as to how acute the threat is ... Russia’s attitude towards negligence” and deliberately targeting NATO neighbors "is almost the same,” Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told AP at the security conference.

Both Stringer and Michal suggested the increase in covert attacks by Moscow was not because of a failure by NATO nations to stop them but as a direct consequence of Western support for Ukraine.

Putin is trying to break NATO support for Ukraine, leaders say

Putin, Stringer said, is “looking at a whole number of things” to try to create division between NATO allies because his campaign in Ukraine is going badly.

Michal likened the Russian leader to a “rat in the corner," who is escalating activity in Europe in an attempt to break Western support for Kyiv at a time when Moscow is under pressure.

Russia’s gains on the front lines in Ukraine have been slow and at a steep cost of more than half a million dead, even as Kyiv's deep-strike campaign targeting the country’s energy industry has caused fuel shortages in 80 of 83 Russian regions, Air Chief Marshall Sir Richard Knighton, chief of the U.K.'s defense staff, said earlier this month. Still, there's no suggestion the Russian leader is backing away from his goals in Ukraine.

Baltic leaders like Rinkevics argue that Moscow will dig even deeper now as winter is approaching, saying that attacks on infrastructure are likely to increase over the next several months and that any possibility of diplomatic progress will likely not be seen until the spring.

Putin is trying to undermine NATO’s collective defense pact by testing nations with covert attacks that are hard to attribute, Michal said.

But the Estonian leader said it's currently “improbable,” that Putin will launch a conventional military attack on Europe because of the threat of a NATO response and because his forces are tied down in Ukraine.

The high level of malign activity from Russia is “here to stay” until Putin changes his military goals, Michal said, adding that the best way to deter him is to “back Ukraine.”

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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.

Along with issues ranging from artificial intelligence security to Iran, Trump is expected to raise with Chinese leader Xi Jinping the cases of Chen, 54, and Min Zin, 53, the only two American citizens considered by the U.S. government to be wrongfully detained in China.

“When he’s personally involved in such cases, Americans come back home. That’s what I've learned,” Yufang Rong told The Associated Press in an interview in Washington on Tuesday, a day before Xi's arrival.

Trump spoke with Xi about Chen when the U.S. president was in Beijing in May, Rong said, and if Trump mentions the case again this week, “I’m sure ... this case would be solved soon."

The White House has said Trump wants every American detained abroad to return home. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a question about the cases of both men, whose families have traveled to Washington to meet senior U.S. officials ahead of Xi's visit.

Wife of detained American says seismologist has ‘done nothing wrong’

Chen, who was born in China and moved to the U.S. in 1998 for academic pursuits, was detained in November 2024 by China’s state security agents when he was wrapping up a personal trip to visit his parents in Beijing, Rong said.

Chen, who studies the Earth and earthquakes and is based in Boston, was stopped at an airport and was later charged with espionage, a charge the family denies. “He has done nothing wrong,” Rong said.

Chen's work is open and transparent, and he has collaborated with scientists around the world, including those in China, Rong said. She said his detention came as an utter shock.

“No one had expected such a thing would happen to him. He is a seismologist. He has been doing his research during his entire career,” Rong said.

Chen also studies nuclear tests, including those in North Korea, his wife said.

“He can use data to detect if something (that happens) underground is a natural earthquake or is a nuclear explosion. And he can, using his methodologies, he can estimate the size of the nuclear explosion,” Rong said, speculating that Beijing might have targeted Chen for his expertise.

Chen works for the Florida-based consulting firm EMR Solutions & Technology, through which he’s done contract work for the U.S. government, much of it involving collaborating with Chinese colleagues to analyze seismological data, said Eric Lebson of Global Reach, a Washington-based nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing home Americans wrongly detained abroad.

Chen only works on open research and has no security clearance, said Lebson, whose group is advising the family.

Since his detention, Rong said she has never had direct contact with Chen but learned about his condition through U.S. consular officials who periodically visit the scientist.

Through notes dictated to those consular officials, Chen has told his wife not to worry about him and even still conveys how to handle mundane household chores such as changing air conditioning filters.

“But I know he is going through such unthinkable difficulties,” Rong said. “It's very hard to read his message each time.”

“I really worry about his health — mental health and physical health,” she said. “He has a lot of medical conditions: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol level. I don't think he has access to the medication that he used to have in the U.S.”

US lawmakers call for the release of Chen and others who have been detained

The other wrongfully detained U.S. citizen in China is Min Zin, a scholar of Myanmar politics who was detained in June when traveling to the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming for an academic workshop.

He's held on suspicion of endangering national security, according to his wife, Sylvia Zin.

A group of American lawmakers introduced a bipartisan resolution last week condemning China's wrongful detention of the U.S. scholars and urging the U.S. government to prioritize their safe return.

“It is my hope that this bipartisan resolution from the United States Congress will bring increased attention to the unjust detention of Dr. Youlin Chen and Min Zin and force the Chinese government to do the right thing and release them immediately,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D.-Mass., who represents Chen's home state.

Some lawmakers also expressed hope that Trump could bring up with Xi other detentions in China, including those of activists, Christians and members of ethnic minorities.

An updated roster will be released later in the week.

Sanders, the coach of the Buffaloes, didn't specify which players were no longer with the program but indicated it was for a pattern of behavior and not just what transpired in a 41-7 loss at Northwestern.

“It's never one thing,” Sanders said. “Those guys will tell you: I’m the most loving, giving and forgiving man you can ever meet. But when you start being conduct detrimental to the team that will set us back in things that you’re doing — you don’t care about the team. You care about you. I have a problem with that.”

Sanders referenced last season when things went sideways and the team finished 3-9.

“A year ago, I didn’t put my foot down in it enough,” he said. “It lingered a little bit. Then, it imploded. I’m not doing that. I'm not doing that anymore.”

Defensive back Ben Finneseth spoke to reporters before Sanders and apologized on behalf of the team in regard to negative comments caught on video about Northwestern’s temporary stadium. A player in a video posted on social media can be heard saying, “(expletive) sounds like a (expletive) library. It’s football.”

Finneseth said Tuesday: “It was childish. It was a stupid thing that I said. It won’t happen again, and the way I handled it was horrible. I promise you guys that it will not happen again, and it will be much more mature moving forward. So I apologize.”

Before Finneseth left, Sanders shook his hand and added, “that’s why I love you.”

Sanders expressed his frustration Saturday night and acknowledged that he got on a few players for their reaction after the loss. He said: “I don’t understand how you can have joy in a loss, especially when I’m upset and I’m walking right behind you.”

The coach took accountability, too.

“I don’t push the buck and push the blame on anyone else. It’s on me,” Sanders said Tuesday. “We want to win the right way, and we want to do what’s right. But the whole thing is about winning. We don’t want to ever employ a losing type of sentiment. We don’t want to do things that are associated with losers and bad-mouth opponents and do that kind of stuff. That’s not who we are.”

The Buffaloes (2-1) are trying to rebound after a game in which they had four turnovers and committed nine penalties for 80 yards.

“A loss by 10, a loss by three, a loss by 30 — it hurts me. There’s no degrees of loss,” Sanders said. “Like, there’s no degrees of sin. A sin is a sin. A loss is a loss to me."

Sanders is putting everything under a microscope as the Buffaloes prepare for Saturday's game at Baylor. At the top of the list: penalties.

Colorado has 28 penalties for 247 yards so far this season. It's frustrating to Sanders, who pointed out the team is disciplined in everything it does on the practice field.

“Then when you get out from the field and you’re undisciplined, I don’t understand,” Sanders said. "It’s hard to fathom.

"We’re challenging them to be who they say they want to be.”

The message hit home for players such as linebacker Tyler Martinez, who recently received a “D” patch — it stands for “Dawg” — from the coaching staff for being a playmaker.

“It's hard to see somebody go,” Martinez said of the dismissals. “Like Coach Prime said, it's about the team. If you're about yourself, got to do what's best for us.”

Sanders had several leaders approach him about how to get ahead of this so more dismissals don't occur. They want to help stay on top of the situation.

“I applaud them for that," Sanders said, "coming to me ready to get ahead of it.”

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Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was back in a federal detention center Tuesday after being treated and released at a hospital for a second time since he was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Sunday in Austin, according to his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.

Austin police on Tuesday released body camera footage showing Garces Perez hunching over in the front seat of his car and grabbing his shoulder and rocking back and forth after the shooting. An officer later cut off Perez's shirt, and a wound can be seen in his upper back.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas said he planned to visit Garces Perez on Wednesday to “check on his condition and demand his release.” The Department of Homeland Security defended Garces Perez's treatment and its operations, saying ICE would not slow down or leave Austin.

Castro has joined other Democrats in sharply criticizing the shooting, which came amid a surge in enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term. The encounter has sparked protests in Austin, including a gathering outside the Texas Capitol on Monday night.

Judge sets court hearing for Garces Perez

Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery Sunday afternoon when ICE officers in an unmarked truck sideswiped his car twice, Lincoln-Goldfinch has said. He was shot and taken to a hospital, then released into ICE custody with a bullet still in his back, she said.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered Garces Perez to appear in person at a hearing Sept. 30 in San Antonio in response to a lawsuit filed by his attorney, who is seeking to stop attempts to remove him from the country. In the order, Garcia wrote that “petitioner must be present at the hearing.”

In court filings, Garces Perez’s lawyers said he was forced to sleep on a cement floor at an ICE temporary processing center before being transferred to a detention center in the rural town of Pearsall. They also alleged that he was questioned without an attorney present.

Garces Perez entered the U.S. in 2024 using CBP One, a program begun under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to make appointments with U.S. authorities to be considered for asylum, Lincoln-Goldfinch said. President Donald Trump ended the program on his first day in office.

Garces Perez was an asylum seeker and had a valid work permit, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch. She said a judge issued a deportation order after the man missed an immigration court hearing because the notice was sent to a former address.

Austin police release body camera footage

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Tuesday that an off-duty detective reported the incident after witnessing and recording black SUVs surrounding a dark blue Toyota Corolla. Ten to fifteen minutes later, Davis said, he takes a video where three gunshots and sirens can be heard.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday about whether the federal officer who shot Garces Perez was wearing a body-worn camera. Davis said she did not know whether federal officers on the scene were wearing body cameras.

ICE has said its field officers nationwide will have body-worn cameras by the end of September.

Davis said there was a pursuit that went through some side neighborhoods that ended on a side street about 200 yards (meters) from where Perez was eventually shot. The body worn camera videos released by Austin police do not show what led up to the shooting. The body warn camera footage begins with an officer walking up to Garces Perez's car after the shooting and interacting with federal officers on the scene.

The videos are partially muted, and Garces Perez is speaking Spanish to the officers. State troopers are also on the scene. An officer asks one of the federal officers if Garces Perez is under arrest and is told yes.

On Monday, Perez called into a news conference and told reporters he had received no pain medication and slept on the floor. DHS said in a statement Tuesday that Garces Perez was receiving medical care “around the clock, including pain medication" and had slept on a bed.

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Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Osiris, a 26-year-old female whale, died on Monday, Chicago's Shedd Aquarium said in a statement. The death comes less than a week after a fourth beluga, named Jelly Bean, died since it was rehomed at Oceanogràfic de València in Spain.

The deaths were sudden and unexpected as their health wavered amid the challenges of adjusting to a new home, according to statements from the aquariums.

Beluga whales are particularly vulnerable to changes in their environment, like climate change, pollution and other sources of stress, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Beluga whales native to the Cook Inlet on Alaska's coast are classified as an endangered species, and their population rapidly declined by nearly 80% from 1979 to 2018.

“When Shedd was asked to help with this rescue, we understood that these animals arrived with significant vulnerabilities and that the outcome for every individual could not be guaranteed,” the Shedd Aquarium said in a statement.

The belugas struggled to adapt to the aquarium

The Shedd Aquarium took in 10 of the 30 belugas and four dolphins stranded at Marineland, an Ontario park that closed years ago and could no longer care for them. The Canadian government signed off on a last-minute agreement to move its last captive whales out of the country earlier this year, saving them from euthanasia.

The belugas came from the Marineland park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which announced in early 2023 that it was for sale and closed to the public in late summer 2024. Twenty whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — had died at Marineland since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom of information laws and official statements.

The rescued belugas were moved in custom-made slings and temperature-controlled containers, Shedd staff told The Associated Press. Aquarium personnel traveled to Marineland to examine their health records in preparation for the move. They have monitored their health minute-by-minute since they arrived, the aquarium staff said.

Peekachu and Rain died at the Shedd in late August and early September after arriving from Canada. Another beluga that had lived at the aquarium for decades died around the same time.

Osiris was a “whale of clinical concern” since she arrived, according to the aquarium. The whale did not eat as consistently as her fellow animals, which complicated the efforts to keep her well-fed and hydrated, according to the statement.

“Osiris experienced periods of meaningful progress, both nutritionally and socially, but her overall condition remained closely monitored,” the aquarium stated.

Osiris' caretakers noticed sudden changes in her behavior and breathing patterns the morning of her death, according to the aquarium. She was moved to the medical habitat, but “her condition declined rapidly,” and she “passed away despite lifesaving efforts.”

A beluga sent to Spain died suddenly

Jelly Bean, the whale that died at Oceanogràfic de València, also died “suddenly and unexpectedly,” according to José Rafael Serra, a spokesperson for the facility. The whale “experienced feeding difficulties, prompting the veterinary team to intensify her monitoring,” despite periods of improvement, Serra said in an email.

The Spanish aquarium took in two of Marineland's beluga whales, including Jelly Bean. The Georgia Aquarium and SeaWorld locations in San Diego and San Antonio have also accepted whales from the Canadian park.

The two rescued whales at the Georgia Aquarium showed decreased appetites and were examined, but no issues were found, the aquarium said in a social media post Friday. The whales at SeaWorld are in “stable health,” according to AnneMarie Iturrizaga, a spokesperson for the company that owns the parks.

The Shedd Aquarium notified the NOAA of Osiris’ death Monday, according to John Chu, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries. Within 30 days of the whales’ deaths, the aquarium must formally submit their names and causes of death, and on request, provide copies of necropsy reports, Chu said in an email earlier this month.

The Shedd Aquarium said it will conduct necropsies into the whales and will share the results when they are confirmed.

Andrew Trites, the director of the University of British Columbia’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, said it was concerning that the four belugas had died “so shortly after arriving in their new homes."

The belugas were in small, confined spaces on the flights out of Marineland, but that's not out of the ordinary for them, Trites said. The whales often swim in narrow spaces between sheets of ice, and “should be reasonably well adapted to that sort of condition,” he said.

“Four animals have died so shortly after arriving in the new homes, and that’s what stands out to me as being surprising," Trites said.

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Mayes-Osterman reported from Chicago, and Associated Press reporter Ryan J. Foley contributed. Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.