Victory restaurant and lounge in Miami’s Midtown area was ordered shut for the second time with inspectors finding a dead rodent and dozens of rodent droppings.

A well-known name, Golden Corral in Hialeah, was also closed after inspectors found live and dead roaches, rodent droppings and food being held at unsafe temperatures.

And for the first time on dirty dining, a rehabilitation facility, Club Fellowship in South Miami-Dade was ordered shut after inspectors found rodent droppings, dozens of live roaches and other violations.

All three will be allowed to reopen following a re-inspection that finds the problems have been corrected and the kitchens meet state standards.

Below is a list of the specific violations.

**VICTORY RESTAURANT & LOUNGE

MIDTOWN MIAMI

3252 NE 1ST AVE

MIAMI

INSPECTION BASED ON COMPLAINT

ORDERED SHUT 9/14

17 VIOLATIONS FOUND

ALSO ORDERED SHUT 7/7(RODENT ISSUE)

“Dead rodent present. Observed a dead rodent at second floor storage next to freezer upstairs.”

“Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed approximately 25+ droppings at second floor storage near stairs. Observed approximately 10+ droppings at second floor by AC unit pipes. Next to freezer upstairs storage. Repeat Violation.”

“Dead roaches on premises. Observed one dead roach at storage by stairs.”

“Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Observed can opener soiled at prep table.’

“Floor soiled/has accumulation of debris. Observed floor under counter soiled by bar area hookah.”

“Nonfood-contact surface soiled with grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust. Observed reach in cooler across cook line soiled.”

“Carbon dioxide/helium tanks not adequately secured. Observed second floor storage by alcohol storage. Repeat Violation.”

“Employee beverage container on a food preparation table or over/next to clean equipment/utensils. Observed employee drink container stored by dishwasher.”

“Employee with no hair restraint while engaging in food preparation.”

“Equipment in poor repair. Observed reach in cooler gaskets torn at drawers by cook line.”

“Floor area(s) covered with standing water. Observed standing water at floor by bar area. Repeat Violation.”

“Straws provided for customer self-service not individually wrapped or in an approved dispenser. Observed straws provided for customer self-service not individually wrapped at bar area. Employee stored properly. Repeat Violation.”

“Raw animal foods not properly separated from each other in holding unit based upon minimum required cooking temperature. Observed raw chicken container stored over raw lamb container at walk in cooler.”

“Handwash sink used for purposes other than handwashing. Observed hand sink at hookah bar area used as a dump sink. Repeat Violation.”

“No currently certified food service manager on duty with four or more employees engaged in food preparation/handling.”

“No measuring device available for measuring utensil surface temperature when using hot water as sanitizer in a dish machine.”

“Ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for safety food prepared onsite and held more than 24 hours not properly date marked. Observed cooked white rice stored inside walk in cooler not dated.”

**CLUB FELLOWSHIP

(REHABITITATION CENTER)

9827 EAST HIBISCUS STREET

MIAMI

ORDERED SHUT 9/14

8 VIOLATIONS FOUND

“Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed more than 30 rodent droppings on the floor of the kitchen area, close to the reach in cooler by the kitchen entrance.”

“Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed approximately 18 live roaches crawling on the kitchen floor under the rubber matt. Observed another 6 live roaches crawling on the floor of the kitchen by the oven.”

“Dead roaches on premises. Observed 6 dead roaches on the floor of the kitchen area.”

“Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Observed can opener soiled.”

“Employee wearing jewelry other than a plain ring on their hands/arms while preparing food. Observed employee wearing a watch while engaged in food preparation.”

“No handwashing sign provided at a hand sink used by food employees. Observed at the kitchen area.”

“Water draining onto floor surface. Observed the water of the dishwasher machine dumped onto the floor of the kitchen area due to improper sewage disposal.”

“Non-pitting surface rust on food-contact equipment. Observed a rust shelf by the 3 compartment sink.”

**GOLDEN CORRAL

1734 WEST 49TH ST.

HIALEAH

ORDERED SHUT 9/14

11 VIOLATIONS FOUND

“Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Observed approximately 6 rodent droppings under hot holding units at buffet.”

““Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. Observed 2 live roach crawling on hot food dispenser at buffet line. Also observed 2 live roaches crawling under rack by dishwashing area. Observed 2 live roaches at kitchen/preparation area.”

“Dead roaches on premises. Observed 1 dead roach on dishwasher drain board. Observed 1 dead roach on floor at meat room. Observed approximately 3 dead roaches under equipment at kitchen/ preparation area.

“Accumulation of dead or trapped birds, insects, rodents, or other pests, in control devices. Observed approximately 10 dead roaches on device inside hot holding unit at buffet line. Observed approximately 8 dead roaches on device on cold holding unit at buffet line.”

“Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime. Observed soiled with food debris and grease waffles maker at buffet line.”

“Accumulation of debris on exterior of ware washing machine.”

“Nonfood-contact surface soiled with grease, food debris, dirt, slime or dust. Observed soiled with food debris gasket on unit at pizza assembly. Observed soiled with food debris and grease cans rack at kitchen area.”

“Reach-in cooler interior/shelves have accumulation of soil residues. Observed soiled with food debris shelves at walk in cooler.”

“Dented/rusted cans present. See stop sale. Observed 2 rusted tomatillo sauce cans and five dented and rusted creamy mushroom sauce cans on rack at kitchen area, operator discarded during inspection.”

“Time/temperature control for safety food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Observed hush puppies mix (58F - Cold Holding) in reach in cooler across fryer, as per operator less than 1 hour due preparation, operator moved to walk in cooler for rapid cooling. Also observed Buffet line: potato salad(46F - Cold Holding); chicken salad (45F - Cold Holding); coleslaw (45F - Cold Holding); cut melon (46F - Cold Holding) as per opera less than 2 hours, operator moved to walk in cooler and add ice for rapid cooling.”

“Time/temperature control for safety food, other than whole meat roast, hot held at less than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Observed baked potatoes (128F - Hot Holding) on standing unit at kitchen area, as per operator less than 1 hour, operator proceed to reheated.”

Police surrounded the demonstrators outside the Caglayan courthouse before detaining them.

On Sunday, Turkish authorities cracked down on multiple LGBTQ+ groups and individuals, detaining dozens of members, breaking into association offices and raiding popular hangouts. The organizations’ websites were also blocked.

The crackdown aimed to “protect children, the institution of the family, and public order,” Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said. He said the operation, dubbed “My Family is Safe,” targeted 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses.

On Tuesday, Michael O’Flaherty, the Strasbourg, France-based Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concerns over the raids and detentions, saying “mere references to ‘family values’ or ‘protection of children’ cannot serve as legal justification for human rights restrictions.”

“I call on the Turkish authorities to release anyone detained for engaging in human rights or civil society work,” he said in a statement, adding that he would continue to monitor the situation.

Outside the courthouse, demonstrators carried banners reading: “Being LGBT+ and organizing is not a crime” and chanted slogans in support of LGBTQ+ rights before police intervened.

“We are going through a period where there is an attempt by the ruling power to portray LGBT+ people as the cause of every problem in this society,” 36-year old Banu Aslan, one of the protesters, told The Associated Press.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, which has roots in Turkey’s Islamic movement, has been increasingly vocal against LGBTQ+ groups in a bid to consolidate the more conservative elements of its base. In 2015, it banned Istanbul Pride, which had tens of thousands of attendees in previous years. Since then, authorities have violently dispersed any attempted gatherings for Pride.

This summer, an LGBTQ+ cruise ship that tours the Mediterranean and has docked in Turkey multiple times in the past was refused permission to dock there.

A storm system will move in from the Atlantic Thursday and Friday with an even higher chance for thunderstorms. Depending on how much heating we get to add fuel to the storms, some could be severe with strong wind gusts. This stormy pattern is expected to last into the weekend.

The Trump administration had made a last-minute push to have the U.S. Postal Service play a central role in deciding who would be able to receive a mail ballot. But state election officials argued there was not enough time to make the changes for the Nov. 3 midterm elections — and said their systems were already secure and accurate.

The court ruled late Monday in an emergency order that the restrictions would likely lose in court, at least for this year’s election.

“The Court’s inability and unwillingness to do the right thing for our Country will go down, in a very negative way, in the annals of History,” Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post Tuesday. “This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years.”

Justices Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh were all nominated by Trump in his first term but ruled against him in Monday’s decision.

“These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” Trump said, continuing that the court "is costing the United States Trillions of Dollars with shockingly bad rulings that are of such magnitude that it won’t be easily possible for our Country to recover or heal.”

Trump has opposed mail voting and falsely blamed it for his 2020 election loss. A report by the Brookings Institution published in 2025 found that mail voting fraud occurred in only about four cases out of every 10 million mail ballots cast.

Roughly a third of voters use mail ballots, and mail voting has already begun in some states. The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they’ve used for years.

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Troopers said the crash occurred at approximately 3:33 a.m. on the southbound Don Shula Expressway near Southwest 104th Street and Killian Parkway.

According to FHP officials, the motorcyclist collided with the cement truck, causing a fire to ignite on the motorcycle.

Officials said the motorcyclist, who has only been identified as a man at this time, died at the scene from his injuries.

They said the southbound lanes of the Don Shula Expressway were temporarily closed but have since reopened.

No other details about the crash were immediately released.

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Officers with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said they responded to a report of a Brightline train striking a pedestrian just north of the Broward Boulevard crossing, near the Brightline station just before 1:30 a.m.

Police said they arrived at the scene and found man who had been struck by the train. They said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Authorities said an investigation is underway into the man’s death. No other information about his age or identity was immediately released.

Police said traffic along Broward Boulevard and Southwest Second Street was impacted following the incident but had reopened by about 3:30 a.m.

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Hollywood Fire Rescue medics said they responded at about 5 a.m. to the crash near Taft Street and North 64th Avenue. They said a driver vehicle struck a concrete utility pole and streetlight before overturning.

The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene, Hollywood police confirmed.

Authorities said the driver of the overturned vehicle sustained minor injuries and was evaluated by Hollywood Fire Rescue medics. They said that individual was transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment.

Investigators said the crash also damaged a traffic signal post and other traffic-control devices. The roadway remained impacted while crews worked to make repairs.

No other details about the crash or a possible suspect were immediately released.

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A broad area of low pressure spinning about 1,000 miles southeast of Bermuda over the open central Atlantic is the only game in town for the next week but could make a run at breaking the quiet streak by this weekend.

As of Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center was giving the system a medium chance of developing, but not only later this week when upper-level winds become more conducive to organization.

As we discussed in Monday’s newsletter, computer models are split on this one. Traditional physics-based models indicate little to no appreciable odds of development while our newer AI camp of models is more bullish, though have waffled on those higher odds from run to run.

Both the Euro AI ensemble system and the Google’s DeepMind machine learning-based 1,000-member ensemble system suggest a medium chance of development as the system loiters over the central Atlantic into next week.

While the low-pressure system will initially move northwestward, by the weekend high pressure building to its north could drive it back south, allowing it to do a quick loop-the-loop, eventually turning back toward the northeast ahead of an advancing jet stream dip next week.

The uncertainty with this one is high – both with its future development and track – and while it won’t be a concern for the U.S., interests in Bermuda will want to monitor the forecasts as the system hangs around in the vicinity for the next week or so.

If the system becomes better organized in the coming days and is designated an invest, we’ll have more specialized intensity models to help us better gauge future intensity, but models do suggest it’ll be in an environment that could support strengthening should it form.

For now, it’s no near-term threat, but we’ll follow the trends for Bermuda in the days ahead.

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Miami Fire Rescue officials said the two victims, an 18-year-old man and a 23-year-old man, were rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in stable condition after suffering gunshot wounds outside Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen, located at 316 NW 24th St.

The restaurant is located across from the Wynwood 25 apartment building in an area known for its restaurants, shops and nightlife.

Authorities said Miami police received multiple emergency calls and found a man with a gunshot wound outside Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen.

Witnesses said officers later found a second victim outside Skinny Louie’s, the restaurant next door.

A Local 10 News crew was outside of the restaurant as police remained at the scene for hours, with officers monitoring the area behind police tape. A K-9 unit was also seen searching around the property.

An employee at a nearby business described the chaos after the gunfire and said he helped a wounded man.

“I seen a crowd of people just running straight towards us,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t hear the shots myself because I was further in the back. As I’m coming out, a lot of people are running inside.”

The employee said people inside the restaurant were told there was gunfire outside.

“So I got everybody inside and then I locked the doors. I thought it was like an open shooter, but the shots had already happened by the time everybody was running inside,” he added.

He said he later found a wounded man outside and helped provide first aid.

“I came outside and I seen a gentleman on the floor. He had a bullet wound to his right buttocks and he was kind of bleeding out. People were applying pressure to him.”

Miami police have not released additional details about what led to the shooting or identified a suspect or possible motive.

Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

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Shortly before 6 p.m., BSO’s Burglary Apprehension Team said they were conducting an investigation in the 5200 block of Northwest Second Street when a woman, who has not been identified at this time, barricaded herself inside an apartment for several hours.

Authorities said SWAT deputies and crisis negotiators responded to the Park Ridge Court apartments along Buck Pride Way, about 10 minutes from the original investigation.

Video from a neighbor showed a woman emerging from an apartment with her hands raised as deputies stood nearby.

After several hours, the woman and a second person were taken into custody, BSO officials said.

The sheriff’s office did not immediately provide additional information about the identities of those taken into custody or explain what led to the barricade.

A large group of people gathered outside the apartment complex as deputies secured the area. SWAT vehicles were also at the scene.

Authorities have not said whether anyone was injured.

No other details about the SWAT standoff were immediately released.

Han pasado 13 días sin sistemas activos en la cuenca del Atlántico, que incluye el Golfo, el Caribe y el resto del océano. Es una racha de calma notable y sin precedentes, porque coincide con lo que suelen ser las semanas más activas de la temporada de huracanes.

Una amplia zona de baja presión gira a unas 1,000 millas al sureste de Bermudas, en mar abierto sobre el Atlántico central. Es el único sistema a vigilar durante la próxima semana, pero podría poner fin a esta racha de tranquilidad para este fin de semana.

Hasta la mañana del martes, el Centro Nacional de Huracanes (NHC) le daba al sistema una probabilidad media de desarrollo. Esa posibilidad se abriría solo a finales de esta semana, cuando los vientos en los niveles altos de la atmósfera sean más favorables para su organización.

Como explicamos en el boletín del lunes, los modelos de pronóstico no se ponen de acuerdo con este sistema. Los modelos tradicionales, basados en la física, prácticamente no le dan posibilidades de desarrollo. En cambio, los modelos más recientes de inteligencia artificial le asignan probabilidades más altas, aunque estas han variado de una actualización a otra.

Tanto el sistema de ensamble Euro AI como el sistema de ensamble de 1,000 miembros de Google DeepMind, basado en aprendizaje automático, apuntan a una probabilidad media de desarrollo. Según ambos, el sistema permanecería casi estacionario sobre el Atlántico central hasta la próxima semana.

En un principio, la baja presión se desplazará hacia el noroeste. Sin embargo, para el fin de semana, una zona de alta presión que se fortalece al norte podría empujarla de regreso hacia el sur y hacerla describir un giro rápido sobre sí misma. Luego viraría nuevamente hacia el noreste, por delante de una vaguada de la corriente en chorro que avanzará la próxima semana.

La incertidumbre es alta, tanto sobre su posible desarrollo como sobre su trayectoria. El sistema no representa una preocupación para Estados Unidos, pero en Bermudas conviene estar pendientes de los pronósticos, ya que se mantendrá en las inmediaciones durante aproximadamente una semana.

Si el sistema se organiza mejor en los próximos días y es designado como “invest” (zona bajo investigación), contaremos con modelos de intensidad más especializados para estimar mejor su evolución. Aun así, los modelos sugieren que, de formarse, encontraría un entorno que podría favorecer su fortalecimiento.

Por ahora no representa una amenaza inmediata, pero seguiremos atentos a su evolución y a lo que pueda significar para Bermudas en los próximos días.

Según los agentes, el accidente ocurrió alrededor de las 3:33 a.m. en los carriles en dirección sur de la autopista, cerca de Southwest 104th Street y Killian Parkway.

De acuerdo con la FHP, el motociclista impactó contra el camión de cemento y la motocicleta se prendió en llamas.

Las autoridades indicaron que la víctima, identificada por ahora solo como un hombre, murió en el lugar a causa de sus heridas.

Los carriles en dirección sur de la Don Shula Expressway permanecieron cerrados durante un tiempo, pero ya fueron reabiertos.

Por el momento no se han dado a conocer más detalles sobre el accidente.

Oficiales del Departamento de Policía de Fort Lauderdale dijeron que respondieron a un reporte de un tren de Brightline que había atropellado a un peatón, justo al norte del cruce de Broward Boulevard, cerca de la estación de Brightline, poco antes de la 1:30 a.m.

La policía indicó que, al llegar a la escena, encontraron al hombre que había sido atropellado por el tren. Señalaron que paramédicos de Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue lo declararon muerto en el lugar.

Las autoridades dijeron que se abrió una investigación sobre la muerte del hombre. Por el momento no se dio a conocer más información sobre su edad o identidad.

La policía informó que el tráfico en Broward Boulevard y Southwest Second Street se vio afectado tras el incidente, pero las vías reabrieron alrededor de las 3:30 a.m.

Paramédicos de Hollywood Fire Rescue dijeron que respondieron alrededor de las 5 a.m. al lugar del accidente, cerca de Taft Street y North 64th Avenue. Indicaron que uno de los vehículos impactó contra un poste de servicios públicos de concreto y un farol antes de voltearse.

El conductor del otro vehículo huyó de la escena, confirmó la policía de Hollywood.

Las autoridades señalaron que el conductor del vehículo volcado sufrió heridas leves y fue evaluado por paramédicos de Hollywood Fire Rescue, quienes lo trasladaron a un hospital cercano para recibir más atención médica.

Los investigadores indicaron que el choque también dañó un poste de semáforo y otros dispositivos de control de tráfico. La vía permaneció afectada mientras las cuadrillas trabajaban en las reparaciones.

Por el momento no se dieron a conocer más detalles sobre el accidente ni sobre un posible sospechoso.

Bomberos y paramédicos de Miami Fire Rescue informaron que las dos víctimas, un hombre de 18 años y otro de 23, fueron trasladadas de urgencia al Centro de Trauma Ryder del Jackson Memorial Hospital en condición estable tras recibir disparos afuera de Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen, ubicado en el 316 de la calle NW 24.

El restaurante está ubicado frente al edificio de apartamentos Wynwood 25, en una zona conocida por sus restaurantes, tiendas y vida nocturna.

Las autoridades indicaron que la policía de Miami recibió múltiples llamadas de emergencia y, al llegar, encontró a un hombre con una herida de bala afuera de Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen.

Testigos dijeron que los oficiales localizaron después a una segunda víctima afuera de Skinny Louie’s, el restaurante contiguo.

Un equipo de Local 10 News estuvo presente en el lugar mientras la policía permaneció en la escena durante horas, con oficiales vigilando el área detrás del cordón policial. También se observó a una unidad canina inspeccionando los alrededores de la propiedad.

Un empleado de un negocio cercano relató el caos que se vivió tras los disparos y contó que ayudó a un hombre herido.

“Vi a un montón de gente correr directo hacia nosotros”, dijo. “No sabía qué estaba pasando. No escuché los disparos porque estaba más atrás, en la parte trasera. Cuando salí, había mucha gente corriendo hacia adentro”.

El empleado señaló que, dentro del restaurante, le avisaron a la gente que había disparos afuera.

“Así que metí a todos y cerré las puertas. Pensé que era una situación de tirador activo, pero los disparos ya habían ocurrido para cuando todos entraban corriendo”, agregó.

Contó que después encontró a un hombre herido afuera y le ayudó a dar primeros auxilios.

“Salí y vi a un señor tirado en el suelo. Tenía una herida de bala en el glúteo derecho y estaba perdiendo bastante sangre. La gente le hacía presión en la herida”.

La policía de Miami no ha dado a conocer detalles adicionales sobre lo que provocó el tiroteo ni ha identificado a un sospechoso o un posible móvil.

Cualquier persona con información sobre el tiroteo puede llamar a Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477.

Poco antes de las 6 p.m., el Equipo de Aprehensión por Robos de BSO indicó que realizaba una investigación en la cuadra 5200 de Northwest Second Street cuando una mujer, cuya identidad no ha sido revelada hasta el momento, se encerró dentro de un apartamento durante varias horas.

Las autoridades señalaron que agentes del equipo SWAT y negociadores de crisis acudieron a los apartamentos Park Ridge Court, sobre Buck Pride Way, a unos 10 minutos del lugar donde se realizaba la investigación original.

Un video grabado por un vecino mostró a la mujer saliendo del apartamento con las manos en alto mientras los agentes permanecían cerca.

Tras varias horas, la mujer y una segunda persona fueron puestas bajo custodia, informaron oficiales de BSO.

El Buró del Alguacil no proporcionó de inmediato información adicional sobre la identidad de los detenidos ni explicó qué motivó el encierro.

Un numeroso grupo de personas se congregó frente al complejo de apartamentos mientras los agentes aseguraban la zona. También había vehículos del equipo SWAT en el lugar.

Las autoridades no han indicado si alguien resultó herido.

Por el momento no se ha dado a conocer más información sobre el operativo.

The vote, just two months before the midterm elections, comes as the crypto industry has become a major political force and as Trump has amassed significant crypto wealth while in office. While some Democrats support the idea of a regulatory framework, a top priority for the industry, the party has been mostly united in opposition to the legislation unless it includes strong ethics safeguards to prevent the president and his family from enriching themselves while in office.

“Let’s make sure that we do not pass a crypto bill that will let Donald Trump continue to rake in billions of dollars in crypto profits while working families across this country struggle to deal with higher prices and an economy that gets worse by the day,” said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, in a Senate floor speech on Monday.

As Democrats have vowed to block the bill, Trump has agreed to some concessions on ethics, including new restrictions on federal elected officials from issuing digital assets like the presidential meme coins he and his wife Melania launched before he took office for his second term. On Sunday, Trump agreed to additional concessions, such as additional powers for state attorneys general that Democrats had sought to enforce the crypto measure.

But those concessions do not appear to be enough for most Democrats. A proposal by Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina had sought to require Trump to put his crypto holdings in a blind trust and divest when those holdings reach a certain value.

The latest version of the bill “leaves a lot to be desired,” Gallego said Monday evening. “If they think this is a final deal, this is not their call.”

Gallego said he would offer a counterproposal, but it was unclear if the two sides would be able to agree before the vote Tuesday afternoon. Republicans need Democratic support to win the 60 votes necessary to move forward on the bill in the 53-47 Senate.

Trump has amassed big crypto profits

Trump’s family has raked in big profits in the crypto sector since he was reelected, including the meme coin, announced the day before Trump took office. Top investors were invited to a private reception with the president.

Trump’s family also has a controlling stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm co-founded with the president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump reported more than $500 million in revenue from World Liberty Financial sales of crypto products, including “governance tokens,” in his annual disclosure report filed with the Office of Government Ethics. That is a significant share of the more than $1.4 billion that the president reported from crypto businesses last year.

A measure enacted into law last year regulating stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency, barred members of Congress and their families from profiting off them, but it did not extend to Trump or his family.

Legislation aims to give crypto firms legal certainty

Republicans who have been working on the legislation for a year say it could stall indefinitely if the Senate doesn’t vote to move forward on Tuesday. The House and Senate will be out of session during October and before the elections, and the dynamics could significantly shift if Democrats win back the majorities of the House or Senate, or both, in November.

Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, a lead sponsor of the bill, said that a no vote means ”opposing real ethics reforms on politicians’ personal investments, handing American leadership in digital assets to our foreign competitors, and leaving Americans with zero protections in the digital asset markets.”

Supporters say the legislation aims to give the industry more legal certainty and protect consumers by creating a broad set of guardrails and regulatory requirements, including better enforcement to prevent bad actors and protections to prevent a market collapse.

Opponents, mostly Democrats, say it is a giveaway to the industry, which strongly backs the bill and has become a major donor to candidates in both parties around the country. In 2024, the crypto industry spent more than $130 million in congressional races, including $40 million in Ohio and $10 million each in Arizona and Michigan.

“DC received a clear message that being anti-crypto is a good way to end your career, as it doesn’t represent the will of the voters,” Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, the nation’s largest crypto exchange, wrote in a social media post the day after the 2024 election.

___

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

According to the Homestead Police Department, Marie Rose Guerrier has since been reunited with family.

Police have not said what led to her disappearance.

Speaking at a meeting with John Coale, the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, Lukashenko said that “we have reached quite a few agreements related to our economic ties.” He urged Washington to help unblock some Belarusian assets he said were “stuck in Citibank.”

Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, Lukashenko has released hundreds of political prisoners in a series of U.S.-mediated deals that also lifted some U.S. sanctions.

Speaking before the meeting with Coale, Lukashenko said that he's open for discussing “a deal big or small.” Lukashenko also said that he would like to discuss the prospects for lifting more U.S. sanctions, exporting Belarusian fertilizers to the U.S.

As part of a deal in March that Washington helped broker, Lukashenko ordered the release of 250 political prisoners, while the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions from two Belarusian state banks and the country’s Finance Ministry, and to remove the top Belarusian potash producers from a sanctions list.

Another deal in April released prominent journalist Andrzej Poczobut in a swap with Poland that saw a total of 10 people freed.

Lukashenko has governed the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western countries — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Lukashenko’s rule was challenged after a 2020 presidential election, when hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest a vote they viewed as rigged. In an ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures fled the country or were imprisoned.

Five years after the mass demonstrations, Lukashenko won a seventh term last year in an election that the opposition called a farce.

The Belarusian opposition has welcomed Coale's efforts as an important humanitarian mission, but emphasized that Lukashenko's government has jailed more political prisoners.

Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she was deeply grateful to Trump, Coale and the U.S. administration for “making political prisoners a priority,” adding that “their engagement has already brought real results.”

At the same time, she emphasized that “repression continues” and Lukashenko “continues supporting Russia’s war.”

“The purpose should be to empty the prisons, not to rehabilitate the dictatorship,” Tsikhanouskaya said.

Belarus still has 912 political prisoners, including 20 journalists, according to the Viasna human rights center.

“Harsh political repressions continue in the country, and the regime employs a ‘revolving door’ policy, with new political prisoners constantly put behind bars,” Pavel Sapelka, a lawyer with Viasna, told The Associated Press. “Lukashenko treats political prisoners like commodities to be traded for the lifting of sanctions, yet the repressive nature of the regime remains unchanged.”

Speaking at a meeting with Coale, Lukashenko denied that Belarus has any political prisoners.

“There is no need for us to persecute anyone for political reasons today,” Lukashenko said. “The fugitives are spreading a narrative in the West ... that while we are releasing some people, we are continuing repressions and detaining twice as many in their place. That is absolutely untrue!”

Observers say that contacts with the U.S. has given Lukashenko an opportunity to ease international isolation.

“Lukashenko is a very experienced politician, and contacts with the U.S. will allow him not only to reduce his total dependence on the Kremlin, but also to return to the international stage and seek an easing of the European Union sanctions, which are hitting the Belarusian economy much harder,” political analyst Valery Karbalevich told the AP.

A U.N. group of experts on the situation in Belarus said in a report released Tuesday that Belarusian authorities were using the country’s criminal justice system as an instrument of repression, systematically targeting and persecuting government opponents.

“The international community must not look away,” expert Susan Bazilli said. “Those responsible for serious human rights violations must know that impunity is not a permanent shield, and victims must know that their rights have not been forgotten.”

Dr. Aaron Nussbaum, a dermatologist at Miami Hair Institute, said getting the right diagnosis early is critical because hair loss can have many different causes, including genetics, hormonal changes, stress, illness, medications and autoimmune disorders.

“The first thing always to do in hair loss is to make the correct diagnosis. Not all hair losses are created equal,” he said. “There’s many different types of hair loss disorders. It’s really important to seek out the opinion of an expert hair specialist or board-certified dermatologist.”

Nussbaum said people should seek medical advice as soon as they notice changes in their hair, including increased shedding or loss of volume.

“Like everything in medicine, the earlier you start the better. At the earliest stages of noticing something changing — your hair, your volume, your shedding — it’s better to come in first, detect it early and get you started.”

He also cautioned against relying on online sources or attempting to diagnose hair loss without seeing a physician.

“Nothing is going to be the same as actually seeing a physician in person who can examine you and put you on those treatments,” he said. “These medications can have side effects, so they should be prescribed by a doctor.”

Social media is also filled with claims about what causes hair loss. Nussbaum said common activities such as wearing hats or using hair gel do not cause hair loss.

“Hats, hair gel, combing your hair — all that does not cause hair loss,” he said. “The problem in hair loss is underneath the scalp at the root of the follicle.”

Nussbaum also said there is no evidence that shampoos can prevent hair loss.

At Miami Hair Institute, doctors use scalp imaging and detailed evaluations to determine the cause of hair loss before recommending treatment.

Treatment depends on the diagnosis and can include topical or oral medications, injections and lifestyle changes. For some patients, hair restoration surgery is another option.

Carlos Pizarro, who underwent a hair transplant procedure, said he prefers a subtle result.

“It is very taboo to talk about, so you don’t know who to ask for advice,” he said. “If anyone asks me or see(s) my hair transplant, (they) don’t think I’ve done anything.”

Nussbaum said patients should also understand that many hair loss treatments require ongoing use.

“Hair loss treatments only work while you’re doing them,” he said. “This is not like an infection where we give you a short course of treatment. You have to continue doing these.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused those behind the film “NAZA” of incitement and antisemitism, while the head of the Israeli military has vowed to track down the soldiers who cooperated with the project.

Shot on the rooftops of Tel Aviv at night in extreme secrecy over three years, “NAZA” features testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders, including intelligence officers and soldiers, who give insight into the war in Gaza and what they say is the systemic killing of Palestinian civilians.

They allege that Israel uses artificial intelligence to identify and bomb potential targets of the militant Hamas group in Gaza — often knowing that many civilians will likely be killed in an attack. The Israeli military has acknowledged using AI to help identify targets but says that a human being makes the final decision before a strike is carried out.

The documentary set off a firestorm in Israel

The reception in Venice set off a firestorm among Israel’s leading politicians and military officials, many of whom have described “NAZA” as anti-Israel and lacking context. They all acknowledged they have not seen the film.

Netanyahu, his Cabinet members and also the prime minister's opponents in next month’s key elections have all lambasted the film, describing it as antisemitic and a part of a broader campaign to defame Israel.

“We are fighting global antisemitic incitement,” Netanyahu said on Monday. “When it comes from within us, it’s simply unbearable.”

Israel's Culture Minister Miki Zohar called on Monday for the documentary’s Israeli co-directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, to be stripped of their citizenship. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of general staff, asked military prosecutors to investigate potential leaks in the film.

“This is a dangerous attempt to deny us the legitimacy to defend ourselves against the worst of our enemies,” Zamir said.

Co-produced by The Guardian and Jonathan Glazer, who was behind the 2023 Oscar-winning “The Zone of Interest,” the film is the second documentary from Abraham and Szor. It follows their 2025 Oscar-winning “No Other Land,” which chronicled Palestinians in part of the occupied West Bank as they face home demolitions by Israeli troops and attacks by Israeli settlers.

“NAZA” — an acronym used by Israel's military that means collateral damage — “reveals in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” according to a synopsis from The Guardian.

The film is not yet available to audiences, though the filmmakers have said they intend to seek distribution in Israel, Europe and the United States.

“The testimonies it contains are true and we believe they deserve to be heard. The interviews were given by confidential journalistic sources," The Guardian said in a statement.

Criticism of the film highlights the divide over the war

In an interview with journalist Raviv Drucker on Israel’s Channel 13, Abraham said the attacks on him and Szor showed why many of the film’s participants wanted to remain anonymous. Abraham defended the film’s process for verifying the accounts and events described.

Abraham also questioned why Israeli journalists had done little to investigate civilian deaths and the military’s rules of engagement during the war.

“Many soldiers told me they had been waiting for a chance to talk about this,” he said.

Many of the film’s central claims had been previously reported, but Israel’s response echoes how officials have reacted in the past to prominent criticism of the country’s conduct — attacking critics, questioning their motives and challenging the credibility of the allegations.

The response also reflects the chasm between how the war in Gaza is seen in Israel and how it's seen internationally. Israelis have largely seen the war as an act of self-defense after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage — the deadliest day in Israel’s history.

But internationally, it has drawn widespread condemnation and accusations of war crimes. Nearly three years of war have destroyed most of Gaza and killed at least 73,789 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for Netanyahu's office, said Israel denied the film's allegations and questioned Abraham and Szor's motivations.

“What they wanted was awards from overseas from Israel haters. And they wanted standing applause,” he said, referencing the 25-minute applause that viewers in Venice gave the film.

A federal whistleblower says a last-ditch Trump administration effort to hunt for noncitizen voters ahead of November’s elections is requiring federal employees to misrepresent themselves on voter lookup tools in a way that likely violates state laws.

And the Federal Reserve is widely expected to lift its short-term interest rate Wednesday for the first time in three years to fight stubbornly high inflation, despite Trump's lobbying for a cut.

Here’s the Latest:

Trump slams Supreme Court for rejecting his push to restrict mail ballots

“The Court’s inability and unwillingness to do the right thing for our Country will go down, in a very negative way, in the annals of History,” Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post Tuesday. “This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years.”

Justices Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh were all nominated by Trump in his first term but ruled against him in Monday’s decision.

“These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” Trump said, continuing that the court “is costing the United States Trillions of Dollars with shockingly bad rulings that are of such magnitude that it won’t be easily possible for our Country to recover or heal.”

Uncertainty over Trump’s order was acute in 8 states that rely on mail voting

Voters cast ballots almost entirely by mail in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington, which lack extensive networks of polling places.

“This provides voters and elections officials with the certainty they need ahead of a major, federal election, and it sends a clear message to this country: Presidents don’t run elections, the people do,” said Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, a Democrat.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said his reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision is “one of relief, but also excitement, because today the voters really won across America.”

More than half the voters in Nevada’s June primary cast ballots by mail, and the Democrat said “some of the damage has already been done” with false claims affecting people’s confidence in voting by mail.

“You can trust the process,” Aguilar urged voters. “Please participate.”

FBI Director Kash Patel returns to Capitol Hill

Patel is appearing at an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Republican-led panel is likely to try to keep the focus on Patel’s efforts to combat violent crime, counter drug trafficking and pursue the Trump administration’s agenda from his perch at the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency.

But Democrats will almost certainly seize on the tumult inside the bureau over the last year. The FBI has seen sweeping firings of agents who participated in investigations into Trump, efforts by the bureau to investigate Trump’s perceived political adversaries and Patel’s travel schedule that has blended private leisure with professional responsibilities.

Supreme Court lifts a cloud over midterm elections

The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted much of the uncertainty over preparations for November’s elections by rejecting Trump’s push to have the U.S. Postal Service play a central role in deciding who would gets a mail ballot.

The decision late Monday is a win for the status quo — thousands of election offices around the country can send out mail ballots as intended without worrying about complying with 11th-hour Postal Service rules.

“Now, we can finally move forward and get back to what we do best: conducting our elections without a dark cloud hanging over us — fairly, openly, for the people, by the people,” California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat who oversees voting in a state where all voters receive a mail ballot, said in a statement.

“Utahns can have confidence that the 2026 election will proceed as normal,” said Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican serving as the state’s chief election officer.

Mail voting fraud happens about four times for every 10 million ballots cast, study found

Trump hasn’t immediately commented on the Supreme Court’s rejection of his efforts to restrict voting by mail.

Trump has consistently promoted his executive order as vital to ensuring election integrity even though there is virtually no evidence of fraud with mail ballots.

A report by the Brookings Institution published in 2025 found that mail voting fraud occurred in only 0.000043% of total mail ballots cast.

US acknowledges for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland on Monday that the U.S. has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.”

He didn’t say what the weapons are or how they work. In 2024 the U.S. said Russia was developing a new anti-satellite weapon that could be launched from space. At the time the White House said the danger wasn’t imminent, but it raised concerns about threats to U.S. infrastructure that depends on satellite communications.

Meink, who has overseen the Space Force, predicted the service would look “radically different” by 2032 — for example, with one-way attack drones replacing artillery as the “primary killer.”

“We are increasing readiness against existing threats,” he said.

Tech CEOs call for AI regulation. Trump and Congress are not rushing to act

The technology industry’s increasingly urgent warnings about the potential harm of artificial intelligence are slamming into political intransigence in Washington, offering a fresh test of the federal government’s willingness and ability to confront what may become a defining issue of the era.

Trump is leading the opposition to recent calls by tech leaders seeking greater government oversight.

The president dismissed efforts to limit the technology on Monday as a “conspiracy.” House Speaker Mike Johnson has largely deferred to the White House.

Democrats, meanwhile, are pressing for a more robust response, convening in private on Tuesday in the House to discuss AI. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is hosting his colleagues for a briefing with experts on Wednesday.

The contrasting responses illustrate a yawning disconnect emerging between a tech sector warning of AI’s existential threats to humanity and a federal government often struggling to accomplish basic functions under the weight of intense partisanship and election-year pressure.

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DHS voter probe may break state laws and wrongly implicate US citizens, whistleblower alleges

A last-ditch Trump administration effort to hunt for noncitizen voters ahead of November’s elections is requiring federal employees to misrepresent themselves on voter lookup tools in a way that likely violates state laws, according to a federal whistleblower’s statement released Monday.

The Department of Homeland Security probe known as the “Unlawful Voter Initiative” also asks employees to create federal law enforcement records about voters based on unreliable data, the account warns. That could potentially wrongly implicate U.S. citizens in official documentation that could spur further investigation.

The anonymous, nearly 30-page disclosure was published Monday by Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, the ranking member of a Senate committee overseeing federal elections.

Padilla and Schumer said Monday the initiative was an example of Trump attempting to interfere in elections and the short timelines would impede officials from conducting proper investigations. They noted that the data DHS has on voters can be unreliable and differ from state records, making any federal findings based on that data potentially problematic.

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Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark rate, defying Trump’s demands

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lift its short-term interest rate Wednesday for the first time in three years to fight stubbornly high inflation, a move that would put the central bank at odds with President Donald Trump’s support for a cut.

An increase in the Fed’s rate, currently about 3.6%, isn’t guaranteed because Fed Chair Kevin Warsh doesn’t provide the signals about next moves that his predecessors did. Still, most analysts and economists expect a hike after a speech two weeks ago at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in which Warsh argued that the Fed had not yet achieved its goal of putting inflation in check.

A rate hike would throw another sharp shift into a volatile period for the economy and financial markets. As recently as March, the Fed had forecast it would cut its rate once this year. But with the Iran war flaring up again and causing sharp increases in oil and gas prices, inflation is likely to remain higher than the Fed’s 2% target for even longer.

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Supreme Court rejects Trump mail ballot restrictions ahead of midterms

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting already underway.

The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they’ve used for years and have accounted for nearly a third of votes cast.

It represented a stark defeat for Trump on an issue he consistently has emphasized as vital to ensuring election integrity even though there is virtually no evidence of fraud with mail ballots.

The Supreme Court majority wrote that the administration’s push to implement the restrictions this year is likely to lose in court, though the brief emergency order didn’t detail its reasoning. Two justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, publicly dissented.

The Trump administration had asked the justices, once again at the center of a roiling political controversy, to clear the way for restrictions before the pivotal November contests for control of Congress.

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Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland on Monday that the U.S. has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.”

Meink did not detail what the weapons were or how they work. In 2024 the U.S. said Russia was developing a new anti-satellite weapon that could be launched from space. At the time the White House said the danger wasn’t imminent.

But reports of the anti-satellite weapon reflected longstanding worries about space threats from Russia and China, given that much U.S. infrastructure is dependent on satellite communications.

In his remarks, Meink also said the Air Force was adding more autonomous systems to its capabilities and predicted the service would look “radically different” by 2032. For example, he foresaw one-way attack drones replacing artillery as the “primary killer.”

“We are increasing readiness against existing threats," he said.

Trump created the Space Force in 2019.

The rules, part of a broader overhaul of border regulations, reflect in part heightened government concern about the export of technology at a time of growing competition with the U.S. in artificial intelligence and other emerging areas. The opening clause of the regulation says it was drawn up to protect national sovereignty, security and development interests.

A citizen engaging in illegal or criminal activity overseas that endangers national security could be prohibited from leaving China again for six months to three years from the date of their return. Similarly, a citizen who violates technology export or import regulations could be banned from leaving if the action endangers industrial or technological security, the regulation says.

“The new regs are another indication of just how serious China is about preventing the transfer of key tech and technical knowledge,” the consultancy Trivium said in a note after the regulations were announced about six weeks ago.

In an unexpected move, China blocked tech company Meta from acquiring artificial intelligence startup Manus in April, after the deal apparently aroused government concern about the transfer of advanced technology. Manus is a Singapore company with Chinese roots.

The new border rules also include a provision that could ban foreigners from entering for one to five years if they provide false information in a visa application or at the port of entry.

The regulations also seek to prevent citizens from being deceived into traveling abroad and then forced to participate in illegal gambling or online and phone scam operations, a persistent problem in recent years.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, which monitors online discussions, sought to assuage concerns that the new rules would make travel more difficult. The measures target people involved in illegal cross-border activities, not ordinary citizens with legitimate reasons to travel abroad, the agency said in an online post last week.

The U.S. personnel were shot during an anti-smuggling operation by the Eswatini army in a rural region in the northeast of the country late Friday, Eswatini's government said in a statement late Monday.

The Americans sustained “minor injuries” and there was an investigation underway, Eswatini government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Eswatini government didn't immediately identify the U.S. personnel or say why they were present. The U.S. State Department said that it was aware of the shootings and the "affected U.S. personnel are safe," but also didn't immediately identify who they were. It said it was working with the Eswatini government on an investigation.

Eswatini army spokesperson Sandile Gwebu told the AP that it was now "a diplomatic issue” handled by both countries and didn't give further details.

The Eswatini government said in its statement that “the incident is being treated with the seriousness it warrants."

Eswatini is a small kingdom of around 1.3 million people on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. It is ruled by King Mswati III, who holds supreme political power and is Africa's last absolute monarch.

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

The inquiry into baby deaths found the Countess of Chester Hospital, in northwestern England, could have saved some infants if staff had acted sooner when children began collapsing, Justice Kathryn Thirlwall said.

“Errors were made by nurses, doctors and managers,” Thirlwall said. “There was also complete failure at all levels to invoke safeguarding procedures at any point.”

Letby, 36, is serving a life sentence for the murders of seven babies and attempted killing of seven others. She has maintained her innocence, and a defense team backed by dozens of scientists who have questioned the evidence against her are seeking to clear her name.

Thirlwall’s inquiry didn't review Letby’s convictions, but looked at how institutional failures exposed babies to harm at the hospital, and how staff and management responded and treated parents.

She focused on the failure of staff to intervene when it became clear someone was deliberately harming babies.

“How many lives could have been saved had the hospital acted differently?” she said. “It is clear that some babies would have been saved and some attacks would have been prevented if action was taken earlier.”

Letby was convicted in 2023 of the murders of seven infants and attempted murders of six others — including two attempts on one child. A case in which jurors couldn’t reach a decision was retried and Letby was convicted of another attempted murder. She was sentenced to 15 life terms with no chance of release — only the fourth woman in the United Kingdom to receive such a term.

Prosecutors said that she harmed babies in ways that left little trace, including injecting air into their bloodstreams, administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes, poisoning them with insulin and interfering with breathing tubes.

She was the only employee on duty in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died between June 2015 and June 2016. Prosecutors described her as a “constant malevolent presence.”

Thirlwall’s report describes how numerous children were harmed, but concerns either weren't raised or suspicions weren't elevated to managers.

“This did not happen,” Thirlwall said. “The collapses and deaths continued.”

Even once the hospital began to review the spike in infant mortality and connections to Letby's work shifts — and even after the nurse had been placed on administrative duties in July 2016 — police weren't called until May 2017. Letby remained at the hospital until her arrest more than a year later.

Lawyers for Letby tried unsuccessfully to halt the inquiry by saying it could reach the wrong conclusions if her convictions are later reversed.

Defense attorney Mark McDonald said that the conclusions of the inquiry were tainted by errors at trial and accepting that Letby intentionally killed the children.

“The alternative narrative identified by nearly 30 internationally renowned experts has not been properly considered,” McDonald said. “The inquiry would have been able to hear an alternative account — one that said that insulin results were unreliable, one that said the deaths did not stop when Lucy left the unit.”

Thirlwall said that she didn't consider the debate over Letby's guilt because the Court of Appeal had rejected her legal challenges “with a very clear result.” Thirlwall said the people challenging the evidence hadn't been at the trial and she said “all of this noise” caused additional distress to parents “who have already suffered far too much.”

McDonald has presented new evidence to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, or CCRC, which looks into possible injustices and could trigger another court challenge.

A review of the medical evidence used at trial by a panel of experts convened by McDonald found no sign of a crime and concluded that natural causes or bad medical care led to the demise of each of the newborns.

The group of international experts in neonatology and pediatrics found there were inadequate staffing levels, and medical workers lacked proper skills, misdiagnosed ailments and acted slowly in treating acutely ill babies.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker's second novelization, “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” will come out Dec. 8. It's Tarantino's take on “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” in which Brad Pitt returns in the title role as a former Hollywood stuntman. David Fincher is directing, from a screenplay by Tarantino, who also published a novelized version of “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood.”

According to Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, the new book “offers Tarantino’s own creative vision for this story in novel form.”

“Can’t wait for audiences to see and read Cliff Booth’s further adventures,” Tarantino said in a statement released Tuesday by Harper.

Tarantino is best known for such films as “Pulp Fiction,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “Reservoir Dogs.” He hasn't directed a feature film since “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood,” which came out in 2019, but has written the two novelizations and a work of film criticism-autobiography, “Cinema Speculation.”

Her long-planned trip to Ashe County comes as tech and political leaders fight about how best to regulate artificial intelligence. Prominent tech leaders have expressed concerns about the dangers of the technology and called for more oversight, while President Donald Trump on Monday angrily dismissed the idea that more limits are needed, calling it a “hoax.”

Melania Trump made headlines earlier this year when she walked into a White House event with a humanoid robot at a summit she hosted with other first spouses about empowering children with technology.

Last September, at a meeting of a White House task force on AI in education, she noted that the technology was boosting economic growth but also expressed some caution.

“As leaders and parents, we must manage AI’s growth responsibly," she said. “During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children — empowering, but with watchful guidance.”

Technology in education is one of the first lady's signature issues, along with advocacy for foster children, and lobbying Congress to pass the “Take It Down Act” making revenge porn a crime.

It’s the first lady’s fourth trip to North Carolina since 2025. She accompanied the president to meet families affected by Hurricane Helene at the beginning of his term, and subsequently spent time with military families in other parts of the state.

The state is home to one of the most closely watched Senate races of the November midterm elections, pitting Michael Whatley, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, against Democrat Roy Cooper, a former governor. The president is traveling to Gastonia in the southern part of the state on Wednesday for a rally for Whatley.

The Republican-led panel is likely to try to keep the focus on Patel's efforts to combat violent crime, counter drug trafficking and pursue the Trump administration's agenda from his perch at the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency.

But Democrats will almost certainly seize on the tumult inside the FBI over the last year, including sweeping firings of agents who participated in investigations into President Donald Trump, efforts by the bureau to investigate Trump's perceived political adversaries and Patel's travel schedule that has blended private leisure with professional responsibilities.

“Mr. Patel is the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation's history,” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the panel's top Democrat, said in his opening statement at the hearing. He accused Patel of wielding the bureau's law enforcement powers to seek retribution against Trump's political opponents and pursue the president's grievances, including his false claims that the 2020 election he lost was stolen.

Patel has made multiple appearances before Congress while serving as director, including to testify about the FBI's budget, but this will be his first time since last September before the Senate committee that has principal oversight jurisdiction over the bureau.

That hearing featured feisty and personal exchanges with Democrats, with Patel at one point shouting over Sen. Adam Schiff of California as he called him an “utter disgrace” and a “coward.”

"You can make an internet troll the FBI director, but he will always be an internet troll,” Schiff shot back.

Tuesday's hearing is expected to be no less contentious given Democrats' fierce criticism of his leadership and conduct. Durbin called for Patel to be replaced as director in April following an article by The Atlantic magazine that raised allegations of excessive drinking.

Patel later filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit, calling the article false and a “malicious hit piece.” The Atlantic said it stood by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the “meritless lawsuit.”

Don’t leave home without the rain gear. Scattered showers are expected this afternoon, with most storms staying inland. There will be breaks in the storms, allowing highs to reach the lower 90s, with heat indices reaching 100 degrees.

Please remember: “When thunder roars, go indoors.”

Winds will remain out of the east-southeast at 5 to 10 mph this morning, becoming more northeast and slightly breezier starting this afternoon. Erratic winds, along with gusts of 30 to 40 mph or more, are possible as we look ahead to Wednesday.

The Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s “SO VOTE” campaign will seek to register and mobilize young voters, as well as voters in majority-Black and rural communities, across the South, Midwest and West. The campaign involves partnerships with dozens of local organizations, the institute said, with in-person and online outreach to voters often sidestepped by major political campaigns.

“For decades, as far as I can remember, there are those of us who have always complained about the fact that neither party spends the significant and requisite time with Black and brown and poor and rural communities,” said Marcia Fudge, a former Democratic congresswoman from Ohio who served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Biden administration.

“So we finally decided to take it upon ourselves to do something that we didn't think anybody else in the industry was doing,” said Fudge, who is spearheading the new effort alongside former Black Caucus colleagues.

Effort blends old tactics with new technologies to boost turnout

Voter engagement efforts will cover outreach across Georgia and Mississippi, as well as target voters in 16 congressional districts that are likely to determine control of the House.

Instead of traditional television advertising, the campaign will convene local civic groups and houses of worship, as well as fraternities and sororities. The effort will also use some now-widespread techniques in political campaigns, such as geotargeting online ads and partnerships with local content creators for audiences who mainly receive their news online.

While the voter engagement efforts are officially nonpartisan, the Black Caucus' targeted races are in many regions where Black voter turnout could prove key to whether a Democratic candidate prevails in closely divided House districts. Cedric Richmond, a former Louisiana Democratic congressman who served as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, said the effort would focus on repeatedly engaging voters in rural communities who feel alienated from Democratic campaigns.

“If you’re not happy with the way things are going, then voting is part of the solution, but it takes constant communication,” Richmond said.

The Black Caucus' institute has raised about $1 million for the campaign, primarily from individual donors, and plans to spend at least $4.5 million in the midterm election cycle.

Campaign responds to GOP redistricting and disappointing turnout in the past

The new outreach effort follows years of disappointment and frustration among some in the Black Caucus at the broader Democratic Party's efforts to court Black, rural and younger voters.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, an influential South Carolina Democrat who decried the lackluster voter turnout in the 2024 election, said the campaign "allows us to put to practice that which we have been proposing, and we have never had the resources to do it. But this year we do.”

The effort is also a response to Republican-led redistricting efforts in multiple states, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat.

“These Southern states are trying to minimize Black political participation and ultimately Black political strength," he said. “So what we have to do is take that low-propensity voter and elevate their participation so they become an additional voice to be reckoned with.”

The renewed fighting in Yemen is endangering civilians and threatening shipping through the Red Sea, a route that has become more important due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran on Feb. 28 to spark the war.

The Associated Press couldn't independently verify the Houthi official's claim. The official didn't say what the Saudi warplanes had targeted.

Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

3 killed in Saudi airstrikes in Yemen's southwest, Houthis say

Anees al Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said in an X post on Tuesday that Saudi airstrikes killed three people, including two children, in Yemen's Taiz province. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claim.

Al-Asbahi said that two other people were wounded in the strikes.

The escalation comes as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, bolstering their ability to control a key maritime shipping route.

Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transits in peacetime — in the opening days of the war. The Saudis have since used the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which leads out of the Red Sea, for crude oil exports.

The Houthis’ latest seizures, which follow their capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic island last week, puts more pressure on Saudi shipments and, in turn, global oil supplies and prices.

This could give Iran additional leverage in the war.

Human Rights Watch accuses Houthis of war crimes

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that at least three attacks by Houthi rebels against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden between July 20 and Aug. 24 could amount to war crimes.

The Houthi attacks against Saudi-linked shipping started in mid-July in the latest flare-up of violence in the Yemen civil war.

Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that irrespective of any politics involved, “attacks on civilian crews carried out deliberately or recklessly are war crimes.”

The Houthis say their attacks on Saudi-linked shipping are retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition blockade on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen, a measure related to Yemen's decade-old civil war.

The rights organization said that the Houthis claimed to have attacked at least nine vessels over the span of a month, including two Saudi-flagged vessels, a Tanzania-flagged vessel and a Dominica-flagged vessel.

Human Rights Watch urged the Houthis to “immediately and unconditionally end all unlawful attacks on civilian ships.”

Oman tows ‘targeted’ oil tanker to port

Oman’s Maritime Security Center said Tuesday that a Panama-flagged oil tanker was towed to port in Oman after it was “targeted.”

The center said that a fire had broken out in the El Gaia tanker's engine room and 23 crew members have been evacuated. The search for two missing crew members was ongoing.

The vessel was targeted 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of the Musandam governorate.

U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, said in a post on X Monday that Iran had struck the tanker with a drone over the weekend as the ship sat off the coast of Oman. The tanker was rendered inoperable last month after being struck by an Iranian missile.

CENTCOM, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and is based in Tampa, Florida, said that Iranian claims that the El Gaia had recently struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz were false.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, or UKMTO, reported Tuesday that a vessel was attacked by an unknown projectile within the Strait of Hormuz a day before. It said that no damage was reported, and it wasn't immediately clear if this was the El Gaia.

Saudi crown prince to meet with Egypt’s president

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, traveled Tuesday to Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

The Saudi state-run SPA news agency reported that bin Salman and el-Sissi will discuss means to “strengthen bilateral brotherly relations, and issues of mutual interest.”

The trip comes as Saudi Arabia faces increasing missiles and drone attacks from the Houthis and militias in Iraq.

Egypt is a close ally of Saudi Arabia.

Turkey calls for renewed talks to ease regional tensions

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday called for renewed diplomatic efforts to swiftly quell regional tensions.

Fidan told a joint news conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Baku that “safe, uninterrupted and free passage” through the Strait of Hormuz should resume and that the “prewar status quo should be restored as soon as possible.”

He said that Turkey was continuing to engage with all sides to end tensions, without providing details.

Iran's top diplomat to visit China

China's Foreign Ministry said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit the country on Wednesday and meet with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

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

Military officials in Lithuania, a NATO member, said the incident marked the first time that a drone had been shot down in its airspace. Authorities didn’t comment on the drone’s origin or purpose, saying the incident needed further investigation, but two senior officials said the device was likely carrying explosives.

Officials in NATO countries including Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Poland have in recent weeks accused Russia of involvement in acts such as drone incursions, sabotage, arson, surveillance of defense facilities and planning to use a drone carrying explosives to attack an airport.

Separately, Denmark said Tuesday one of its air force helicopters was fired on with flares as it was carrying out surveillance of a Russian frigate in the Baltic Sea.

Strikes close to NATO's territory showed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror,” its Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday. He was speaking after a Russian drone struck a railway line near the Ukraine-Poland border on Sunday shortly after senior visiting officials passed through.

Rutte pledged to bolster the 32-nation alliance's own defenses along its long eastern border with Russia and with Belarus, a Russian ally.

Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said that the incidents in Lithuania and Denmark were not isolated incidents, but “part of a broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe, testing our readiness and our resolve.”

"Russia will find our resolve only growing stronger," she said.

Drone ‘likely’ to be carrying explosives

The drone downed in Lithuania on Tuesday fell near the village of Pratkūnai, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of the capital, Vilnius, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center said Tuesday.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the crisis center, told Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT that the drone most likely entered from Belarus. It remained in Lithuanian airspace for about 30 minutes and flew along the outskirts of populated areas before being intercepted, he said.

Antanas Matutis, commander of the Lithuanian air force, said that the wreckage had been found, and the drone was “likely” carrying explosives.

The menace of drones has repeatedly loomed over the skies of Lithuania, which shares borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

In May, residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter and the president and prime minister were taken to safe locations amid an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus.

Stray Ukrainian drones have also previously crossed the border into Baltic airspace, including in May when a NATO fighter jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia.

Meanwhile, Denmark accused Russia of firing flares at one of its air force helicopters in connection with “routine photographic coverage” of a Russian frigate in waters off the port of Gedser in the Baltic Sea.

“This is completely unacceptable,” the Danish Foreign Ministry wrote on X, saying that the Russian ambassador was summoned over the incident.

Russia's ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, said it was “not the first time” that Danish Air Force helicopters “carried out dangerous maneuvers near Russian warships.”

He also said that the Danish helicopter had carried out “provocative actions against the Russian frigate.”

The Kremlin declined to comment Tuesday, with presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that he did not have details of the event.

Kyiv says it's ‘ready to support de-escalation’

Meanwhile, Russian drone strikes continued across Ukraine following a social media post from U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed “not to hit” each other’s energy infrastructure.

Trump didn't offer further details on the purported agreement. Previous efforts to broker even a partial ceasefire have repeatedly fallen apart within hours, with both sides accusing each other of violations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday that Kyiv was “ready to support de-escalation” if the United States could ensure “Russia is genuinely ready to stop this war.”

But Zelenskyy said in a statement on Tuesday that Moscow had continued to attack Ukraine's energy sector, logistics and critical infrastructure, and that Kyiv had responded by striking an oil refinery in Syzran, a city in western Russia.

“There is no alternative to ending this war. And all forms of pressure on Russia must create the right diplomatic conditions,” Zelenskyy said.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that it considered Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure to be “a good idea.”

However, it stressed that strikes on Russian oil refineries were not the root cause of global supply issues for gas or diesel.

“The core problem lies in the export of petroleum products to global markets,” said Peskov. He said that countries instead needed to guarantee safe navigation for oil tankers and lift global sanctions on Russian oil.

The Kremlin's comments contradict those of Trump, who called on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Sunday to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and claimed that such attacks had caused a global shortage.

“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters, following news on Friday that diesel prices in the U.S. had soared past an average of $6 a gallon.

“We spoke to Mr. Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world,” he said.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Tuesday that Russian strikes on Kyiv had killed one person and wounded seven other people since the start of the day, with attacks carried out on the capital's gas stations.

Another two people were killed in separate Russian strikes in the Ukrainian cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

Elsewhere, Russian forces shot down 222 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

A “massive” Ukrainian drone attack sparked several fires in the Russian city of Taganrog, regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said. He said on Telegram that two apartment buildings and three private homes had been damaged, as well as an educational institution, agricultural warehouses and a site belonging to Russian e-retailer Ozon.

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv's forces had targeted a drone production facility in the city.

Ukrainian parliament votes to dismiss prosecutor general

Ukraine’s parliament voted to dismiss Ruslan Kravchenko from the post of prosecutor general Tuesday, as a series of graft investigations pushed tensions in Kyiv to a new high.

Kravchenko submitted his resignation on Sept. 7 amid a National Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation into corruption in his office, though no notice of suspicion was issued against him. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had suspended Kravchenko from the post the day before. Kravchenko had served as prosecutor general since June 21, 2025.

Various corruption scandals have hurt Zelenskyy’s approval ratings at a time when Ukraine is still fighting for survival against Russia’s 4 1/2-year full-scale invasion.

___ Associated Press writer Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report from Kyiv, Ukraine.

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

The public inquiry — which is a formal, independent investigation of matters of significant importance in New Zealand — was launched in November 2025 to scrutinize how government agencies handled the case. It was prompted by outrage about how a father involved in court proceedings was able to evade authorities for almost four years, while forcing his children to live in rugged, squalid conditions in remote countryside without access to health care or education.

Inquiry found officials dismissed the mother's fears

The inquiry's report, released Tuesday, said the harms caused by Phillips isolating his children were “underplayed, minimised or overlooked” for “significant periods” by the police and New Zealand's child protection agency, Oranga Tamariki. Concerns raised by the children's mother and her relatives were "often minimised as being part of a parenting dispute,” the report added.

When Phillips vanished with his children — then 5, 7 and 8 — from Marokopa, a tiny rural township on New Zealand’s North Island, in December 2021, it wasn't the first time he'd disappeared with them. Yet officials dealing with the case didn't act with enough urgency, the inquiry found.

The government apologized to the children

Significant opportunities were missed by police officers and social workers after the family's first disappearance months earlier, New Zealand Minister of Social Development Louise Upston said in the government's response to the inquiry on Tuesday. The inquiry found officials didn't act quickly enough on a 2023 sighting of the family and didn't seek surveillance warrants or bring in the military early enough.

“To the Phillips children directly, this report has found that our agencies did not take all practical steps to protect you," Upston said in a statement. “For that we are deeply sorry.”

The government pledged to enact all of the report's recommendations, which include changes to how reports of concern to agencies about children are made and handled. However, no individual officials are named in the report and a public inquiry doesn't have the power to make criminal charges or impose penalties.

Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Amanda Malu said the report, which said her staff were “largely dismissive” about concerns of the children's mother and older sisters about Phillips, was “difficult and at times harrowing” to read.

“I would particularly like to acknowledge the courage shown by the children’s mother and older siblings,” Malu said in a statement. “We did not listen in the way we should have, and this family deserved better from us.”

Little is known about the children's lives now

After Phillips was shot dead by police officers in September 2025 as he fled a robbery with one of his children, the others were soon discovered along with a cache of guns at a makeshift campsite nearby. Since Phillips disappeared in December 2021, he and his children never appeared to have traveled far from the tiny rural settlement where they lived in the sprawling farming region of Waikato.

Since the children were found, officials haven't disclosed details of where they live or who is caring for them. Some details of the case can't legally be reported.

The children's names and photographs were widely published in New Zealand news outlets while they were missing as the police urged members of the public to come forward with information. However, the inquiry found that before those efforts, police officers took a “low-key” approach to the inquiry, “predicated on the misconceived view that there were no concerns for the children’s welfare."

While on the run, Phillips committed armed robberies and during his fatal shootout, he shot a police officer in the head, seriously wounding him.

Family had a history of disappearance

December 2021 wasn’t the first time the fugitive father and his children had vanished. Three months earlier, he sparked a massive search operation when his truck was found on a beach near his home, with no trace of the family.

Officials feared they had been swept out to sea before Phillips and the children emerged from the forest after 18 days, saying they had been camping. Phillips was charged with wasting police resources but disappeared again with the children before he was due to appear in court.

He didn't have custody of the children at the time. However, Oranga Tamariki staff told a family court hearing between Phillips' first and second disappearances that the children were “completely fine.”

They also failed to tell the court about concerns raised by the children's mother and the police, said the report’s writer, former High Court justice and prominent lawyer Simon Moore.

Paris is admired worldwide for aesthetic beauty, but the city kept hitting the news for another reason in recent months as record-breaking highs climbed beyond 40 C (104 F) on the roasting streets.

In a series of drawings called “Chronicles of a Heating Planet," Antonova has captured a city under intense heat stress, and how this impacted the homeless in particular.

“The heat wave made it so much worse," Antonova told The Associated Press in a recent interview at the Paris apartment where she drew much of her work. "Usually winter is the hardest part for homeless people; now we have a situation where both winter and summer are horrific.”

Another hell to deal with

Her drawings show homeless people clinging to their knees, hunched forward in despair, or curled up on pavements in apparent defeat.

“It was such a contrast, people working in posh air-conditioned offices and homeless people sleeping in front of those offices," Antonova, 37, said. “I cannot imagine how people survived.”

Antonova has had to keep moving from temporary accommodations since arriving in France four years ago from Russia. Although friends helped, she was often coping with living under bad conditions, with mental stress and little money.

The acute suffering of the homeless resonated with her, and she felt anguish at not being able to help them more.

In winter, blankets can at least add warmth, but how do you remove heat when the body suffers all day and night-time temperatures are excruciatingly high? “You bring them water and ice but it never stops," said Antonova, who captured the bullying behavior of an “overpowering sun" through her choice of color.

“In my images there is a lot of yellow, an acid color," Antonova said. "Usually you associate the sun with something nice, this year it was very different for everyone. It felt very aggressive and dangerous, there were also fires around the country.”

Wildlife is not spared

Some of her other drawings show animals disorientated in burning forests. Deer even run toward fire because, whichever way they go, there is no escape. Nature is thus upheaved.

“What happens to beauty when the landscape itself turns hostile?” Antonova asks. “Wildfires burned across southern Europe and then — in a place long thought safe from them — at the edge of Paris itself. In July, fire swept through the forest of Fontainebleau.”

A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux with legions of people forced from their homes. Italy, Spain and other European countries experienced extreme temperatures in the world’s fastest-warming continent.

France recorded at least 7,200 more deaths than usual during successive heat waves this year, according to the national public health agency, based on statistical modeling using data from previous years.

“Chronicles of a Heating Planet" asks what everyday life looks like when climate change is no longer a prediction but a permanent condition.

“These paintings are not illustrations of a single event," added Antonova, who began drawing as a child. "They are observations of a future that has already arrived.”

Antonova draws ‘anti-postcards’ of Paris

Because of the heat wave's dramatic effect on everyday life, Paris became a tough place to walk around in the sunshine.

“I have an artist friend who still lives in Russia. When I sent her my new drawings of Paris, she said ‘Oh thank you, I will never go to Paris after this,’" Antonova said. “We called this series ‘anti-postcards.' The kind of postcards where you don't want to go to the place. It's a kind of sad joke."

Could future heat waves, for example, dissuade people from queuing at the city's ever-popular tourist destinations? "In five or 10 years Paris could get so hot people might not want to go here, not in summer, anyway,” Antonova suggested.

“My series about the heat wave gave me the opportunity to look at very familiar places with a new angle," she added. "To rethink the tourist attractions in a more sinister and dangerous atmosphere.”

How she drew

Antonova drew on an iPad, often from photos taken on her phone in different parts of the city.

"Since I became an immigrant it was difficult to organize studios every time I moved, so I started working more with digital illustration," she explained.

“Usually I wouldn’t do drawings about something on the news because I would need a longer time to process and create the painting. Ipad gives you the immediacy because it’s so much faster.”

Los últimos momentos en las vidas de los hermanos australianos Callum Ryan Robinson y Jake Martin Robinson y el estadounidense Jack Carter Rhoad se dieron a conocer ese día durante una audiencia efectuada en un tribunal de la ciudad costera de Ensenada, Baja California, en la que Ary Gisell Silva Raya —quien el año pasado fue sentenciada a 20 años de cárcel por el caso-- relató cómo el supuesto autor material le confesó el crimen.

Los hermanos Robinson y Carter Rhoad viajaron en abril de 2024 a Baja California para surfear en el océano Pacífico, pero poco después de llegar al poblado de Punta San José, a unos 80 kilómetros (50 millas) de Ensenada, fueron reportados como desaparecidos. Sus cuerpos fueron localizados el 3 de mayo dentro de un pozo, en las cercanías de Punta San José.

Ante un juez y en presencia de los padres de los hermanos Robinson, el fiscal del caso y abogados, Silva Raya dijo que su exnovio, Jesús Gerardo García, alias “el Kekas”, se presentó en su vivienda con la camioneta de los extranjeros, que aún tenía rastros de sangre.

La mujer contó que, al abordar la unidad, García le confesó que llegó con una pistola 9 milímetros a la casa de campaña donde estaban los extranjeros, quienes al verlo comenzaron a lanzarle sus pertenencias para evitar que los agrediera.

Relató también que uno de los extranjeros suplicó por su vida y le pidió a García que no lo matara, pero el presunto agresor no atendió la petición.

“Eran personas amables que no merecían morir, y mucho menos de la forma en la que lo hicieron”, declaró la testigo, al tiempo que enfatizó que jamás imaginó que la intención de su entonces pareja fuese atentar contra los turistas, quienes horas antes habían platicado con ellos y aceptaron ayudarlos, ya que el vehículo de los extranjeros se había quedado sin gasolina.

Mientras Silva Raya ofrecía su declaración sus manos permanecían entrecruzadas frente a su boca. Por protocolo la testigo observaba al juez, pero por momentos su mirada se cruzaba con la de Debra Robinson, madre de los hermanos australianos, quien acudió a la audiencia acompañada de su esposo Martin.

En la sala también se encontraban Irineo Francisco “N”, Ángel Jesús “N” y García, todos escuchando atentamente. Fueron apresados en 2024 tras la localización de los cuerpos de los tres extranjeros, y fueron presentados hace una semana en un tribunal de Ensenada para enfrentar un juicio por su presunta participación en el homicidio de los hermanos Robinson y de Carter Rhoad.

Silva Raya, a quien las autoridades le incautaron un teléfono de una de las víctimas, fue sentenciada en noviembre pasado a 20 años de cárcel, luego de declararse culpable de los delitos de robo calificado con violencia y robo de vehículo con violencia en un procedimiento abreviado.

Según la fiscalía estatal, Silva Raya llegó a Punta San José el 27 de abril de 2024, donde tuvo contacto con los tres extranjeros, e “instigó a uno de sus acompañantes a despojarlos de sus bienes”, lo que se concretó un día después.

La fiscal estatal María Elena Andrade Ramírez dijo a la prensa que “el Kekas” —palabra que en la jerga local significa quesadillas, o tortillas de queso-– trató de apoderarse de las llantas y otras partes de la camioneta de los extranjeros, pero que al resistirse éstos al robo, presuntamente los asesinó y luego ocultó los cuerpos en un pozo.

Los magistrados en el centro de la crisis son percibidos como ubicados en extremos opuestos del polarizado espectro político brasileño. El próximo mes se espera que el presidente, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, se enfrente al senador Flávio Bolsonaro, hijo del expresidente Jair Bolsonaro, en lo que probablemente será una elección reñida, como lo fue hace cuatro años.

La corte tiene previsto reunirse el martes para debatir si uno de los magistrados debe ser investigado por corrupción.

Esto es lo que hay que saber.

Qué hay detrás de la crisis actual

El caos que sacude a la corte deriva del colapso de Banco Master, un banco de tamaño mediano con activos valorados en hasta 16.000 millones de dólares, que fue clausurado el pasado noviembre tras una amplia investigación sobre una trama de fraude que involucraba miles de millones de reales. Varios políticos de alto nivel y miembros del Poder Judicial fueron vinculados al caso.

El juez André Mendonça, designado por el expresidente Jair Bolsonaro, estaba a cargo del caso en el Supremo.

El exdirector de Banco Master, Daniel Vorcaro, fue detenido a comienzos de este año. Las investigaciones muestran que tuvo negocios con varios políticos de alto rango, incluido el senador Bolsonaro. Además, el juez Alexandre de Moraes —rival de Mendonça— brindó asesoría legal a Vorcaro, y su esposa tenía un contrato de 130 millones de reales (23 millones de dólares) para prestar servicios jurídicos a Banco Master, según documentos relacionados con la investigación en curso.

Mientras tanto, las investigaciones sobre la relación de Flávio Bolsonaro con Vorcaro y sobre los 12 millones de dólares en pagos del banquero para una película sobre la vida de su padre han avanzado con mucha más lentitud. El senador Bolsonaro ha admitido haber recibido el pago, pero negó las acusaciones de irregularidades.

Algunos miembros del máximo tribunal de Brasil han acusado abiertamente a Mendonça de divulgar de manera selectiva partes del extenso caso de Banco Master y de demorar deliberadamente la publicación de segmentos de la investigación que se relacionan con el senador Bolsonaro para hacerlos coincidir con las próximas elecciones.

Mendonça niega las acusaciones de parcialidad.

Varios medios brasileños han informado que Mendonça quiere que De Moraes sea suspendido mientras la corte decide si debe ser investigado por sobornos. De Moraes presentó una solicitud para que la corte investigue a Mendonça y, potencialmente, para que el Senado lo someta a un juicio político por investigarlo en un procedimiento no autorizado.

Las ramificaciones políticas son profundas

El próximo presidente de Brasil nombrará al menos a cuatro nuevos magistrados de la Corte Suprema, que pueden ejercer hasta cumplir 75 años. Algunos candidatos al Senado aliados de Flávio Bolsonaro han prometido impulsar la destitución de integrantes del máximo tribunal del país, mientras que aliados de Lula están considerando límites de mandato.

De Moraes es un héroe para muchos simpatizantes de Lula por supervisar el caso que llevó a la condena del expresidente Bolsonaro por intentar un golpe de Estado tras su derrota en 2022.

Antes de la votación de 2022, de Moraes utilizó su doble papel como juez de un alto tribunal y como presidente del tribunal electoral de Brasil para combatir la desinformación y proteger la integridad del proceso electoral, mientras Bolsonaro sembraba dudas infundadas sobre el sistema de votación electrónica del país.

La caída de De Moraes, dicen analistas, podría envalentonar a los Bolsonaro para volver a cuestionar los resultados si pierden. Un magistrado designado por Bolsonaro, Kassio Nunes Marques, preside actualmente el máximo tribunal electoral de Brasil.

En un mitin que reunió a casi 30.000 personas en Sao Paulo por el Día de la Independencia de Brasil el 7 de septiembre, el senador Bolsonaro vinculó directamente a Lula con De Moraes. “Quien vote por Lula vota por Alexandre de Moraes”, afirmó el senador Bolsonaro, que prometió remodelar la corte si resulta elegido.

“Como es una campaña extremadamente polarizada, todo lo que sea negativo para De Moraes es, de inmediato, positivo para la familia Bolsonaro”, apuntó el consultor político independiente Thomas Traumann, al señalar que la crisis en la Corte Suprema se ha convertido en un tema central de la campaña presidencial.

Cuáles son los próximos pasos en la crisis

Cuando la corte se reúna el martes, se espera que debata si de Moraes debe ser investigado.

El presidente del tribunal, Luiz Edson Fachin, intenta bajar la temperatura política y apartó a Mendonça de la supervisión de las investigaciones sobre Banco Master. Fachin también ordenó levantar el secreto de todos los documentos relacionados con el caso Banco Master en la Corte Suprema, que quedaron disponibles el viernes.

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

The justices at the heart of the crisis are perceived as being at opposing ends of Brazil’s polarized political spectrum. Next month, incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to face off with Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in what is likely to be a close election, as it was four years ago.

The court is set to meet Tuesday to discuss whether one of the justices should be investigated for corruption.

Here’s what to know.

What's behind the current crisis

The chaos gripping the court stems from the collapse of Banco Master, a mid-sized bank worth up to $16 billion in assets, which was shut down last November after a sprawling investigation into a fraud scheme involving billions of reais. Several top politicians and members of the judiciary were linked to it.

Justice Andre Mendonca, an appointee of former president Jair Bolsonaro, was in charge of the case at the Supreme Court.

Banco Master’s former head Daniel Vorcaro was arrested earlier this year. Investigations show he had business dealings with several high-ranking politicians, including Sen. Bolsonaro. Additionally, Justice Alexandre de Moraes — a rival of Mendonca — provided legal advice to Vorcaro, and his wife had a 130 million reais ($23 million) contract to provide legal services to Banco Master, according to documents related to the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, investigations into Flávio Bolsonaro's relationship with Vorcaro and the banker's $12 million in payments for a movie on his father's life have been much slower. Sen. Bolsonaro has admitted receiving the payment but denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Some members of Brazil's top court have openly accused Mendonca of selectively releasing parts of the sprawling Banco Master case and purposely slow-walking the release of parts of the investigation that relate to Sen. Bolsonaro to coincide with the upcoming elections.

Mendonca denies the accusations of bias.

Multiple Brazilian media outlets have reported that Mendonca wants de Moraes suspended while the court decides whether he should be investigated for graft. De Moraes has filed a request to have Mendonca investigated by the court and potentially impeached by the Senate for investigating him in an unauthorized proceeding.

Political ramifications go deep

Brazil’s next president will appoint at least four new Supreme Court justices, who can serve until they are 75 years old. Some Senate candidates allied with Flávio Bolsonaro have promised to push to impeach members of the country's highest court, while Lula allies are considering term limits.

De Moraes is a hero for many Lula supporters for overseeing the case that led to the conviction of ex-President Bolsonaro for attempting a coup after his 2022 defeat.

Ahead of the 2022 vote, de Moraes used his double role as a high court judge and head of Brazil’s electoral court to fight disinformation and protect the integrity of the electoral process as Bolsonaro cast unfounded doubts on Brazil’s electronic voting system.

De Moraes' demise, analysts say, could embolden the Bolsonaros to once again question results if they lose. A Bolsonaro appointee, Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, currently chairs Brazil's top electoral court.

At a rally that drew nearly 30,000 people in Sao Paulo for Brazil’s Independence Day on Sept. 7, Sen. Bolsonaro directly linked Lula to de Moraes. “Whoever votes for Lula votes for Alexandre de Moraes,” Sen. Bolsonaro said, vowing to reshape the court if elected.

“Because it’s an extremely polarized campaign, all that is negative for de Moraes is, immediately, positive for the Bolsonaro family,” said independent political consultant Thomas Traumann, noting that the crisis at the Supreme Court has become a central issue in the presidential campaign.

What the next steps in the crisis are

When the court meets Tuesday, it is expected to discuss whether de Moraes should be investigated.

Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin is trying to turn down the political heat and has removed Mendonca from overseeing the Banco Master investigations. Fachin also ordered the unsealing of all documents related to the Banco Master case at the Supreme Court, which were made available on Friday.

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A quarter-point increase in the Fed's rate, currently about 3.6%, isn't guaranteed because Fed Chair Kevin Warsh doesn't provide the signals about next moves that his predecessors did. Still, most analysts and economists expect a hike after a speech two weeks ago at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in which Warsh argued that the Fed had not yet achieved its goal of putting inflation in check.

A rate increase would throw another sharp shift into a volatile period for the economy and financial markets. As recently as March, the Fed had forecast it would cut its rate once this year. But with the Iran war flaring up again and causing sharp increases in oil and gas prices, inflation is likely to remain higher than the Fed's 2% target for even longer.

“I don’t see any end to the war in Iran right now,” Kristin Forbes, an economist at MIT's Sloan School, said. "Given what everyone has been through in the last few years of high inflation, consumers are more sensitive, companies are more sensitive, they raise prices faster ... The risks are much more on more persistent inflation than it falling quickly.”

Surging investment in AI data centers has also been accelerating inflation and contributing to higher longer-term interest rates, though now leading companies are discussing slowing the technology's development.

All eyes are on interest rates before the midterms

The Fed's potential rate hike comes just seven weeks before the midterm elections in which high prices and affordability have taken key roles. Trump has demanded that the Fed cut rates, a move that isn't on the table, and on Sunday the president said, “the United States is so strong we should be paying the lowest interest rate in the world.”

Trump repeatedly attacked Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, in harshly personal terms, upending decades of tradition in which presidents treated the Fed as independent.

Kevin Hassett, Trump's top economic adviser, said Sunday on CNN that Trump “100% respects the independence of Kevin Warsh.”

Yet at the same time, Hassett suggested in a Fox News interview that the Fed shouldn't hike so close to the midterms.

“I’d be wary of a rate hike ... I think if you want an independent Fed, then one thing the Fed does is it stays out of the way of elections," Hassett said.

Financial markets expect that Warsh and the central bank will brush off such warnings. Traders now see a 90% chance the Fed will hike Wednesday, according to futures prices. That figure jumped after Friday's inflation report showed that prices remain stubbornly high and core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy, picked up in August from the previous month.

After that report, and Warsh's tough talk on inflation late last month, most economists argue that Warsh will have to hike rates or risk undermining his credibility with financial markets. Longer-term interest rates, such as those on the 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds, could spike if he doesn't hike, as they did after a Fed meeting in late July when Warsh failed to convince markets he was willing to lift rates if needed.

“At the end of the day the Chair’s repeated stern warnings on inflation intolerance risk institutional credibility absent some action to back it up,” Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase, wrote in a preview of the Fed's meeting.

A rate increase could raise other questions

Some members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee still expect inflation, outside of food and energy, to fade over time and may not feel a rate hike is necessary.

But Warsh has not made that argument. Instead, in his Jackson Hole remarks, he said recent inflation reports “do not tell me that underlying trends have improved,” adding that if such improvement wasn't seen soon, “we have work to do.”

Ironically, by boosting Fed credibility, a rate hike could hold down longer-term interest rates that consumers pay for things like mortgages and auto loans. Some of the recent spike in mortgage rates has likely reflected concerns among investors that the Fed wasn't committed to fighting inflation. Investors typically demand higher yields to own bonds when inflation is elevated.

Still, if the Fed does increase its rate Wednesday, then Warsh will face a new set of questions: How many hikes will the Fed implement? How effective will they be in reducing inflation when much of it stems from higher oil prices, something the Fed can't control? What will they do if an AI slowdown threatens to slow the economy, which would typically get the central bank to cut rates?

Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, said it is rare for the Fed to lift its key rate just once, which is likely to have little impact on the economy, and so multiple hikes are likely.

But how the Fed characterizes possible rate increases on Wednesday could give clues to its next steps, he said. For example, if Warsh suggests the Fed is unwinding the three cuts it made in late 2025 — when it feared that unemployment was rising — that would suggest two more hikes would be needed.

Alternatively, Warsh could portray a hike as an act of “risk management,” Luzzetti said, with the Fed expecting inflation to cool but hiking rates to essentially ensure it falls. That could point to possibly just two increases.

Warsh has resisted providing such guidance so far. But Wall Street traders expect three hikes — in September, December, and March — according to futures prices.

How that data is used — and schools' role in protecting it — is a growing concern for educators, parents and kids as artificial intelligence becomes a ubiquitous part of the school day, embedded in many of the classroom tools students are required to use.

As the school year started, the country's two largest school districts, New York City and Los Angeles, announced they were putting the brakes on student use of AI for one year, as they study how to best incorporate the technology into education.

In response to a growing AI and screentime backlash, Microsoft announced last week it had agreed to adopt guardrails and privacy standards for its AI in schools, as negotiated with the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers union.

The safety provisions in the agreement are meaningful, but the standards will only be effective if all AI companies, especially the tech giants, sign on, said Josh Golin, executive director of online safety nonprofit Fairplay. He said the agreement sidesteps the question of whether AI products even belong in classrooms, or at what age they should be introduced.

“I worry that a high-profile framework like this will be misunderstood and schools will think, ‘If they’re doing a good job on data privacy and safety, then that means we should be using the tool,’” Golin said.

The AFT said the agreement, which is legally binding and requires third-party audits for compliance, could set an industry standard. Two other leading AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, said they also were discussing safety and privacy pacts with the AFT. But Google, the dominant provider of education technology for America's schools, has not said whether it plans to offer similar protections.

Agreement puts limits on using student data for training AI

As part of the wide-ranging agreement, Microsoft says it will not use student or educator data to train AI systems, apart from a narrow exception for data that could help protect students. It says the data it collects cannot be sold, used for advertising or used for product development.

The agreement prohibits any use of AI companions or features “designed to foster emotional attachment or dependency” and to keep students engaged for longer than a learning task requires. It also includes a range of audit and transparency measures that require the company to disclose to families, in plain language, how its tools work.

“This standard sets a high bar for child privacy and AI safety, and we’ll extend this agreement to every school district across the country,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, said in a statement. The standards will apply to all schools that Microsoft has contracts with starting Nov. 1, he said.

AFT President Randi Weingarten called the agreement the “first of its kind” and an important step to setting an industry standard in the absence of federal and state legislation on AI in schools.

“We want parents to have control of their kids’ education. We want educators to have control of kids’ education, not ed tech. And that’s what this agreement is,” Weingarten said.

She spoke at a joint news conference with Smith at the headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers, the AFT’s New York City affiliate. The headquarters is home to AFT’s National Academy for AI Instruction for teachers, which launched a year ago backed by $23 million from Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic.

Along with their yearlong AI moratorium, the school systems for New York City and Los Angeles plan extensive audits of their education technology contracts and AI tools, with a focus on data privacy, transparency and accountability. The ban in New York City applies to all elementary and middle school students, while in Los Angeles it extends through high school.

The teachers union also has courted Google and AI companies

Weingarten said she contacted Google directly to tell them about the agreement before making it public, in hopes the company would become a signatory.

The company has not responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press on whether it plans to offer similar protections.

“Is Google going to embrace this framework? That is a huge question,” said Golin, the online safety nonprofit chief. He noted schools also use thousands of AI-driven educational technology products produced by smaller companies.

Google found itself at the center of controversy over AI in schools when it announced in August it had turned on its Gemini chatbot for many K-12 students using Google Classroom, its learning management system. The company says Google Classroom is used by 150 million teachers and students worldwide.

Critics decried Google's move as an escalation of the race between tech giants to make inroads in schools and win over the next generation of AI users. The AI addition to Classroom only affects schools that allow student access to its Gemini app or Gemini Notebook, but it marks a major shift. Until August, Google had only allowed Gemini to be turned on for students 18 or older.

Weingarten said she is also in talks with OpenAI and Anthropic, which both issued public praise for the agreement.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, called it an “important milestone for AI safety and privacy in schools.” The company has been working with AFT, it said in a statement, “and we look forward to finalizing our own agreement.”

Anthropic, the maker of Claude, said in a statement, “We applaud all efforts to drive responsible AI use in education.” The company said it was working with AFT to shape “a gold standard for safety and privacy.”

The standards shift the burden on privacy to companies

Experts in data privacy say the new standards could help shape the conversation that schools have with AI providers, whether a school is a Microsoft customer or not.

“What I’m hopeful about is that this takes some of the pressure off individual school districts to negotiate with large tech companies,” said Elizabeth Laird, director at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Until now, the negotiating power of schools to secure privacy protections from tech firms often depended on financial clout. “I think this standard makes progress toward not having that type of inequity across school districts.”

Laird commended the agreement for going “above and beyond” what is legally required for vendors working with schools. For instance, Microsoft has committed not to use sensitive data that many companies leverage, such as information about gender, race, age, ZIP code that can be used to identify a person even if their name is removed.

But until others sign on, Laird said, the agreement highlights how difficult it is to set AI standards in the absence of legislation. It also emphasizes that the burden of protecting student privacy should fall on tech companies — not on parents, students or schools.

Microsoft's Smith noted that tech companies have been late to accept that.

“We all know there are important discussions and debates all across the country, about when AI should be used in schools, how it should be used, for what purpose,” Smith said. “It is our role, even our responsibility, to ensure that AI is provided in a form that teachers and kids and parents can trust.”

_____

The Associated Press’ education 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.

President Donald Trump is leading the opposition to recent calls by tech leaders seeking greater government oversight, including Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk.

The president dismissed efforts to limit the technology on Monday as a “conspiracy.” Other leading Republicans including Vice President JD Vance have expressed caution. House Speaker Mike Johnson has largely deferred to the White House.

Democrats, meanwhile, are pressing for a more robust response, convening in private on Tuesday in the House to discuss AI. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is hosting his colleagues for a briefing with experts on Wednesday. Top candidates on the ballot this year such as Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia are pressing for sweeping action in Washington. And former President Barack Obama is encouraging those with White House aspirations to develop a “very clear plan” to address AI concerns.

The contrasting responses illustrate a yawning disconnect emerging between a tech sector warning of AI's existential threats to humanity and a federal government often struggling to accomplish basic functions under the weight of intense partisanship and election-year pressure.

“The signals we're receiving from our political leaders are not representing an understanding of the crisis that I think we are in fact in,” said Max Stier, the president and chief executive of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. “Delay is going to prove very costly.”

There are notable exceptions to the partisan divide. A Washington AI conference on Tuesday will feature speakers including Sanders and Trump ally Steve Bannon. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., opened an investigation last week into OpenAI for its artificial intelligence system hacking into another AI company on its own.

Congress and the White House have responded to past crises

Congress and the White House have managed to respond swiftly to past crises and the intensifying AI debate is emerging as a new referendum on whether they can do so again.

During Trump's first term, his team worked with Democrats in control of Congress to stabilize the economy as federal agencies worked to produce a vaccine to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As the economy teetered on collapse in 2007 and 2008, President George W. Bush's Republican administration teamed with congressional Democrats to inject money into the financial system.

But Congress has long been reluctant to regulate the technology industry.

The Biden administration called on lawmakers to develop policies after a 2023 executive order on AI oversight, which Trump rescinded soon after returning to office. As the technology has progressed at a rapid clip, Congress has refrained from imposing rules or funding ways for people to successfully adjust to the potential changes from AI.

A bipartisan working group on artificial intelligence formed by then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a report in 2024 recommending the U.S. spend at least $32 billion over the next three years to develop artificial intelligence and implement safeguards around it. But there was little follow up. Similarly, a bipartisan bill on internet safety for children has repeatedly stalled.

“We never do anything until we have a holy heck moment,” said Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and former technology executive.

Lawmakers in both parties agree more guardrails are needed, but even narrow attempts at regulation have fallen apart and a certain skepticism has set in.

“Have we gotten election security done?” asked Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. “Did we balance a budget? Oh, did we pass a budget? See, what have we gotten done? So you think we're going to get AI done?”

Ossoff cast the AI debate as an example of Washington’s inability to tackle anything big.

“What fills us with dread is the crushing weakness of our politics against the massive stakes of our times,” he said during a Sunday reelection rally in Athens, Georgia.

A renewed sense of urgency for government oversight

There are some signs of renewed urgency.

After the tech leaders called for greater oversight on Saturday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he spoke that night with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., about a “path forward” on legislation they're working on.

“You don't want to stifle innovation, but I think you also want to make sure that the more advanced threats can be mitigated and there's a capability and place to do that,” he said.

“I also think,” he added, “that there is a way in which Congress can put guardrails around those types of more consequential threats without, in any way, harming our ability to stay ahead in the AI race.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he plans to offer a so-called kill switch measure on Wednesday that would require developers to have the capacity to shut down their systems if needed. It would need the Senate’s full support to advance.

“AI is becoming an issue, particularly in the last few days,” he said.

But with a dwindling calendar ahead of the November election, any fast movement on legislation seems unlikely. In the House, Johnson seemed downbeat on the prospect of a legislative response, calling instead for Trump to summon AI leaders for a meeting to resolve concerns.

“The reflex of legislative bodies is to cover things up with red tape and hyper regulation,” he said.

Trump emerges as a roadblock

And any legislation that emerges would require Trump's support, which appears unlikely at the moment.

“All I can tell you is my own perspective on this,” said Hawley, who has introduced bipartisan legislation requiring federal tracking of AI safety concerns tied to national security, civil liberties and labor protections. “We need to protect working people. We need to protect kids online. We need to protect folks who are threatened by data centers.”

“We also need to make sure," he added, “these frontier models are not going to blow up the internet and/or the world.”

For veterans of past crises, the congressional inertia is baffling.

“Earth to Washington: You're pushing an open door,” Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff in the wake of the financial crisis and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said in an interview. “In my entire time of public service, I've never had an industry or a CEO ask for regulation and oversight.”

Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat who is a leader in the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus, said Congress is “capable” of passing stronger AI rules. He said he thinks there's sufficient support for multiple bills, including a bipartisan measure that would establish guardrails for AI models and another that includes the kill switch provision.

“It's very much a leadership issue,” Beyer said as the House is poised to adjourn at the end of the week and not return until after the elections.

___

Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking in Washington and Bill Barrow in Athens, Georgia, contributed to this report.

The Microsoft co-founder made the appeal in the Gates Foundation's annual Goalkeepers report, which tracks progress on the development goals set by the United Nations to improve quality of life by 2030. The donation announced Tuesday will be spread over the next two years for AI-focused efforts to train models on local languages, improve health outcomes, upgrade educational tools and inform small farmers' practices around the world.

And despite the United States' international aid cuts, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said he would continue pressing Congress and President Donald Trump's administration to lead the way on foreign assistance.

“We haven’t given up on the U.S.,” Suzman told The Associated Press in an interview. “We will acknowledge it’s been a challenging period with the U.S. government on this. But we believe there is still a case to be made.”

The long-prepared report arrives as executives at leading AI companies urge others in the industry to slow its fast-moving development. An ex-Anthropic researcher's resignation over concerns that developers are not acting responsibly has revived the debate over whether increasingly powerful AI models could escape human control.

Gates shared similar concerns in a post last month on his website. AI will either be “the greatest equalizer” or the “worst source of injustice,” he wrote. He acknowledged that the technology will empower people to carry out fraud, disinformation, surveillance, cyberattacks and bioterrorism.

Annual roadmap published at time of heightened anxiety over AI

The Gates Foundation, one of the world's largest global health funders, is focused less on funding safeguards and more so on democratizing what Gates considers to be the technology's benefits. AI is one of several focus areas benefiting from this year's record budget. Gates pledged in last month's blog post that “all of our work” will “take full advantage of AI.”

“How will we use this technology to make the world a fairer place and keep it from widening the divide between rich and poor?” he posed. “How will we protect the people who are most vulnerable to the harms caused by artificial intelligence, including those who lose their livelihoods and the sense that they are in control of their future?”

The Gates Foundation views AI as “a potentially transformative tool” for a “world that is in a little bit of crisis,” according to Suzman. The foundation projected 2025 to be the first year this century with an increase in child deaths in last year's report. The Trump administration's disruptions to a global AIDS relief program have impeded efforts to prevent and treat the disease in dozens of countries. Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor nations is growing even wider, according to a recent U.N. report.

But for AI to “help accelerate progress,” Suzman said, it must perform well in all local languages — not just English and, to some extent, Mandarin. The foundation announced Tuesday about $100 million to help build data sets in the languages spoken by underserved communities and reflect their local contexts.

Working with OpenAI, Anthropic and other tech giants on health, agriculture

The foundation is turning to some of the top AI companies to get there. Google.org and Microsoft's AI for Good Lab helped launch an open funding call for projects strengthening the frameworks needed for thousands of underrepresented languages across Africa.

OpenAI committed $50 million alongside the foundation to train health workers in Rwandan clinics as part of a pilot that Suzman said will soon include other African countries. Anthropic is working with the foundation to accelerate vaccine developments and improve its chatbot's data set of local crops, among other efforts.

Tuesday's announcement promised to bring about $400 million more for education, such as a tool that helps teachers rework lesson plans around the concepts least understood by their classes; some $400 million for healthcare, such as a tool that double-checks clinicians' reports for overlooked symptoms; and roughly $100 million for agriculture, such as an app that offers real-time advice to farmers on weather patterns, pest control and fertilizer usage.

Suzman acknowledged that these totals are a “tiny proportion” of the billions spent by tech giants on their commercial products. He confirmed that the foundation is having additional conversations with the major AI companies about how their technical resources can contribute to these goals and where their leaders should invest the vast individual fortunes they're expected to make.

Gates also noted a “potential bias” in his August blog post: he still has financial ties to the technology industry, where he built a fortune estimated at more than $100 billion. He committed last year to donating 99% of his remaining wealth to the Gates Foundation. He works alongside Microsoft and other AI companies as the foundation's chair. Still, he emphasizes that his views are not profit-motivated.

Discussions at next week’s United Nations gathering

The Goalkeepers report comes ahead of the United Nations General Assembly's high-level meetings next week in New York. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has attempted to include developing nations in conversations about AI governance. Guterres, whose term leading the international body will end this year, has said the technology “cannot be governed by a handful of countries or companies.”

But U.N. processes “move considerably less rapidly than AI does,” according to the International Crisis Group's Richard Gowan, a program director and U.N. watcher. The U.N. also faces questions about its relevancy as it closes in on the selection of Guterres' successor.

“It isn't clear that the next secretary-general will keep up this focus,” Gowan told reporters on Monday.

___

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.

Twice.

After his first scramble to the end zone got called back by a penalty, the Chiefs quarterback took off again on the next play, sprinting through the teeth of one of the NFL's best defenses for a 15-yard touchdown run. And that daring move seemed to set the tone for the rest of the night, as Kansas City whipped the reigning AFC West champions 31-10.

Mahomes had 184 yards and two touchdowns passing to go with what matched his longest TD run in a regular-season game.

“If I was going to say I was nervous for anything, it was getting hit on it,” Mahomes said, "but I just wanted to play. I've done so much rehab and so much work to put myself in this position. I just wanted to play. This is what you do it for.

“My guys around me helped me," Mahomes added. "I didn't play my best football and we went out and beat a really good football team pretty well, and it's because the guys around me stepped up."

Guys like Kenneth Walker III, who ran for 173 yards and scored two touchdowns in his Chiefs debut. And longtime buddy Travis Kelce, who gave new wife Taylor Swift something to cheer about with a 59-yard catch that helped to set up a field goal.

But as it has been for the past eight-plus years, everything in Kansas City starts and ends with the quarterback.

It was nine months ago to the day that Mahomes tore two ligaments in the knee when he was spun to the ground in front of the Chiefs bench in the waning minutes of a loss to the Chargers. The Chiefs already were on their way toward being eliminated from postseason contention, but the injury to their biggest star sent them to a nadir few could have fathomed.

Just as unthinkable, though, was Mahomes' recovery.

He had surgery the next day in Dallas and immediately began the rehab effort. He spent the summer in Kansas City, watching World Cup games on television while working with Chiefs trainer Julie Frymyer in the team's practice facility, rather than retreating to his home in Texas, where he usually spends much of his down time with his family.

Mahomes kept ticking off benchmarks so quickly that he was on the field for the start of voluntary summer workouts.

He was cleared to fully participate in training camp the week the team reported to Missouri Western State University.

And while he was held out of all three preseason games, the plan all along was for him to be ready for Week 1.

Mahomes was the last Chiefs player to be announced during pregame introductions, roaring himself as the din inside of Arrowhead Stadium reached a crescendo. Then, he proceeded to play without any apparent limitations, scrambling when necessary, avoiding the big hits when he could, and fighting for extra yardage whenever he had the chance as if nothing was ever wrong.

“It was great to get Patrick back in the mix there, knock a little rust off,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I was proud of him and how he handled it, and he ran the ball a couple of times, and your hat goes off to the guy. Phenomenal.”

Even with an undrafted rookie, Kahlil Benson, starting in place of the injured Josh Simmons at left tackle, the Chiefs dominated the Broncos up front. Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, took advantage of the holes to help the Chiefs pile up 393 yards of total offense, and the big boys mostly kept Mahomes clean against a defense that set a Broncos record with 68 sacks a year ago.

“They got to key on Pat. Pat's the best quarterback in the league,” Walker said. “He makes the run game a lot easier.”

Nothing seemed to be too hard against the Broncos, who missed a staggering 28 tackles during the game.

By the end, Mahomes stood in the middle of the field, lifting his arms in celebration, imploring what was left of a jubilant home crowd to celebrate a brilliant performance by the Chiefs to open their season.

“It's just the start of it. We're still so early in the season," Mahomes said. “It's a great win but it's just Week 1.” ___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

To him, she was simply “mama.”

Culkin joined O’Hara’s “Schitt’s Creek” co-stars Annie Murphy and Dan Levy on stage at Monday night’s Emmy Awards for an emotional tribute to the revered comic actor, who died Jan. 30 at age 71.

“She wasn’t just a wife to Bo (Welch) and mother to Matthew and Luke,” Culkin said. “She was my mom. She was our mama, and by extension, she’s all of our mama.”

Culkin urged viewers to call their mothers and recalled how O’Hara continued to show up for him decades after they starred together in two “Home Alone” movies. O’Hara played Kate McCallister, the frantic mother of Culkin’s Kevin, in the 1990 original and its 1992 sequel, two holiday blockbusters that became perennial television favorites.

“This is the best that we can do for her tonight. We’re showing up for her,” he said. “She may have forgotten me twice, but we will always remember her.”

O’Hara died from a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer listed as the underlying cause. Her career spanned five decades, from the Canadian sketch series “SCTV” to the “Home Alone” films, Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries and her Emmy-winning performance as Moira Rose on “Schitt’s Creek.”

Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan then performed during the in-memoriam segment, which honored O’Hara and other members of the television industry who died over the past year. The montage also remembered entertainment icon Dolly Parton, actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner, actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. and costume designer Bob Mackie, who was included despite dying earlier the same day as the ceremony.

Murphy, who played O’Hara’s daughter, Alexis Rose, on “Schitt’s Creek,” remembered her co-star’s unmistakable laugh and the joy she brought to audiences.

“Catherine’s laugh was a perpetual ‘yes, and,’” Murphy said. “It challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere.”

Murphy described strangers across Canada sharing their grief with her after O’Hara’s death. She said it included a note passed to her on an Air Canada flight, a hug from a gas station attendant and a woman who performed a mashup of O’Hara’s characters while Murphy was buying wine.

“These are only a very few of the interactions I’ve been lucky enough to have that remind me how profoundly Catherine has impacted the world,” Murphy said. “And it’s because she brought us joy.”

Levy, who co-created “Schitt’s Creek” and played O’Hara’s onscreen son David Rose, said the greatest lesson he learned from her was to “always say yes," particularly to her creative instincts.

“Say yes to helping her build a TV character over the age of 60 that wears leather miniskirts and 8-inch heels and speaks in a strange, sometimes unintelligible transatlantic accent,” Levy said.

He recalled O’Hara’s late-night rewrites and the eccentric ideas that helped define Moira Rose, including her collection of wigs.

“Say yes to the concept of a wig wall. Say yes to her asking to wear a wig as a hat. Say yes to her naming that wig,” Levy said. “Say yes to giving her space to experiment and create. It will amaze you on a daily basis, and it will change your life.”

Levy also remembered O’Hara’s generosity away from the set.

“Say yes to her dinner invites and her stories and her wisdom and her generosity,” he said. “Those are the things you will hold on to the tightest. Always say yes to any opportunity to revel in the presence of greatness.”

The incident happened around 10 p.m. Saturday at the McDonald’s located at 265 W. Oakland Park Blvd. in Oakland Park.

According to deputies, the victim and her boyfriend were inside the McDonald’s when she told investigators that the suspect, identified as Jerimiah Williams, continued to look at her because “she believed that he was trying to flirt or cause a rise” out of the couple.

That’s when the victim said Williams got up from the table he was seated at and tried signaling the victim to follow him as he walked toward the bathroom, and when she did not, deputies said Williams then went to the couple and brushed up against the victim before telling her, “You’re going to die and I’m going to shoot your boyfriend,” according to an arrest report.

Deputies said Williams then walked outside the McDonald’s and put down his backpack, which was described by authorities as a “military style digital camo backpack,” reached inside and showed the victims what they believed to be a black pistol.

When the victims called 911, deputies said Williams took off running down Oakland Park Boulevard, but they were able to bring him into custody a short distance away.

It was noted in his arrest repot that deputies did not find a gun after searching Williams.

He is now facing two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and a charge of battery. As of Monday night, Williams was being held at the Broward Main Jail on a $5,500 bond.

The reigning Super Bowl MVP won't be surprising anyone else anytime soon.

Walker ran for 173 yards and scored two touchdowns in his Chiefs debut, helping to take some of the pressure off Mahomes in his first game back, and Kansas City exacted some revenge on Denver for stealing its AFC West crown with a 31-10 victory Monday night.

Walker carried 23 times to finish with the most yards rushing by a Chiefs player since Jamaal Charles ran for 226 against the Colts in 2012, the year before Andy Reid became their coach. The ex-Seahawks star also had three catches for 18 yards.

“He did a really nice job,” Reid said, “and you never know going in how many times you're going to give him the ball. That's not a calculated thing. You have to be making yards. For him to play the way he did I thought was spectacular.”

Mahomes wasn't a slouch, either. With a brace protecting his left knee, he threw for 184 yards and two scores while also running for another score, helping the Chiefs snap a three-game skid against the rival that ended their nine-year run as division champs.

“They were in the AFC championship game for a reason,” Mahomes said. “For us to go out and win like that, that's the first step. It shows all the work in training camp paid off. But how can we be better?”

Good question.

The Chiefs helped to make Denver positively abysmal on offense in its first game with coordinator Davis Webb calling the plays.

Bo Nix threw for 131 yards with an interception and a lost fumble, and the Broncos finished with 176 yards of offense, all despite the offseason splash they made by trading a package of draft picks to Miami for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.

Waddle had one catch for 2 yards. Evan Engram led the Broncos with four catches for 43 yards and their lone TD.

“As a whole offense, a whole team, we just didn’t play really good,” Nix said.

“Obviously not a good evening," Broncos coach Sean Payton added.

The looming question, even after Mahomes participated in the entire offseason program and every practice of training camp, was how his knee would hold up nine months to the day since he was hurt in a game against the Chargers.

He erased any doubts when he capped the Chiefs' opening drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.

“Once you put him in the game,” Reid said, “he's going to play, and you better be confident in that.”

It was Walker who did most of the running, though. The Super Bowl MVP for Seattle, who signed a three-year, $43.05 million deal in free agency, had 14 carries for 89 yards in the first half alone, along with a couple of catches out of the backfield.

Even when the Broncos tied the game on Nix's 19-yard touchdown pass to Engram, Walker assumed a heavy load as the Chiefs pieced together a 10-play, 80-yard drive late in the half. It ended when Mahomes found Rashee Rice, fresh off a knee injury of his own, and he caromed off a couple of Broncos defenders and into the end zone to make it 14-7 at the break.

Then it was Walker's turn to bounce off a defender, turning a fourth-and-1 carry into a 60-yard TD run to start the third quarter.

“I knew they were going to crash in. When they crashed in, I bounced out,” Walker said, “and I was off to the races from there.”

The teams traded field goals later in the quarter thanks to big plays by each side: Brandon Jones picked off Mahomes deep in Chiefs territory, setting up Wil Lutz's chip shot, and Mahomes connected with Travis Kelce for 59 yards to set up Harrison Butker's answer.

Nix's fumble on the ensuing possession allowed the Chiefs to put the game away.

Mahomes hit rookie running back Emmett Johnson on third down for a 26-yard gain, setting up first-and-goal at the Denver 2. And in the kind of creative — dare say, fun? — play that was reminiscent of the Chiefs' banner years, Mahomes lined up in a three-point stance alongside backup QB Justin Fields, took the snap and shoveled the ball to Walker, who scooted untouched for the score.

It was a play that Reid and his staff found in some black-and-white footage from the 1930s, and it worked flawlessly.

“It was hard to see,” Walker said of the film, “but we worked it over and over in practice. We felt it was going to work and it did.”

Arrowhead over Emmys

Taylor Swift chose Arrowhead Stadium over the Emmy Awards to cheer on Kelce. The pop star married the Chiefs tight end on July 3. Swift, who watched alongside Tom Cruise, had been nominated for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) for “The Eras Tour: The Final Show,” but the category winner — “The Muppet Show” — had been announced earlier this month.

Injuries

Broncos: WR Marvin Mims left briefly with a hip injury but returned.

Chiefs: CB Mansoor Delane landed on his right shoulder after an interception on the third play of the game. The No. 6 pick in the NFL draft was helped to the locker room and did not return. ... LB Cooper McDonald (knee) left in the first half and did not return.

Up next

Denver plays its home opener against Jacksonville on Sunday.

Kansas City hosts Indianapolis on Sunday night.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The tour outlined criteria for the Championship Series and the lesser Challenger Series, along with a transition plan for how players will qualify in the first year of having two tiers distinguished by the strength of field and the size of the prize fund.

The PGA Tour boards approved the plan Monday. Still to be decided are the rest of the Championship Series events, where they fit in the schedule and whether the path includes leading players from the European tour.

The tour previously revealed a season finale that features two weeks of match play in two cities.

“The new competitive model is designed to reward excellence and ensure there is always a clear path for top performers at every stage of their career,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in a statement.

That includes giving the top college senior a direct path to the Championship Series with its $20 million purses against the best players in golf. The boards also approved a "Last Chance Series” after the season for the top three players, provided they play every fall event.

Most notable of the changes are the perks.

Major champions, along with The Players champion, previously received a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Starting in 2028, winning a Championship Series event — including the majors and The Players — earns a two-year exemption on the Championship Series. Players would get a four-year exemption on the Challenger Series if they lose top status.

The tour also introduced a points structure for the Championship Series, awarding 300 points to the winner. That will be the same for the Masters and British Open as it is for the Memorial and RBC Heritage and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Championship Series criteria

The Championship Series will be for the top 90 players from the previous season; the top 20 players from the Challenger Series; players who win multiple times in a season on the Challenger Series; players who have won in the past two years on the Championship Series; players who wish to use a one-time exemption from the career money list; and any medical extensions.

Players generally will no longer get additional years tacked onto their exemptions by winning multiple times during a season.

Challenger Series criteria

The Challenger Series will be for players relegated out of the Championship Series; players who finish between No. 21 and No. 90 on the Challenger points list; the leading 20 players from the Korn Ferry Tour; players finishing Nos. 2-5 in the PGA Tour University ranking; and five players from qualifying school.

The Challenger Series also will have two sponsor exemptions and allow for two Monday qualifiers at tournaments that are held the same weeks as the Championship Series.

The “Last Chance Series” will be for anyone who has Challenger Series status secure for the following year. The tour said there will be a minimum of four fall tournaments, and players will be required to play them all — pending a medical exception — if they want to earn the three spots in the Championship Series.

How the two tiers will get started

Key to the announcement was how to fill the two tiers for the inaugural season in 2028.

Players who earned exemptions this season will have those honored at the Championship Series level for their duration, whether it’s the five-year exemption for Ryan Fox winning the British Open or the two-year exemption for Justin Rose winning at Torrey Pines.

Winners of the majors, The Players and signature events in 2027 will get Championship Series status through 2029, while all other tournament winners (except for opposite-field events) get Championship status through 2028 and Challenger status through 2029.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup through the 2027 Tour Championship will have Championship status, extended to the top 95 through the fall series next year.

Only the top 10 from the Korn Ferry Tour next year will get to the top tier.

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

The U.S. Supreme Court lifted much of that uncertainty late Monday when it rejected President Donald Trump’s push to have the U.S. Postal Service play a central role in deciding who would be able to receive a mail ballot.

The decision is a win for the status quo. The thousands of election offices around the country can send out mail ballots as they had intended without worrying about complying with new Postal Service rules imposed at the 11th hour.

“Now, we can finally move forward and get back to what we do best: conducting our elections without a dark cloud hanging over us — fairly, openly, for the people, by the people,” California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat who oversees voting in a state where all voters receive a mail ballot, said in a statement after the decision.

Executive order and ongoing litigation had created confusion

The case before the court stemmed from an executive order Trump signed in March.

The administration developed a plan that would require states to adopt a uniform envelope style for mailed ballots and submit lists of eligible voters to an online portal it was developing. The Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots to states that didn’t comply.

A whistleblower report said the postal system’s requirements could lead to millions of mail ballots never being sent, disenfranchising many of the country's voters during an election that will decide control of Congress during the final two years of Trump's term.

A tangle of legal challenges, rapid-fire rulings and appeals left election officials uncertain about what rules would ultimately be in place. But they agreed on one thing: Introducing such massive changes so close to a general election would be chaotic and nearly impossible to pull off in a country where roughly a third of voters use mail ballots.

The Supreme Court's decision comes as mail voting is already in progress in some states. Some election officials have said they were worried that the dispute, coming late in the election cycle, would leave voters confused about what’s allowed.

Voting rights advocates and state election officials moved swiftly after Monday's decision to make clear that elections will function as they always have in each state.

“Utahns can have confidence that the 2026 election will proceed as normal,” said Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican serving as the state’s chief election officer.

The uncertainty was most pressing in the states that rely on mail voting

The concern was particularly acute in the eight states where voters cast ballots almost entirely by mail: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

They had faced the daunting challenge of adapting in short order without an extensive network of polling places.

“This is a victory for Oregonians, the right to vote, and the rule of law," said Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, a Democrat. "This provides voters and elections officials with the certainty they need ahead of a major, federal election, and it sends a clear message to this country: Presidents don’t run elections, the people do.”

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said his reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision is “one of relief, but also excitement, because today the voters really won across America.”

In Nevada’s June primary, more than half of voters cast ballots by mail. It’s a state where mail voting is “critical” to voter voices being heard, Aguilar said.

But the Democrat said “some of the damage has already been done,” with false claims about mail ballots affecting people’s confidence in the voting method.

“You can trust the process,” Aguilar urged voters. “Please participate.”

What about future elections?

Lower courts had blocked the Trump administration from implementing its rules. The Supreme Court rejected the its attempt to stay those decisions, even as three justices — Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas — expressed various levels of willingness to let Trump carry out his plan in current or future elections.

Yet a majority of the justices noted in the decision that the administration was “unlikely to succeed on the merits" in defending its plan. It was heartening to some voting rights experts to see that language inserted.

“The court didn’t have to explain that it was disinclined to side with the government on the merits, but it did that, and that is a sign for the future,” said Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor.

David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department lawyer who is now executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said implementing Trump's executive order “would have done nothing for election integrity but would have imposed a vast and expensive new bureaucracy on the states” and disenfranchised voters.

He said the majority's language about the merits of the case meant “it is unlikely these rules will ever apply to any election.”

He added, “Thanks to the rule of law, voters will not need to worry about this.”

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Associated Press writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California, Nicholas Riccardi in Mason, Michigan, Ali Swenson in New York, Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington, D.C., and Wufei Yu in Phoenix contributed to this report.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 289 points, or 0.6%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.

The main event for the market is coming Wednesday, when the Fed will announce its latest decision on what it will do with interest rates. The widespread expectation is that it will hike the federal funds rate for the first time in three years to try to rein in the still-high inflation grinding on Americans.

Such a move could remove fuel that’s allowed inflation to remain above 3%. But it would do so by inflicting pain on the economy in the short term, making it more expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money. Higher rates also tend to undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

Worries about high inflation, along with longstanding concerns about the U.S. government’s massive debt level and other issues, have already sent yields in the bond market to levels unseen in years.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the U.S. bond market, rose to 5.00% from 4.97% late Monday. A day earlier was the first time since 2023 that it breached the 5.00% level.

“The result is a market that must work harder to generate earnings growth just as investors become less willing to pay premium valuations for that growth,” according to Darrell Cronk, president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

When bonds are paying more in interest, such as 5%, people are often less willing to pay high prices for stocks because they can earn more from sitting in bonds, which are considered safer investments.

Much of the recent rise in bond yields has been due to jumping oil prices, and they swung on Tuesday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.7% to $106.42 after flipping between $105.10 and $108.43 earlier in the morning.

It remains well above its $72 level from early July and from before the war with Iran began in February, as doubt continues about whether the United States and Iran can reach an agreement that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.

Traders are still betting on a slight chance that the Federal Reserve could hold off on hiking interest rates, though. If it does, the market could swing because investors may see it as a sign that the Fed is less committed to getting inflation lower. Fed officials will also release forecasts for where they see interest rates heading in upcoming years, providing another opportunity to inject uncertainty into the market.

On Wall Street, Nvidia and other chip companies held steadier following slides on Monday after leaders of the AI industry called for a slowdown in development to address safety issues for humanity.

Nvidia rose 1.1%, a day after its 3.4% drop was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 index. Advanced Micro Devices climbed 2.4%.

Such stocks led the U.S. market to records for years, but they’ve come under pressure recently on worries that their prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI.

Some companies hoping to power the AI revolution also recovered some of their own sharp losses from Monday. GE Vernova gained 1% to recoup some of its 8.6% drop.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, which sank 7.3% after reporting weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. But for several, the drops were not as sharp as Monday’s caused by the slide for AI stocks.

South Korea’s Kospi index, for example, fell 0.9% following Monday’s 3.3% drop.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

Peyton Williams and her 15-year-old brother were riding an e-bike together when a driver struck them on Sep. 9 at Northwest Seventh Avenue and 177 Street, according to deputies.

Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies searched for the driver on Monday night. Peyton’s brother Willbrent survived and was at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Peyton died.

“He’s doing well,” said Shaniq, the children’s mother. “He’s in recovery right now. He’s up, he’s talking, he’s stable, and that’s it. We just fighting, we still day-by-day recovering.”

She said that the family has yet to tell the boy that his sister did not survive the crash.

“No, we didn’t tell him yet,” she said. “It’s going to be the trauma all over, like from the first time it happened because they were very close. They did everything together.”

Mourners remembered Peyton as a member of the Gwen Cherry Park Bulls cheer team, a youth sports program with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade.

“It’s like a spiritual feeling to know that they’re so loved and that so many people came forward just to show support for our family, for their mom,” said Katrina Kearse, the victim’s aunt.

On Sunday, deputies reported finding the Nissan Versa that they suspect struck and killed Peyton.

“Our hearts are broken ... 10 years was not long enough. Her life mattered. Her story matters. Her family needs our support,” Destiny Reeves wrote in a Support Now fundraising page.

“It’s exciting to be in this position. You don’t get to do it too many times. We know the ultimate goal,” Judge said as beer and sparkling wine were sprayed throughout the visitor's clubhouse at Target Field after an 8-3 win against Minnesota.

Judge, who returned last week after missing more than three months because of a fractured rib, hit a three-run homer off A.J. Minter in a six-run eighth as the Yankees took a 7-2 lead.

Spencer Jones was batting with two outs in the eighth when Toronto lost to Detroit, assuring New York of at least an AL wild card berth.

“I’m proud of the young guys coming up and filling some holes for us,” Judge said. “Seeing the way Spencer has really evolved every single time he’s been called up, gotten a little bit better, our starting pitching doing what it’s done. You call up a guy like George Lombard, 21 years old to be the shortstop of the Yankees, and he’s just fit right in with this crew.”

Seeking its first World Series title since 2009, New York (87-63) closed within 3 1/2 games of AL East leader Tampa Bay (90-59), which cliched a postseason berth on Friday.

Eighteen Yankees have landed on the injured list, including second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. last week with a sprained right thumb. Judge, a three-time AL MVP, missed 84 games due to a right rib stress fracture.

“This is a tough group, a close group. We weathered the storm between health situations throughout the year, and I think it’s only made us better,” Jones said.

Before the homer, Judge had been 3 for 20 with 11 strikeouts since returning. The home run was his first since May 24.

“I’ve actually been pleased,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “Even right away, I felt like this looked better than I anticipated. I feel like he just missed a handful of pitches, but I feel like for the most part, like swinging at the right pitches, taking pitches that he should, not chasing a lot. I think it’s just a matter of that last level of fine tuning, that we know he’ll get to.”

Judge is joined in the batting order with Ben Rice (38 homers, 90 RBIs) and trade deadline acquisition Luis García Jr. (30 homers, 91 RBIs overall this year). Rice had multiple hits for the eighth time in his last 16 games.

“I feel like Benny’s in a good spot right now. Hopefully, just the right time to be at his best,” Boone said.

Will Warren did not allow an earned run in 5 2/3 innings against the Twins. He is likely to move to the bullpen for the postseason along with Clarke Schmidt, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, as New York relies on Cam Schlittler, Carlos Rodón, Max Fried and Gerrit Cole as its starters.

Schlittler leads the major leagues with a 1.95 ERA.

“This is what we’re expected to do. Continue it and move forward and push the needle,” Warren said.

After losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, New York was knocked out by Toronto in last year's AL Division Series.

“The group we have, you get us in there and anything can happen," Judge said. "I like our chances.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The bigger celebrations will come later.

“It’s hard to say it ever feels routine, but it is the expectation here," third baseman Max Muncy said. “I always laugh whenever we clinch a postseason spot, we just do a nice little toast. The guys that haven’t been here, they kind of see that and they expect a little bit more. That happens when you clinch the division.”

The two-time defending World Series champions, who joined Milwaukee and Tampa Bay as teams who have secured playoff spots, cut their magic number to three for a fifth straight NL West title and 13th in 14 seasons.

Los Angeles tied the Atlanta Braves' postseason run from 1991 through 2005. The Braves made five World Series trips during that span, but won only in 1995.

“Thankfully we’re doing a little bit better than that," Muncy said of the Dodgers three titles and five trips to the Fall Classic during their run.

Tarik Skubal — who pitched seven shutout innings and allowed only three hits — said the way the Dodgers handled clinching a postseason spot was definitely different compared to clinching situations he encountered the past two seasons with Detroit.

“I think it just speaks to the people in this room and what they expect out of this team. That was cool. A little toast and move on. Forget it happened. We’ve got more to accomplish this season,” he said.

Dave Roberts, who is in his 11th season as manager, said his message during the toast was that the Dodgers have accomplished a lot to this point but haven't come close to playing their best baseball yet.

“We go through a lot of players every year, and guys find a way to step up, and so that’s the thing I’m probably most proud of, is the consistency of winning over the long term,” he said. "Any team, any organization can win in a given year where things line up, but to do it every single year when you’re expected to do this says something about the entire organization.”

The Dodgers (91-59) currently are the second seed in the NL. They are 2 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta and trail Milwaukee by 2 games for the top seed.

A first-round bye is important any time but especially this year for the Dodgers, who are not at full strength. First baseman Freddie Freeman has been plagued by right knee soreness and two-time NL MVP Shohei Ohtani is on the 15-day injured list due to right biceps inflammation.

“Given where our guys are health wise, to get that week would be huge. We’ve still got to play well to finish out the season to get to that point,” Roberts said before Monday's game.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Laura Reece, the director of the city’s office of management and budget, said the 2027 budget included about $12 million in reductions.

“For somebody who has a $640,000 [home,] which is the average single-family value in this city, it was $180 a year or $15 per month,” Reece told commissioners before the vote about the impact on the city’s residents for the upcoming year.

Dean J. Trantalis, the mayor; Ben Sorensen, the vice mayor; and Commissioners Steven Glassman and Pamela Beasley-Pittman voted to pass the proposed budget.

“The increases that we see in our budget are often reflected in the increases that we provide in the salaries and benefits to our employees,“ Trantalis said.

The budget included an increase of about $14 million in salaries and wages. It also included $6.1 million in employee benefits, such as health insurance and pension contributions.

“To maintain and attract good people to serve in public safety, we need to be able to be competitive in what we offer,” Trantalis said.

Commissioner John C. Herbst, who had supported a rollback rate of about 3.9, was the dissenting vote.

“We can support our public safety personnel,” Herbst said. “We can support our employees, and at the same time, we can also ask, ‘Are we right-sizing our staff? Are we right-sizing our government?’”

Christopher Cooper, the acting city manager, said the millage rate remained at 4.11 per $1,000 of taxable value. The fire assessment fee is $444 per residential dwelling.

Fire Chief Stephen W. Gollan said the budget will cover the cost of a new station in the Flagler Village neighborhood. The capital improvement plan also includes a new station at Holiday Park.

In June, Broward County’s property appraiser estimated the city’s increase in property value at 7.16%, or $4.5 billion, including $1.7 billion attributed to new construction.

“The property tax on homestead properties makes up about 45% of our budget. It will definitely have an impact on us if that amendment were to pass,” Trantalis said about constitutional Amendment 3, which is on the ballot in Florida on Nov. 3rd to support an increase in the homestead tax exemption.

More on the budget

Infrastructure projects

Here are some of the projects included in the city’s capital improvement plan (2027-2031):

• $8.1 million for seawall replacements
• $6.5 million for bridge replacements
• $4.1 million for roadways and sidewalks
• $1.5 million for traffic mobility improvements such as bike lanes and flashing beacons

Related story: Fort Lauderdale moves forward with plans for new City Hall; city manager resigns during commission meeting

Related documents

• Meeting’s agenda
• Preliminary general fund budget

Watch the meeting

Related links

• How to contact commissioners
• How to contact the acting city manager

Related social media post

“He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do,” read a statement on his social media accounts. Mackie died in Palm Springs, California, from pneumonia, his publicist said.

Dubbed the “Designer to the Stars,” Mackie won nine Emmy Awards, a Tony Award and was nominated for three Oscars, including one for Barbra Streisand’s “Funny Lady,” in which she wore a sheer batwing gown. He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2002.

He designed gowns for Madonna, Streisand, Sharon Stone, Diana Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and concert costumes for Pink. When Marilyn Monroe delivered a breathy, seductive take on “Happy Birthday” at a fundraiser for President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic National Committee, she did it in a sheer, beaded gown that Mackie dreamed up in a sketch.

Bob Mackie’s style influences Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift

His influence can be seen in the styles of Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. His archival pieces are worn today by the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy, Miley Cyrus and Zendaya, the latter who wore a Mackie gown to honor Cher at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. When Taylor Swift wanted to look like a showgirl on the cover of her 2025 album “The Life of a Showgirl,” she turned to some Mackie originals.

Sequins and embellishment were natural tools — other nicknames were the Sultan of Sequins, the Rajah of Rhinestones and the Guru of Glitter — but he had a simple motto: “You don’t try to change anybody, you just try to make them look better than ever,” he told The Associated Press in 2018.

Tributes came from fellow designers and those lucky enough to wear his outfits. Actor Kristin Chenoweth called him a “legend” and designer Isaac Mizrahi wrote, simply, “heartbroken.” Actor Alyssa Milano called him “one of the best that ever was.”

On Broadway, Mackie dressed the casts of “On the Town” in 1971 and “Moon Over Buffalo” in 1995. He also created costumes for Burnett in the revue “Putting It Together,” Debbie Reynolds in “Debbie” in 1976, Liza Minnelli in “Minnelli on Minnelli” in 1999 and, most recently, the cast of “The Cher Show,” winning his Tony Award.

Mackie was a Southern California native and embraced the idea of Hollywood movie glamour as a young child, inspired by Technicolor musicals. He would dream elaborate costumes for his mother and sister and sketch them, and he was active in costume and set design of his high school plays. He went to Pasadena City College to study advertising and illustration, and then costume design at LA’s Chouinard Art Institute.

He also grew up a fan of all the variety-show and pop stars of the 1950s and ’60s and especially their glitzy wardrobes. He went to work for costume designer Edith Head, then got the gig for “The Carol Burnett Show.”

Bob Mackie’s close relationships with Cher and Carol Burnett

He and Burnett had a close friendship and collaborated on memorable characters such as Nora Desmond, Eunice and her take on Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind” — called Starlet O’Hara — wearing her green curtain dress on its rods. “I love doing funny things,” Mackie said in a 1999 interview with the AP. “One week I’d have to make Carol an unattractive postal worker, and who knows what I’d have to do the next.” (Starlet’s dress is now part of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.)

Mackie’s TV work continued on “The Sonny and Cher Show,” after Cher had guest-starred on Burnett’s show and took a liking to him. He had said that her Laverne character, with her leopard-print jumpsuit and dangling earrings, was one of his favorites.

He and Cher took a much sexier turn when she moved to movies and was invited to the Academy Awards. All those beaded, belly-baring numbers she’d wear on the stuffy red carpets came from Mackie.

Mackie attended the 1974 Met Gala with Cher on his arm dressed in what is perhaps one of the most famous so-called naked dresses of all time: a sheer beaded gown with white feathered sleeves and a white feathered skirt. She and the dress ended up on the cover of Time magazine.

Looks such as the 1986 beaded spiderweb — worn with complementary Mohawk — and the barely-there gown she wore for her best actress win in 1988 turned heads and set tongues wagging at the time.

“The outfits are sometimes mistaken for fashion, but they’re costumes like for a character in a play,” Mackie told the AP in 1999. “I want people to have fun. I want people to say ‘Wasn’t that interesting?’ or ‘Wasn’t that wild?’”

Bob Mackie had mixed feelings on the naked dresses of today

Mackie had some retail success in the 1980s and ’90s, launching a ready-to-wear line in 1982 that would ultimately land on the runway at New York Fashion Week, and he was an early partner of QVC.

Naked dresses only got more popular but Mackie later in life was unimpressed. “You watch awards shows and say, ‘Oh, cover up! Put it away! Honey, I don’t need to see all of that!’ It gets to be so vulgar, you don’t even want to look at it anymore,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024. “I was so bored watching The Met Ball — everyone exposing everything, the same look-alike dress — I shut it off. If you’ve seen one Kardashian, you’ve seen them all. And we have seen all of them.”

Mackie also created dozens of different Barbie dolls for Mattel, with a wide variety of face sculpts, body types and storylines. He is credited as the first designer to create a complete doll. One was Lady Dracula Cher, with little baby fangs and her box resembling a coffin.

The documentary “Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion” debuted in 2024. A Mackie dress Cher wore in 1975 was auctioned off in 2024 for $101,600, 25 times its original estimate.

Mackie was married to showgirl Lulu Porter from 1960 until 1963; their son, makeup artist Robert Gordon Mackie Jr., died from AIDS at age 35. Costume designer Ray Aghayan, his longtime partner, died in 2011.

He had said practicality was never a driving force in his design: “It’s all about looking good and living your fantasies.”

In 2017, a 71-year-old Cher once again turned heads, dressed in two Bob Mackie specials at the Billboard Music Awards. It was a blast from a different era, unlike the boring fashion world he saw.

“Nothing is very interesting anymore,” he told Vogue in 2017. “You just keep seeing the same thing over and over again and there are no surprises. Unfortunately, you don’t see much fashion anymore.”

The Raoni Institute said the cancer diagnosis in the chief's digestive system was confirmed after he was hospitalized in Sao Paulo in June due to a severe intestinal obstruction. He underwent surgery then and returned to the region of the city of Peixoto de Azevedo, in Brazil's Mato Grosso state.

“At this moment, our priority is ensuring that Chief Raoni is well cared for, comfortable, and close to his family and his people. We wish to share this information transparently, but we also ask for respect regarding his privacy, his need for rest, and his family’s decisions,” the institute said in a statement.

Raoni, one of the most renowned advocates for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and for Indigenous rights, traveled the world for decades to raise awareness about environmental preservation.

Doctors opted for palliative care given Raoni's advanced age, overall clinical condition, and the high risks associated with aggressive oncological treatments, the institute said.

“Palliative care does not mean an absence of treatment. The goal is to control pain and other symptoms, prevent complications, and ensure nutrition, hydration, medical supervision, nursing care, physical therapy, and the best possible quality of life,” it added.

Raoni is currently resting at home, surrounded by his family, community, and specialized health teams. The care plan also incorporates intercultural and spiritual support, the institute added, which honors his Indigenous heritage and allows traditional healers alongside medical professionals.

Smart completed an undefeated run Monday night, winning lead actress in a comedy series for every season of the acclaimed HBO Max comedy and becoming the first woman to win an acting Emmy for every season of a television series.

The audience rose for a standing ovation as Smart, 75, made her way to the stage for her fifth victory as legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance. Smart immediately turned the moment into material.

“Just the men stay standing. The girls get to sit down,” she joked.

It’s her eighth trophy overall, which ties the all-time performer record shared by Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Smart also becomes the first to win best actress for each season of a show’s run.

Smart, who first got noticed in the CBS comedy “Designing Women,” won her first Emmys for guest appearances on “Frasier” and then another for a supporting role on “Samantha Who.”

The victory gave Smart her fifth lead comedy actress Emmy for “Hacks,” which debuted in 2021 and ended its five-season run in May.

Smart dedicated the award to the creative team behind the series: Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs.

“It all begins and ends with them,” Smart said. “I love you guys so much.”

She also thanked HBO, Universal, her representatives and her children, Forrest and Connor, whom she called her “anchor.”

Then, with the clock counting down on both her speech and a remarkable five-season run, Smart summed it up simply: “What a ride!”

She punctuated the moment by tossing her Emmy into the air and catching it before leaving the stage.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus came close to accomplishing the same feat with “Veep,” winning lead comedy actress six consecutive times. But Louis-Dreyfus lost for the show’s seventh and final season to “Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Smart had played down the significance of the potential record before Monday’s ceremony. During an August appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” she called the distinction a “technicality” and pointed to Louis-Dreyfus’ larger collection of Emmy victories.

“I’ve got to give it to Julia Louis-Dreyfus,” Smart said.

Her three Emmys outside “Hacks” came for two guest appearances on “Frasier” and a supporting comedy actress victory for “Samantha Who?” Smart has received 15 Emmy nominations during her career.

“Hacks” follows the unlikely partnership between Vance and Ava Daniels, the younger comedy writer played by Hannah Einbinder. The series became an Emmy fixture during its run, with previous victories including outstanding comedy series and supporting comedy actress for Einbinder.

Since “Hacks” premiered, the only performer other than Smart to win lead comedy actress was Quinta Brunson for “Abbott Elementary” at the January 2024 ceremony, when “Hacks” did not have a new season in contention.

For her final turn as Deborah Vance, Smart prevailed over a field that included Elle Fanning for “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” and Lisa Kudrow for “The Comeback.”

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According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, the case revolves around Cesar Oriol Cardoso, who taught at Sunset Park Elementary School, located at 10235 SW 84th St. in the Kendall area.

The report states that Cardoso had at least five victims. Police said the investigation into the 53-year-old, who lives in Miami’s Flagami neighborhood, began in mid-April. The M-DSPD report does not list what Cardoso’s position was at the time.

Police said he would pull girls from physical education, other classes, or lunch to come back to his classroom to “complete classwork if they were behind” and then show them “inappropriate images or videos.”

Many of the images showed naked women, according to the M-DSPD report. At least two students reported Cardoso showing them what they believed to be nude photos of himself, it states. Authorities said one image depicted child sexual abuse, showing a boy between 12 and 14 with a woman.

In one case, police said he once asked a girl if she “was scared” as “he showed her an inappropriate picture.”

Cardoso is also accused of touching or slapping multiple girls on the buttocks or thighs and making inappropriate comments towards them, including one instance where he had his “hand over his clothing on his crotch” and asked a girl if she wanted to “squish it.”

Police said he also tried or expressed a desire to kiss at least two of them.

The girls’ ages weren’t listed; one of them, however, was identified as being in the third grade and said the behavior continued as she went into the fourth grade.

Police said that M-DSPD detectives interviewed Cardoso at their headquarters on Friday, where he invoked his right to remain silent.

He faces charges of offenses against students by authority figures, showing obscene material to a minor and lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 16.

As of Monday morning, he was being held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, jail records show.

“I think it’s atrocious. I think we need to do a better job and have people better vetted,” Adrian Marin, a parent at the school, said of the allegations. “Talk to your little ones, your children to help them to discern what is right and what is wrong in person ― and to talk and speak up."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Public Schools said administrators “acted swiftly upon learning of these allegations” in April and “removed the teacher from the school setting on the next business day.”

They said Cardoso “separated” from the district in May.

“Behavior of this nature will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” the statement reads in part.

The spokesperson said Cardoso is now “permanently precluded from seeking or obtaining future employment” with M-DCPS.

Los Angeles tied the record set by Atlanta from 1991 through 2005.

The two-time defending World Series champions cut their magic number to three for a fifth straight NL West title and 13th in 14 seasons. The Dodgers became the third team assured of a playoff spot after Milwaukee and Tampa Bay.

Skubal (10-7) allowed three hits, struck out nine and walked one as he gained his second win against Cincinnati in seven days. Skubal allowed two runs in 7 1/3 innings in a 3-2 victory on Sept. 8.

He is 3-2 with a 2.52 ERA in eight starts since the Dodgers (91-59) acquired him from Detroit Tigers on Aug. 2.

Elly de la Cruz hit a 457-foot homer to center off Evan Phillips in the ninth, the longest homer by a Cincinnati player this season and the longest this year at Great American Ballpark.

All three of Los Angeles' hits ended up resulting in runs.

Tucker led off the second by driving an upper inside fastball from Nick Lodolo (3-5) into the right-field stands, his third home run in five games.

Tucker walked with two outs in the fourth and Hernández homered to right-center. Kiké Hernández added an RBI single in the seventh.

Lodolo allowed four runs and three hits in seven innings.

Up next

Los Angeles sends RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (13-8, 2.62 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday. LHP Rhett Lowder (6-10, 5.81 ERA) goes for Cincinnati.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

It was the first time Swift has seen Kelce play since they were married over the summer.

The 14-time Grammy Award winner decided to skip the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, though it wasn't necessarily a big surprise. Even though “The Eras Tour: The Final Show” was nominated for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), the category winner already was announced at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month, with “The Muppet Show” taking top honors.

The Emmys had fun with the possibility of Swift's attendance, airing a recorded bit where the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” cast, led by host Mariska Hargitay, is trying to figure out whether she will be there. Swift herself appears at the end, though not as herself.

“Maybe she’ll do one those cool, pre-taped sketch things to support the host,” Swift's character says.

Rather than spend the evening at the Peacock Theater, Swift was in the theater that first brought her and Kelce together.

Their romance began after she performed at Arrowhead Stadium, and Kelce tried and failed to deliver her a friendship bracelet as a fan. Kelce took to social media to invite her to watch him play, Swift took him up on the offer for a 2023 game against the Bears, and their relationship blossomed from there, ultimately leading up to their star-studded wedding on July 3 at Madison Square Garden.

Adam Sandler served as the surprise officiant that night, while Stevie Nicks performed to a crowd of sports and entertainment icons, including actors Bradley Cooper, Zoë Kravitz, Hugh Grant and Ethan Hawke; models Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss; comic Chris Rock; film director Steven Spielberg; and plenty of NFL players, including retired quarterback Tom Brady and several of Kelce’s teammates.

“The ceremony was gorgeous,” Kelce's brother and retired Eagles center Jason Kelce said on ESPN's pregame show. “They did such an incredible job, Adam Sandler officiated it in a very Adam Sandler, beautiful way. From then on, it was a party.”

It has been a busy summer for the newlyweds, even though Swift is not on tour. Kelce has been building his business portfolio, which includes his decision to buy a small share of David Blitzer’s stake in his hometown Cleveland Guardians.

Some thought Kelce might retire after last season, when the Chiefs struggled to a 6-11 finish and his good friend and quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore ligaments in his left knee. Instead, he decided to return for a 14th season, and Mahomes rehabbed in time to be on the field against the Broncos as the Chiefs try to rebound from their first losing season since 2012.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

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According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials, a 911 call came in just after 12:30 p.m. reporting a house fire in the 1800 block of Northwest 16th Court.

Firefighters arrived within six minutes and encountered “heavy fire conditions,” FLFR officials said in a news release.

Officials said crews were told someone might be trapped inside the home and immediately entered the house to search for that person.

Firefighters then located a man inside a bathroom and rescued him from the home, officials said.

The man was transported to Broward Health Medical Center with what officials said were “life-threatening injuries.”

FLFR officials confirmed that one firefighter suffered minor burns and is receiving treatment.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. According to Fort Lauderdale police, its detectives are “conducting an arson investigation to determine if the circumstances surrounding this fire are suspicious in nature.”

Officials with the American Red Cross said they are assisting residents affected by the fire.

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Miami police said Brickell Bay Drive is currently closed between Southeast 12th Street and 13th Street.

SKY 10 over piling rig collapse scene in Miami:

Witnesses told Local 10’s Samiar Nefzi that the piling rig, which looks similar to a crane, collapsed onto three vehicles, sparking a fire.

Miami Fire Rescue officials confirmed that four people were transported to local hospitals after a “complex rescue operation.”

According to MFR Chief Robert Hevia, the victims included three workers -- a 47-year-old man operating the rig and a 27-year-old man and 29-year-old man who became trapped in a container after the rig smashed into it. The fourth victim was a woman who backed up her white BMW just enough as the rig was falling that she wasn’t killed.

“The female driver was driving southbound on Brickell Bay Drive, saw the (rig) collapsing right in front of her, was able to pull her car in reverse just slightly enough to be able to get out of the vehicle while the vehicle also caught on fire when the (rig) landed on the car,” Hevia said.

The rig operator reportedly jumped from it as it fell.

“The (rig) landed on the hood of her car,” witness Christina Lardon told Local 10 News.

Hevia said all 18 workers at the scene have been accounted for.

“I’ve been on the fire department for 28 years,” he said at a press conference after the collapse. “When you see the scene, it’s really impressive -- when you see that we had four victims and they were all able to be extricated or self-extricate with minor injuries, it’s a remarkable day for them.”

According to first responders, the injured workers were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with minor injuries. The woman was taken to HCA Florida Mercy Hospital, also with minor injuries.

“Luckily she escaped, she was not harmed, but mentally she was devastated and the flames were shooting up 30 feet in the air,” Lardon said.

Family members of those hurt were declining interview requests at JMH.

But construction worker Victor Rodriguez spoke to Local 10 News. He was there to visit one of the injured, an acquaintance and fellow worker.

“I think he’s hurt inside,” Rodriguez said in Spanish.

Rodriguez said he’d recently been in a construction accident of his own, saying, “It’s a miracle from God. Thank God I was given another opportunity to go on. But a month ago, I nearly lost my life.”

He called for more oversight at construction sites.

“The supervisor needs to be watching and sometimes that does not happen,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes they bring some clown that does not know anything.”

Drivers were being urged to avoid the area, use alternate routes and expect delays.

Real estate firm Related Companies released the following statement after the collapse:

“This morning, a drill rig at 1201 Brickell fell over and damaged three cars and a construction shed, resulting in four people requiring medical attention. We and our construction partners are tremendously grateful to Miami emergency services for their quick response and support.

“Our number one priority is the health and safety of our workers and the community. We are working in full cooperation with City and County building departments to secure the site and conduct a full investigation of today’s incident.”

Related Companies

The cause of the rig collapse remains under investigation.

*Editor’s note: While first responders initially referred to the incident as a “crane collapse,” they later confirmed that the machinery was actually a piling rig, used to drill deep into the ground.

The injury is believed to be short-term and Darnold's hip joint was unaffected, the team said. He has not been placed on injured reserve.

It appears unlikely that Darnold will be able to play Sunday at the Arizona Cardinals. He did not practice on Monday.

Darnold was injured on Seattle’s first series against the New England Patriots last week. He was sacked by Dre’Mont Jones and limped off the field.

Backup Drew Lock replaced him and went 16 of 22 for 187 yards and a touchdown as the Seahawks rallied for a 13-10 victory.

Darnold, 29, did not miss a game last season as he led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title. He threw for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions as Seattle won a franchise-record 14 games.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Dolly Parton was honored by Reba McEntire, “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin mourned his late co-star Catherine O’Hara, and host Mariska Hargitay joked with Nicole Kidman.

Here are some of the highlights.

The host with the mostest

Hargitay kicked off the show with New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson in an exuberant and looney pre-taped bit that had her sing a version of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, renamed “I Love TV Screens” as she flew from New York to Los Angeles.

The first-time Emmy host was then seen relaxed in bed with “Hacks” star Jean Smart, ate a burger in a nod to “Beef,” rode a horse and drank bubble tea with Jennifer Coolidge.

On stage, she reveled in the fact that she was the first woman to host in 15 years. The star of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” entering its 28th season, also joked that she's never had to pronounce the word “finale” and even tried to swipe the script for Kidman’s kitschy AMC ad. Kidman responded with mock ire.

Hargitay said she got two pieces of advice: “No. 1, don’t do it, and No. 2, whatever you do, don’t go for sincerity,” she said. “I clearly ignored the first, so please join me as I ignore the second.”

“She crushed it,” said Amy Poehler, who took the stage after the opening.

Taylor Swift was there, kind of

In a pre-taped sketch, Swift played a rookie in the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” office as the cops got a bit looney.

Hargitay’s Olivia Benson went through two large crime boards to make connections between Swift's songs and the Emmy nominated shows to see if she'd attend the telecast. One of the detectives called it a “rabbit hole.”

“Now, in order to crack a Swifty case, you’ve got to think like a Swifty, because the Swifties think that everything is a clue to what she’ll do next,” Benson said.

“Why would she be showing up to the ceremony tonight? She’s probably going to be sitting at home playing with those cats she’s named after TV show characters,” Swift’s unnamed character scoffs.

Hargitay — as Benson — concludes: “Taylor Swift will not be at the Emmys.” Swift offers another option: “Maybe she’ll do one those cool, pre-taped sketch things to support the host.”

The sketch ends with Hargitay posing with Swift — both glaring into the camera, very seriously — bookmarking Swift’s cat, named in tribute of Olivia Benson.

In reality, Swift was at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night, and sitting alongside Tom Cruise, to watch new husband Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs open the NFL season against the Denver Broncos.

The Smart money was on Jean Smart

Smart was predicted to win her fifth straight Emmy for “Hacks” and did it early and with style. “What a ride this has been,” she said.

It’s her eighth trophy overall, which ties the all-time performer record shared by Cloris Leachman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Allison Janney, who also won her eighth Monday. Smart becomes the first woman to win the best actress trophy for each season of a show’s run.

Smart, 75, who first got noticed in the CBS comedy “Designing Women,” won her first Emmys for guest appearances on “Frasier” and then another for a supporting role on “Samantha Who.”

On Monday, she kept a special thank you for the end — to “Hacks” creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky: “It all begins and ends with them,” she said.

They like Sally and rose to their feet

One of the night’s most popular winners was 79-year-old Field.

The entire Peacock Theater audience was on its feet, and their applause drowned out Fields’ first few words. It was the two-time Oscar winner’s fourth career Emmy and first since 2007.

She is the oldest Emmy winner in her category — lead actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie for the Netflix's “Remarkably Bright Creatures.”

“Wow, wow. This is not supposed to happen,” said Field. “I love this project from page one.”

Among those Field thanked — including the team that crafted her co-star, an octopus named Marcellus — she gave a shoutout to Canada, where the film was made and which is involved in a trade war with the U.S. “Blessed Canada, our neighbors, our friends,” she said.

Field later returned to honor her “Steel Magnolias” co-star, Dolly Parton. “I adored her from Day One,” she said. “I am not the only one on earth who will love you forever.”

Dolly Parton mourned

The Emmys were the first major award show to air since the death last month of Parton, and the Television Academy crafted a separate segment to say goodbye.

Field talked of Parton's bawdy sense of humor and her humanitarian impulse. McEntire, Parton’s longtime friend and fellow country music icon, then performed the Tennessee native's “Appalachian Memories.”

“I’ll keep looking to the Father / Keep my head above the water / Appalachian memories keep me strong,” McEntire sang. “I love you, Dolly,” she said in a coda.

“Schitt’s Creek” alums Dan Levy and Annie Murphy and “Home Alone” star Culkin honored their late co-star Catherine O’Hara. “She was all our mom,” Culkin said.

Musician Noah Kahan performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the show’s In Memoriam segment, which honored James Van Der Beek, Ted Turner, Eric Dane and Diane Ladd, among others.

‘Buffy’ turns 30

Just six months after the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot was scrapped, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz reunited onstage to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary.

After Boreanaz mused whether their characters, Buffy and Angel, would ever get together, Gellar had a sharp retort referencing the cancellation.

“Guess we’ll never find out!” Gellar said.

She also acknowledged it had been a tough two years for the show’s cast and crew, implicitly acknowledging the recent deaths of actors Anthony Head (Giles), Nicholas Brendon (Xavier) and Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn).

Past Emmy nights have been chocked full of reunions — “The Golden Girls,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Law & Order” were just a few last year. This time, not so much. Other than “Buffy,” there was only one other — Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith teamed up for the 50th anniversary of “Charlie’s Angels.” They honored the late Farrah Fawcett.

One person dressed appropriately

Meg Stalter, a nominee for best supporting actress for “Hacks,” was dressed as an Emmy statuette, complete with wings and a coat of gold makeup. She even held up a sphere like the real trophy itself.

It was Stalter’s first time attending the Emmys as a nominee. She earned her first career nod for supporting actress in a comedy series for playing Kayla Schaeffer in the fifth and final season of “Hacks.”

She lost to Kate O’Flynn of “Widow’s Bay.”

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Kennedy reported from New York City.

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For more coverage of this year’s Emmy Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards

The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they’ve used for years and have accounted for nearly a third of votes cast.

It represented a stark defeat for Trump on an issue he consistently has emphasized as vital to ensuring election integrity even though there is virtually no evidence of fraud with mail ballots.

The Supreme Court majority wrote that the administration's push to implement the restrictions this year is likely to lose in court, though the brief emergency order didn't detail its reasoning. Two justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, publicly dissented.

The Trump administration had asked the justices, once again at the center of a roiling political controversy, to clear the way for restrictions before the pivotal November contests for control of Congress.

Alito wrote in his dissent that the Postal Service “has broad authority to regulate the mail” and likely does have the power to enforce Trump's restrictions.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, meanwhile, agreed that the restrictions should not go into effect for the midterms but indicated he might rule in favor of the Trump administration if the issue comes back before the court at a later time.

Mail ballots are already being sent to voters

Election officials have said there was simply no way to carry out a complete overhaul in the weeks before the midterms. Indeed, Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin began sending mail ballots to voters over the past week while the new system was still not active.

The Trump administration plan would require states to adopt a uniform envelope style and submit lists of eligible voters to an online portal. The Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots to states that didn’t comply.

The administration’s efforts had the potential to be especially disruptive in states that send out ballots entirely by mail. Washington's Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, said the decision means work “to carry out a safe, secure, and accurate election" can continue ”without having to upend our election processes to meet unrealistic ballot mail requirements.”

In Arizona, another largely vote-by-mail state, Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said “it is crucial for us to continue rejecting the notion that access and security are mutually exclusive when it comes to running strong elections.”

Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican serving as the state’s chief election officer, said on social media that the Supreme Court’s decision means “Utahns can have confidence that the 2026 election will proceed as normal."

The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but have in the past framed the restrictions as commonsense changes aimed at keeping elections secure.

State officials and voting rights groups pushed back

Democratic state officials and voting rights groups challenged the restrictions in court, arguing that the president has no constitutional authority to set election rules that would “virtually eliminate mail voting on the eve of a major election."

A whistleblower report, meanwhile, said the postal system’s requirements could lead to millions of mail ballots never being sent, because problems with the not-yet-operational portal meant a single bar code error could result in an entire batch of ballots being tossed out.

Some states don't have the infrastructure to quickly pivot back to in-person voting, according to court documents.

The League of Women Voters, a plaintiff in the case, called the proposed restrictions “an extraordinary attempt to interfere with voting” and said it would have thrown elections into chaos. “Voters should never be caught in the middle of a political power warfare,” said CEO Celina Stewart.

Lower courts agreed to block Trump’s plan, including a preliminary injunction issued by a judge nominated by the president.

But the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that federal control of the Postal Service allows them to set rules for mail ballot handling and that compliance was possible.

The federal government won an early procedural decision at the Supreme Court, but the justices pointedly did not decide the legality of the plan.

Trump has long opposed mail voting and falsely blamed it for his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, even though he often uses that method to cast his own ballot, including as recently as this year.

A report by the Brookings Institution published in 2025 found that mail voting fraud occurred in only about four cases out of every 10 million mail ballots cast.

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Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Mason, Michigan; Ali Swenson in New York; Gene Johnson in Seattle; and Jacques Billeaud and Wufei Yu in Phoenix contributed to this report.

He certanly knows how New York Mets fans feel about him, though. They made sure of that — over and over and over again.

Alonso went hitless for the Baltimore Orioles during their 2-1 win that eliminated the Mets from playoff contention, but a crowd of 35,800 gave the popular slugger a standing ovation and chanted his name before each of his four plate appearances.

“I appreciate their sentiment and their support — for just showing appreciation for the years of the effort and performance and doing whatever I could do to help the team win,” Alonso said. “I guess that’s kind of how I digest that.”

Shortly before first pitch, the Mets aired a nearly two-minute video paying tribute to Alonso, who hit a franchise-record 264 homers and made five All-Star teams over seven seasons with the club. The homegrown first baseman was the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year, when he set a big league rookie record and led the majors with 53 home runs.

Footage of Alonso’s charitable endeavors aired along with clips of his first homer, his two Home Run Derby wins and the Polar Bear's most memorable drive — the go-ahead homer in the ninth inning at Milwaukee that rallied the Mets past the Brewers in the deciding game of their 2024 Wild Card Series.

“Coming back and seeing everything kind of condensed like that, it’s special and it’s much appreciated,” he said.

Alonso, who was warming up along the left-field line, tipped his cap and tapped his mitt to acknowledge the cheering crowd when he was introduced over the public-address system.

“Just a really cool moment,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “Just shows how much impact a player can make on a fanbase, this city.”

Alonso, batting second in the top of the first inning, stepped to the plate to more thunderous applause as “Layla,” one of his walk-up songs, spilled out of the loudspeakers. After hugging Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, Alonso doffed his helmet as the scoreboard read “Welcome Back, Pete!”

“So many good memories here. I played with so many good people, talented people,” Alonso said before the game. “It’s going to be interesting to see what emotions kind of bubble up, because you never can anticipate things that happen.”

He flied out to right field in the first, and the crowd then began yelling “Fire Stearns!” in a chant aimed at Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns.

Alonso walked in the third, when he hooked his potential 300th homer foul into the upper deck in left field, before grounding out in the fifth and striking out in the eighth immediately before Gunnar Henderson’s tiebreaking solo homer.

The 31-year-old Alonso is hitting .268 with 35 homers, an AL-high 100 RBIs and an .859 OPS for the last-place Orioles, who are three games behind Cleveland for the final American League wild card. He also extended his consecutive games played streak to 567, second-longest among active players.

Alonso left New York after the 2025 season as a free agent to sign a $155 million, five-year contract with Baltimore. Despite an opening-day payroll of more than $350 million, the Mets endured a 12-game losing streak in April and have spent most of the season in the NL East basement.

New York first basemen have combined to hit .235 with 18 homers and a .682 OPS. Jared Young, Mark Vientos and Jorge Polanco — the latter of whom signed a $40 million, two-year deal with the expectation he’d switch infield positions and take over for Alonso at first — have all spent time on the injured list.

“I respect their decision. The guys running the team, it’s their prerogative to do whatever they think is best for them,” Alonso said. “Two things can be true at the same time: I’m very happy and appreciative of my time I spent as a Met and I’m beyond grateful and appreciative for the Baltimore Orioles.”

Alonso has 299 career homers, the same number as friend and former Mets teammate Francisco Lindor. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Alonso this week could become the third player to hit his 300th home run against a team for whom he played in 1,000 or more games.

Willie Horton hit his 300th homer with Seattle against the Detroit Tigers in 1979, and Torii Hunter did so for the Tigers against the Minnesota Twins in 2013.

“I know Paco is chasing down that same milestone, so it’d be really cool if both of us could do it in the same game,” Alonso said. “That’d really be sick.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

According to an arrest report, Cornelius Douglas, 26, posed as a buyer for a $2,200 Cuban link chain.

Police said that when he met up with the seller off Northwest 15th Avenue, Douglas showed the victim a fake Cash App payment confirmation.

“The victim then placed the chain around the defendant’s neck, believing he was already paid. The defendant asked the victim to record video of him on his phone wearing the chain,” the report states.

After that, he ran off with it, and it was then that the victim realized the payment was fake.

Douglas was later identified in a photo lineup.

According to North Miami police, Douglas did the same thing back in June.

The report says he contacted a seller on Facebook for an Audemars Piguet watch. Police said he did the same thing and ran off with the watch.

Police said “he sold the watch to a pawn shop for $300.”

Local 10 News checked into Douglas’ background and found he has a criminal history, including a child abuse charge in Broward County. He has since been released on bond and is facing a grand theft charge.

Police recommend that if you are buying something online, you meet in a public place. Most police departments have a safe zone to meet.

Much of the information has been previously reported over the past six months, but the Pentagon inspector general's report offered the fullest official accounting so far of the conflict's costs in American lives, taxpayer dollars and physical damage. It included information from the watchdogs for the Defense and State departments as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The report, whose publication was first reported by NBC News, noted that the U.S. war with Iran “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply” in regard to advanced weapons. Experts have previously said it will take about three years for military contractors to replenish advanced missiles and defensive missile interceptors to prewar levels.

The Pentagon has repeatedly pushed back against reports of any munitions shortage, saying the U.S. military has all the weapons it needs to fight any conflict. President Donald Trump said in a social media post Monday that the U.S. is “producing more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History.”

“They are being delivered on a daily basis to our Forces in the Middle East, and beyond,” he wrote.

Iran destroyed hundreds of buildings at US bases

The watchdog report, which covers April 1 to June 30, also acknowledged that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.

It noted that the U.S. naval base in Bahrain, a Navy logistics hub in the region, was targeted with Iranian drones and ballistic missiles. U.S. Central Command had to shift to supply lines to alternate hubs that were much farther away, including Diego Garcia, a U.S.-U.K. base on an island in the Indian Ocean. It required “14- to 18-day logistics cycles" to support operations in the Middle East, the report said.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao acknowledged in an interview with The Epoch Times last week that “they blew the hell out of Bahrain” and said he has a task force looking into whether the Navy would need to repair the base in Bahrain to sustain its forces in the region.

Dozens of American aircraft and drones also were destroyed or damaged by Iran, including the destruction of as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones that cost around $30 million apiece, the report said. Seven KC-135 refueling aircraft were damaged or destroyed, including five that were struck by Iranian munitions while on the ground in Saudi Arabia.

Another KC-135 crashed in Iraq, killing six service members, following a collision with another KC-135. Those deaths, and the death of a pilot of a helicopter that crashed into the Arabian Sea, are listed as occurring during non-hostile events. Eleven other service members are listed as “killed in action” in Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

State Department details costs of damage to diplomatic facilities

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress in late July that the war had cost $37.5 billion so far.

The costs in physical damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities, however, had not been previously publicly released. Such outposts in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were damaged by Iranian strikes, with an estimated cost of $184 million, according to the report.

The State Department reported in early June that its other costs from the conflict came to $113 million, with nearly $80 million used to respond to contingency plans, including evacuation expenses for U.S. personnel and their families as well as other American citizens and eligible third-country nationals.

The State Department reported that in the weeks and months after the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on Feb. 28, the Trump administration evacuated about 9,000 U.S. citizens from countries in the Middle East and Europe. Through private and commercial flights as well as land and water travel, the cost of the department’s evacuation operation was more than $11 million as of late June.

“State determined that consular officers would not be able to fully document travel itineraries required to seek reimbursement from evacuees and therefore it would be impracticable to seek reimbursement from them,” the report states.

The majority of the evacuations were made from Israel, with Iraq and Jordan following shortly behind. While the U.S. only evacuated 1,200 Americans from the United Arab Emirates, those trips to Istanbul, Athens and Washington cost the most, at more than $4 million.

The State Department reported that more than $44 billion in emergency and non-emergency military sales also were made in that span of time, with the majority of sales going to Saudi Arabia. Sales included military helicopters, munitions and munitions support as well as advanced precision weapons system.

Other regional countries, including Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Israel, also received billions in sales, as Iran retaliated against nearly every country in the region that hosted a U.S. military base.

___

Amiri reported from New York.

Robertson, of Dogi-Fi Dog Trainer in Pompano Beach, witnessed a crash while traveling southbound on Interstate 95.

“The car spun out and just crashed right into the wall,” Robertson said. “From there, I immediately pulled my truck over, and I jumped over the wall in the Express Lane.”

The woman who was driving was injured, but a seatbelt kept her 120-pound Alaskan Malamute safe.

“The whole car was smashed in, the windshield cracked,” Robertson said. “Like everything, all the airbags deployed. To see this dog come out of the car completely untouched is really unbelievable.”

Without the seatbelt, Robertson said it was likely the dog would have flown straight through the windshield. He recommends buying a piece of equipment that costs less than $10 and clips to a harness that goes into the car’s buckle.

“It’s super durable and it also has this bungee cord, kind of like a shock absorber,” Robertson said.

He also recommends a crash-tested crate with doors on both sides, so that emergency crews can reach it.

Ukraine has for months been targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry with long-range strikes, prompting fuel rationing across the country and causing Moscow to ban diesel exports in July, removing supplies from the already tight global market.

But the global crunch also came after the war on Iran curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fuel prices are weighing on Americans as they prepare to vote in midterm elections in November.

Trump was asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Zelenskyy following his recent conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He responded by calling on Zelenskyy to halt strikes against Russia.

“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Irish Open, which is being played at his Doonbeg golf club.

“We spoke to Mr. Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world,” he said.

Diesel exports from Gulf countries way down since Iran war began

According to a report published Friday by the International Energy Agency, net exports of diesel and gasoil from the Gulf countries in August stood at “just over a quarter” of what they were before the war on Iran began in February.

“Disruptions to Russia’s refining system and a near-halt to product exports following intensified Ukrainian attacks have compounded these losses,” the IEA wrote. It added that in February, combined next exports of diesel and gasoil from the Gulf and Russia “accounted for almost 45% of global seaborne trade.”

Kyiv says Russia’s oil industry both funds and directly fuels Moscow’s more than four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has ramped up its air campaign against Ukraine in recent weeks, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce Ukraine’s defenses. Moscow’s attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter in what officials say is meant to demoralize civilians.

Civilians were killed and injured overnight into Sunday as Russia and Ukraine exchanged large-scale drone strikes.

Two people were killed and 14 more wounded near an oil and industrial hub in Russia’s Tatarstan, according to local officials, while Ukrainian authorities reported on Russian drones pummeling the Black Sea port of Odesa and starting a fire near a border crossing with Poland.

Ukraine targets more Russian oil facilities

The two Russian civilians died after a drone slammed into a tree near their parked car in the city of Nizhnekamsk, according to the office of regional head Rustam Minnikhanov. Nizhnekamsk houses a key cluster of oil refineries and other industrial plants. Mayor Radmir Belyaev said that a fire had broken out at an unspecified “enterprise.”

Ukraine also claimed to have hit a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, in Russia’s Krasnodar region near Crimea. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) agency said its drones struck a key oil processing unit and the refinery’s tank farm overnight into Sunday.

Krasnodar authorities said the strike on “an enterprise” in Slavyansk-on-Kuban injured three people and damaged an oil pipeline.

Russian forces shot down 389 Ukrainian drones during the night, Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday.

Russia targets Odesa and western Ukraine

In Ukraine, at least nine people were injured in a “massive” Russian nighttime attack on Odesa, according to Serhii Lysak from the city’s military administration. Odesa is home to Ukraine’s main port hub on the Black Sea and has faced sustained drone and missile strikes, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of trying to choke off its exports.

A Russian drone attack on Saturday struck a residential high-rise in Odesa, killing two people and injuring 26 others, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian overnight strikes also pounded western Ukraine, though there were no immediate reports of casualties. One drone set fire to a gas station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland, according to Ukraine’s top diplomat and a spokesperson for the local customs force.

“This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.

Ukraine’s border crossings with Poland are a conduit for much of the military and humanitarian aid sent by Western allies.

Valentyna Chernysh, a spokesperson for the Volyn Customs Office, told The Associated Press that the Yahodyn crossing was intact and no one was harmed.

Earlier this week, two people died when Russian drones hit the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday. The following day a “direct threat” to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing point was avoided due to the cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Ukraine’s air force said its air defenses shot down or suppressed 409 Russian drones of various types overnight, including a newer jet-powered version that is faster and more difficult to intercept. It said Russia had attacked Ukraine with 453 drones in total.

The Office of the Inspector General, mandated by Congress, conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility in January.

Inspectors examined housing facilities, the kitchen, and showers, and they interviewed facility staff and detainees.

Overall, the agency found the facility complied with intake and use of force standards, but did not comply with standards related to environmental health and safety, medical care, food services and hygiene, among other standards.

The report detailed that detainees were not provided with sufficient living space, given less than half of what is required, which creating cramped conditions for detainees who spent most of their time in their housing units.

Between July 2025 and this January, 79 detainees were confined in small metal enclosures which offered 18 square feet of floor space for periods ranging from several minutes to two hours, according to the report.

Officials said the use of small metal enclosures is unprecedented among detention facilities that the OIG has inspected, presenting a significant risk to detainee health and safety.

Inspectors recommended to discontinue the use of those small metal enclosures.

The communication director for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis provided Local 10 News the following statement:

“At least ten million illegal aliens entered our country under the Biden administration. Florida decided to do something about it. The left-wing media wants to focus on a confinement area for violent criminal aliens who have proven they cannot remain peaceful while awaiting deportation. While it adheres to all federal standards for criminal confinement, we’d make it even smaller if we could.”

The Department of Homeland Security did provide a response that inspectors included in the report, with the federal agency saying the state, and not the department, maintained authority over the facility’s day-to-day operations.

Since the facility closed in June, all ten recommendations inspectors made to improve oversight have now been closed.

The Department of Homeland Security probe known as the “Unlawful Voter Initiative” also asks employees to create federal law enforcement records about voters based on unreliable data, the account warns. That could potentially wrongly implicate U.S. citizens in official documentation that could spur further investigation.

The anonymous, nearly 30-page disclosure was published Monday by Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, the ranking member of a Senate committee overseeing federal elections.

It features screenshots and transcripts of a DHS training for a group of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffers, who it says were forced in late August to drop their other work, complete a less than two-hour training session and begin running DHS-provided lists of individuals through state voter registration systems to find “unlawful voters."

The whistleblower contends that agents have been asked to review 40 individuals per day, giving them about 12 minutes to determine whether each person is a legal voter and create federal records of anyone who is not.

Padilla and Schumer said Monday the initiative was an example of President Donald Trump attempting to interfere in elections and the short timelines would impede officials from conducting proper investigations. They noted that the data DHS has on voters can be unreliable and differ from state records, making any federal findings based on that data potentially problematic.

“We just got more proof of Trump’s vile schemes to rig our elections,” Schumer told reporters in a news conference. “The lengths Trump will go to cheat, lie and steal in this upcoming election are simply beyond the pale.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration has been targeting noncitizen voting to allege it could be a source of significant fraud during the midterm elections, even as research shows voting by people who are not citizens is extremely rare. Trump has been pushing for the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to voters verified as U.S. citizens, and his Justice Department has sued to force the release of detailed voter data in 30 states and the District of Columbia, though it has not yet succeeded in those cases.

The whistleblower report details an effort by the federal government to work around a lack of data from the states by directing Citizenship and Immigration Services employees to pose as individual voters to access their state voter records.

Some states, such as Virginia, explicitly limit their voter lookup tools to individuals who attest under penalty of law that they are looking up their own records. In other states, like California, personally identifiable information such as a driver's license number or partial Social Security number is needed to look up individual voter records.

The whistleblower said that when officers raised concerns about liability for searching the tools against state guidance, agency leaders told them to proceed with the searches anyway.

Schumer and Padilla on Sunday sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin requesting more information about the initiative and demanding that it be stopped.

Asked about the whistleblower report, a DHS spokesperson said it is “laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of U.S. citizens.”

“The department accessed publicly available data from states’ voter rolls and cross referenced them with known aliens in our systems," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "It’s not rocket science; it’s an easy step to secure our elections.”

In response to complaints about the timing, limited training and quotas for agents, the spokesperson said that “far from being rushed or untrained, these investigative efforts are conducted diligently and professionally.”

The New York Times first reported on the DHS initiative in early September.

The whistleblower account released Monday was produced by the watchdog group Democracy Defenders Fund. The group, which said it represents the whistleblower as a client, said the person is anonymous because of “an extreme fear of retaliation but they feel an obligation to speak up about the misconduct and gross mismanagement they have witnessed.”

In the end, the deal was the same as what was agreed to 2 1/2 months ago: Leonard returns to the Raptors, with the Clippers getting Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and a pick swap.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Kawhi back to Toronto,” Raptors general manager and executive vice president Bobby Webster said. “His impact on our organization, our city, and our country is undeniable, and he embodies the competitiveness and championship mindset that we value. We believe his leadership, experience and talent will help us as we continue building toward our next championship.”

It's a huge move for Toronto, which won the 2019 NBA title with Leonard leading the way and is expecting to contend in the Eastern Conference. But the sides put the agreement on hold in early July pending any resolution of NBA’s investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules with regard to Leonard’s compensation.

The NBA hit the Clippers earlier this month with massive penalties as a result of that probe, suspending owner Steve Ballmer for one year, fining the team $30 million and forcing it to forfeit five first-round draft picks, among other sanctions.

Leonard, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, was hit with a $700,000 penalty as a result of that investigation. But he was not suspended and his contract was not voided, and the Raptors evidently are certain that his status will not be affected.

Leonard, 35, spent one season in Toronto — and led the Raptors to their lone title. He is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Clippers in 65 games.

Leonard is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, a two-time NBA champion (also winning in 2014 with San Antonio) and is considered one of the game’s top defensive players. He is expected to sign an extension with the Raptors once the trade is finalized.

Toronto visits the Clippers on Nov. 2 and hosts the Clippers on Jan. 1. The teams are also scheduled to meet at Vancouver in a preseason game on Oct. 10.

___

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

It’s a game of strategy, precision and timing.

At the center of it all is host Ken Jennings, once the show’s most dominant champion with his record-breaking 74-game winning streak.

He now steps behind the legendary podium to guide a new generation of contestants.

“To be here for six months, now to be here today, it was always my favorite show as a kid, so it’s a huge honor to still be part of the Jeopardy Story,” said Jennings.

Taking the helm from the late Alex Trebek and performing from the Alex Trebek Stage, Ken knows these are big shoes to fill.

“Having to do this job, those are pretty big shoes,” said Jennings. “Alex Trebek was a legend, and I really have that in mind, you know, like it kind of feels like Alex is still here. He was so perfect at this job that if there’s ever a moment where I kind of wonder, ‘What’s the right thing to do here? How should a game show host be?’ I can just kind of think about Alex. What would Alex do here? And I can hear that voice, you know, because we all grew up watching him.”

When fans watched these two men share the screen, Jennings was the ultimate student, spending years in the quiet grace of Trebek’s orbit, preparing him for a role he never expected: carrying the torch.

Guided by Trebek’s steady hand, Jeopardy! transcended television. It became a sacred American ritual, a trusted evening companion in millions of living rooms.

“Everybody has happy memories of when they’re a kid watching it with grandma, or they’re home sick, or Dad loved it, or they watched it in the dorm in college,” said Jennings. “Everybody has some like warm, nostalgic memory of Jeopardy. It’s really, it’s not even a TV show anymore, it’s like an institution, it’s like a ritual for a lot of people every night. You gotta watch Jeopardy.”

Today, Jennins commands the floor with his own unique rhythm, but that presence was undeniably forged in the contestant’s chair — a front-row seat to a masterclass by the absolute best. He isn’t trying to replace Alex Trebek, he’s protecting his legacy.

“I hope the legacy is, you know, I was always skeptical that there could be Jeopardy without Alex, you know?” Jennings said. “He was so synonymous with the show for me. So I hope the legacy is always like, Ken was never Alex, but like, thank goodness the show kept running because I think we need a smart show like this right now where facts are important and we admire people who have knowledge and have expertise. I think that’s really good to have on TV and to have it be such a popular show. It makes”

There may be a hint of Saharan dust passing over the area on Tuesday. Otherwise, the day offers a sun/cloud mix, east-northeast winds (sustained 5 to 15 mph) and the possibility for showers and storms, particularly mid-morning and early afternoon. Temperatures will be seasonable with highs forecast to peak near 90°F.

Quiñones es la primera de un conjunto de comerciantes atentos a las tendencias que han incluido en sus catálogos más de 38 modelos de camisetas con el rostro del Sumo Pontífice junto a temas que lo unen con Perú, donde trabajó 22 años en varias ciudades del Pacífico, incluida Chiclayo y el antiguo puerto del Callao.

“Nos genera muchas bendiciones y también puestos de trabajo”, comentó Quiñones a The Associated Press en su taller mientras imprimía una banderola por el cumpleaños de Prevost.

Quiñones, quien también produce banderas gigantes que se ven en los estadios de fútbol o polos para simpatizantes de partidos políticos, comenta que cada día ve aumentar los clientes que llegan interesados por comprar una camiseta del papa.

Una de las clientes durante la jornada fue Sor María Agripina, de la congregación Hermanitas de los Ancianos Desamparados que administran un asilo en El Callao. “Vengo a buscar unos polos para nuestros viejitos”, dijo a la AP la religiosa de hábito blanco y negro mientras observaba la variedad de camisetas frente a sus ojos.

Los modelos de camisetas incluyen los nombres de Chiclayo, Pucallpa, Lima y Cusco, las ciudades que Prevost visitará entre el 11 y 16 de noviembre. También, los ruegos por una atención de salud como “el papa ora para que te den tu cita (médica) rápido”.

Pero lo que más abunda son las referencias a la gastronomía local, como “el papa y el ceviche son peruanos”, “el papa y la papa (patata) son de Perú” o una imagen de Prevost entregando un “chifle” —una rodaja tostada de plátano popular en Perú— en vez de una hostia en una misa. “Teníamos temor de que se pueda molestar el papa, pero lo hacemos con mucho cariño y respeto”, dijo Quiñones.

La visita de Prevost podría convocar a enormes grupos de creyentes en Lima y otras ciudades de Perú. Las autoridades locales calculan que más de un millón de personas podrían asistir a cada una de las misas programadas donde estará Prevost.

“Nos estamos preparando para un mar de gente", indicó Quiñones.

Cuando Prevost fue elegido papa el 8 de mayo de 2025, Quiñones comenzó a elaborar camisetas con el rostro de León XIV y la frase “el papa tiene DNI”, en referencia al documento nacional de identidad que certifica la nacionalidad peruana y que Prevost obtuvo en 2015 para convertirse en obispo de Chiclayo.

“El representante de Dios en la tierra es peruano”, dijo María Martínez, una vendedora callejera de café.

León XIV realizará su primera gira por Latinoamérica del 6 al 16 de noviembre. Visitará Uruguay, Argentina y finalizará en Perú.

Kimberly Greenwood was among a list of nominees the Trump administration sent to the U.S. Senate for confirmation.

Later Monday, Kimberly Greenwood posted on Instagram a picture with her husband and Trump as she thanked the president for the nomination.

“Mr. President, thank you for believing in me and entrusting me with this extraordinary opportunity to serve,” she wrote.

Her husband, Lee Greenwood, is one of Trump's favorite singers, whose signature patriotic anthem has been his chosen walk-on song at political events for years. Trump even went into business with Lee Greenwood, selling a $59.99 "God Bless the USA Bible,” with him.

In his own Instagram post praising his wife and her nomination, Lee Greenwood said his wife had worked with Trump for 18 years while the president owned the Miss Universe Organization and Kimberly Greenwood directed state pageants.

Kimberly Greenwood's nomination, which must be confirmed by the Senate, calls for her to serve concurrently as U.S. ambassador to Barbados and, without additional compensation, as ambassador to the Caribbean countries of St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Presidents on both sides of the aisle have rewarded donors and key supporters with a significant slice of sought-after ambassadorships.

Democratic President Joe Biden selected prominent Seattle business leader and Democratic donor Roger Nyhus to serve in the same role for which Trump has nominated Kimberly Greenwood.

Most political appointees from the donor-and-supporter class have little impact on foreign policy. Occasionally, they have been the source of presidential headaches.

Trump on Monday also nominated outgoing U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, to serve as his top envoy to Riyadh.

Hunt is near the end of his second term representing his Houston-area district. He finished third in the March 2026 Texas Republican primary for the U.S. Senate behind Ken Paxton and John Cornyn.

If confirmed, Hunt will head to Riyadh a difficult moment in the Middle East as the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran continues with no end in sight and as fighting between the Saudis and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen intensifies.

Before politics, Hunt was a U.S. Army officer who served as a diplomatic liaison in Saudi Arabia.

Hunt in a posting on X said he understood “the strategic importance of the partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia and the profound responsibility of this position."

The White House on Monday also announced Trump’s nominees for vacant ambassadorial roles in Haiti, Somalia, Djibouti and Suriname.

During his first term, Trump’s appointees included hotelier and $1 million inaugural contributor Gordon Sondland, who served as chief envoy to the European Union. Sondland provided unflattering testimony about Trump during his first impeachment, which centered on allegations Trump sought help from Ukrainian authorities to undermine Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Sondland was later fired by Trump.

Trump donor-turned-envoy Jeffrey Ross Gunter left locals in relatively crime-free Reykjavik, Iceland, aghast over his request to hire armed bodyguards.

In Britain, Ambassador Robert “Woody” Johnson faced accusations he tried to steer golf’s British Open toward a Trump resort in Scotland and made racist and sexist comments.

The new documentary, “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been,” is punctuated by Love's performances of some of her classic songs, including “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “He’s a Rebel.” The performances feel Love reclaiming songs from an up-and-down past. But they also just sound good. Even in her mid-80s, one of the greatest American vocalists of the 20th century sounds amazing.

“I always took care of my voice,” Love said, speaking in an interview the day before the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. “People don’t realize but talking puts more strain on your voice than singing.”

Love sat in a quiet corner of a Toronto hotel with a scarf draped around her neck — one of many tricks she’s picked up over the years to preserve her voice. She quit smoking decades ago and made a habit of not going out after a concert. Her husband, Alton Allison, keeps a glass of wine waiting for her.

Love still performs regularly performs, especially around Christmas, but she takes breaks during concerts to rest her voice, sit down and tell the audience a story.

“And I have a lot of stories to tell,” she said with a laugh.

“Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been,” which premiered Monday at TIFF, isn’t the first documentary to chronicle Love’s life, but it is the first to focus entirely on her. The acclaimed 2013 documentary “20 Feet From Stardom” was about often-unheralded backup singers and heavily featured Love. It won the Oscar for best documentary feature. At the podium, Love belted out a few lines from the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”

“I sing because I’m happy,” Love sang. “I sing because I’m free.”

But Love getting a spotlight entirely of her own in “I Know Where I’ve Been” is meaningful. For so long Love was denied center stage. The film, directed by Barry Avrich and produced by Taraji P. Henson, is a lavish tribute to a music icon.

“There was no bigger talent,” Bruce Springsteen says in the film. “If you want proof of God, just listen to Darlene Love,” says Lou Adler.

The documentary spans all of Love’s life, from the Christian upbringing where secular music was “the devil’s music,” to her fraught recordings with producer Phil Spector, to her comeback in the early 1980s. Spector, who gave Love (born Darlene Wright) her name, recorded some of Love’s most beloved records. But he also undercut her career by, among other things, releasing the song “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” as a single for the Crystals, another act of his.

By the late ’70s, Love had fallen out of show business altogether. For a 10-month stint, she even cleaned houses to support her family.

“I just couldn’t find any work. ‘Christmas’ came on while I was cleaning houses to take care of my family, to get some cash flowing,” she recalls. “I just looked in the mirror and I said, ‘This is not what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m supposed to be singing.’

Despite all the reasons Love has to be jaded about the music business, she doesn’t speak particularly ill of Spector, who died in prison in 2021, 11 years after being convicted of murdering Lana Clarkson. She never felt victimized. She enjoyed singing backup for years, including with her close friend Dionne Warwick. And she knows those songs she recorded in the ‘60s — a pinnacle of 20th century American culture — endure.

“We long for hearing that kind of music. The kids have different music. Everybody has different music. My parents’ music is different from ours,” says Love. “But there’s something about our music that everyone likes. And you can sing it. A lot of the music today, you can’t sing.”

McConnell's lengthy absence from the Senate generated a flood of criticism and online speculation, as he initially remained quiet for weeks about his condition. The 84-year-old senator eventually disclosed a month later that he had been “briefly unconscious” due to the fall and had also been treated for mild pneumonia in the hospital.

He briefly addressed reporters Monday from a wheelchair outside the Senate chamber, smiling but speaking slowly and with some difficulty. McConnell joked that he wasn’t sure how many reporters would be there after dodging so many questions during his almost two decades as leader.

He said he was back in the Senate to work on a pending farm bill and because he has an ongoing interest in NATO and “backing up our good friends who are totally in the fight against the Russians.”

Reporters and photographers were told by Senate staff not to take video of his remarks in the second-floor hallway, even though video is often permitted in that area. Still images were allowed.

McConnell, who holds the distinction of being the longest-serving Senate leader, is in his final months of his four decades in office. He is retiring at the end of January after one of the most consequential careers in modern politics.

Republicans have nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Barr to replace him, while Democrats have nominated former state lawmaker Charles Booker. McConnell has said he is determined to finish out his term.

McConnell suggests he's still recovering

In a statement issued before his remarks, McConnell made clear that he may still miss some votes due to his health issues.

He said that he is "still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader (John) Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me.”

“My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier,” McConnell said in the statement.

The senator's extended leave highlighted increasing public concern about the age of lawmakers and their capacity to carry out their duties. Speculation about his condition grew so intense at one point that Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear took the extraordinary step of issuing a public letter asking McConnell to update the public in a “transparent manner.”

McConnell’s absence was also felt over the summer as Republicans were unable to advance a farm bill out of committee. His return could give GOP leaders a needed vote as they try to advance legislation on cryptocurrency regulation and college sports.

A history of health problems

McConnell had polio in his early childhood and has long acknowledged difficulty as an adult in walking and climbing stairs.

A statement from the Capitol physician that was included with McConnell's July release said that the senator has “experienced several falls through the year” due to his “post-polio condition.” The office said his physical therapy was aimed at reducing the risk of him falling again.

“A comprehensive evaluation by a multidisciplinary team determined that he had no fractures, cardiac abnormalities, stroke, tumor, or hemorrhage,” the physician’s office said.

McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and was the Republican leader from 2007 until last year, serving as both majority and minority leader during that period.

Toward the end of his time as leader and in the last two years as a rank and file senator, McConnell's health has visibly declined.

He was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a Washington hotel. He twice froze up during news conferences after he returned, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff. A year later, he fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon.

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That is especially true for cold-chain perishables that require more refrigeration, like dairy, meats and produce.

Diesel engines power about three-quarters of the 17 million commercial vehicles registered in the U.S.

“The first time ever we have ever seen diesel in Florida above $6 dollars a gallon and in Miami even higher at $6.25 a gallon,” said GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan. “You can really say the U.S. economy runs on diesel.”

Transportation, storage and energy costs contribute more than 7% of total food costs, so when diesel prices rise, those costs get higher and trickle down to the consumer at check-out.

What makes up a food dollar?

From farms and processing to retail and restaurants, every $1 Americans spend on food is divided among industries across the supply chain.

7.2¢

of every $1 spent on food went to transportation, storage and energy

7.2¢

2024 food dollar

Tap a section of the dollar to explore.

Transportation and storage + energy

7.2¢

Together, transportation, storage and energy account for 7.2¢ of every $1 spent on food.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Dollar, 2024 industry group data. View USDA source. Values sum up to $1.

That is in addition to upward pressure that remains on gas prices.

Small business owner Xavier Miranda of Top Florida Roofing told Local 10 News his business also being hit by suppliers adding fuel surcharges as all businesses along the global supply chain work to offset rising costs.

“Miranda said what federal lawmakers should know is that “their decisions impact us, which in return impacts the entire community.”

Said De Haan: “The two biggest geopolitical tensions that are weighing at the pump (are the) US-Iran Conflict (and) Russian and Ukraine. There is not really a date when things will suddenly improve spontaneously. It is going to take work to mend the fences, restoring ties and deescalating the situation, for Americans to see any drastic improvement in what they are paying at the pump.”

De Haan added that the brewing trade war between the U.S. and Canada could also place upward pressure on prices since more than 60% of our imported crude oil comes from Canada.

Esto es especialmente cierto para los productos perecederos de la cadena de frío que requieren más refrigeración, como productos lácteos, carnes y productos agrícolas.

Los motores diésel impulsan aproximadamente tres cuartas partes de los 17 millones de vehículos comerciales registrados en Estados Unidos.

“Es la primera vez que vemos el diésel en Florida por encima de $6 USD por galón y en Miami incluso más alto, a $6.25 USD por galón”, dijo Patrick De Haan, analista de petróleo de GasBuddy. “Realmente se puede decir que la economía de Estados Unidos funciona con diésel”.

Los costos de transporte, almacenamiento y energía representan más del 7% de los costos totales de los alimentos, por lo que cuando los precios del diésel aumentan, esos costos suben y se transfieren al consumidor al momento de pagar.

What makes up a food dollar?

From farms and processing to retail and restaurants, every $1 Americans spend on food is divided among industries across the supply chain.

7.2¢

of every $1 spent on food went to transportation, storage and energy

7.2¢

2024 food dollar

Tap a section of the dollar to explore.

Transportation and storage + energy

7.2¢

Together, transportation, storage and energy account for 7.2¢ of every $1 spent on food.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Dollar, 2024 industry group data. View USDA source. Values sum up to $1.

Esto se suma a la presión al alza que persiste sobre los precios de la gasolina.

El propietario de un pequeño negocio Xavier Miranda, de Top Florida Roofing, dijo a Local 10 News que su negocio también está siendo afectado por proveedores que agregan recargos por combustible, mientras todas las empresas a lo largo de la cadena de suministro global trabajan para compensar el aumento de los costos.

Miranda dijo que lo que los legisladores federales deberían saber es que “sus decisiones nos impactan, lo que a su vez impacta a toda la comunidad”.

De Haan dijo: “Las dos mayores tensiones geopolíticas que están afectando los precios en las gasolineras son el conflicto entre Estados Unidos e Irán y Rusia y Ucrania. Realmente no hay una fecha en la que las cosas vayan a mejorar repentinamente de manera espontánea. Será necesario trabajar para reparar las relaciones, restablecer los vínculos y reducir las tensiones para que los estadounidenses vean una mejora drástica en lo que están pagando en las gasolineras”.

De Haan agregó que la creciente guerra comercial entre Estados Unidos y Canadá también podría ejercer presión al alza sobre los precios, ya que más del 60% del petróleo crudo que importamos proviene de Canadá.

La policía de Miami informó que Brickell Bay Drive está actualmente cerrada entre Southeast 12th Street y Southeast 13th Street.

SKY 10 EN VIVO sobre la escena del colapso de la grúa en Miami:

Witnesses told Local 10’s Samiar Nefzi that the crane collapsed onto three vehicles, sparking a fire.

Funcionarios de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue confirmaron que cuatro personas fueron trasladadas al hospital después de una “compleja operación de rescate”.

Se recomienda a los conductores evitar el área, utilizar rutas alternas y anticipar demoras.

Los conductores deben tener precaución y seguir las indicaciones de los agentes en la escena, informó la policía.

No se divulgaron de inmediato más detalles.

“Esta mañana, una perforadora en 1201 Brickell se volcó y dañó tres automóviles y una caseta de construcción, lo que provocó que cuatro personas necesitaran atención médica. Nosotros y nuestros socios de construcción estamos sumamente agradecidos con los servicios de emergencia de Miami por su rápida respuesta y apoyo.

“Nuestra prioridad número uno es la salud y la seguridad de nuestros trabajadores y de la comunidad. Estamos trabajando en plena cooperación con los departamentos de construcción de la ciudad y el condado para asegurar el lugar y llevar a cabo una investigación completa del incidente de hoy”.

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*Nota del editor: Aunque los socorristas inicialmente se refirieron al incidente como un “colapso de grúa”, posteriormente confirmaron que la maquinaria era en realidad una perforadora de pilotes, utilizada para perforar profundamente en el suelo.

“En este momento, simplemente estamos recibiendo golpes por todos lados”, dijo Miranda.

Como techador, uno de los aumentos se siente en los propios materiales. Tomemos, por ejemplo, las tejas de asfalto.

“Quizás la mayoría de la gente no lo sepa, pero muchos de los productos para techos que utilizamos están hechos a base de petróleo”, dijo Miranda. “Así que, a medida que estos precios suben, aumenta el costo de nuestros materiales. Muchas de las capas de base que se colocan están hechas a base de petróleo, así que todo en su techo, el 90% de las cosas en su techo, está hecho a base de petróleo”.

Ahora considere a los proveedores de materiales para techos, que han estado agregando recargos por combustible, mientras todas las empresas a lo largo de la cadena de suministro global buscan compensar el aumento de los costos de energía.

“Constantemente recibimos actualizaciones de nuestros proveedores de que los precios van a aumentar debido a sus gastos de combustible. Así que nos pasan ese costo a nosotros”, dijo Miranda.

Estos incluyen, según dice, a sus proveedores de metal y tejas, y estima que los costos probablemente han aumentado un 30% tan solo en los últimos tres meses.

“Creo que cada vez que recibimos un correo electrónico, es como un recargo del 10% por combustible que estamos recibiendo”, dijo Miranda. “Y recibiremos varios de esos, a veces en un mes, a veces los recibiremos cada dos meses. Así que eso no es normal para nosotros. Antes de todos estos problemas, quizás veíamos algo así una vez al año. Cada dos trimestres, ahora es como si todos los meses los estuvieras viendo y los estuvieras viendo varias veces al mes”.

Luego, al igual que la mayoría de las empresas en Estados Unidos, su flota de vehículos comerciales funciona con diésel, lo que hace que trasladarse hacia y desde los lugares de trabajo sea más costoso.

“Los gastos de diésel prácticamente casi se han duplicado. Todos lo vemos. Vas a la gasolinera, lo ves, vas al supermercado, lo ves”, dijo Miranda.

Los costos, al igual que lo que quizás ya esté experimentando desde tiendas minoristas hasta cadenas de supermercados, se transfieren al consumidor.

“Tratamos de hacer todo lo posible para no hacerlo, pero en ciertos momentos no es viable. A veces recibimos propuestas con 30 días de anticipación, luego ven algunos aumentos en los precios, y tratamos de explicarles que estamos enfrentando gastos adicionales, así que tratamos de no transferirlos, pero en algún momento, como pequeño negocio, simplemente no podemos continuar asumiendo la carga”, dijo Miranda.

Esto se debe a que, en el caso de un pequeño negocio, aumentar los precios es una decisión especialmente difícil de tomar mientras trabajan para conservar a sus clientes locales. Sin embargo, enfrentan una dura realidad: el aumento de los costos del diésel es más difícil de absorber para los pequeños negocios debido a sus ya reducidos márgenes.

“Cada vez que nuestro costo aumenta, eventualmente tenemos que transferirlo al cliente y algunos clientes también están cuidando sus presupuestos, así que no estamos teniendo tantas ventas, lo que impacta al negocio, lo que afecta a las personas que conforman el negocio, a los individuos, y hay familias vinculadas a eso, así que es un gran efecto en cadena”, dijo Miranda.

Lo que, según él, los legisladores federales deberían saber es que “nosotros somos quienes construimos en la comunidad, gastamos en la comunidad, vivimos en la comunidad. Sus decisiones nos impactan, lo que a su vez impacta a toda la comunidad”.

Un informe del condado Miami-Dade encontró que “según el Centro Metropolitano Jorge M. Pérez de FIU, el 96% de los negocios de nuestra región tienen 49 empleados o menos”.

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“We just kind of get hit from all angles right now,” said Miranda.

As a roofer, one increase is felt on the actual materials themselves. Take, for example, asphalt shingles.

“Most people may not know, but a lot of the roofing products that we use, they’re petroleum based,” said Miranda. “So as these prices go up, our material cost goes up. A lot of the underlayments that go down, they’re all petroleum based, so everything on your roof, 90% of the stuff on your roof is petroleum based.”

Now consider roofing suppliers, who have been adding fuel surcharges, as all businesses along the global supply chain seek to offset rising energy costs.

“We are constantly getting updates from our suppliers that prices are going to increase because of their fuel expense. So they pass it on to us,” said Miranda.

These include, he says, their metal and shingle suppliers, and he estimates the costs have probably increased by 30% in just the past three months.

“I think every time we get an email, it’s like a 10% [fuel] surcharge that we’re getting,” said Miranda. “And we’ll get multiple of those, sometimes a month, sometimes we’ll get them every other month. So that’s not the normal for us. Prior to all of these issues, I mean, maybe once a year we were seeing something like that. Every other quarter, now it’s like every month you’re seeing them and you’re seeing them multiple times a month.”

Then, like the majority of companies across the U.S., his commercial vehicle fleet runs on diesel, making his cost to get to and from job sites more expensive.

“Diesel expenses has pretty much almost doubled. We all see it. You go to the gas station, you see it, you go to the supermarket, you see it,” said Miranda.

Costs, much like what you might already be experiencing from retail to grocery store chains, get passed down.

“We try our best not to, but it’s not feasible at certain points. Sometimes we get proposals 30 days in advance, they see it later on, they see some increases in the prices, and we try to explain to them we’re being hit with additional expenses, so we try not to pass it on, but at some point, as a small business, we just can’t continue to front the burden,” said Miranda.

That is because, in the case of a small business, raising prices is an especially difficult decision to make as they work to retain their local clients. Yet they are up against a tough reality: rising diesel costs are harder for small businesses to absorb given their already slim margins.

“Every time our cost goes up we have to pass it on eventually to the customer and some customers, they are also watching their budgets, so we are not having as many sales which impacts the business, which affects the people who make up the business, the individuals, and there are families tied to that, so it is a big trickle,” said Miranda.

What he says federal lawmakers should know is that “we are the ones building in the community, spending in the community, living in the community. Their decisions impact us which in return impacts the entire community.”

A Miami-Dade County report found that “according to Jorge M. Pérez FIU’s Metropolitan Center, 96% of businesses in our region have 49 employees or less.”

The broad area of low pressure – situated smack dab over the open subtropical Atlantic, an area of the basin we’ve featured in newsletters this season due to its advantageous positioning away from El Niño’s suppressing influence – was accompanied by disorganized storminess early Monday.

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NHC indicated low odds of development later this week as it moves toward an area of lighter and more conducive upper-level winds.

AI models versus legacy physics-based models

The newer machine learning-based AI camp of models have been gradually dialing up development odds for this area since late last week but their legacy physics-based counterparts – like the Euro and American GFS – have stayed notably silent.

As of early Monday the conventional Euro ensemble system showed only a handful of development outcomes of the 50 or so scenarios run, taking the under on NHC’s 30%.

In stark contrast, however, Google’s DeepMind machine learning-based ensemble system was taking a very aggressive stance toward development later this week, with odds above 70% for the week, most of which suggest the system could peak as a strong hurricane into early next week.

Though not as bullish on strengthening as DeepMind – perhaps due to a known systematic low-intensity bias that we detailed in our post last Thursday – the Euro AI ensembles are similarly aggressive on overall development odds this week.

The answer is probably somewhere in between but given the thunderstorm activity already building around the broad low-pressure area and the general setup ahead with some alley-oops from a series of jet-stream dips, I’d favor development in this instance.

It’s noteworthy that even in the few physics-based Euro scenarios that show development, the forecast intensities are strong which is likely indicative of an environment supportive of strengthening if a storm gets going.

Nevertheless, this will be an interesting case to see which of our modeling camps – the newer AI models or the conventional physics-based models – handle the potential development (or lack thereof) better.

Interests in Bermuda will want to monitor the progress of the system but otherwise it isn’t expected to pose a threat to land areas in the week ahead.

Eaton’s claims were at the heart of his insanity defense as he went on trial Monday on attempted murder charges in a case that shook Burlington, Vermont, and reverberated in the West Bank, where the three wounded men grew up and became friends as schoolmates in Ramallah before moving to the U.S. for college.

The November 2023 shooting, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, spawned calls for a hate crime investigation. But no hate crime charges were filed as questions persisted about whether anti-Palestinian animus, an altered mental state or something else had compelled Eaton to open fire on Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid, who were all 20 at the time.

The men testified one after another as Eaton, now 51, watched stoically from the defense table in a Burlington courtroom. He has pleaded not guilty but doesn't dispute that he was the shooter. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, he could be ordered to undergo mental health treatment.

Defense lawyer Joshua O’Hara, previewing testimony from a defense psychiatrist, told jurors in an opening statement that Eaton was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder after losing his job at a credit union two weeks before the shooting.

While listening to a local NPR affiliate, Eaton believed he was hearing messages that he attributed to the CIA, O’Hara said. At first, the messages were encouraging and validating, the lawyer said, but subsequent messages turned dark, insisting that Eaton “has to go out and shoot somebody.”

Prosecutor Sally Adams told jurors that a state psychiatrist who is slated to testify concluded that Eaton did not have a mental disease or defect. Evidence will show he intended to kill the men, was not legally justified in shooting them, and does not meet the test of legal insanity, Adams said.

Authorities found three shotguns in Eaton's apartment and a Ruger .380-caliber handgun that crime lab testing concluded was the gun used in the shooting, Adams said. Eaton had purchased the gun seven months earlier from a Vermont gun store.

“If the defense tries to focus on the story that Mr. Eaton tells about why he intended to kill these three young men, that story is only part of the whole picture,” said Adams, the chief administrative deputy at the Chittenden County State’s Attorney's Office.

Awartani, Aliahmad and Abdalhamid, all of whom are now 23, told jurors of their holiday weekend visit to Awartani’s grandmother's house, a trip to a bowling alley to celebrate his twin cousins' birthday, and the walk they took near the University of Vermont campus after dusk that ended in bloodshed.

Awartani, who was studying at Brown University in Rhode Island at the time, said they were smoking cigarettes and speaking a mix of English and Arabic. Two of them said they were wearing traditional Palestinian scarves known as keffiyehs. Awartani said he first noticed Eaton standing on a porch as they approached the apartment house where he lived.

Within seconds, Awartani said, Eaton was off the porch and walking toward them. His face was expressionless and he didn't say anything. As Eaton got to about five to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 meters) away, “he pulled out a handgun and started shooting at us,” said Awartani, who was paralyzed from the waist down in the shooting and now uses a wheelchair.

Jacob Pyne, who lived in a different apartment in the same house as Eaton, testified that he heard four to six gunshots, followed by footsteps going up the stairs of the apartment house. He said he ran outside and heard two men speaking, one of whom was more vocal and yelling, “I’ve been shot, help me." He then brought the men blankets and called 911.

Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College near Philadelphia, said he fled and hid behind another home after seeing Aliahmad fall to the ground. He said he only realized later when he sat down that he had also been wounded. Awartani was shot in the chest and the bullet ricocheted off his scapula, causing paraplegia in his spinal cord. Aliahmad, who was a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, was struck in the collarbone, and Abdalhamid was shot in the right buttock.

O’Hara, the supervising attorney at the Chittenden County Public Defender Office, told jurors that Eaton was confused by the messages he said he was receiving, and became convinced that the CIA and Mossad were enlisting him into “overwatch duty” to protect a Jewish family living across the street.

“These were delusions,” O’Hara said. “He believed in the moment that he was doing something that was right. He had been commanded to do this. And that he did not have the ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct in the moment because he believed he’d been instructed to do this by a government agency or God.”

Emotions are bound to run as high as ever in Mississippi's Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday evening, when the No. 8 Rebels (2-0) host the coach who spurned them late last season and now has No. 7 LSU (2-0) off to a strong start.

“I guess there’s real safety issues and stuff. So, there’s people that have a plan for that. It is what it is,” Kiffin said. “But I told the players today, man, like, ‘You don’t have anything to worry about as far as, like, attention on you all week. There’s just going to be so much attention, hatred — everything — on me.’”

“Really, the pressure is on them,” Kiffin continued, alluding to Ole Miss' appearance in last year's national semifinals, and the fact that quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy — both viewed as 2026 Heisman Trophy candidates — are back with the Rebels.

“We won seven games last year; they won 13,” Kiffin said. “They return two Heisman candidates. How often does that ever happen in the same backfield?”

It's rare, but Kiffin knew of at least once instance. That was back in 2005, when he was an assistant under Pete Carroll at Southern California. The Trojans had Matt Leinart at QB and Reggie Bush at running back.

By mentioning Chambliss and Lacy, Kiffin was in a sense touting his own legacy at Ole Miss, where he coached for the previous five years. And Kiffin seemed to wish that instead of spewing vitriol at him, Mississippi fans would reflect more on how much better off their program was when he left than when he arrived. Similarly, Kiffin mentioned that he was the one who sought out and hired his Ole Miss successor, Pete Golding, as defensive coordinator in 2023.

“There’s not always a winner and a loser,” Kiffin said while referring to his decision to leave for LSU last Nov. 30, when the Rebels were about to enter the College Football Playoff.

Kiffin pointed out that Saturday's Magnolia Bowl between LSU and Ole Miss will be the first since 1962 to take place when both teams were ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll.

“That says to me it’s the most relevant matchup of these two teams in 64 years,” Kiffin said. “So, I think that’s a really neat thing that we were able to be part of building a program (in Mississippi) that Pete's doing a great job of continuing it as a top-10 program.

“When we got there, they had won four games (in 2019). And when we got here eight months ago, (the Tigers) were 7-6,” Kiffin said. “So, I think it’s a really good thing that I think a lot of people could look at it and say, ’Hey, both sides are doing really well, and both sides won.'”

There can be only one winner this weekend, and Kiffin acknowledged the novelty of a participating in a matchup featuring “one team that you built and now a new team that you're building — probably a really unusual situation that way.”

And Kiffin figures paranoia is running high within each program because of how much each staff knows about the other.

“I’m sure both places are already worried about leaks within the building getting game plans out,” Kiffin said, perhaps in reference to recent revelations that Ole Miss conducted a sweep of its facility for recording devices after Kiffin left Oxford.

“I know, obviously, a lot's going to be made about me,” Kiffin said. “But this is about the players being prepared really well and playing really well. I'm not going to tackle anybody. I'm not going to throw any touchdowns.”

No, he won't. But he'll have plenty to do with what happens on the field, and off, during a game that will be widely watched and long remembered.

___

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.

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He never expected to be taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Pourrain, 34, an Argentine center midfielder for Miami United FC, a professional club in the United Premier Soccer League, is now back in South Florida, reliving what he calls some of the worst weeks of his life.

“It’s really a horrible situation, horrible situation,” Pourrain said.

He spent more than three weeks in ICE custody across three different facilities, including one in Miramar that he described as having inhumane conditions.

“Miramar was the worst thing that happened to me in my life,” he said.

Pourrain has lived in South Florida since 2019. He said he has had a work permit for years and renewed his Florida driver’s license in July.

“It hurts because I love this country and I’ve lived here seven years,” he said. “I don’t deserve any of this. I never got any criminal records. I never had any kind of problem.”

On Aug. 6, Pourrain was flying out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for a semifinal match in Los Angeles. After passing through security, he said ICE took him into custody.

At a detention facility in Miramar, Pourrain said he was shackled to a chair for the first 24 hours.

“Handcuffs on the hands and the feet. A chain all over my body here,” he said.

He said he was then moved into a small room that was overcrowded with inmates.

Pourrain said the food was moldy, so he did not eat for days.

“It was a little room. It was 68 of us inside there -- I couldn’t even move. I was just like this, trying to put my head on the wall, tried to sleep a little bit. There was no bed,” he said.

Eventually, Pourrain was moved to another facility in Florida and then to Texas.

He was released on a $20,000 bond on Aug. 28, more than three weeks after he was taken into custody.

The Department of Homeland Security told Local 10 that Pourrain only had permission to stay in the U.S. for six months and overstayed his welcome.

DHS also denied his claims of inhumane treatment.

“Claims that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are FALSE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens. All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries,” the agency said in a statement.

For Pourrain, he said he knows what he saw and worries about those still inside.

“It’s inhumane what happens inside. They don’t deserve it either,” he said.

While his court proceedings continue, Pourrain is back training with his team and teaching kids soccer.

But the memories have not gone away.

“I think I’ll never forget about this. Because it was tough on me, it was tough on my wife,” he said.

Macklemore said on Instagram that several U.S. venues told the promoter they would prohibit him from performing as Sheeran's opening act for the Loop tour.

As a result, he wrote, Sheeran's team decided to remove him from the tour. That's despite the fact that the rapper — best known for his breakout hit “Thrift Shop” and the same-sex marriage anthem “Same Love” — has been making similar comments about the plight of Palestinians for years.

“So why is it an issue now? Because I’m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America,” Macklemore wrote. “At a certain level of exposure, ‘Free Palestine’ becomes too much of a risk.”

A growing chorus of organizations and experts say Israel’s wartime actions in Gaza amount to genocide — an accusation Israel vehemently rejects.

Sheeran has not commented and representatives for the singer did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The promoter, Messina Touring Group, confirmed in a statement to Rolling Stone that it had been notified by venues that “they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.”

Among the venues is Gillette Stadium, home to the NFL's New England Patriots. Owner Robert Kraft said the decision to cancel Macklemore was a result of his recent comments “and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”

“This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real,” Kraft said in a statement Monday.

Macklemore’s advocacy “should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas,” Kraft said.

The rapper, born Benjamin Hammond Haggerty in Washington state, exclaimed “Free Palestine” during the Sept. 5 date of the tour while introducing his protest song “Hind’s Hall.” Written following the 2024 campus protests in support of Palestinians, it's named for Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed after Israeli forces fired on her family’s car in Gaza City.

“To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, it in no way is criticism of you,” he said during the New Jersey concert. “This message is for peace, love, for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.”

His comments drew criticism from fellow singer Pink, who herself then drew backlash.

Macklemore said he holds no ill will toward Sheeran, who he considers a friend.

“But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can’t change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened,” Macklemore wrote.

The Loop Tour is scheduled to appear in venues including Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Según un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de las Escuelas de Miami-Dade, el caso gira en torno a Cesar Oriol Cardoso, quien trabajaba en Sunset Park Elementary School, ubicada en 10235 SW 84th St., en el área de Kendall.

El informe señala que Cardoso tuvo al menos cinco víctimas. La policía dijo que la investigación sobre el hombre de 53 años, quien vive en el vecindario Flagami de Miami, comenzó a mediados de abril. El informe de M-DSPD no indica qué puesto ocupaba Cardoso en ese momento.

La policía dijo que sacaba a las niñas de educación física, otras clases o del almuerzo para llevarlas de regreso a su salón de clases para “completar el trabajo de clase si estaban atrasadas” y luego les mostraba “imágenes o videos inapropiados”.

Muchas de las imágenes mostraban a mujeres desnudas, según el informe de M-DSPD. Al menos dos estudiantes reportaron que Cardoso les mostró lo que creían que eran fotos de él mismo desnudo, señala el informe. Las autoridades dijeron que una imagen mostraba abuso sexual infantil, en la que aparecía un niño de entre 12 y 14 años con una mujer.

Cardoso también está acusado de tocar o dar palmadas a varias niñas en los glúteos o muslos y hacerles comentarios inapropiados, incluido un incidente en el que tenía la “mano sobre la ropa en la entrepierna” y le preguntó a una niña si quería “apretarlo”.

La policía dijo que también intentó besar o expresó su deseo de besar al menos a dos de ellas.

No se indicaron las edades de las denunciantes; sin embargo, una de las niñas fue identificada como estudiante de tercer grado y dijo que el comportamiento continuó cuando pasó a cuarto grado.

La policía dijo que detectives de M-DSPD entrevistaron a Cardoso en su sede el viernes, donde invocó su derecho a permanecer en silencio.

Enfrenta cargos por delitos contra estudiantes cometidos por figuras de autoridad, mostrar material obsceno a un menor y conducta lasciva e indecente con un menor de 16 años.

Hasta la mañana del lunes, permanecía detenido sin derecho a fianza en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, según muestran los registros de la cárcel.

El informe de arresto de Cardoso indica que su ocupación es “hospitalidad”, por lo que no quedó claro de inmediato si todavía trabajaba para las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Miami-Dade al momento de su arresto.

Local 10 News se comunicó con M-DCPS para solicitar comentarios sobre el arresto.

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It happened on Thursday at the Denny’s located at 650 N. State Road 7 in Margate.

According to the Margate Police Department, officers responded to the restaurant after receiving reports of a man making threats with a knife.

Upon arrival, officers detained the suspect, who was later identified as Robert Henion.

Witnesses told investigators that Henion entered the restaurant and began pacing back and forth near a table of people who were eating, and when someone asked him to sit down, he “brandished a knife, raised it, pointed it at them” and then threatened to kill them, according to an arrest report.

When a manager of the restaurant was alerted to the situation, she told Henion to leave while calling 911, but police said he then put the knife down and told her to get off the phone because he was going to rape her, the report stated.

Henion is facing two charges of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony.

As of Monday afternoon, he remained behind bars at the Broward Main Jail on a $10,000 bond.

Ocurrió el jueves en el Denny’s ubicado en 650 N. State Road 7 en Margate.

Según el Departamento de Policía de Margate, los agentes respondieron al restaurante después de recibir reportes de un hombre que hacía amenazas con un cuchillo.

Al llegar, los agentes detuvieron al sospechoso, quien posteriormente fue identificado como Robert Henion.

Testigos dijeron a los investigadores que Henion entró al restaurante y comenzó a caminar de un lado a otro cerca de una mesa donde varias personas estaban comiendo, y cuando alguien le pidió que se sentara, “sacó un cuchillo, lo levantó, apuntó hacia ellos” y luego amenazó con matarlos, según un informe de arresto.

Cuando una gerente del restaurante fue alertada sobre la situación, le dijo a Henion que se fuera mientras llamaba al 911, pero la policía dijo que él dejó el cuchillo y le dijo que colgara el teléfono porque iba a violarla, señala el informe.

Henion enfrenta dos cargos de agresión agravada con intención de cometer un delito grave.

Hasta la tarde del lunes, permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal de Broward con una fianza de $10,000 USD.

“Esta validación refleja décadas de compromiso con la protección de las comunidades frente a la rabia y demuestra el impacto de una inversión sostenida en salud pública”, destacó el director general de la OMS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, en un comunicado. "El éxito de Chile ofrece valiosas enseñanzas para los países que trabajan para poner fin a las muertes humanas causadas por esta enfermedad prevenible”.

De acuerdo al organismo, el último caso notificado en Chile de rabia, una enfermedad altamente letal una vez aparecen los primeros síntomas, transmitida por perros a humanos, fue en 1972.

Causada por un virus, la rabia en humanos tiene un nivel de mortalidad cercano al 100% tras la aparición de las primeras manifestaciones posteriores a la infección. Sin embargo, puede prevenirse a través de la vacunación, una vigilancia eficaz y el acceso oportuno a la profilaxis posexposición.

La OMS destacó que, en los últimos 50 años, Chile ha apostado por una política sostenida de salud pública enfocada en la prevención y vigilancia para combatir la enfermedad, incluidos una extensa campaña de vacunación de perros y gatos y la administración de vacunas a las personas potencialmente expuestas al virus. que suele ocurrir a través de mordeduras, arañazos o contacto con saliva de perros.

“Estas acciones se complementaron con campañas de vacunación canina puerta a puerta, medidas específicas de manejo de la población canina e iniciativas de sensibilización y educación comunitaria”, agregó el organismo.

En una ceremonia realizada en Santiago, la ministra de Salud de Chile, May Chomali, recibió formalmente el reconocimiento otorgado por la OMS, que evalúa no solo la ausencia de casos sino también la existencia de sistemas sólidos de vigilancia, prevención y respuestas para prevenir que la transmisión canina vuelva a establecerse.

“La política pública de erradicación de la rabia ha dado el efecto que nosotros queríamos como comunidad, como país”, dijo Chomali. Igualmente explicó que la erradicación de esta forma de contagio obedece no solo a las políticas públicas del Ministerio de Salud, sino al trabajo conjunto con otras instituciones, en especial los municipios.

"Ellos hacen el trabajo en terreno, están a cargo de las comunidades donde hace educación, vacunación, control de las mascotas”, agregó.

El director de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS), Jarbas Barbosa, alabó a su vez que el hito alcanzado por Chile "demuestra lo que puede lograrse mediante una cooperación regional sostenida” cuando los países invierten en "vacunación, vigilancia y acceso a la atención”.

En las Américas, los casos humanos de rabia transmitida por perros se han reducido en más de un 98% desde 1983, con tan solo unos pocos casos notificados cada año actualmente. Sin embargo, estos resultados contrastan con la situación mundial, donde la rabia transmitida por perros sigue provocando “decenas de miles de muertes cada año, principalmente en Asia y África”, destacó el organismo.

A Boeing 767-300 cargo jet overran a runway and struck and killed five people who were in a van working for a cleaning company at MIA.

Julio Pineda, the 75-year-old father of Jachel and Junior Pineda, was seated in the white 2012 Ford E-150 Econoline van, working for Professional Ocean Service Corp., according to the Pineda siblings’ lawsuit.

“He was given no warning, had nowhere to go, had no ability to protect himself, and bore no responsibility whatsoever for what happened to him,” Attorney Joshua Padron wrote, according to the 73-page lawsuit seeking damages in excess of $50,000.

Related report Victims killed in cargo plane crash were dedicated to their families, attorney says

The crash involving the jet operating as Prime Air Flight 7598 was “foreseeable and preventable,” according to the lawsuit, which also names Amazon Services, 21 Air, Avia Acquisition, Avia Investments, Andromeda Leasing, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Titan Aviation Leasing, and the jet’s two pilots as defendants.

The four others who were with Pineda in the van and died were Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Two others who were in the van with Pineda survived and were injured: Roosevelt Perdomo, 36, and Ridoel Averhoff, 32, who were at the Jackson Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit.

Related report: After cargo jet struck van at Miami International Airport, survivor ‘was thrown into the air,’ attorney says

The Boeing 767-300 cargo jet also struck a Toyota Corolla Cross SUV on Northwest 67th Avenue outside of MIA. Eugenio Corredor, 79, was the driver who survived and was also at JMH’s ICU.

The jet, registered as N1997A, traveled for 1,300 feet “past the paved surface,” according to NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy.

Miami-Dade Fire Chief Ray Jadallah said a “complex fire” followed. About 60 units responded.

Joseph Carroll and Jaime Silva, the pilot and the co-pilot of the Boeing 767-300, who suffered minor injuries, remained under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Related report: Amazon pauses operations with 21 Air following deadly cargo plane crash at MIA

The jet remained at the crash site on Monday, as crews worked to dismantle it to collect evidence. One of four runways remained closed at MIA.

Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz asked travelers to check with airlines for the status of their flights. She also warned drivers that 67th Avenue was closed to the public from 25th to 32nd streets.

Homendy asked witnesses to share photos and videos with the NTSB team via e-mail at witness@ntsb.gov.

Cordero-Stutz asked the victims’ relatives to contact MDSO victims’ advocates at 305-471-1900.

Interactive graphic

In the ad for the sports prediction market platform Novig, Sweeney appears with little or no clothing, covering parts of her body with strategically placed footballs and other sports apparel.

Many female athletes criticized the ad on social media and called it disrespectful to women.

“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ariarne Titmus wrote on Instagram. “How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and sexualizing women’s sport is still a thing?”

British sprinter Amy Hunt addressed the actor in a post-race interview with the BBC on Sunday after finishing fourth in the 200 meters at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary.

“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” she said, looking at the camera. “Muscles, hard work, sweat, blood, tears.”

Former U.S. gymnast Gracie Kramer called the ad infuriating.

“I’ve spent my entire life competing in a sport where female athletes have been oversexualized, reduced to our bodies, and forced to fight to be taken seriously for what we can actually do,” she said on Instagram.

Kramer posted stories featuring female athletes training with the caption: “What a woman in sports looks like.”

Sofie Fella, a Chinese-German rugby player, said female athletes can be role models for girls and women because they manage to “untangle” from society’s ideals of beauty and femininity.

“And that’s why that Sydney Sweeney ad is so disrespectful to every female athlete in the world,” she said in an Instagram post.

Novig didn’t immediately answer an email seeking comment. A publicist for Sweeney also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an apparent reference to the criticism, Sweeney over the weekend posted a series of covers from ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue,” an annual special edition that showed athletes posing nude or semi-nude in a celebration of the diversity of bodies.

Sweeney, a two-time Emmy nominee, starred in and produced last year’s “Christy,” a biopic of American professional boxer Christy Martin.

This is not the first time her brand partnerships have sparked debate; her 2025 American Eagle campaign, which played on the homophones “jeans” and “genes,” previously triggered widespread online discussion.

Murray arrived on Monday at Vikings headquarters “feeling pretty good,” according to coach Kevin O'Connell, but it was far too soon to assess his chance of playing on Sunday at Chicago.

“We'll defer to the medical folks and that protocol for how the week goes,” O'Connell said. “We'll just take it a day at a time.”

Murray's debut with Minnesota lasted 11 plays. At the end of a third down run that ended well short of the sticks, Murray had the right side of his helmet smacked hard by Green Bay safety Javon Bullard's lowered shoulder with the quarterback already ducking toward the turf to try to avoid contact. Bullard was penalized for unnecessary roughness, but the Vikings weren't concerned about further punishment. Murray hadn't initiated a feet-first slide, so he was a live target.

“It was a violent, physical play,” O’Connell said. “But I don’t put any fault on anybody there.”

Murray eventually walked off slowly under his own power, but Carson Wentz took the rest of the afternoon and helped lead the Vikings to a comeback victory by scoring the last 29 points of the game.

Murray had three of his last four seasons with Arizona cut short by significant lower-body injuries, a torn ACL in his knee in late 2022 and a mid-foot sprain in 2025.

As for how long the Vikings are willing to wait this week for Murray to exit the concussion protocol before determining whether he can start or if Wentz will, that's not yet clear. Because quarterbacks already wear red non-contact jerseys, Murray could potentially get significant practice repetitions before he's fully cleared.

Murray took part in team meetings and video review of the Green Bay game on Monday.

“We'll just see how he's doing and take it a day at a time and make that determination when the time comes,” O'Connell said.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The bill aims to put guardrails around escalating spending in college sports as the industry struggles to adapt to a new model in which schools can pay players. Major conferences, Senate leadership and President Donald Trump have backed the bipartisan bill, yet it still faces pushback that could sink it before the chamber breaks this fall.

“This bill protects the billions of dollars that coaches and sports industry executives are making over the suppression of compensation for some of the most highly valued athletes in the world,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said on a call with reporters Monday. “What we’re being asked to do is to basically allow colleges and conferences and the NCAA to illegally collude.”

Murphy’s opposition followed a high-profile weekend push by Sen. Ted Cruz, a co-sponsor of the bill, who appeared Saturday on ESPN’s “College GameDay” to make the case for its passage. Cruz, a Texas Republican, spent nearly 10 minutes explaining why he thinks the legislation is important as loud boos rang out from the University of Texas crowd behind him.

Launched by Cruz and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington in late May, the bill that has been discussed all summer is back in focus with a vote possible before Congress goes back into recess for the midterm elections.

Cruz, at a news conference in Washington alongside Cantwell, college athletes, coaches and other members of Congress, said he expects the Senate to vote on the bill this week or next. He is hoping it passes with resounding support from both sides of the aisle.

“I believe we are going to get this done,” Cruz said. “I have a very high level of confidence that the House will pass this bill, and one of the best ways to do that is get a big bipartisan vote coming off the Senate.”

From high-profile coaches to boosters, supporters are lining up

High-profile supporters include billionaire Texas Tech alumnus Cody Campbell, former Alabama coach Nick Saban and current Colorado coach Deion Sanders, who have been featured in commercials across the country as football season begins.

“The Protect College Sports Act ends the NIL chaos in college athletics by protecting our student-athletes and teams and safeguarding women’s sports and Olympic programs,” Saban says in an ad.

Basketball coaches John Calipari of Arkansas, Mark Few of Gonzaga and Kelvin Sampson of Houston are also among those in favor.

“I think this clears up about 75-80% of our issues,” Calipari said in Washington. “Nothing is perfect. This is a bite out of the apple.”

Echoing Calipari, Few said: “This bill might not be perfect, but it’s far, far away the best thing we got out there right now.”

The bill still faces a tight timeline and high vote threshold

High-profile support hasn’t been the issue for the bill since it was introduced months ago. After months of negotiations, the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences got on board with the bill in late July. But it remains unclear whether the legislation has the support needed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber. Democrats are trying to flip the Senate in November's midterms, which can complicate the legislative agenda.

Murphy has been among the most outspoken, saying he will work with those in the Senate who oppose the bill to do everything in their power to ask colleagues to step back and take another shot at legislation that would institute reforms but not make the current system permanent at the expense of athletes’ health and safety.

“This bill doesn’t stop billionaires from spending money on athletic facilities,” Murphy said. “This money doesn’t stop billionaires from directly subsidizing the salaries of coaches. No, the only thing this bill does is to limit the relatively small slice of money in the system that goes to athletes.”

Murphy took issue with the concept of the situation being chaotic, now that athletes are getting paid for name, image and likeness rights. He said coaches and colleges are the ones most primarily affected, arguing the bill would not fix any of the broader problems when it comes to spending.

Joined by NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson, Murphy pointed out that many of the most valuable athletes are Black and those protecting the billions of dollars in the system are white. The Congressional Black Caucus opposes the bill.

“This bill has nothing to do with protecting college sports,” Johnson said. “Any college sports legislation must protect the whole ecosystem, including student-athletes, universities, conferences and historically Black colleges and universities by guaranteeing athletes have a real voice, fair economic rights, long-term health and educational security.”

In a separate effort by Congress to regulate college athletics, two Republicans – Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan and Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio -- introduced a bill Monday that would limit international athletes to no more than 20% of each varsity sports team.

“American colleges and universities should first and foremost provide opportunities for American students,” Walberg said.“America has built the strongest collegiate athletic system in the world, and we should make sure it continues to develop the next generation of American students and American Olympians.”

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Associated Press reporter Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report from Washington.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

The goal now is to make sure they get more than a fleeting glimpse from the top.

Texas (2-0) jumped to No. 1 after a wild 24-23 victory over Ohio State, which knocked the Buckeyes from No. 1 to No. 6. The Longhorns play UTSA this week before starting Southeastern Conference play Sept. 26 at No. 15 Tennessee.

“A week ago, the narrative was we can’t win the big game,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “The opinion now is we’re the best team in the country, allegedly, and so everybody is patting us on the back."

And he cautioned his team about getting carried away with it.

“This is the third straight year we’ve been ranked No. 1 at some part of the season,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t know how we handled it. And I don't know how worthy we were of those rankings, of the opinions of others.”

The Longhorns look worthy of the top spot for now. How things shake out by season's end is yet to be seen.

In 2024, Texas rose to No. 1 for the first time since 2008. The Longhorns stayed there for a month before losing to Georgia. They wouldn't get back to No. 1, but made it all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals before losing to eventual national champion Ohio State.

The fall last year was much farther and much harder.

Texas started the season No. 1 only to lose the first game at Ohio State. They were 3-2 a few weeks later and unranked. A 9-3 regular season left the Longhorns out of the playoff.

Senior linebacker Justin Cryer, a transfer from Florida State, seemed unimpressed with life at No. 1.

“It’s cool to post on Instagram or whatever,” Cryer said. “We have 10 more games to play.”

That's where quarterback Arch Manning said the focus should be. He remembers the quick fall from No. 1 last season and getting left out of the postseason.

“The rankings don't really matter until the playoffs,” Manning said. “We've got a lot to prove.”

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Poco antes de las 9:30 p.m., Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue recibió múltiples llamadas al 911 reportando un incendio en una vivienda.

Las cuadrillas llegaron unos tres minutos después y encontraron una gran cantidad de humo y llamas saliendo de un lado de la vivienda unifamiliar cerca de la cuadra 1100 de Northwest 15th Street.

Las personas que estaban en el interior pudieron salir de manera segura por sus propios medios, según las autoridades.

Unos 20 minutos después de llegar, las cuadrillas habían controlado la mayor parte del incendio y trabajaban para ingresar al ático a través del techo, según los bomberos.

Un total de ocho residentes serán desplazados debido al incendio.

Un investigador de incendios determinará la causa del incendio.

Según funcionarios de Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, una llamada al 911 se recibió poco después de las 12:30 p.m. reportando un incendio en una vivienda en la cuadra 1800 de Northwest 16th Court.

Los bomberos llegaron en seis minutos y encontraron “condiciones de incendio intenso”, dijeron funcionarios de FLFR en un comunicado de prensa.

Los funcionarios dijeron que las cuadrillas fueron informadas de que una persona podría estar atrapada dentro de la vivienda e inmediatamente ingresaron para buscarla.

Los bomberos localizaron entonces a un hombre dentro de un baño y lo rescataron de la vivienda, dijeron los funcionarios.

El hombre fue trasladado a Broward Health Medical Center con lo que los funcionarios describieron como “heridas que ponen en riesgo su vida”.

Funcionarios de FLFR confirmaron que un bombero sufrió quemaduras menores y está recibiendo tratamiento.

La causa del incendio está bajo investigación.

The lawsuit by Nicholas La Strada, a Republican, also asserts that Hoskins' office illegally directed local election officials to change the results of a city council race and used state funds for a politically oriented mailing.

Hoskins “will not be able to comment on pending litigation involving a personnel matter,” spokesperson Anne Marie Moy said.

Hoskins already faces scrutiny for his actions in Missouri's congressional redistricting saga. Last Thursday, the state Supreme Court found Hoskins temporarily in contempt of its order not to take steps to use new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump in the November election. On Friday, several voters who signed a referendum petition putting the new congressional district map to a statewide vote in November filed suit seeking class-action status for monetary damages against Hoskins.

The latest lawsuit, though unrelated to redistricting, calls into question Hoskins' role overseeing the November election.

“How can you trust a secretary of state’s office when they fired the man who was telling them what they cannot do,” said attorney Erin N. Vernon, of Independence, the lead lawyer in the lawsuit.

La Strada had served for 14 years as the Pettis County clerk, overseeing local elections, when Hoskins hired him as the state's election integrity director in January 2025. The suit says La Strada was stripped of his administrative access to the state's voter registration system after several months on the job. That came after he raised concerns that the office may have illegally spent funds to mail information in opposition to a St. Louis County ballot measure, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit contends Hoskins' office illegally intervened in an April municipal election. After the results of a close Marshall City Council race in central Missouri had been certified, Hoskins' office received a complaint about the tallying of write-in votes, recounted them itself and instructed city officials to change the results. The suit says only a judge can order such action.

“If you’ve done it once, what’s to stop them from doing it on bigger elections in November and coming right in and changing it to who they want, their preferred candidate,” Vernon said.

Also in April, La Strada alleges in his lawsuit that he was present for a conversation in which several members of Hoskins' staff discussed the possible use of a “burner phone” and internet protocol address scrambler to file a fake whistleblower complaint as part of a federal administrative proceeding involving the state's voter registration database. The suit says La Strada twice raised concerns with Hoskins, but his Capitol security badge then was deactivated before a hearing in the case and he was fired effective May 1.

The state election integrity director post remains vacant, Moy said.