Authorities said Serna, 52, arrived on an American Airlines flight from his hometown of Medellin, Colombia on Wednesday with “two black backpacks and no checked luggage.”

But, according to a federal criminal complaint, before he arrived in the U.S., Colombian authorities issued a “lookout alert” that Serna, whose full name is Diego Alonso Serna Lopera, was suspected of travelling with drugs.

According to the complaint, customs officers referred Serna to secondary inspection and he took responsibility for what was in the bags: “seven assorted vitamin bottles containing approximately 8,975 pills.”

The pills were identified as being suspected hydrocodone/acetaminophen, once sold under the brand name Vicodin, the complaint states. Authorities said they tested positive for opiates.

According to federal agents, during an interview, Serna “immediately stated that he wanted to cooperate.”

The complaint states that Serna acknowledged that customs officers “had inspected the pill bottles before departure and that he had overheard them say that the bottles contained ‘hydrocodone’” and “explained that the pills were delivered to his apartment in Colombia by a friend named ‘Sebastian,’ whose last name he claimed not to know,” but who “paid for his flight as a ‘thank you’ for helping (him) transport the pills.”

“(Serna) was told that, once he landed in Miami, he would receive a call from Sebastian regarding the delivery of the pills,” the complaint states.

Authorities said Serna cooperated in a “controlled delivery” of the pills.

“Under the direction of law enforcement, (Serna) notified Sebastian via WhatsApp that he had arrived in Miami,” the complaint states. “Law enforcement observed the exchange. (Serna) was instructed to deliver the pills to an individual who would meet him at the Miami International Airport, Departure Door 10.”

Soon after, authorities said a woman showed up in a vehicle to get the pills. According to the complaint, Serna gave her a backpack and showed her the pill bottles, closed it and handed it over to her.

“After she picked up the pills, law enforcement detained the woman and seized the narcotics,” the complaint states. “During the detention, law enforcement observed that the woman’s cellphone was receiving numerous calls from a contact saved as ‘Sebastian hijo.’”

The complaint does not identify the woman or whether she is facing charges.

Serna was arrested on charges of importation of hydrocodone and conspiracy to import hydrocodone into the United States.

Records show he appeared in Miami federal court on Thursday and was released on a $100,000 surety bond. He was ordered to surrender his passport and his travel is restricted to the Southern District of Florida. He’s also prohibited from visiting transportation establishments.

Serna played for the Fusion from 1998 to 2001 and was the team’s all time leading scorer before it folded a year after his departure. He was named to the MLS Best XI, an annual honor for the league’s best 11 players, in 2001.

In 2014, he played for Miami Dade FC of the United Premier Soccer League, his last time on the pitch professionally.

Records show he’s scheduled to be back in Miami federal court for an arraignment hearing on Aug. 20.

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It happened just after 2 a.m. within the Villa Medici Townhomes, located in the 1000 block of Northeast 17th Avenue in the city’s Lake Ridge neighborhood.

The video shows the lightning striking a power line, sparking the blaze, which was quickly put out.

“Bolts of lightning were hitting all around. All of a sudden, you could hear that it hit something really close by, and you could hear the sizzling. When I looked out my door, I saw that it was across the street from me,” a resident, who identified herself as Terri, said. “You saw the orange sparks flying all over the place for a while, and then you’d see the flames, and you’d hear more pops going into it as it fed.”

None of the buildings caught fire but they did lose power. Power crews were still out Monday afternoon trying to restore electricity.

El incidente ocurrió poco después de las 2 a.m. en Villa Medici Townhomes, ubicado en la cuadra 1000 de Northeast 17th Avenue, en el vecindario Lake Ridge de la ciudad.

El video muestra el momento en que el rayo impactó una línea eléctrica y provocó el incendio, que fue extinguido rápidamente.

“Había rayos cayendo por todos lados. De repente, se escuchó que uno impactó algo muy cerca y se oía un chisporroteo. Cuando miré por la puerta, vi que era justo al otro lado de la calle”, dijo una residente identificada como Terri. “Se podían ver las chispas naranjas volando por todas partes durante un rato, luego aparecieron las llamas y se escuchaban más estallidos mientras el fuego se alimentaba”.

Ninguno de los edificios se incendió, pero sí quedaron sin servicio eléctrico. Cuadrillas de la empresa eléctrica continuaban trabajando la tarde del lunes para restablecer el servicio.

Los registros de la cárcel en línea muestran que Samantha Angelina Feliz fue ingresada el domingo en la cárcel principal del condado Broward, acusada de homicidio agravado de un menor, alteración o fabricación de evidencia física, no reportar una muerte, proporcionar información falsa sobre un menor desaparecido y obstruir una investigación criminal al proporcionar información falsa a las autoridades sobre una persona desaparecida.

En una orden de arresto, la Policía presentó un caso basado en evidencia circunstancial contra Feliz y Alejandro Leon Jr. Indicó que el cuerpo de su hija, identificada como “Angelina” y aún desaparecida, no ha sido encontrado, pero que existen indicios, incluida evidencia de ADN en manchas de sangre, que apuntan a su muerte.

La Policía de Rockingham, Carolina del Norte, arrestó a Leon, de 21 años, y a Feliz el 22 de julio.

Las autoridades informaron que la investigación comenzó después de que un familiar contactó al Departamento de Policía de Hollywood en julio de 2025 para reportar que no había visto a la menor desde febrero de ese año y que la pareja había hecho declaraciones inquietantes asegurando que Angelina “era parte de una estafa y negaban haber tenido un bebé”.

Un familiar que se reunió con Feliz en un parque de Hollywood en marzo de 2025 dijo a los investigadores que, tras preguntarle por Angelina, ella respondió: “¿Qué bebé? No hay ningún bebé”.

“Desde entonces, Feliz ha afirmado que nunca hubo un bebé, que el bebé era un engaño y que estaba estafando a todos para obtener dinero”, señala la orden de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Hollywood.

Sin embargo, la Policía indicó que la pareja hacía referencia a la niña en mensajes de texto anteriores y que se habían tomado fotografías de Feliz visiblemente embarazada. Además, las autoridades informaron que ambos tomaron fotos y videos con Angelina después de su nacimiento, el cual se cree ocurrió en casa y sin que se emitiera un certificado de nacimiento.

Las autoridades señalaron que la última fotografía de Angelina fue tomada el 5 de enero de 2025. Según la orden, la bebé lucía “visiblemente enferma y desnutrida”.

“En esta última fotografía, la víctima no muestra signos de vida”, indicó la Policía sobre la imagen.

En un momento dado, agentes del Departamento de Policía de Lantana, en el condado Palm Beach, localizaron e interrogaron a la pareja, y ambos sostuvieron que “Feliz nunca estuvo embarazada y nunca dio a luz a un bebé”, según la orden.

“También afirmaron que la historia fue inventada con la esperanza de que sus familias sintieran lástima por ellos y les dieran dinero”, escribió la detective del Departamento de Policía de Hollywood, Nancie Toler. “Durante la entrevista, Feliz indicó que existían numerosos mensajes de texto entre ella, Leon y familiares hablando del embarazo y de cómo había inventado la historia”.

La Policía indicó que Feliz afirmó haber estado “usando una barriga postiza de embarazo para aparentar que estaba embarazada” como parte de la supuesta “estafa”.

“Además, durante dichas entrevistas, tanto Feliz como Leon dijeron que las autoridades nunca encontrarían un “registro” de ningún bebé”, escribió Toler. “Feliz además insinuó que el bebé pertenecía a una adicta al crack y que ellos solo la estaban cuidando”.

Las autoridades informaron que un registro en una unidad de almacenamiento en Hollywood, donde se cree que la pareja vivió en algún momento, reveló “ropa de bebé, una prueba de embarazo positiva Clearblue Easy, una pistola semiautomática negra, lo que parece ser una toalla con manchas de sangre, tres cuadernos con anotaciones sobre una revelación de género y un baby shower, además de múltiples dispositivos electrónicos”.

Los resultados del laboratorio criminalístico “indicaron la presencia de sangre en la ropa del bebé y en las toallas”, y las pruebas de ADN demostraron que “provenía de un hijo biológico de Leon y Feliz”, según la orden.

En la orden, Toler escribió que desde el reporte inicial las autoridades han intentado sin éxito localizar a Feliz y Leon.

“Además, durante el curso de esta investigación, las autoridades han intentado localizar los restos de la víctima utilizando perros especializados en detección de cadáveres en las residencias anteriores de Leon y Feliz; sin embargo, todas las búsquedas arrojaron resultados negativos”, escribió la detective.

Leon fue extraditado al condado Broward el 26 de julio y, hasta el lunes, permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal del condado Broward sin derecho a fianza.

Se espera que Feliz comparezca este lunes ante un tribunal de fianzas del condado Broward.

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Wide receiver Malik Washington continued one of the strongest camps of his career, connecting with quarterback Malik Willis on several explosive plays.

Washington, entering his third NFL season, hauled in multiple gains of more than 20 yards, including receptions after beating cornerbacks Chris Johnson and JuJu Brents on separate plays.

With wide receiver Tyreek Hill no longer on the roster after being released, Jaylen Waddle traded to the Denver Broncos and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine also released, Washington is competing for a much larger role in Miami’s offense and has emerged as one of Willis’ favorite targets early in camp.

The Dolphins also received another encouraging showing from running back Ollie Gordon II, who displayed improved burst and ran with a lower pad level on several runs between the tackles after saying that was an emphasis during his offseason training.

Defensively, EDGE Chop Robinson continued to flash.

Robinson, who finished the 2025 season with four sacks, recorded what would have been consecutive sacks after beating left tackle Patrick Paul during team drills. Robinson entered camp after adding weight, increasing from 254 pounds last season to 265 as he looks to improve his production in his third NFL season. Safety Omar Brown was also able to haul in the third interception of the day.

Linebacker Terrell Dodson recorded one of the day’s biggest defensive plays, intercepting a tipped pass from Willis that bounced off the hands of tight end Cole Turner. Cornerback Ethan Bonner added another takeaway later in practice with an interception of his own on quarterback Quinn Ewers.

Johnson endured an up-and-down day, allowing several deep completions during one-on-one drills after recording an interception Sunday. Miami’s first-round rookie cornerback also struggled at times in coverage and will likely need to become more physical at the line of scrimmage by using his hands to disrupt receivers’ releases.

Wide receiver Jalen Tolbert briefly left practice after sustaining what appeared to be a lower-body injury during one-on-one drills. He returned later in the session.

Receiver Chris Bell continued his recovery work, doing light running with trainers away from team drills.

The Dolphins are scheduled to return to the practice field at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Baptist Health Training Complex.

The tragic story of a 17-year-old from Tangier is representative of the plight of many of the more than 800 minors who four days after the collective push by migrants into Ceuta face a scary present and an uncertain future.

She told an Associated Press photojournalist how she and her family joined the massive crowd that tried to swim around a border fence to reach the Spanish territory on Thursday. Like many, she said they did so seeking better opportunities. The AP is withholding her identity because she is a minor in a vulnerable situation.

She described how she saw Spanish police pull the body of her 8-year-old brother from the water.

She made it to the shore but became separated from her mother, and has spent the last four days on her own. She said some locals gave her food and some clothing, with one woman taking her into her home so she could bathe. She then went to a center for youths run by the government for some help, but found it was full.

“I saw people stepping on the dead,” she said through a translator since she doesn't speak Spanish. “Now we are children begging on the street.”

She is one of some 860 minors who remained in Ceuta on Monday after crossing over, according to local officials. AP journalists saw other minors asking for food.

Those minors now make up a large part of the 3,000-5,000 migrants who have avoided expulsion from Ceuta of the original 60,000 who came across. Spanish authorities confirmed 72 people died, mostly in the water, during the crossing. Morocco reported 11 deaths which are not included in the Spanish total, the Spanish interior ministry said.

Minors must be cared for under Spanish law

Spanish law says that adult migrants can apply for asylum. If rejected, they will face expulsion procedures. The bar is normally very high for Moroccans to be granted humanitarian protection.

Migrant minors who are unaccompanied by adults, however, are supposed to be granted protection and taken care of by Spanish authorities.

An AP journalist witnessed Spanish soldiers escorting an unaccompanied Moroccan boy who was crying and begging not to be sent back to Morocco. A few meters before reaching the border, and due to pressure from local residents who insisted he was a minor, as well as the presence of the media, a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish Army stopped the repatriation and transferred the boy to the Spanish Civil Guard.

Most of the Moroccan adults have either voluntarily gone home or were pushed back by Spanish police. Among those who remain in Ceuta are significant numbers of people from other countries, including Sudanese fleeing their war-torn country, Palestinians from Gaza and Afghans, as well as people from several African nations.

The city’s migrant center with a capacity for 600 people is completely full. Food is scarce among the migrants, according to reporting by AP journalists.

“The strategy is that hunger, thirst and exhaustion forces these people to finally decide to voluntarily return to Morocco,” said local migration activist Ramsés Mohamed Azumik of Asociación Elín.

Many migrants sleep or rest on the beach or hills surrounding the spec of Spain. In the hazy distance, mainland Europe, their ultimate goal, lies across the sea.

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Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.

El receptor abierto Malik Washington continuó con uno de los mejores campamentos de su carrera, al conectar con el mariscal de campo Malik Willis en varias jugadas explosivas.

Washington, quien entra en su tercera temporada en la NFL, atrapó múltiples pases de más de 20 yardas, incluidas recepciones tras superar a los esquineros Chris Johnson y JuJu Brents en jugadas distintas.

Con el receptor abierto Tyreek Hill fuera del roster tras ser dejado en libertad, Jaylen Waddle traspasado a los Denver Broncos y Nick Westbrook-Ikhine también dejado en libertad, Washington compite por un papel mucho más importante en la ofensiva de Miami y se ha convertido en uno de los objetivos favoritos de Willis en el inicio del campamento.

Los Dolphins también recibieron otra actuación alentadora del corredor Ollie Gordon II, quien mostró una mejor explosividad y corrió con un centro de gravedad más bajo en varias acarreos entre los tackles, después de decir que ese fue uno de los enfoques de su entrenamiento durante la temporada baja.

En defensa, el ala defensiva Chop Robinson continuó destacándose.

Robinson, quien terminó la temporada 2025 con cuatro capturas, consiguió lo que habrían sido capturas consecutivas tras superar al tackle izquierdo Patrick Paul durante los ejercicios de equipo. Robinson llegó al campamento tras aumentar de peso, pasando de 254 libras la temporada pasada a 265, mientras busca mejorar su producción en su tercera temporada en la NFL. El profundo Omar Brown también logró conseguir la tercera intercepción del día.

El apoyador Terrell Dodson realizó una de las mejores jugadas defensivas de la jornada al interceptar un pase desviado de Willis que rebotó en las manos del ala cerrada Cole Turner. Más tarde en la práctica, el esquinero Ethan Bonner sumó otra recuperación de balón con una intercepción al mariscal de campo Quinn Ewers.

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La mayor preocupación del equipo siguió siendo la posición de tackle derecho.

El tackle derecho titular Austin Jackson fue retirado después de permitir dos capturas que habrían sido sacks y no regresó al campo. Jackson también perdió un duelo individual frente al ala defensiva Robert Beal Jr. El tackle Charlie Heck lo reemplazó, pero también tuvo dificultades en la protección de pase, dejando esa posición como una de las mayores incógnitas de Miami conforme avanza el campamento de entrenamiento.

Mientras la posición de tackle derecho sigue sin definirse, Jonah Savaiinaea continuó impresionando como guardia derecho. El jugador de 22 años, procedente de Arizona, respondió bien durante los ejercicios individuales frente al tackle defensivo Zach Sieler y completó otra sólida práctica.

El tackle defensivo Zeke Biggers superó al liniero ofensivo Andrew Meyer en otra repetición. Ha sido un buen campamento para el grupo de linieros defensivos interiores de los Dolphins.

El receptor abierto AJ Henning, quien dominó la práctica del domingo, logró separarse en una ruta profunda frente al esquinero novato Chris Johnson, pero el pase de Willis quedó apenas fuera de su alcance cerca de la banda.

Johnson tuvo una jornada con altibajos, permitiendo varias recepciones profundas durante los ejercicios individuales después de conseguir una intercepción el domingo. El esquinero novato de primera ronda de Miami también tuvo dificultades en cobertura en algunos momentos y probablemente necesitará ser más físico en la línea de golpeo utilizando las manos para interrumpir la salida de los receptores.

El receptor abierto Jalen Tolbert abandonó brevemente la práctica tras sufrir una aparente lesión en la parte inferior del cuerpo durante los ejercicios individuales. Más tarde regresó a la sesión.

El receptor Chris Bell continuó con su proceso de recuperación, realizando trotes suaves junto a los entrenadores, separado de los ejercicios del equipo.

Está previsto que los Dolphins regresen al campo de entrenamiento a las 9:30 a.m. del miércoles en el Baptist Health Training Complex.

Dotres hosted the New Teacher Induction, or NTI, training, which included breakout sessions on lesson planning, discipline strategies, and pacing guides.

“This is the best school district in this country,” Dotres told the teachers.

Lenroy Williams said he is ready to work with students in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a federal program operated in schools by the U.S. Armed Forces.

“This is the best of both worlds for me,” Williams said. “I still get to wear the uniform, and I get to shape young minds.”

Maralys Valdes, an entrepreneur with experience in real estate, was preparing to teach fifth-grade students at Ben Sheppard Elementary School in Hialeah.

“It was the right time for me to switch over,” Valdes said about her career change.

The 2026–27 academic year begins on Aug. 13 for students at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, who will no longer have districtwide free meals.

The district cut 168 jobs and closed nine schools due to budget reductions related to declining student enrollment.

1. Mandarin Lakes K-8 Academy
2. Robert Russa Moton Elementary
3. Parkway Elementary
4. Rainbow Park Elementary
5. Lenora B. Smith Elementary will move to Georgia Jones-Ayers Middle and transition to a K-8 center.
6. Phillis Wheatley Elementary
7. Pine Villa Elementary
8. Miami Springs Middle will move to Miami Springs Senior and transition to a 6-12 school.
9. Richmond Heights Middle will move to Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts and transition to a K-12 school.

State per-pupil funding allocations lowered after there were 13,000 fewer M-DCPS students from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, according to the district.

The state’s universal voucher program has been causing private school enrollment to surge, according to the Florida Policy Institute, a nonprofit based in Orlando.

Classes start on Aug. 10 for students at Broward County Public Schools, and on Aug. 11 for students at the Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Schools.

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Charley Hull of England easily earned one of the two automatic spots from the Ladies European Tour points list. The other went to Esther Henseleit of Germany, who surged to No. 2 in the final two events.

Henseleit finished fourth in the Women's Scottish Open and then lost in a playoff at the Women's British Open (points are double in a major) to narrowly beat Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland for the second spot.

Henseleit's 40-foot birdie putt to force a playoff with AIG Women's Open winner Shiho Kuwaki wound up costing Tamburlini a spot. Even without making it on points, Henseleit would have made her second straight team as one of the leading six players in the world ranking.

Those six spots instead fell to Solheim rookie Lottie Woad of England, Maja Stark and Linn Grant of Sweden, Carlota Ciganda of Spain, Celine Boutier of France and Nanna Koertz Madsen of Denmark.

Nordqvist added Maguire and rookies Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain, Nastasia Nadaud of France and Mimi Rhodes of England. Rhodes is No. 91 in the world ranking. Tamburlini is at No. 109.

Missing from Team Europe is Dewi Weber of The Netherlands, who is ranked ahead of three of the captain's picks. She was ineligible, however, because the Dutch player did not realize she had to be an LET member. Weber finished third at the KPMG Women's PGA.

The 31-year-old Maguire's record is 8-3-1 in her three Solheim Cup appearances but she missed the cut in four of the five majors this year and has not won in two years.

Europe will try to win back the Solheim Cup after a three-point loss in Virginia two years ago. Team USA, which has yet to fill out its team, hasn't won on European soil since 2015.

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

The schools announced Monday they have agreed to a four-game home-and-home series. Notre Dame will play in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, 2030, and the Trojans will visit South Bend, Indiana, on Aug. 30, 2031. The meetings in 2032 and 2033 will be played in the first three weeks of the season.

The teams met each non-pandemic season from 1946-2025, typically in October or November, in what became known as “the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football." The exception was the 2020 season when most schools played a conference-only schedule.

Negotiations for the continuation of the series became challenging after USC joined the Big Ten in 2024. The Trojans expressed that they did not want to play nonconference games after September. Notre Dame beat the Trojans 34-24 in South Bend last Oct. 18, and the series officially went on hiatus in December when the Irish announced they had filled the last open spot on their 2026 schedule with a game at BYU.

Notre Dame and USC first played in 1926 and the Irish lead the series 53-38-5. The series also was put on hold from 1943-45, during World War II.

The two schools have combined to win 22 national championships and produce 15 Heisman Trophy winners, and the discontinuation prompted consternation on both sides. Navy is the only team Notre Dame has played more than USC, at 98 meetings.

Notre Dame and USC play for the Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy, a tradition which began in 1952. The Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy is presented by the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles. Notre Dame victories are marked by green-jeweled shamrocks while USC victories are marked by ruby-jeweled Trojan heads.

“USC’s historic rivalry with Notre Dame holds a special place in the history of college football, and we are happy to resume a series that means so much to the entire Trojan Family,” USC athletic director Jen Cohen said. “It remains important for us to play this game early in the season, as it allows us to schedule competitively with our Big Ten peers and takes into account the health and best interests of our student-athletes and program. We are excited for our fans, and we look forward to more memorable matchups and unforgettable games between the Trojans and the Irish.”

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Police Chief Matthew Hicks said Sunday detectives are confident that the gunman, identified as Chad Williams, acted alone in the shooting Saturday at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, a southern Idaho city of about 56,000 people.

He said Williams’ family is cooperating fully with the investigation.

An off-duty state trooper and a civilian fired on the attacker and diverted him from the restaurant, the chief said. Police haven't disclosed their names or those of the victims. Twin Falls spokesperson Josh Palmer said Monday that police are still trying to identify next of kin.

Two of the wounded were treated at a hospital and released, three were listed as stable, and two others were in critical condition, police said Sunday.

An In-N-Out employee was among those killed, the fast-food chain’s owner, Lynsi Snyder, said in a statement. She didn't identify the worker.

The restaurant, which opened July 24 as part of the California chain's Idaho expansion, is in a busy shopping plaza, and hundreds of people were in the area when the shooting happened.

Lane Koehn, 34, said he was at a nearby stoplight when he saw someone with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. A man with a pistol started firing at the shooter.

He then saw someone in an In-N-Out uniform drag a person, also wearing a uniform, bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest across the parking lot. The employee, Koehn and the man with the pistol stayed until paramedics arrived for her.

“She was pretty bad off, but I don’t know. I hope she made it,” Koehn said.

He said the man holding the rifle fired at least three or four rounds, though it wasn't clear if anyone in particular was targeted.

Video taken by a driver from across the street captured a shooter, who appeared to be dressed in black, walking up to a white car carrying a long rifle, opening the driver-side door and popping the trunk. The person then walked to the trunk and reached inside. At that point, the driver who shot the video left quickly, fearing that the man might be getting more weapons.

Nayeli Rodriguez, 40, of Burley, was inside waiting for food with her daughters when she heard shots from the kitchen. An employee said it was a shooting and told people to get down. Rodriguez said an older man tried to protect her and her daughters, and they were among the last to run outside.

“We were trying to get as far as we could and some angels let us in their car,” Rodriguez said via text message. “I left my car there in the parking lot.”

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said both people had underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by the intestinal illness and dehydration. The department said it would not provide additional information about the deaths.

Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer.

The CDC says the illness, called cyclosporiasis, is rarely deadly.

The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming fruits or vegetables that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.

Cyclosporiasis is less common than other foodborne illnesses, including salmonella and E. coli. Many cases are never linked to a specific food or other source and, for years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019.

Previously, 2019 saw the most reported U.S. cyclosporiasis cases, with about 4,700.

Since May 1, the CDC has received reports of more than 4,100 confirmed cases and is investigating more than 7,400 other likely cases across 41 states. The agency has warned that the total number of people sickened by the outbreak is likely higher than the official tally, given that not all cases are reported.

Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations in nine states as a source of the widespread outbreak. As of late July, the number of cases linked to the lettuce was 1,947, including at least 98 people who had to be hospitalized, according to the CDC.

The agency has said other “brands, restaurants, retailers, or distribution channels” could be tied to the outbreak as the investigation continues.

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Associated Press reporter Mike Stobbe in New York City contributed.

The energy grid collapses leave people with fewer options to get by as the U.S. keeps up a pressure campaign against the communist-led government.

Cuba’s government was working to restore power after the state-run electric company reported another “total” blackout Sunday night, without specifying the cause. That followed sweeping outages across western Cuba, including the cities of Pinar del Río, Matanzas and Havana.

By Monday, some electricity had been restored in Havana, but much of the Caribbean nation was still disconnected.

Cuba already had been reeling from years of economic and energy crisis, compounded by crumbling infrastructure and migration from the island. Then the U.S. threatened to impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide it with oil.

Energy authorities reported two nationwide grid collapses in March and three in July, along with several partial outages.

Rolling blackouts now last more than 20 hours a day. Obtaining gas and basic goods have become daylong endeavors. The island’s once bustling tourism industry has bottomed out. Hospitals have been left reeling.

Many in Havana struggle to sleep in the summer heat. Some now sleep along Havana’s famous boardwalk, the malecón, with the benefit of the sea breeze.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel and MDSO deputies with the Intracoastal District found the man injured shortly after 6:30 a.m. at Northeast Seventh Avenue and 167 Street, records show.

“In an attempt to stop the attack, the victim stated that he attempted to grab the [attacker’s] stick, and he also grabbed the [attacker’s] black sweatpants,” a deputy wrote, according to the arrest report.

MDFR personnel took the man to Jackson North Medical Center first and later to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, according to MDSO deputies with the ID’s uniformed patrol.

Deputies identified the man’s alleged attacker as Viola Sharonda Patterson and reported finding her “sitting alone at the bus stop” across the street, according to a deputy’s arrest report.

“The defendant initially provided investigators with the legal name Melissa Michelle Ethridge,” a deputy wrote, adding that a fingerprint analysis revealed her true identity, according to the arrest report.

Miami-Dade corrections booked Patterson, 46, shortly after 6:10 p.m. on Saturday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to inmate records.

Patterson faced charges of second-degree attempted murder, obstruction by a disguised person, and giving a false name or identification to law enforcement. Her bond was $8,500.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Zachary N. James was set to preside over the case, according to court records.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.

The fire, known as the “Bluegill Fire,” burned more than 750 acres as of Monday.

Drivers were urged to avoid the area and use alternate routes while crews responded.

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Garcia reminded voters that during the early voting period, they are not limited to their assigned precinct.

“People need to know that they can go to any of our early voting sites,” she said. “They don’t have to go to their specific precinct. And they can go this week between 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.”

A Local 10 News crew was outside the Kendall branch library Monday morning as a handful of people walked inside to vote once polls opened.

“I’ve never voted early, so yes, it was a lot easier. It took me three minutes to vote,” Nelson Hincapie said.

“I come early all the time because it’s so easy right now. There’s no lines, no waiting,” another early voter, Frank Glancy, said.

Some voters said they attended a candidate forum before voting to learn more about the judicial candidates on the ballot.

Kendra Howard said hearing directly from the candidates helped her better understand their qualifications and priorities.

“I wanted a chance to get to know them -- get to know a little more about their background,” Howard said. “It’s one thing to read about the person’s background online, and read on their campaign site. But it’s another thing to hear them answer the questions and hear the passion.”

Howard said she planned to take time to reflect before making her final choices.

“I’m not going to tell you that I know exactly who I’m going to vote for just yet, but I’m going to consider everything that was said here today,” she said. “I’m going to think about it. I’m gonna go home and then I’m going to make my decision.”

Garcia also sought to reassure voters about the integrity of the election process, emphasizing that Miami-Dade County uses paper ballots.

“I want to remind everyone that we do vote on paper,” she said. “We don’t vote connected to any internet or anything like that. It’s very safe.”

Early voting is available daily during the designated voting period, allowing registered voters to cast their ballots at any Miami-Dade County early voting location during operating hours.

VIEW LOCAL 10’S 2026 VOTING GUIDE for more information about early voting in South Florida. Early voting in Broward County begins Saturday.

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Online jail records show that Samantha Angelina Feliz was booked into the Broward County Main Jail Sunday on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, failing to report a death, reporting false information concerning a missing child and obstructing a criminal investigation by providing false information to law enforcement about a missing person.

In an arrest warrant, police made a circumstantial case against Feliz and Alejandro Leon Jr. They said the body of their still-missing baby girl, identified as “Angelina,” has still not yet been found, but signs ― including DNA blood evidence ― point to her death.

Police in Rockingham, North Carolina took Leon, 21, and Feliz into custody on July 22.

Authorities said the investigation began after a relative contacted the Hollywood Police Department in July 2025 to report that he hadn’t seen the child since that February and said the couple made unsettling statements that Angelina “was part of a scam and denied ever having a baby.”

A relative who met with Feliz at a Hollywood park in March 2025 told investigators that after asking Feliz about Angelina, she replied, “What baby? There is no baby.”

“Since that time, Feliz has claimed that there never was a baby, that the baby was a hoax and that she was scamming everyone for money,” the HPD arrest warrant stated.

But police said the couple referenced the girl in prior text messages and had taken photos of Feliz visibly pregnant. Additionally, police said they took photos and videos with Angelina after her birth, which was believed to have been at home with no birth certificate issued.

Authorities said the last photo of Angelina was taken on Jan. 5, 2025. The baby looked “visibly ill and malnourished,” the warrant stated.

“In this final photo, the victim is showing no signs of life,” police said of the image.

At one point, officers with the Lantana Police Department in Palm Beach County located and interviewed the couple and both maintained that “Feliz was never pregnant and had never given birth to a baby,” the warrant stated.

“They further claimed that the story was fabricated in hopes that their families would feel sorry for them and give them money,” HPD Detective Nancie Toler wrote. “During the interview, Feliz indicated that there were numerous text messages between her, Leon, and family members discussing the pregnancy and how she made the story up.”

Police said Feliz claimed to have been “wearing a pregnant belly cast making her look pregnant” as part of the claimed “scam.”

“Moreover, during said interviews both Feliz and Leon advised that law enforcement would never find a ‘record’ of any baby,” Toler wrote. “Feliz further eluded (sic) to the fact that the (baby) had belonged to a crack addict and they were only watching (her).”

Authorities said a search of a storage unit in Hollywood ― where the couple is believed to have been living at one point ― revealed “baby clothing, a positive Clearblue Easy pregnancy test, black semi auto handgun, what appears to be a blood-stained towel, three notebooks containing verbiage of a gender reveal and victim shower, and multiple electronic devices.”

Crime lab results “indicated the presence of blood on the baby clothing and towels” and DNA testing showed it “was from a biological child of Leon and Feliz,” the warrant stated.

In the warrant, Toler wrote that since the initial report, law enforcement has tried and failed to contact Feliz and Leon.

“Moreover, during the course of this investigation, law enforcement has attempted to locate the victim’s remains utilizing cadaver dogs at Leon and Feliz’s prior residences however, each search yielded negative results,” the detective wrote.

Leon was extradited to Broward County on July 26 and, as of Monday, is being held at the Broward County Main Jail without bond.

Feliz appeared in bond court Monday and was also ordered held without bond.

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According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 19600 block of South Dixie Highway.

Deputies said the suspect, Michael Artidiello, 35, and the victim, both of whom are homeless, have known each other for about two months.

They said the men were in the rear parking lot of Fortis College Saturday when Artidiello got into an argument with his wife.

According to the report, the victim tried to intervene and a physical altercation ensued between him and Artidiello.

Artidiello then pulled out a pocketknife and stabbed the victim in the neck, causing a cut to his trachea, the report stated.

Deputies said Artidiello then carried the victim across the street to HCA Florida Cutler Bay Emergency.

The victim was then transported to Jackson South Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition.

Deputies said Artidiello remained at the hospital until deputies arrived and took him into custody. His wife did not remain at the hospital.

According to the report, Artidiello provided some kind of admission, although his exact statement was redacted from the publicly released report.

He was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

As of Monday morning, Artidiello was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond.

Según un informe de arresto de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, el incidente ocurrió alrededor de las 6:30 p.m. del sábado en la cuadra 19600 de South Dixie Highway.

Los agentes informaron que el sospechoso, Michael Artidiello, de 35 años, y la víctima, ambos en situación de calle, se conocían desde hacía aproximadamente dos meses.

Indicaron que los hombres se encontraban el sábado en el estacionamiento trasero de Fortis College cuando Artidiello comenzó una discusión con su esposa.

Según el informe, la víctima intentó intervenir y se produjo un altercado físico entre él y Artidiello.

El informe señala que Artidiello sacó una navaja de bolsillo y apuñaló a la víctima en el cuello, provocándole un corte en la tráquea.

Los agentes informaron que Artidiello luego cargó a la víctima y la llevó al otro lado de la calle hasta el HCA Florida Cutler Bay Emergency.

Posteriormente, la víctima fue trasladada al Jackson South Medical Center, donde fue reportada en estado crítico.

Los agentes indicaron que Artidiello permaneció en el hospital hasta que llegaron y lo arrestaron. Su esposa no permaneció en el hospital.

Según el informe, Artidiello hizo algún tipo de confesión, aunque su declaración exacta fue censurada en la versión pública del informe.

Fue arrestado acusado de agresión agravada que causó lesiones corporales graves.

Hasta la mañana del lunes, Artidiello permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight sin derecho a fianza.

El hecho ocurrió alrededor de la 1:15 p.m. en la cuadra 300 de Sea Esta Lane, dentro del Sea Esta Mobile Home Park, cerca del casino The Big Easy, informó la Policía.

Los investigadores dijeron que un video de vigilancia muestra a Edy Rivas Rizo persiguiendo a su compañero de cuarto, cuyo nombre fue censurado en un informe de arresto obtenido por Local 10 News el lunes, apuñalándolo en el área de la axila y luego forcejeando con él en el suelo.

La Policía informó que dos testigos lograron quitarle el machete de las manos a Rivas. Además, indicó que las imágenes muestran a la víctima caminando hacia el oeste “aproximadamente 15 yardas” antes de desplomarse. Uno de los testigos llamó al 911 y la víctima fue trasladada al HCA Florida Aventura Hospital, donde posteriormente fue declarada muerta.

Uno de los testigos dijo más tarde a la Policía que escuchó a la víctima decir: “Ese hombre acaba de matarme”, mientras señalaba a Rivas, justo antes de desplomarse.

La Policía informó que obtuvo una orden de registro para la vivienda de Rivas, donde encontró “una gran cantidad de sangre” y localizó el machete atascado entre dos puertas en un área de almacenamiento.

Según el informe de arresto, Rivas afirmó que la víctima lo había atacado mientras él bebía cervezas al aire libre con otros dos hombres y aseguró que entró a buscar el machete porque temía por su vida.

La Policía indicó que Rivas afirmó que la víctima “cayó accidentalmente sobre la hoja” durante el forcejeo y negó haberla perseguido, pese a lo que mostraba el video.

Sin embargo, después de que le mostraron las imágenes de vigilancia, la Policía informó que “admitió haberlo perseguido, pero dijo que su intención era golpearlo con el lado plano de la hoja y no con el filo”.

Los agentes arrestaron posteriormente a Rivas. Hasta la mañana del lunes, permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal del condado Broward sin derecho a fianza.

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It happened at around 1:15 p.m. in the 300 block of Sea Esta Lane, within the Sea Esta Mobile Home Park, near the The Big Easy Casino, police said.

Investigators said surveillance video showed Edy Rivas Rizo chasing his roommate, whose name was redacted from an arrest report obtained by Local 10 News on Monday, stabbing him in the armpit area and then scuffling with him on the ground.

Two witnesses were able to get the knife out of Rivas’ hand, police said. Police said the footage showed the victim walking west for “approximately 15 yards” before collapsing. One of the witnesses called 911 and the victim was taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

One of them later told police that he said he heard the victim say, “That guy just killed me,” motioning towards Rivas, immediately before collapsing.

Police said they obtained a search warrant for Rivas’ home and found “a large amount of blood” within and found the machete wedged between two doors in a storage area.

According to the arrest report, Rivas claimed that the victim had attacked him while he was drinking beers outside with two other men and claimed he went in and got the machete out of fear for his life.

Police said that Rivas claimed that the victim “accidentally fell on the blade” during the struggle and denied chasing the video.

But after being shown the surveillance footage, police said he “admitted to chasing him but stated that he meant to strike him with the broad side of the blade, not the sharp edge.”

Officers arrested Rivas afterward. As of Monday morning, he was being held without bond in the Broward County Main Jail.

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That’s in a typical season of course and not every season follows the calendar to the letter. We only have to go back to 2022 to find an August without a single tropical depression, named storm, or hurricane. But a scoreless August is a rare treat and although 2022 ultimately culminated with a burst of storm activity in September – including Hurricane Ian which decimated southwest Florida – in more years than not, a quiet August tends to portend lower levels of activity in September and October (see 1997 for an August shutout that ended as one of the least active seasons of the past 30 years).

We’ll see what this August brings, but regardless, we’re nearing the inflection point of the season where seasonal activity quickly catches up to the calendar. As of August 3^rd, we’re 34% through the 6-month hurricane season, but with 92% of typical hurricane season activity still ahead. Roughly 93% of hurricanes historically form after August 3^rd. But August chips away at those numbers, especially by its dying days and by mid-September the calendar and typical activity begin to mirror one another (that is, on average we’re roughly through 60% of the hurricane season by both calendar day and typical activity metrics come mid-September).

Development unlikely through the middle of August

On average over the past 30 years, the first half of August has recorded two tropical systems and one named storm. While hurricanes can happen, they form less frequently in the first part of the month compared to the latter part of August.

This August should start more like 2019, 2022, and 2023 which saw goose eggs to begin the first primetime month of the hurricane season. Those seasons picked up later on but if we’re lucky – with the historic El Niño taming the Atlantic – 2026 will end more like 2015 or 1997 which had no activity to start August and also ended with below average hurricane activity.

The disturbance we discussed in Friday’s newsletter that’ll be nearing the southeast U.S. this weekend isn’t expected to develop. The outlier American GFS boguscane that we mentioned Friday is, to no one’s surprise, no longer showing up in the model.

Meanwhile, models remain mostly lukewarm on development changes for a system in the far east Atlantic between Africa and the Caribbean by the middle part of the month. We’re still more than 10 days out, but development odds haven’t trended up since last week. We’ll check back but obviously this is nothing for us to worry about for now.

Eso ocurre en una temporada típica, por supuesto, y no todas las temporadas siguen el calendario al pie de la letra. Basta con remontarse a 2022 para encontrar un agosto sin una sola depresión tropical, tormenta con nombre o huracán. Pero un agosto sin tormentas es un lujo poco común, y aunque 2022 culminó con una intensa actividad ciclónica en septiembre, incluyendo el huracán Ian que devastó el suroeste de Florida, en la mayoría de los años, un agosto tranquilo suele presagiar niveles más bajos de actividad en septiembre y octubre (véase 1997, un agosto sin tormentas que terminó siendo una de las temporadas menos activas de los últimos 30 años).

Veremos qué nos depara agosto, pero, en cualquier caso, nos acercamos al punto de inflexión de la temporada, donde la actividad estacional se ajusta rápidamente al calendario. Al 3 de agosto ^, llevamos un 34% de la temporada de huracanes de seis meses, pero aún queda por delante el 92% de la actividad típica de la temporada. Históricamente, aproximadamente el 93% de los huracanes se forman después del 3 de agosto ^. Sin embargo, agosto reduce esas cifras, especialmente en sus últimos días, y a mediados de septiembre el calendario y la actividad típica comienzan a coincidir (es decir, en promedio, a mediados de septiembre llevamos aproximadamente un 60% de la temporada de huracanes, tanto en días del calendario como en métricas de actividad típica).

Es improbable que se produzcan novedades hasta mediados de agosto.

En promedio, durante los últimos 30 años, la primera quincena de agosto ha registrado dos sistemas tropicales y una tormenta con nombre. Si bien pueden ocurrir huracanes, se forman con menos frecuencia en la primera parte del mes que en la segunda quincena de agosto.

Este agosto debería comenzar de forma similar a 2019, 2022 y 2023, años en los que no se registró actividad alguna al inicio del primer mes de la temporada de huracanes. Si bien esas temporadas repuntaron posteriormente, si tenemos suerte —con el histórico fenómeno de El Niño calmando el Atlántico—, 2026 terminará de manera parecida a 2015 o 1997, años en los que no hubo actividad al comienzo de agosto y también se registró una actividad de huracanes inferior a la media.

No se espera que se desarrolle la perturbación que comentamos en el boletín del viernes, que se acercará al sureste de Estados Unidos este fin de semana. El fenómeno atípico estadounidense, boguscane, que mencionamos el viernes, ya no aparece en el modelo, como era de esperar.

Mientras tanto, los modelos siguen siendo poco optimistas respecto a posibles cambios en la evolución de un sistema en el Atlántico oriental, entre África y el Caribe, para mediados de mes. Aún faltan más de 10 días, pero las probabilidades de desarrollo no han aumentado desde la semana pasada. Revisaremos la situación, pero por ahora no hay motivo de preocupación.

Shawn Nunn was driving a gray Dodge Charger and “doing donuts” shortly before 1:40 a.m. in “the pit” at Northwest 158 Street, near 59 Avenue, according to MDSO deputies with the Homeland Security Bureau.

Nunn, 18, was driving the Dodge Charger shortly before 2:50 a.m. at Northwest 110 Avenue and 96 Street, near Doral, according to MDSO deputies with the Homeland Security Bureau.

Deputies arrested Nunn, of Fort Lauderdale, at 4:15 a.m. on Sunday at the Wawa gas station at 11590 NW South River Drive in Medley, according to deputies with the HS bureau’s intelligence and investigations section.

“Shortly after the criminal act was committed, the vehicle was towed, and a 30-day hold was placed on the vehicle,” a deputy wrote, according to the arrest report.

Miami-Dade corrections booked Nunn shortly after 5:40 a.m. on Sunday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to inmate records.

Nunn faced two counts of drag racing and coordinated street takeovers. In Florida, the charge is a first-degree misdemeanor for the first offense that can escalate to a third-degree felony.

Nunn’s bond was $5,000. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Michelle Ashby Delancy is set to preside over the case, according to court records.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.

La Policía de North Miami Beach informó que el ataque ocurrió alrededor de las 2:40 p.m. del domingo en la tienda Target ubicada en el 14075 de Biscayne Blvd. y que estuvo motivado por el odio.

Un informe de arresto indica que Chyvonne Juanita Palmer, de 43 años y residente de North Miami, “se levantó repentinamente”, se acercó al hombre, quien llevaba una kipá y estaba sentado al otro lado del área de asientos del Starbucks, “y comenzó a gritarle”.

La Policía informó que Palmer lo golpeó dos veces con un teléfono celular y luego regresó a su asiento. Sin embargo, volvió a levantarse y esta vez tomó una silla de metal mientras regresaba hacia la víctima.

Según el informe, un testigo dijo a los agentes que Palmer intentó golpear a la víctima y “gritaba repetidamente: “Los odio””.

La Policía informó que el testigo, junto con otra mujer, intervino para evitar que la víctima fuera golpeada con la silla, y que una de ellas llevó al hombre al baño de hombres para ponerlo a salvo.

La Policía arrestó a Palmer acusada de agresión agravada, agresión agravada con un arma mortal por prejuicio y alteración del orden público.

En el informe, los agentes indicaron que “intentaron hablar con Palmer; sin embargo, sus declaraciones eran inconsistentes y no estaban relacionadas con las circunstancias. Continuamente hablaba de una mujer desconocida que quería atacarla”.

Los registros en línea muestran que, hasta la mañana del lunes, Palmer permanecía detenida en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza pendiente de ser fijada.

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North Miami Beach police said the attack happened at around 2:40 p.m. Sunday at the Target at 14075 Biscayne Blvd. and was motivated by hatred.

An arrest report states that Chyvonne Juanita Palmer, 43, of North Miami, “suddenly stood up” and approached the man, who was wearing a yarmulke and sitting on the opposite side of the Starbucks seating area, “and began screaming and yelling at him.”

Police said Palmer hit him twice with a cellphone and returned to her seat. But they said she got back up again and, this time, wielded a metal chair as she went back to the victim.

According to the report, a witness told officers that Palmer tried to strike the victim and “repeatedly shouted ‘I hate them.’”

The witness, along with another woman, intervened to stop the would-be chair beating, police said, with one of them ushering the victim into the men’s bathroom to safety.

Police took Palmer into custody on charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with prejudice and disorderly conduct.

In the report, they said that “officers attempted to speak to Palmer; however, her statements were inconsistent and unrelated to the circumstances. She continually talked about an unknown female wanting to attack.”

Online records show that Palmer was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with a bond listed as “to be set” as of Monday morning.

Sony on Sunday projected that “Spider-Man” would net an estimated $355 million in its first weekend playing in 4,487 theaters, just barely missing the 2019 “Avengers: Endgame” record of $357 million. But the fourth Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland had a stronger than expected Sunday and ultimately came in ahead.

Tom Rothman, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group said in a statement, “records are made to be broken, but we will take great pride in this one, for as long as we hold it.”

Before “Avengers: Endgame,” no movie had opened over $300 million domestically. The previous record holders were “Avengers: Infinity War,” which launched with $257 million in 2018, and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($247 million in 2015). In December 2021, during the pandemic, the third Holland Spider-Man movie “No Way Home,” earned a place on the list with a $260 million debut on its way to $1.9 billion globally.

The high-earning combination of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey,” which share actors Holland, Zendaya and Jon Bernthal, also propelled a record weekend overall for movie theaters in the U.S. and Canada.

According to Rentrak, the domestic box office overall is up over 15% from last year with over $6.2 billion in ticket sales to date.

Arraez is hitting an NL-best .324 in a resurgent season after signing a $12 million, one-year deal with San Francisco early in spring training. The 29-year-old has his highest batting average since 2023, and he's played better defense at second base after questions about his glove hindered his market in free agency.

Schwarber is second in the majors with 33 home runs entering Monday yet ranks 31st with 63 RBIs, while Harper has driven in 66. The team's .304 on-base percentage is the second lowest in the majors.

Philly also got reliever Caleb Kilian back from the Giants in the trade for two minor leaguers, and it swung a separate deal for left-handed reliever Brooks Raley with the New York Mets.

The Los Angeles Dodgers woke up already looking like the deadline's biggest winners after adding two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to a loaded roster Sunday. The Dodgers are chasing a third straight World Series title.

Over in the American League, Tampa Bay beefed up its rotation Sunday by adding right-hander Freddy Peralta while the New York Yankees acquired young slugger Luis García Jr. to give their Aaron Judge-less lineup a little more pop. Also on Sunday, the Chicago Cubs added Kevin Gausman to their rotation in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The trade deadline is Monday at 6 p.m. EDT. Some enticing options still remain, including San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller and Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho.

Other trades of note

— The Seattle Mariners acquired outfielder Taylor Ward from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor league right-handers Alex Hoppe, Brock Moore and Harrison Kreiling, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Monday. Ward, 32, is hitting .246 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs in 111 games. He adds to Seattle’s outfield depth and could make impending free agent and All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena expendable.

— The Blue Jays bolstered their rotation with an eye on 2027 by acquiring right-hander José Soriano from the Los Angeles Angels for three prospects. The 27-year-old is 9-6 with a 3.29 ERA and has a 3.72 ERA over four big league seasons. He's under team control through 2028. Infielder Arjun Nimmala, a 2023 first-round pick, headlined the minor leaguers going to Los Angeles, along with outfielder Eddie Micheletti Jr. and right-hander Angel Rivero.

— The Atlanta Braves acquired veteran left-handed reliever Brent Suter from the Angels for minor league infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. The 36-year-old Suter provides some bullpen depth for the NL East leaders. He was 1-2 with a 4.12 ERA over 63 1/3 innings in 41 appearances for Los Angeles, and threw at least two innings in 18 of those games.

— The Los Angeles Dodgers traded for backup catcher Ben Rortvedt for the second year in a row. This time, the Dodgers got Rortvedt from the New York Mets for right-hander Chayce McDermott. The 28-year-old Rortvedt hasn’t played in the big leagues this season and wasn’t on the Mets’ 40-man roster. The Dodgers acquired Rotvedt from Tampa Bay at last year's deadline. He appeared in 18 regular season games and four playoff games.

— The Chicago White Sox added righty reliever Huascar Brazobán from the Mets for minor league right-handers Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin. The 36-year-old Brazobán is 5-2 with a 2.56 ERA over 46 games this season.

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AP Sports Writer Andrew Destin in Seattle contributed to this story.

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

To help kids get ready, Florida’s back-to-school sales tax exemption ends on Aug 20.

Here is a list of 10 deals on school supplies:

• Target has a 50-cent deal on a box of 12-colored pencils by Mondo Llama.
• Office Depot has a 50-cent deal on a 24-pack of crayons by Crayola.
• Staples has a 50-cent deal on composition notebooks.
• Walmart has a 50-cent deal on Elmer’s Disappearing Purple School Glue Sticks.
• Target has a 99-cent deal on a 10-pack of BIC Round Stic Xtra Life Ballpoint Pens.
• Office Depot has a $1.39 deal on a 2-pack of Westcott Hard-Handle kids scissors
• Walmart has a $4.47 deal on a 24-pack of BIC Xtra Sparkle Mechanical Pencils.
• Walmart has a $4.87 deal on an 8-pack of Paper Mate Profile Retractable Ballpoint
• Old Navy has a $6 deal on school uniform jersey polo shirts for boys and girls.
• Amazon has a $7.64 deal on a six-pack of Oxford Spiral Notebooks.

Useful discounts

• Nike has code DAYONE for an extra 25% discount on the Back to School Sale.
• Michaels has code SWEET25 for a 25% discount on regular-price items.

Related stories

• Local 10 chats with incoming Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent ahead of new school year
• Miami Gardens community backpack drive helps families prepare for back-to-school season
• United Way volunteers pack nearly 1K backpacks

“Le solicito al movimiento indígena, campesino, popular y estudiantil del Cauca (suroeste) organizar las guardias libertadoras para contrarrestar a los asesinos organizados con la fuerza de la red y el poder popular”, afirmó el mandatario en la red social X.

Petro, quien militó en su juventud en la extinta guerrilla M-19, considera las “guardias libertadoras” como formas de “milicia popular que deben actuar en coordinación con el ejército nacional” en los lugares donde las “mafias” busquen dominar a los militares, a quienes instó a desobedecer si les ordenan “asesinar al pueblo”.

En los últimos días de su gobierno Petro ha insistido en que su sucesor, el conservador Abelardo de la Espriella, representa la llegada del “fascismo” a Colombia. Tampoco reconoció la victoria electoral de De la Espriella alegando presunto fraude.

De la Espriella, respaldado por el presidente Donald Trump, se posesionará el 7 de agosto en Cali, la principal ciudad del suroeste del país, para enviar un mensaje a los grupos armados ilegales que operan en esa zona y a los que promete combatir con mano dura.

Petro instó a los movimientos sociales a reunirse el 7 de agosto en Cali para “organizar las guardias libertadoras y las formas de la resistencia”. Se espera que en el marco de la posesión presidencial se registren manifestaciones de sectores opositores a De la Espriella.

“Las guardias libertadoras sólo obedecen órdenes de su comunidad en asamblea, es la comunidad la que decide si deben armarse o no, de acuerdo a la magnitud de la agresión”, aseguró Petro.

De la Espriella enfrentó críticas en campaña por declararse enemigo de los “señores de la izquierda” a quienes había que “destriparlos”. Luego matizó su discurso diciendo que se refería a una confrontación ideológica en el “marco de la ley”.

Petro enmarcó en un supuesto plan de exterminio de su corriente política el ataque contra el líder indígena Julián Mauricio Gutiérrez, quien falleció por la gravedad de las heridas, perpetrado el sábado en Florida, municipio aledaño a Cali; así como el ataque con disparos el domingo contra el diputado Yesid Sandoval del oficialista Pacto Histórico, del que salió ileso.

The decision late Sunday marks a victory for the Trump administration as it races ahead with efforts to build a $46 billion wall along the U.S.-Mexico border from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.

The town of Presidio, with a population of about 3,200 people, argued the wall could cause flooding and that the administration isn’t following the law as it rushes forward with its plans. The town’s development district sued earlier this year to stop the department from going forward with construction.

But the judge said in his ruling Sunday that they were unlikely to succeed on the merits of the case.

“For the foregoing reasons, despite the understandable concerns expressed by the plaintiff regarding the harms it and the plaintiff’s residents might sustain by the potential construction of the Smart Wall, the Court is compelled to deny the plaintiff’s motion for a stay,” wrote Judge Reggie B. Walton.

DHS has been charging forward with its wall-building plan with senior administration officials saying a first layer of the structure will be done by next year. In its push, the Secretary of Homeland Security has waived numerous regulations designed to protect the environment, wildlife, archaeological and Native American sites.

But the department has been running into opposition by landowners, environmental groups, Native American tribes and others who argue that the government’s rapid construction endangers environmental and religious sites and a way of life along the border. Opponents also question the urgency to finish the wall when migrant crossings from Mexico are already at extreme lows.

Lawyers for Presidio's development district argued in a court hearing that the government’s plans could compromise the levee system protecting the town from flash flooding and that the government flouted a key act that requires it to seek permission from the Army Corps of Engineers before building on or near the levees.

“We are very disappointed that the court will allow this potentially disastrous construction to continue, but we remain committed to protecting the Big Bend area and those who rely on the threatened levees," said the town's development district in a statement Monday.

Presidio is protected by a series of berms and levees built in the 1970s and 1980s along the Rio Grande and tributaries to combat flooding.

In court documents, Presidio’s development district said Customs and Border Protection plans to “replace the earthen slope of the existing levee with a concrete wall, with 30-foot steel bollard panels installed on top.” The district said it asked the agency for more details but was told they can’t be shared due to “national security.”

The government has argued that there is no final plan for where the border wall will go or how it will be built. And the administration has maintained that it has the authority given to it by Congress to waive a vast swath of regulations to build the wall as it seeks to get the number of people crossing the border every day to zero.

In his ruling, the judge bolstered that argument, saying that it was clear "that Congress did not intend to limit the Secretary of DHS’s waiver authority."

The government is also facing another lawsuit in Texas where an environmental group and a church preservation group have teamed up to oppose DHS’s plans.

Arraez is batting a National League-best .324 with four homers and 47 RBIs with an .801 OPS. He’s a four-time All-Star and, of importance in the free-swinging Phillies lineup, is a contact hitter who rarely strikes out.

He has struck out just 236 times over his eight-year career.

Arraez has 25 walks to 21 strikeouts this season. The Phillies .304 on-base is second worst in the majors, only ahead of the New York Mets.

The Phillies also acquired right-hander reliever Caleb Kilian in the trade in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair.

The Giants are 47-65 and have been of baseball’s bigger disappointments.

The Phillies also struck a separate deal for Mets left-hander Brooks Raley in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Luke Gabrysh and minor league outfielder John Spikerman.

Raley has a 5-5 record with a 1.96 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 45 games. His 1.96 ERA is tied for the fourth-lowest mark in the majors among left-handed relievers and 35 appearances this season have been scoreless.

Arraez's arrival for a team that has reached the playoffs four straight years signals a major shift in the defensive core lineup. Second Bryson Stott or third baseman Alex Bohm could shift positions, or possibly one of them could lose their starting spots.

Bohm could be the odd-man out at third since the Phillies could more easily shift Stott to third base. The Phillies could also send first baseman Bryce Harper back to right field and move Bohm to first base.

Bohm could also be traded before the end of Monday's deadline.

Arraez is eligible for free agency at the end of the season, so Harper's move to right field could be a temporary change and one that allows for the Phillies to put out their best offensive lineup.

Harper has played first base since 2023 when he returned from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

The Phillies entered Monday’s game against Washington at 59-53 and hold one of the final NL wild-card spots. They are eight games back of Atlanta in the NL East.

Arreaz led the National League in hits the past two seasons and had signed a $12 million, one-year contract this season with the Giants. He spent his first five major league seasons with the Minnesota Twins before they traded him to the Miami Marlins in January 2023. San Diego acquired him in May 2024.

Harper challenged team president Dave Dombrowski to upgrade the roster, and he came out swinging with deals that — while not at the level of the Dodgers trading for Tarik Skubal — showed the Phillies are serious about staying in the playoff hunt and making a World Series push in October.

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

Nadezhdin, 63, shared a video on Telegram, showing him standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

“Good news: I'm alive and free. Unfortunately, not in Russia for the time being," he said, adding that he needs “to look around and figure out life going forward.”

In July, a Russian court fined Nadezhdin about $13 for displaying “extremist symbols," charges that he rejected as absurd. The accusations stemmed from a 2023 online video that briefly showed a picture of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, convicted of extremism in a case widely seen as politically motivated.

Earlier that month, Nadezhdin also was designated a “foreign agent" — a label that brings additional government scrutiny as well as stigmatizing connotations in Russia.

That and a fine on an extremism-related charge barred him from running in September’s parliamentary vote, which is expected to be tightly controlled by the Kremlin.

The ruling United Russia party is seeking to preserve its dominance in the lower house of parliament in a race against the Communist Party and a couple of other parties that vote in sync with the Kremlin on key issues. The campaign comes amid signs of growing public fatigue with the war in Ukraine as fuel shortages and economic pain increase, an environment that reduces the authorities' tolerance for even token opposition.

In January 2024, Nadezhdin collected thousands of signatures in his run for president as he openly called for an end to the war in Ukraine. But he was kept off the March 2024 ballot after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled that more than 9,000 signatures submitted by his campaign were invalid — enough to disqualify him. Putin faced only token opposition in the election and easily gained a fifth term.

A veteran politician, Nadezhdin worked in the government in the 1990s when he was an adviser to Sergei Kiriyenko, now a top Putin aide. He also served as a lawmaker and more recently became a member of a municipal council. He was one of the few high-profile Putin critics still living in Russia.

Earlier this year, Nadezhdin declared his bid to run for the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, and vowed to continue his symbolic campaign even after the Justice Ministry branded him with the “foreign agent” designation.

Another blow came when police briefly detained Nadezhdin and charged him with displaying “extremist symbols.” The politician said he was considering a move abroad but was barred from leaving Russia. It wasn't clear from his Monday video statement whether the ban has since been lifted, or if he left the country despite it.

After the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, authorities ramped up their crackdown on dissent and free speech, relentlessly targeting rights organizations, independent media, members of civil society organizations and Kremlin critics. Hundreds of people have been jailed and thousands of others fled the country.

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According to an arrest report obtained Monday by Local 10 News, Andrew Zagazeta, of Weston, was arrested early Friday morning on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Sunrise police said the stabbing occurred Thursday night at an apartment complex in the 12800 block of Vista Isles Drive.

When officers arrived at the scene, they spoke with the great-grandmother of the suspect and victim, who said that the two had been arguing over a gaming console and she “immediately intervened to separate them,” the arrest report stated.

According to the report, the great-grandmother did not see a knife being displayed during the argument.

The woman told police that soon after the altercation she saw Zagazeta leaving the apartment and immediately followed him outside “out of curiosity.”

According to the report, she said the victim then approached her and said that Zagazeta had just stabbed him in the right hip area with a knife.

Police said the victim was transported to Broward Health Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

According to the report, detectives later spoke with the victim at the hospital and he said he got into a “heated argument” with his cousin after Zagazeta used his gaming console without permission.

The victim said Zagazeta pushed him, at which time his great-grandmother intervened and separated them.

Police said the victim admitted to removing a knife from the knife storage block in the kitchen after the argument erupted, but said he immediately returned it to the storage block after his great-grandmother intervened.

According to the report, the victim said Zagazeta then pulled out a knife from behind the TV and stabbed him as the victim was walking toward his gaming console to retrieve it.

Police said the victim’s stab wound measured about 1 centimeter in depth.

As of Monday morning, Zagazeta was being held at the Broward County Main Jail on a $20,000 bond.

Según un informe de arresto obtenido el lunes por Local 10 News, Andrew Zagazeta, de Weston, fue arrestado la madrugada del viernes acusado de agresión agravada con un arma mortal.

La Policía de Sunrise informó que el apuñalamiento ocurrió la noche del jueves en un complejo de apartamentos ubicado en la cuadra 12800 de Vista Isles Drive.

Cuando los agentes llegaron al lugar, hablaron con la bisabuela del sospechoso y de la víctima, quien dijo que ambos discutían por una consola de videojuegos y que “intervino de inmediato para separarlos”, según el informe de arresto.

De acuerdo con el informe, la bisabuela no vio que se exhibiera un cuchillo durante la discusión.

La mujer dijo a la Policía que, poco después del altercado, vio a Zagazeta salir del apartamento y lo siguió de inmediato al exterior “por curiosidad”.

Según el informe, la víctima se acercó entonces a ella y le dijo que Zagazeta acababa de apuñalarlo con un cuchillo en el área de la cadera derecha.

La Policía informó que la víctima fue trasladada al Broward Health Medical Center para recibir tratamiento por heridas que no ponían en peligro su vida.

Según el informe, los detectives hablaron posteriormente con la víctima en el hospital, donde dijo que tuvo una “acalorada discusión” con su primo después de que Zagazeta utilizó su consola de videojuegos sin permiso.

La víctima dijo que Zagazeta lo empujó, momento en el que su bisabuela intervino y los separó.

La Policía informó que la víctima admitió haber sacado un cuchillo del bloque de almacenamiento de cuchillos en la cocina cuando comenzó la discusión, pero aseguró que lo devolvió de inmediato después de que su bisabuela intervino.

Según el informe, la víctima dijo que Zagazeta luego sacó un cuchillo que estaba detrás del televisor y lo apuñaló mientras caminaba hacia su consola de videojuegos para recogerla.

La Policía indicó que la herida de arma blanca de la víctima tenía una profundidad aproximada de un centímetro.

Hasta la mañana del lunes, Zagazeta permanecía detenido en la cárcel principal del condado Broward con una fianza de $20,000 USD.

The congressional primaries will take place using the commonwealth’s existing district boundaries. Voters approved a more Democratic-friendly map in April, but Virginia’s highest court invalidated the new boundaries less than three weeks later.

The failed effort to enact a new Virginia map was in response to a largely successful push by President Donald Trump and state lawmakers in several Republican-controlled states like Texas and Missouri to redraw their congressional maps ahead of schedule and boost their party’s chances of maintaining their fragile U.S. House majority.

Under the current map, Virginia’s most competitive U.S. House seat is likely in the 2nd Congressional District, where a rematch may be in the works between two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans and the Democrat she unseated in 2022, former U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria.

Luria is among four Democrats seeking the nomination, but the retired Navy commander and former House Select Jan. 6 Committee member dwarfs the rest of the combined field in terms of fundraising and available cash as of mid-July. Kiggans, also a former Naval officer, is unopposed in the Republican primary.

A contested primary is also underway in the neighboring 1st Congressional District, where seven Democratic hopefuls are running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman. That field includes Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor, retired Navy Commander and former corporate government affairs executive Jason Knapp, and attorneys Salaam Bhatti and Mel Tull. Wittman, who is seeking a 10th full term, is unopposed for renomination.

In the 7th Congressional District, which straddles Northern and Central Virginia, freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman faces no primary challengers in his bid for a second term. In November, he’ll face the winner of a three-way primary between Republicans Philip Harding, Doug Ollivant and Rick Smithers.

The Democratic primary in the 5th Congressional District also features a comeback attempt by a former member of Congress. Tom Perriello served one term from 2009 to 2011 in the Charlottesville-area district. If he wins the three-way primary, he would likely face Republican U.S. Rep. John McGuire in a district that Trump won with about 56% of the vote.

Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has endorsed Luria, Taylor and Perriello in their congressional primaries.

At the top of the ballot, Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner is unopposed in his bid for a fourth term. Running to challenge him in November are Republicans Kim Farington, Bert Mizusawa and David Williams. Warner has held the seat since 2009 and won his last reelection with 56% of the vote.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House and the Arlington County Board.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in any party’s primary.

How many voters are there?

There were about 6,387,000 registered voters as of March 1. Virginia voters do not register by party.

How many people actually vote?

About 273,000 votes were cast in the last Republican U.S. Senate primary in 2024. That year, the Democratic primaries for the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts had about 23,000 and about 29,000 total votes, respectively, while the Republican primary in the 7th Congressional District had about 36,000 total votes.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

Advance voting tends to make up a larger share of the vote in Democratic primaries than in Republican primaries. In 2024, about 55% of the vote in the 1st District Democratic primary and about 47% of the 2nd District Democratic primary vote were mail or early in-person votes. In comparison, about 27% of the vote was cast early in person or by mail in the Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate and for the 7th Congressional District.

As of Friday, about 139,000 ballots had been cast in Tuesday’s election, about 84,000 from Democrats and about 55,000 from Republicans.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Virginia counties and independent cities vary in terms of how and when they release results, but the first vote updates of the night tend to include results from all vote types: early in person, mail and in person on Election Day.

Roughly a third of jurisdictions release all or almost all of their early and absentee voting results in their first vote update of the night, often along with results from in-person Election Day voting. Most counties and cities begin releasing at least some results from in-person Election Day voting in the first update and over the course of the night.

Nearly half the jurisdictions release no early or absentee voting results in the first vote update.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2025 general election for Virginia governor, the AP first reported results at 7:10 p.m. ET, or 10 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 1:52 a.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Virginia does not conduct automatic recounts. Candidates may request and pay for recounts if the margin between the top two candidates is 1 percentage point or less. No payment is required if the recount results in a margin of less than 0.5 percentage points or if the outcome has changed. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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

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Feels like temperatures will range between 100 to 105° early Monday afternoon.

Storms are forecast to develop by mid-afternoon, and with a south-southwest wind, storms will remain along the east coast metro into the early evening.

Slow moving storms that develop could produce frequent lightning, gusty winds, heavy rain, and localized street flooding.

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

La sensación térmica oscilará entre los 100 y 105 grados durante las primeras horas de la tarde del lunes.

Se pronostica que las tormentas se desarrollen a media tarde y, con vientos del sur-suroeste, permanecerán sobre el área metropolitana de la costa este hasta las primeras horas de la noche.

Las tormentas de movimiento lento que se desarrollen podrían producir frecuentes descargas eléctricas, fuertes ráfagas de viento, lluvias intensas e inundaciones localizadas en las calles.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para conocer las últimas actualizaciones del pronóstico de la Autoridad del Tiempo de Local 10.

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The state-run Electric Union reported a “total disconnection” of Cuba’s National Energy System on Sunday night but did not identify the cause of the outage.

The blackout followed a partial power interruption Saturday that affected western Cuba, from Pinar del Río to Matanzas, including Havana, after weather-related disruptions damaged a 220-megawatt transmission line. Officials said that earlier outage had been quickly brought under control.

By early Monday, electricity had begun returning to some parts of the island. The Associated Press reported that several power distribution areas were back online and lights had been restored in portions of Havana.

The latest nationwide outage underscores Cuba’s ongoing energy crisis, which has been fueled by aging electrical infrastructure and fuel shortages. Cuban officials have also blamed the tightening of U.S. sanctions and restrictions on oil imports for worsening the country’s electricity shortages.

According to energy officials, Cuba experienced two nationwide blackouts in March and three more in July, in addition to several partial outages, including the disruption reported Aug. 1. Sunday’s collapse marked the sixth total failure of the National Energy System in 2026.

Even when the national grid is operating, many Cubans continue to endure prolonged rolling blackouts that can last more than 20 hours a day, disrupting daily life, businesses and essential services across the island.

La empresa estatal Unión Eléctrica informó una “desconexión total” del Sistema Eléctrico Nacional de Cuba la noche del domingo, pero no identificó la causa del apagón.

El apagón ocurrió después de una interrupción parcial del servicio eléctrico el sábado que afectó el occidente de Cuba, desde Pinar del Río hasta Matanzas, incluida La Habana, luego de que afectaciones relacionadas con el clima dañaran una línea de transmisión de 220 megavatios. Los funcionarios indicaron que esa interrupción anterior fue controlada rápidamente.

Para las primeras horas del lunes, el servicio eléctrico había comenzado a restablecerse en algunas zonas de la isla. The Associated Press informó que varias áreas de distribución eléctrica ya estaban nuevamente en funcionamiento y que el servicio había sido restablecido en partes de La Habana.

El más reciente apagón nacional pone de relieve la persistente crisis energética de Cuba, impulsada por el envejecimiento de la infraestructura eléctrica y la escasez de combustible. Funcionarios cubanos también han atribuido el agravamiento de la escasez de electricidad al endurecimiento de las sanciones de Estados Unidos y a las restricciones sobre las importaciones de petróleo.

Según funcionarios del sector energético, Cuba experimentó dos apagones nacionales en marzo y otros tres en julio, además de varias interrupciones parciales, incluida la reportada el 1 de agosto. El colapso del domingo marcó la sexta falla total del Sistema Eléctrico Nacional en 2026.

Incluso cuando la red eléctrica nacional está en funcionamiento, muchos cubanos continúan soportando apagones programados prolongados que pueden durar más de 20 horas al día, afectando la vida cotidiana, los negocios y los servicios esenciales en toda la isla.

Daniel Ramírez, de 47 años y residente de Lubbock, Texas, pagó una fianza el sábado y quedó en libertad la madrugada del domingo.

Al salir de la cárcel, Ramírez no tardó en defender su conducta.

“Nos tropezamos, yo nunca la golpeé”, dijo Ramírez.

“Pero hay un video”, le señaló Linnie Supall, de Local 10.

“¿Qué video, uno de que ella me estaba siguiendo?”, preguntó Ramírez.

“Un video que lo muestra empujándola al suelo”, respondió Supall.

“No, yo nunca hice eso. Nos tropezamos. Fue un accidente”, afirmó.

Ramírez fue detenido el viernes en la terminal de Royal Caribbean en PortMiami por agentes del Departamento de Policía de Miami.

Su arresto se produjo varios días después de que las autoridades divulgaran un video de vigilancia del restaurante que, según ellas, mostraba a Ramírez empujando violentamente a una mujer hasta tirarla al suelo el 26 de julio.

La víctima, que trabajaba como cantinera en el Hard Rock Café, habló con Local 10 News sobre lo ocurrido.

Contó que vio a Ramírez meterse en un área detrás de la barra, reservada solo para empleados, y comerse los adornos de las bebidas. Cuando le dijo que no podía hacer eso, él le respondió: “P---, ¿qué quieres que haga? ¿Que lo escupa?”, y ambos salieron del área de la barra.

“De inmediato, el corazón se me empezó a acelerar”, dijo la mujer, que pidió no revelar su identidad.

Según un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Miami (MPD), el gerente de la cantinera la mandó a llamar de nuevo después de que Ramírez presentara una queja.

“Según la víctima, (Ramírez) le dijo al gerente que ninguna mujer tenía derecho a decirle qué hacer y que la víctima debía ser reprendida”, indica el informe de arresto.

La policía señaló que el gerente le pidió a la cantinera que fingiera estar siendo reprendida.

De acuerdo con la víctima, Ramírez huyó tras el primer enfrentamiento, en el que la empujó al suelo.

Contó que empezó a tomarle fotos mientras él se alejaba, pero asegura que la encaró de nuevo, la tiró al suelo por segunda vez y la dejó inconsciente.

“Fue algo muy, muy repugnante, y me pregunto cómo se sentiría él si le hicieran esto a alguien de su familia”, expresó.

La policía llevaba buscando a Ramírez desde el ataque y logró ubicarlo el viernes en la terminal de cruceros de Royal Caribbean en PortMiami.

La víctima agradeció a los detectives por identificar y localizar al sospechoso con rapidez.

“Estoy muy agradecida de que lo hayan capturado y arrestado, y de que esté ahí sentado pensando en lo que hizo”, dijo la empleada.

Tras pagar su fianza, Ramírez dijo que se va a casa, a Texas.

According to an arrest report, Tomas Raymundo Brito was driving east on Lincoln Drive. Just east of Southwest 154th Avenue, the victim stopped her vehicle in the roadway and got out to open the gate to her driveway.

As she walked past the driver’s side of her vehicle, investigators said Brito, 31, hit the rear of her car. The impact caused her vehicle to spin about 180 degrees clockwise, striking her and knocking her to the ground. Deputies said the truck then continued forward and struck her again, trapping her underneath.

Authorities said Brito got out and ran east on Lincoln Drive without calling for help or helping the victim.

The woman suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to Jackson South Medical Center, where she remains on life support.

A witness told investigators he followed Brito and saw him go into a shed at 15278 Lincoln Drive.

The witness then flagged down Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies, who found Brito and took him into custody.

According to the arrest form, Brito admitted he had drunk about five beers before the crash. He also admitted he was the driver and only person in the truck at the time.

Authorities said he also told investigators he is from Guatemala and is in the U.S. without legal status. A records check showed he has never been issued a Florida driver’s license.

Deputies arrested him and took him to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center after he was cleared at Jackson South Medical Center.

Brito faces charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury and driving without a license causing death or serious bodily injury while unlawfully present in the United States.

Jail records also show he is being held on an immigration hold.

Garcia recordó a los votantes que durante el período de votación anticipada no están limitados a su recinto asignado.

“La gente debe saber que puede acudir a cualquiera de nuestros centros de votación anticipada”, dijo. “No tienen que ir a su recinto específico. Y pueden hacerlo esta semana entre las 7 a.m. y las 3 p.m.”

Un equipo de Local 10 News estuvo la mañana del lunes frente a la sucursal de la biblioteca de Kendall, donde varias personas ingresaron para votar una vez abrieron los centros de votación.

“Nunca había votado anticipadamente, así que sí, fue mucho más fácil. Me tomó tres minutos votar”, dijo Nelson Hincapie.

“Siempre vengo temprano porque ahora es muy fácil. No hay filas ni esperas”, dijo otro votante anticipado, Frank Glancy.

Algunos votantes dijeron que asistieron a un foro de candidatos antes de votar para conocer mejor a los candidatos judiciales incluidos en la boleta.

Kendra Howard dijo que escuchar directamente a los candidatos la ayudó a comprender mejor sus cualificaciones y prioridades.

“Quería tener la oportunidad de conocerlos, conocer un poco más sobre su trayectoria”, dijo Howard. “Una cosa es leer sobre la trayectoria de una persona en internet y en su sitio de campaña. Pero otra es escucharlos responder las preguntas y sentir su pasión”.

Howard dijo que planeaba tomarse un tiempo para reflexionar antes de tomar su decisión final.

“No voy a decirles que ya sé exactamente por quién voy a votar, pero voy a considerar todo lo que se dijo aquí hoy”, afirmó. “Voy a pensarlo. Voy a ir a casa y luego tomaré mi decisión”.

Garcia también buscó tranquilizar a los votantes sobre la integridad del proceso electoral, al enfatizar que el condado Miami-Dade utiliza boletas de papel.

“Quiero recordarles a todos que votamos en papel”, dijo. “No votamos conectados a internet ni a nada por el estilo. Es muy seguro”.

La votación anticipada está disponible todos los días durante el período designado, lo que permite a los votantes registrados emitir su voto en cualquiera de los centros de votación anticipada del condado Miami-Dade durante el horario de funcionamiento.

CONSULTE LA GUÍA DE VOTACIÓN 2026 DE LOCAL 10 para obtener más información sobre la votación anticipada en el sur de Florida. La votación anticipada en el condado Broward comienza el sábado.

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According to Fort Lauderdale police, the burglary was reported at about 4:15 a.m. at the business in the 3600 block of Davie Boulevard.

The Dollar Stop owner said the thief or thieves smashed the glass front door before making their way inside.

Police said officers established a perimeter and detained a person of interest for questioning.

No arrests have been made at this time.

Police said the investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call the Fort Lauderdale Police Department or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

Según la Policía de Fort Lauderdale, el allanamiento fue reportado alrededor de las 4:15 a.m. en el negocio ubicado en la cuadra 3600 de Davie Boulevard.

El propietario de Dollar Stop dijo que el ladrón o los ladrones rompieron la puerta principal de vidrio antes de ingresar al establecimiento.

La Policía informó que los agentes establecieron un perímetro y retuvieron a una persona de interés para ser interrogada.

Hasta el momento no se han realizado arrestos.

La Policía indicó que la investigación continúa.

Cualquier persona con información sobre el allanamiento debe comunicarse con el Departamento de Policía de Fort Lauderdale o con Broward Crime Stoppers al 954-493-8477.

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According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the crash was reported at about 6:05 a.m. at the intersection of Northwest 17^th Avenue and 79^th Street.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medics transported the victim to a nearby hospital. His condition has not been released.

Deputies said the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene.

The investigation continues.

Según la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, el accidente fue reportado alrededor de las 6:05 a.m. en la intersección de Northwest 17th Avenue y 79th Street.

Paramédicos de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trasladaron a la víctima a un hospital cercano. Su condición no ha sido divulgada.

Los agentes informaron que el conductor del vehículo permaneció en el lugar.

La investigación continúa.

The embassy said “Kyiv terrorists” wanted to “scare the Italians working in Russia and to show them that they too are in the crosshairs and could become the scoundrels' next victims.”

It said the Saturday night attack on the Balzi Rossi restaurant killed five and injured 19, adding that its Italian chef and his staff were unhurt only thanks to a Russian security guard's “vigilance and selfless dedication to his professional duty.”

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which coordinates various security agencies, initially reported a lower death toll in a statement issued shortly after the attack. It said the bomb killed three people, including a woman who carried the explosive device into the restaurant, a guard who stopped her, and a guest inside. It said 21 others were injured when the bomb detonated near the restaurant's entrance.

The committee didn’t say who was the target or name the mastermind.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Sunday described the bombing as a “brutal terrorist act,” but did not say who was responsible for the blast at the upscale restaurant, which is located on the ground floor of a high-rise apartment building that is one of seven skyscrapers in the city that date to the era of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reposted the embassy statement without comment. It did not respond to a request for comment or explain the higher death toll.

Several Russian media outlets claimed the bombing targeted a Russian general who was celebrating his birthday at the restaurant. Some claimed that the general was Col.-Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who led the troops that made a botched attempt to storm the Ukrainian capital in 2022 and recently was appointed the chief of Russia's aerospace forces. The claims could not be independently verified.

The business daily Kommersant reported that the bomb, hidden in a gift box, was probably detonated remotely and the woman carrying it could have been unaware of the content. Kommersant said the bomb contained about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosives and contained metal balls for lethality.

Russia blamed Ukraine for past attacks on military officials

Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for a series of bombings and other attacks against senior military officials after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Earlier this year, Russia’s Federal Security Service said authorities would tighten security around senior military and government officials following the attacks.

In February, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev, ​the deputy head of the GRU ‌military ⁠intelligence service, was shot three times at a Moscow apartment building, but survived. Ukraine denied its involvement.

In December, a car bomb killed Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, in southern Moscow. Ukraine refrained from comment.

In April 2025, another car bomb that Moscow blamed on Kyiv killed Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in Russia’s General Staff. Ukraine didn't claim the attack but hinted at its involvement.

And in December 2024, a bomb hidden in a scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed the Russian military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, one of the few attacks Ukraine openly acknowledged.

Among other prominent victims of bombing attacks in Russia were Daria Dugina, the daughter of influential nationalist thinker Aleksandr Dugin, and Vladlen Tatarsky, a well-known pro-Kremlin military blogger. Kyiv denied involvement in the attack on Dugina, and remained coy about the attack on Tatarsky.

La estatal Unión Eléctrica informó que en la noche del domingo se produjo una “desconexión total” del sistema. El director del Despacho Nacional de Carga de la entidad, Félix Estrada Rodríguez, dijo a medios de prensa oficiales que la caída se produjo debido a una avería en una subestación en La Habana que “provocó la oscilación de la red y la salida de la termoeléctrica Felton, en (la provincia de) Holguín”.

Aunque La Habana recuperó la energía en los circuitos priorizados —como hospitales y talleres de elaboración de alimentos— las provincias del oriente recién volverían a tener servicio por la tarde, agregó el funcionario.

El sábado ya se había reportado una caída parcial en el occidente de la isla —desde Pinar del Río a Matanzas, incluyendo La Habana— debido a cortes en una línea de 220 megavatios por factores climáticos que fue rápidamente controlada.

La sucesión de cortes del servicio demuestra la frágil situación energética de Cuba, causada por una combinación de una infraestructura obsoleta y el impacto del cerco petrolero impuesto por Estados Unidos en enero.

En la madrugada del lunes algunos sectores de La Habana, la capital y ciudad más poblada de la isla, lucían iluminados, pero en otros al mediodía todavía no había corriente, constató The Associated Press.

Para pasar la noche muchos residentes durmieron en balcones, portales y hasta en el Malecón, la avenida del litoral capitalino, en busca de un poco de alivio para el sofocante calor.

“Esto va para atrás, mañana se vuelve a caer… y de nuevo a dormir en el Malecón”, dijo a AP Alexey Ríos García, un albañil de 30 años que amaneció en ese lugar.

La maestra de educación física Elaine Delis Ramos, de 30 años, también acudió al muro del Malecón buscando un poco de brisa. “Cuando tenemos esperanza de que no se va a caer más, vuelve y se cae. No tenemos ninguna solución”, se lamentó.

El servicio meteorológico estimó que la sensación térmica alcanzó los 41 grados el domingo debido a una humedad de hasta el 80%.

Las autoridades informaron dos caídas nacionales en marzo y tres en julio, a las que se suman algunas parciales como la del 1 de agosto.

Además, los cubanos sufren constantes cortes rotativos que a veces superan las 20 horas diarias.

———-

El corresponsal Ariel Fernández contribuyó con este reporte.

The 54-year-old Pochettino, who took over the national team in October 2024, led the U.S. to the round of 16 at this year's World Cup, where the tournament co-hosts were eliminated in a 4-1 loss to Belgium.

Still, he helped the seeded U.S. team to a pair of firsts in the expanded 48-nation tournament, clinching advancement from the group stage with a game to spare and winning three games in a single World Cup. The team captivated American fans with excited audiences in stadiums and record television viewers.

“The magic thing that happened during the World Cup, the connection with the people, of course with the whole organization and everything was a key point,” Pochettino said during a Zoom news conference from his home in Barcelona, Spain.

Since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup, the U.S. has lost four round-of-16 games.

“What we learn(ed) is that we can compete, that we have the quality and we have the talent,” Pochettino said. “We were so close. That gap with the best teams in the world is not too big.”

Pochettino said there is potential to make soccer in the U.S. “grow and grow and grow and be one of the important sport(s) in America, like it is in the rest of the world.”

“We have players and organization that can compete with the best organization in the world in that sport,” he said. “We learned that the fans are amazing and when they were so excited to discover a sport that made our fans become crazy, no? The connection was amazing.”

Pochettino views the next cycle as a new start for a program lacking quality depth at goalkeeper and central defender.

“It is going to be important to provide the young kids that we really believe (in) that they have the potential to arrive in 2030, in four years,” he said.

Before taking the U.S. job, Pochettino coached Espanyol (2009-12), Southampton (2013-14), Tottenham (2014-19), Paris Saint-Germain (2021-22) and Chelsea (2023-24).

When Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter two years ago, he signed an initial contract through the 2026 World Cup. Pochettino said ahead of the tournament that he had discussed a possible new deal with the USSF. He also said in May that his agent had spoken with AC Milan, a club that then hired Rúben Amorim.

Pochettino, who has homes in Spain and London, said he may move to the U.S. He intends to stay with the American team until 2030 but left himself an out.

“Four years time is a really long period. You never know what can happen in soccer,” he said. “Today people really love you. In eight weeks time, maybe that change(s), that feeling."

He has led the U.S. to 17 wins (including a penalty-kick victory), 13 losses and one draw. Twenty-three of 62 players to appear under Pochettino have accounted for the team’s 57 goals.

“We know we have a lot of work to do to achieve our clear ambitions, including competing to win Men’s World Cups and having soccer become the most played sport in every community,” USSF CEO JT Batson said in a statement.

Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is again the lead philanthropic funder supporting Pochettino’s contract with additional support by Scott Goodwin, Adam Freede and commercial partners. Pochettino earned just over $5 million in his first seven months as coach, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation tax return.

U.S. coaches have not been successful when they remained for a second World Cup cycle.

After leading the Americans to the 2002 quarterfinals, Bruce Arena was unable to get his team past the group stage in 2006.

Bob Bradley helped the U.S. reach the round of 16 in 2010, then was fired a year later after the team lost the CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

Jurgen Klinsmann took over and in December 2013 was given an extension through the 2018 World Cup. The Americans reached the round of 16 in 2014 but Klinsmann was fired in late 2016 after the U.S. lost its first two games in the final round of qualifying. Arena returned but the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Berhalter was hired in late 2018 and led the Americans to the round of 16 in 2022. Given a new contract in 2023, he was fired a year later after the U.S. failed to advance past the group stage at Copa America.

“We are going to demand more from them," he said of the players. “We are not going to be in some situation(s) not flexible like we were because before it was (for) the benefit of players, benefit of structures that were already built. But now it’s about to start the house from zero.”

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

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited, making the race to replace her a top takeover opportunity for Republicans. Although Kansas votes reliably Republican in statewide federal contests, the state also has a 60-year streak of electing governors from the opposite party of their immediate predecessors.

The Republican primary for governor will be the latest test of President Donald Trump’s influence in Republican primaries this year. He has endorsed state Senate President Ty Masterson over former state Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, financial services executive Philip Sarnecki, state Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt and Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab.

The Democratic primary field features state Sens. Ethan Corson and Cindy Holscher and Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog.

Sarnecki has outspent the rest of the field, thanks in large part to the $2.5 million he loaned his campaign. His running mate, data analytics firm founder and former Wichita school board member Joy Eakins, also has deep pockets. She loaned her own gubernatorial campaign $1 million before dropping out and joining Sarnecki’s ticket. She has since made a $50,000 contribution to the campaign.

Schwab loaned more than $2.1 million to his campaign and ranked second in overall spending. Masterson was fourth in overall campaign spending, but he outraised Sarnecki and Schwab in donor contributions, excluding candidate loans.

In the Democratic primary, Corson about doubled Holscher and Skoog's combined fundraising and spending. He also has a key endorsement from Kelly.

In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall seeks his party’s nomination for a second term and has Trump’s endorsement. Marshall won his 2020 primary with about 40% of the vote against former Secretary of State and current state Attorney General Kris Kobach.

He faces a quixotic primary challenge from Arch Naramore, who will appear on ballots under his middle name, Pond. Naramore challenged former U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback for the Republican nomination in 2004, receiving 13% of the vote in a head-to-head matchup.

The crowded, 11-candidate field for the Democratic nomination includes former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Christy Davis, Methodist megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton, real estate developer and entrepreneur Erik Murray, state Sen. Patrick Schmidt, retired financial services executive Sandy Spidel Neumann and marketing professional and Afghanistan War veteran Noah Taylor.

Hamilton has outraised the rest of the combined Democratic field.

Republicans have won every U.S. Senate election in Kansas since 1932. No Democrat has ever been elected to the seat Marshall holds since the state first began direct elections of U.S. Senators in 1914.

Voters will also decide a statewide ballot measure that would allow the direct election of state Supreme Court justices and remove the governor's role from the process. Under the current system, a commission of mostly attorneys compiles a list of three finalists to fill a state Supreme Court vacancy, and the governor makes the final choice.

Also on the ballot are contested primaries for U.S. House, secretary of state and state Board of Education. All 125 state House seats are up for election in 2026. Republicans control 70% of seats in the chamber.

Johnson County in the Kansas City suburbs is the most populous county in the state and plays a big role in both statewide Democratic and Republican primaries, as do Wichita-based Sedgwick and Topeka-based Shawnee counties. The state’s two most heavily Democratic counties, Douglas and Wyandotte, tend to be more influential in Democratic primaries than in Republican primaries.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Polls in most of the state are in the Central time zone and close at 8 p.m. ET, but some polls are in Mountain time and close at 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, secretary of state, state Board of Education and state House, as well as for a statewide ballot measure.

Who gets to vote?

Voters registered with a political party may vote only in their own party’s primary. In other words, Democrats can’t vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may participate in either primary if they affiliate with that party at the polls.

How many voters are there?

As of May 1, there were about 2 million registered voters in Kansas, including about 894,000 Republicans, about 495,000 Democrats and about 588,000 voters not affiliated with any party.

How many people actually vote?

About 463,000 Republican primary votes and about 289,000 Democratic primary votes were cast in the 2022 primaries for governor.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 45% of the Democratic primary vote and about 28% of the Republican primary vote in the 2024 state primaries was cast early in-person or by mail.

As of Friday, about 133,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election, roughly 62,000 from Republicans and about 60,000 from Democrats.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Kansas counties vary in how they release vote results, but about half release results from mail voting along with in-person Election Day voting over the course of the night.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2022 Democratic primary for governor, the AP first reported results at 8:24 p.m. ET, or 24 minutes after polls closed in most of the state. The vote count surpassed the halfway mark at about 10:02 p.m. ET. The last vote update of the night was at 3:31 a.m. ET with about 96% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

There are no automatic recounts in Kansas, but candidates may request and pay for one regardless of the vote margin. If the candidate requesting the recount is declared the winner, then the counties will bear the costs. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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

This past weekend, in an interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio spoke about Cuba’s ongoing espionage activities in the U.S.

Rubio went on to say that Cuban spies continue to infiltrate the U.S. government, financial institutions, organizations, and academic institutions. Rubio claimed that Cuba continues to be a national security threat to the U.S.

Dr. Andy S. Gomez is Local 10’s Cuba Analyst. Gomez is considered one of the leading scholars on Cuba. He worked in higher education for 32 years before retiring from the University of Miami in 2012.

The Cuban government announced yesterday at the closing of the annual National Assembly meeting that they are considering allowing Cuban exiles to visit the island, stay as long as they want and invest in Cuba.

However, Cuban exiles with U.S. citizenship still face some U.S. restrictions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department.

July 30: Cuban government announces elimination of 92,000 government jobs

The Cuban government announced this morning the elimination of 92,000 government jobs. A state worker in Cuba makes on the average $16-$18 per month.

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Meanwhile, Cuba’s Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced this week that Cuba was creating its first private bank under the Central Bank of Cuba, which is run by the Cuban government, and its president serves on the Council of Ministers of the government.

Why would any foreign investor want to invest in such a system with no protection for their money?

July 29 update: 5 leading economists in Cuba release report entitled ‘A Proposal to Transform the Cuban Economy.’

Five leading economists in Cuba just released a report entitled “A Proposal to Transform the Cuban Economy.” The document lays out a structural diagnosis of the current economic crisis facing the nation and proposes, as a strategic goal, the creation of a social market economy underpinned by a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

While the report is good, the problem that I see is the creation of a democratic state. We must remember that Cuba did not have a democracy before the start of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. To transition a totalitarian state that has had a centralized economy for almost 68 years could take time. Time that Cuba and its population do not have given the current economic crisis.

July 27 update: 73 years after start of Cuban Revolution

Yesterday marked the 73^rd anniversary since Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and their group of rebels attacked the Moncada Military Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. July 26, 1953 is considered the start of the Cuban Revolution.

Like Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, the Cuban revolution took a path that destroyed the country and “never looked back.” Today, Cuba is at the end of what Fidel called its glory days.

July 24 update: Trump Administration announces series of new sanctions against Cuba

On Thursday, the Trump Administration announced a series of new sanctions against Cuba targeting the government’s military conglomerate Gaesa. However, this time it includes companies like Coral S. A. that took over operations from some sectors of GAESA to avoid U.S. sanctions and keep import operations in Cuba functioning.

The question many academics that follow Cuba like me are asking is whether the U.S. strategy moving forward is to force Cuba to eventually sell some of GAESA’s assets to the U.S.

July 23 update: US continues to send mixed signals as to what will be done with Cuba

This past Monday, the U.S. Department of State issued a 100-page report entitled “Cuba: The Capital of 21^st Century Communism” that outlined why Cuba is a national security threat not only to the U.S., but to the entire world. The Cuban government reacted at once and not only criticized the report but blamed Secretary of State Marco Rubio with threatening the island nation.

On Wednesday at a press conference in the Philippines, Rubio, when asked by a reporter what the U.S. plan was for Cuba, used a much more diplomatic tone and said the U.S. is still willing to negotiate with Cuba.

Washington continues to send mixed signals as to what will be done with Cuba. What we do know is that the strategy used in Venezuela did not bring about regime change.

July 21 update: First humanitarian aid from US will arrive in Cuba

Today, the first humanitarian aid will arrive in Cuba as part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s offer to help the Cuban people as they experience the worst economic situation since the early 1990’s. Today’s cargo includes 700 hygiene kits and 700 food items to be distributed directly to the Cuban people by Catholic Relief Services Caritas Cuba and other faith-based organizations.

Secretary Rubio wants to let the Cuban people clearly know that the U.S. stands behind them and is willing to continue to help them as part of the U.S. commitment of $100 million in humanitarian aid.

July 20 update: Cuba releases artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara

This past Saturday, Cuba released artist and opposition leader Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara after serving five years in jail. Otero Alcantara was one of the leaders of the San Isidro movement that led to large protests across the island nation five years ago.

Upon arriving in Miami, Otero Alcantara thanked the Cuban American community for its support and asked Cuba to release all political prisoners in jail.

July 16 update: US Department of Defense pays $3 million to US personnel affected by Havana Syndrome

The U.S. Department of Defense has paid $3 million in compensation to U.S. personnel affected by the mysterious condition known as Havana Syndrome, making the first payment under the 2021 Havana Act.

Havana Syndrome first appeared in 2016 when U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers in Havana, Cuba reported unusual symptoms, including intense head pressure, dizziness, nausea, hearing disturbances and memory problems.

July 14 update: New U.S. sanctions increase pressure on Cuba’s military-run economy

The United States on Monday introduced new sanctions targeting companies controlled by GAESA, Cuba’s military economic conglomerate, as well as some of the military brigades responsible for suppressing protests like the ones we saw the other day.

How much longer can the Cuban government hold on? Information continues to reach U.S. officials indicating that there are sectors within the Cuban government that are increasingly concerned about how much longer they can survive without negotiating with the U.S. government before facing a complete collapse of their system.

July 10 update: Does Raul Castro’s grandson have the full authority to negotiate for the Cuban government?

As I expected, there seems to be a small crack within the inner circle of the Cuban government. Some have criticized Raulito (Raul Castro’s grandson) for offering to negotiate directly with President Trump. The criticism comes as to whether he has the full authority to negotiate for the Cuban government or is he just negotiating for the Castro family?

Yesterday, the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) backed Raulito’s efforts, but the military leadership has remained quiet.

July 8 update: United Nations has no legal right to lift U.S. embargo on Cuba

Every year, Cuba argues in front of the United Nations that the U.S. economic embargo is the cause for their economic problems. Each year, Cuba loses more support for their argument. The United Nations has no legitimate or legal right to lift the embargo. The U.S. Congress can only lift the embargo.

The Cuban government propaganda machine has failed. Most Cubans on the island, including economists on the island, blame the Cuban government for their current poor economic conditions.

July 6 update: Raul Castro’s grandson says Cuba is willing to negotiate with US

Reuters reported earlier this morning that Raul Castro’s grandson Raulito, known as “El Cangrejo,” announced that Cuba is willing to negotiate with the U.S. The question we need to ask ourselves is whether Raulito is negotiating on behalf of the Castro family or the Cuban government?

We know that Cuba has been selling some of their assets, including some belonging to the military economic conglomerate GAESA in the last couple of weeks. Cuba’s attempt to invite foreign investment has not attracted many takers for the fear of losing their money.

July 2 update: Cuba’s culture of fear complicates a Democratic transition

When we talk about Cuba, we usually concentrate on their centralized political and economic system. However, we fail to recognize that individuals that have lived under totalitarian regimes have had to survive under a culture of fear. Such system of government creates a psychological set of attitudes and values that help define the daily behavior in order to align the people’s wants and needs to the restrictions imposed by the government.

To break such behaviors could take years of psychological training and change. Therefore, transitioning a totalitarian state to support a transition to some form of a Democratic government could take time.

Dr. Andy S. Gomez’s June updates can be viewed by clicking here.

Dr. Andy S. Gomez is Local 10’s Cuba Analyst. Gomez is considered one of the leading scholars on Cuba. He worked in higher education for 32 years before retiring from the University of Miami in 2012.

Adams, the founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings, has designed iconic visuals for some of music’s biggest names, including Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys, Method Man, Slick Rick and EPMD. He also created the recognizable logo for “Chappelle’s Show.”

Today, Adams is leaving a different kind of legacy through “Lead With Love,” a public art initiative bringing murals to communities across Broward County.

The murals can be found in communities including Plantation, Pompano Beach, Tamarac, Las Olas and Dania Beach, each featuring a unique design inspired by the neighborhood where it is located.

“Every single one of these murals is unique in its own way,” Adams said. “The one thing that they do all have in common is they are a part of the ‘Lead With Love’ theme.”

From album covers to city walls

Before becoming known for his public artwork, Adams spent decades helping shape hip-hop’s visual identity.

“Anything that had a visual — logos, T-shirt designs, tour backdrops, clothing, everything,” Adams said. “If it had an image on it, I was designing.”

He said he began working with artists such as Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys in the early 1980s, long before they became global stars.

“I met my friends, Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys in the early ’80s when their careers were starting,” Adams said. “Every artist that I worked with ... was starting out at ground zero.”

Rather than one defining moment, Adams said his career grew alongside the artists he collaborated with.

“It really is a testament to how far we have all come as a group that 30 years later, I’m still getting calls from folks that I came up with back in the day,” he said. “Now they’re whatever is beyond a megastar, and it’s a wonderful feeling.”

Art designed for the community

The Lead With Love initiative is a partnership between the Community Foundation of Broward and Business for the Arts Broward. The project aims to create nine custom murals in nine Broward communities by 2027.

Each mural is designed to reflect the history, colors and personality of the community where it is installed.

“One of the things that’s really exciting for me is that I get to create something that’s shared by the community,” Adams said.

Beyond the artwork itself, Adams said mentoring the next generation of artists has become one of the most rewarding parts of the project.

He works alongside a team of young artists from across Florida and hopes his story inspires them to pursue creative careers.

“I really want them to understand that once upon a time, I was just like them,” Adams said. “I was a young artist that didn’t have a specific path carved out. I just knew I had talent, and talent combined with support is what success looks like.”

Six of the planned murals have already been completed, with three more scheduled before the project concludes in 2027.

Click here for more information about the Lead With Love initiative or getting involved.

The state is one of the nation’s most competitive electoral battlegrounds, as the last three presidential elections firmly established. In 2026, in addition to the pivotal U.S. Senate contest, Michigan will host fiercely contested races for governor, U.S. House and the state Legislature.

Progressives scored high-profile victories in the past year with the election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s mayor and several U.S. House primaries where progressive candidates defeated longtime Democratic incumbents. While those contests all were waged on safe, heavily Democratic turf, the race to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters is expected to be a marquee matchup in the November general election, raising the stakes of Tuesday’s Democratic primary between U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and former Detroit public health official Abdul El-Sayed.

Stevens has endorsements from much of the state’s Democratic establishment, including Peters, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and state Attorney General Dana Nessel. Her notable out-of-state backers include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and South Carolina U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who recently campaigned with Stevens in heavily Democratic Detroit.

El-Sayed has endorsements from prominent progressive leaders including U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

While El-Sayed has outraised Stevens in the campaign overall, including more than doubling her fundraising haul in the first two weeks of July, the two were on roughly even footing in terms of available cash heading into the final stretch of the primary season. But Stevens has benefitted from heavy spending by outside groups, including a committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The group, the United Democracy Project, has spent more than $30 million since June in support of Stevens and against El-Sayed, according to Federal Election Commission records. AIPAC’s political operation has been active in supporting pro-Israel candidates in primaries this year, but its sizable investment in the Michigan U.S. Senate primary marks a dramatic escalation in the group’s willingness to engage in a single contest.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow’s July withdrawal from the primary has not added much clarity to the race. She has not endorsed either remaining candidate, and both campaigns are vying for her former supporters. Her name remains on the ballot.

The winner will face former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination. Rogers ran for the state’s other U.S. Senate seat in 2024 but narrowly lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin.

Wayne County, home to Detroit, is the state’s most populous county and is a major source of votes in statewide Democratic primaries. Oakland and Macomb counties in the Detroit suburbs and Grand Rapids-based Kent County are key state battlegrounds in both primaries and general elections. Washtenaw County, home of the college town of Ann Arbor where El-Sayed has taught, is heavily Democratic and wields more influence in Democratic primaries than in Republican ones.

In previous establishment-vs.-progressive statewide Democratic primaries, the progressive candidates tend to post their strongest numbers in Washtenaw and Kent counties, regardless of the statewide outcome. Sanders carried both counties decisively in his narrow win over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary and placed a close second in both in his 17-point primary loss to Joe Biden in 2020.

Wayne County has the state's highest share of Black residents, at about 37%, according to the U.S. Census. About 8% of Wayne County residents are of Arabic, Middle Eastern or North African descent, the highest share of any county in the nation.

In the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Wayne delivered for the establishment candidates. Sanders carried almost every county in 2016, but Clinton still almost won based largely on the strength of her showing in Wayne County.

In the race for governor, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican U.S. Rep. John James are the front-runners in their primaries. Benson faces Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, while James’ lone remaining opponent is wealthy businessman and former 2024 presidential candidate Perry Johnson.

A handful of Michigan congressional districts could decide control of the U.S. House. Among the most competitive is the 7th District which includes Lansing, the state capital. The three-way Democratic primary features former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, community organizer William Lawrence and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam. The winner will face freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett.

Competitive primaries are also underway to replace James in the 10th District and Stevens in the 11th District.

In the heavily Democratic 13th District anchored by Detroit, Shri Thanedar faces a tough primary challenge from state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who’s won endorsements from El-Sayed, Sanders, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Tlaib in the neighboring 12th Congressional District and several other of Thanedar’s progressive U.S. House colleagues.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 8 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Polls in most of the state are in the Eastern time zone and close at 8 p.m. ET, but some polls in the Upper Peninsula along the Wisconsin border are in Central time and close at 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, state Senate and state House.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in any party’s primary. Michigan does not register voters by party.

How many voters are there?

As of July 6, there were about 8.3 million registered voters in Michigan.

How many people actually vote?

About 934,000 Democratic primary votes and about 880,000 Republican primary votes were cast in the 2024 U.S. Senate primaries.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 63% of the vote in the 2024 state primary was cast early in-person or by mail. Michigan adopted early voting for statewide and federal races after voters approved a 2022 ballot measure expanding voting opportunities.

As of Friday, more than 1 million ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Michigan counties vary in terms of when and how they release vote results, but the first vote updates of the night across the state tend to be a mix of results from mail, early in-person and in-person Election Day voting. The most populous counties of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee and Washtenaw counties tend to release relatively few results from any vote type in the their first vote updates.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 Democratic U.S. Senate primary, the AP first reported results at 8:03 p.m. ET, or three minutes after polls closed in most of the state. The vote count surpassed the halfway mark at 12:03 a.m. ET. By 4:12 a.m. ET, about 95% of the vote had been counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Recounts in Michigan are automatic in statewide races if the vote margin is 0.1% or less of the total votes cast. There is no automatic recount in state legislative primaries. Under the state’s 2024 recount law, candidates may request and pay for a recount if they have a “good-faith belief” that there’s a “reasonable chance” they would have won the contest if not for a vote-counting error. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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

Los incendios en Spokane y sus alrededores, la segunda ciudad más grande del estado, habían quemado cerca de 31 kilómetros cuadrados (unas 12 millas cuadradas) para primeras horas del lunes y llenaron el cielo de humo y bruma. No estaban contenidos en absoluto (0%), informó Courtney James, portavoz del Departamento de Recursos Naturales del estado de Washington.

El pronóstico del tiempo para el lunes preveía temperaturas más frescas y vientos leves tras las fuertes ráfagas del domingo. No se esperaba lluvia.

Los incendios figuraban entre decenas de fuegos forestales en el oeste de Estados Unidos que pusieron al límite la capacidad de las agencias federales, estatales y locales para combatirlos.

En todo el estado se han quemado al menos 1.000 kilómetros cuadrados (390 millas cuadradas), y algunos de los incendios, incluidos los del área de Spokane, no han sido contenidos.

Nadie herido ni desaparecido por ahora

Funcionarios de bomberos y de las fuerzas del orden indicaron que no había reportes de heridos ni de personas en paradero desconocido, pero subrayaron que la operación de respuesta apenas estaba comenzando.

Las autoridades también señalaron que entre los evacuados en Spokane había pacientes del hospital de Asuntos de Veteranos de Estados Unidos.

Videos del área de Spokane mostraban edificios en llamas, humo negro elevándose cerca de vecindarios y las ruinas humeantes de viviendas, donde sólo las chimeneas seguían en pie. Varios funcionarios expresaron su preocupación porque no parece probable que el clima vaya a dar un respiro a la zona en los próximos días.

“No estamos fuera de peligro. Los próximos dos días serán difíciles”, advirtió la senadora de Estados Unidos Maria Cantwell durante una conferencia de prensa el domingo con funcionarios federales, estatales y locales en Spokane.

Los investigadores aún no habían determinado cómo comenzaron los incendios.

Funcionarios de bomberos informaron que se emitieron citaciones a dos operadores de drones que no estaban autorizados a volar durante los incendios forestales. El domingo se registraron al menos 26 “incursiones de drones” sobre los incendios, añadieron.

Pastizales en llamas en partes de Idaho, Oregon y Utah

Spokane no era, ni de lejos, el único lugar que luchaba por contener los incendios.

Cuadrillas que usaban topadoras y helicópteros continuaron por décimo día combatiendo un incendio que ha quemado casi unos 1.360 kilómetros cuadrados (525 millas cuadradas) de pastizales en el oeste de Idaho y el este de Oregon. La zona alberga ranchos ganaderos, y las autoridades dijeron que el fuego amenaza a más de 600 viviendas y 800 estructuras más.

Se esperaba que el clima en el área se mantuviera soleado —y seco— bien entrada la semana, con temperaturas que subirían a más de 32 grados Celsius (90 grados Fahrenheit) el miércoles. Las autoridades sostienen que el incendio fue provocado por un rayo.

En el centro de Utah, un enorme incendio más que duplicó su tamaño durante el fin de semana y alcanzaba casi 147 kilómetros cuadrados (57 millas cuadradas) para la mañana del lunes. Más de 100 reses han muerto, según las fuerzas del orden locales.

Las autoridades calificaron el fuego de “catastrófico”, mientras los fuertes vientos ayudaban a que las llamas saltaran las líneas de contención.

Las llamas avanzan hacia el norte en dirección a Fillmore, una localidad de unos 2.600 habitantes y sede del condado de Millard. El domingo por la noche se ordenaron evacuaciones obligatorias para la parte sur de Fillmore.

El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional emitió advertencias sobre la calidad del aire en todo el noroeste. Emitió alertas de bandera roja por riesgo de incendios para partes de Utah y Montana y el oeste de Nebraska, y avisos por calor extremo para las zonas del sur de Arizona, California y Nevada, así como el norte de Montana.

Spokane habilita un refugio para residentes afectados

Las autoridades de Spokane habilitaron un refugio en el principal centro de convenciones de la ciudad. Unas 400 personas se alojaban allí, informaron funcionarios el domingo.

Las Escuelas Públicas de Spokane abrieron el lunes un campamento gratuito de emergencia sin cita previa para niños. Los juicios en el condado de Spokane programados para esta semana se aplazaron para la semana del 10 de agosto.

Mientras tanto, varios incendios de mayor tamaño continuaban ardiendo en zonas menos pobladas al noroeste de Spokane, incluido uno a unos 129 kilómetros (80 millas) de la ciudad que ha quemado cerca de 544 kilómetros cuadrados (210 millas cuadradas). Otro incendio en el este de Oregon, unos 113 kilómetros (70 millas) al noroeste, en las montañas Stinkingwater, ha quemado cerca de 870 kilómetros cuadrados (336 millas cuadradas).

“Todo el noroeste está muy afectado en este momento”, afirmó Keila Vizcarra, portavoz del equipo federal de California que se encarga de lo que se ha denominado el incendio Big Grass en el oeste de Idaho y el este de Oregon.

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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 contest, as well as primaries for Missouri’s seven other U.S. House seats, will be the first held since Republican state lawmakers adopted a new congressional map backed by President Donald Trump that was designed to boost their party’s chances of keeping control of the chamber in November’s midterm elections.

In the St. Louis-based 1st Congressional District, freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell seeks a second term. He must first clear a strong primary challenge from his predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who was a member of the group of progressive House members known as The Squad.

Bell defeated Bush in the 2024 primary by nearly 6 percentage points with the help of about $8.6 million in outside spending from the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, which promotes U.S.-Israel relations. Bush has been a vocal critic of Israel since its response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The committee spent about $3.1 million in July against Bush and in support of Bell ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

The district is heavily Democratic. Democratic then-Vice President Kamala Harris received about 78% of the district vote in her unsuccessful 2024 presidential run against Trump.

On the other side of the state, Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is running for a 12th term on much different turf than the compact, Kansas City-based district he’s represented for more than 20 years. The Republican-controlled state Legislature’s mid-decade redistricting plan carved up heavily Democratic Kansas City among three districts and stretched what remained of Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District eastward to pick up heavily Republican areas. Cleaver is now running in a district that Trump carried with about 58% of the vote, compared with the current 5th District, which supported Harris with about 61% of the vote.

The six Republicans running to challenge Cleaver in November include former Boone County Clerk Taylor Burks, state Sen. Rick Brattin and former law professor Brett Hueffmeier. Burks led the Republican field in fundraising, more than tripling Brattin in both money raised and cash in the bank as of mid-July.

Voters will also decide the fates of four statewide ballot measures, including one that would make it harder to pass citizen-driven proposals to amend the state constitution and another that would eliminate the state income tax.

Amendment 4 would change the vote threshold required to pass voter-initiated ballot measures to amend the state constitution. Currently, only a simple statewide majority is needed to approve a constitutional amendment put on the ballot by voters. If Amendment 4 passes, a voter-initiated proposal would require a vote majority in each of the state’s congressional districts.

Amendment 5 would require the state Legislature to phase out individual income taxes in Missouri and expand sales taxes.

About half of Missouri’s 34 state Senate seats and all 163 state House seats are up for election in 2026. Republicans hold roughly 2-1 ratio majorities in both chambers.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. CT, which is 8 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. House, state auditor, state Senate and state House, as well as in four statewide ballot measures.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in any party’s primary.

How many voters are there?

As of the 2024 general election, there were 4.4 million registered voters in Missouri.

How many people actually vote?

About 586,000 Republican primary votes and about 322,000 Democratic primary votes were cast in the 2022 primaries for state auditor.

By comparison, about 698,000 Republican votes and about 379,000 Democratic votes were cast in the 2024 primaries for governor.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 12% of the vote in the 2024 state primary was cast early in person or by mail. Missouri does not have a long tradition of pre-Election Day voting. The state began allowing no-excuse early voting in the 2022 general election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Local election officials tend to release all or almost all results from mail and early in-person voting in the first vote update of the night. In roughly half of Missouri’s counties, they are released along with some results from in-person Election Day voting. But the state’s most populous jurisdictions tend to release very few in-person Election Day results in the first vote update.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 state primaries, the AP first reported results at 8:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. The vote count surpassed the halfway mark at about 10:20 p.m. ET. The last vote update of the night was at 12:26 a.m. ET, with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Missouri does not have automatic recounts, but candidates for federal, judicial and state offices, including state Legislature, may request a recount if the margin is less than 0.5% of the vote. Candidates for local offices may request a recount if the margin is less than 1% of the vote. A court may also order a recount as part of an election contest proceeding. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

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

The fires in and around Spokane, the state's second-largest city, burned about 12.5 square miles (about 32 square kilometers) by Monday morning and filled the sky with smoke and haze. They were 0% contained, Courtney James, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, said.

No major injuries or deaths were reported by Monday, though authorities were checking for missing people, said Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

“Initially, we had approximately 290 missing person reports, and at this point we have cleared all except 14,” Gregory said. “These may not all be specifically associated with the Spokane Complex Fires."

The wildfires were among dozens across the Western U.S. that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. At least 390 square miles (1,000 square kilometers) has burned across Washington.

Homes, cars, possessions lost in flames

Entire Spokane neighborhoods lost homes. Chimneys that somehow withstood heat and flames were still standing like lone sentinels, symbols of what was there just a few days earlier.

Online efforts to help people swiftly popped up as friends of fire victims posted numerous appeals for money, clothes and basic necessities. Kory and MacKensie Aspaas were away with their children when the disaster hit.

“They are coming back from being out of town to a life that’s been completely wiped out,” friend Kali Butler said.

Officials said Sunday that the evacuees in Spokane included patients at its U.S. Veterans Affairs hospital. Investigators had yet to determine how the blazes started.

The weather forecast for Monday called cooler temperatures and light winds, but no rain.

“We are not out of danger,” U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell said Sunday. “The next couple of days will be challenging.”

Grassland in flames in parts of Idaho, Oregon and Utah

Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.

Crews using bulldozers and helicopters continued for a 10th day to fight a fire that has burned nearly 525 square miles (about 1,360 square kilometers) of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon. The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.

The weather in the area was expected to remain sunny and dry well into the week, with temperatures rising to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) on Wednesday. Officials say the fire was caused by lightning.

In central Utah, a massive blaze more than doubled in size over the weekend and was nearly 57 square miles (147 square kilometers) by Monday morning. More than 100 cattle have been killed, according to local law enforcement.

Officials called the fire “catastrophic" as heavy winds helped flames jump containment lines.

The fire is moving north toward Fillmore, a town of about 2,600 people and the seat of Millard County. Mandatory evacuations were ordered Sunday evening for the southern portion of Fillmore.

The National Weather Service issued warnings about the air quality across the northwest. It issued red flag fire warnings for parts of Utah and Montana and western Nebraska, and extreme heat warnings for the southern parts of Arizona, California and Nevada and northern Montana.

Spokane sets up shelter for impacted residents

In Spokane, about 400 people were staying at city's main convention center, which was turned into a shelter, officials said.

Spokane Public Schools opened a free emergency drop-in camp for children on Monday. Trials at the county court were pushed to Aug. 10.

Meanwhile, several larger fires continued to burn in less populated areas northwest of Spokane, including one about 80 miles (129 kilometers) from the city that has burned about 210 square miles (544 square kilometers). Another fire in eastern Oregon, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) to the northwest in the Stinkingwater Mountains, has burned about 336 square miles (870 square kilometers).

“The whole northwest is heavily impacted right now,” said Keila Vizcarra, the spokesperson for the federal team from California handling what's been named the Big Grass Fire in western Idaho and eastern Oregon.

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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., and Ed White in Detroit contributed.

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Daniel Ramirez, 47, of Lubbock, Texas, posted bond on Saturday and was released early Sunday morning.

Ramirez was quick to defend his actions while walking out of jail.

“We ran into each other. I never hit her,” Ramirez said.

“But there’s video,” said Local 10’s Linnie Supall.

“What kind of video, that she was following me?” Ramirez asked.

“A video showing you shoving her to the ground,” said Supall.

“No, I never did. We ran into each other. It was an accident,” he said.

Ramirez was taken into custody on Friday at the Royal Caribbean terminal at PortMiami by officers with the Miami Police Department.

He appeared before a Miami-Dade judge on Saturday, and that hearing can be seen in the video below:

Ramirez’s arrest came several days after authorities released surveillance footage from the restaurant that they said showed Ramirez violently shoving a woman to the ground on July 26.

That victim, who works as a bartender at the Hard Rock Café, spoke to Local 10 News about the incident.

She said she observed Ramirez entering an employee-only area behind the bar and eating drink garnishes, and when she told him he couldn’t do that, he responded “B----, what do you want me to do, spit it out?” Both then left the bar area, she said.

“Immediately my heart started beating so fast,” said the woman who asked not to be identified.

According to an MPD arrest report, the bartender’s manager called her back over after Ramirez made a complaint.

“According to the victim, (Ramirez) told the manager that no woman was allowed to tell him what to do and that the victim needed to be reprimanded,” the arrest report states.

Police said the manager told the bartender to pretend like she was being reprimanded.

According to the victim, Ramirez fled after the initial confrontation in which she was shoved to the ground.

She said she began taking photos of him as he left the area, but alleges he confronted her again, knocking her to the ground a second time and causing her to lose consciousness.

“It was very, very disgusting, and I wonder how he would feel if it was done to someone in his family,” she said.

Police had been searching for Ramirez since the attack before locating him Friday at the Royal Caribbean cruise terminal at PortMiami.

The victim credited detectives for quickly identifying and locating the suspect.

“I’m really thankful that he was apprehended and arrested and that he’s sitting there thinking about his actions,” the victim said.

After posting his bond, Ramirez said he is going home to Texas.

At about 8:30 p.m., BSO deputies and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue crews responded to reports of a train that had struck a pedestrian near the intersection of North Dixie Highway and Northeast Second Street.

When crews arrived, they found a person who had been hit by a train. Investigators said the person was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives with the Broward Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene and Homicide units were notified and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.

The victim’s identity has not yet been released.

The order leaves in place a declaration — rejected by a judge as improper self-dealing — giving Trump and his family retroactive immunity for any tax audits.

Trump says new talks to wind down the war in Iran will start Monday afternoon, after announcing he's holding off on another massive wave of strikes. His comments once again brought oil prices down on hopes of reviving shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Immigration remains a stronger issue for Trump than the economy or Iran, according to a new AP-NORC poll, even after three people were killed in encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month.

Here is the latest:

Trump calls Iran ‘unbelievably duplicitous’ with regard to peace talks

Trump is venting about the status of peace talks with Iran.

He criticized Iran's leadership for claiming that its meetings with Oman on Monday were focused solely on establishing a temporary route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The president previously said he held off on a massive weekend strike against Iran because there was another framework for a ceasefire and the full reopening of the strait to oil and natural gas tankers.

“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” Trump posted on social media Monday. “They ask for a meeting, some would say “beg,” talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’”

Trump said whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking” about preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Breakneck pace in immigration courts is driving up deportation orders

The Trump administration is packing immigration courtrooms with speedier hearings to clear a decades-long backlog in asylum claims. New data shows a historic rise in missed court dates and immediate deportation orders as judges struggle to keep up the pace.

Hundreds of immigrants’ cases a day are being assigned to individual judges as the number of “mega” master hearings significantly increase. More than 1,300 were held in June alone, a nearly threefold jump from the previous June, according to Mobile Pathways, a nonprofit that tracks immigration court data.

The data also shows that courts have severely cut preparation time in complex immigration proceedings, so people are missing hearings and being told they’ve abandoned their asylum claims at unprecedented rates.

Those who favor limiting immigration see this as a course-correction for a longstanding problem. But the nonprofit’s chief operating officer says cases are being closed without being heard.

▶ Read more

GOP holdouts say they will vote to advance Blanche’s nomination for attorney general

Two Republican senators who threatened to block acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s bid to lead the Justice Department said Monday that they will vote to advance his nomination, ending an impasse over plans to create a fund to compensate the president’s allies.

The statement from Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis came after Blanche issued an order late Sunday formally rescinding the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department.

Cornyn and Tillis had said they would not support Blanche’s nomination without written confirmation that the fund is dead.

▶ Read more

Trump stands to profit off US policy announcements by selling fast access to his social media posts

The president knows the world hangs on his every word. Now he wants you to pay for it.

Trump’s Truth Social business began selling sneak peeks of his social media posts on Saturday, offering early access to market-moving news to Wall Street traders willing to pay up. The move raises the prospect of big profits for Trump’s company, and big questions about insider trading and using public office for private gain.

Similar fast-speed feeds are sold by other social media firms and media providers, but Truth Social doesn’t just distribute the news, it makes it as Trump announces changes on everything from war to central bank leadership to tariffs.

“If this was the CEO of a public company, this would be jail time,” said Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading.

Initial sales details may be disclosed when Truth Social’s parent company announces quarterly earnings.

▶ Read more

Democrats’ future is at stake as El-Sayed and Stevens make final push in Michigan

Tuesday’s Senate primary in Michigan between congresswoman Haley Stevens and public health official Abdul El-Sayed is one of the clearest tests yet of where Democratic voters want their party to go.

El-Sayed is a progressive backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders who’s run against much of the Democratic establishment. Stevens is backed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and has made electability and experience central to her case.

The winner faces Republican Mike Rogers in November for an open seat Democrats likely need to hold to take control of the Senate next year.

▶ Read more

Trump decries negative public polling and claims he’s never been more popular

The U.S. president said on social media that independent surveys showing low approval ratings are false — denying a clear trend of lower support for Trump because of inflation and the Iran war, among other issues.

“My REAL Polling Numbers, not those made up by the Fake News Media, are the best they have ever been,” Trump asserted, providing no data to back up his claim.

The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump. That survey from late July also showed a drop since the start of Trump’s second term in adults who “strongly approve” of him.

Contrary to the evidence of multiple surveys, Trump said his popularity is based on his income tax cuts, his job numbers, his efforts to secure the U.S. border with Mexico and his use of American military force in Venezuela and Iran.

Trump going to Los Angeles on Tuesday and speak in Las Vegas on Wednesday

The White House said the president will go to California and Nevada to talk up the economy and border security and slam Democrats ahead of the November elections.

Trump on Tuesday will attend a Republican National Committee dinner at the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, the president is slated to talk about the economy at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas.

Falling oil prices help calm Wall Street’s inflation worries, while chip stocks get back to sinking

Oil prices are easing and helping to calm Wall Street’s worries that inflation could potentially get even worse. That has U.S. stock indexes rising early Monday, but several major chip stocks are falling again including Micron and AMD.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 625 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. The price of a barrel of Brent crude fell 5.1% to $83.42 after Trump said over the weekend he would hold off on ordering new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region. Treasury yields fell.

▶ Read more

Trump overhaul could gut Head Start preschool quality standards

The Trump administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of Head Start that would gut its quality standards, two people familiar with the deliberations said.

Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard for early education. It has more than 100 pages of regulations that cover everything from child-to-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.

The Republicans would replace these with around a dozen pages of rules that leave most specifics to state and local law, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is not yet public and they feared reprisal.

The draft rules would require more documentation from homeless or unemployed parents, and an early version would have barred even the U.S. citizen children of parents who are in the United States illegally.

▶ Read more

US dollar weakens sharply against Japanese yen after Trump intervenes in market

The U.S. dollar weakened sharply against the Japanese yen on Monday after Trump and Japan’s finance minister confirmed that both sides had intervened in markets.

The yen’s prolonged weakness against the dollar has been a source of frustration for Tokyo. Since Japan imports so much of what it consumes, a weak currency pushes prices higher. High oil prices have amplified pressure on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to do more to address the rising cost of living.

Normally, foreign exchange markets determine the relative values of currencies, and officials usually stay mum on any interventions, but Trump confirmed it on Sunday.

A weaker dollar makes U.S.-made goods more competitive. Analysts are describing the intervention as a “low-cost” way for Washington to pay a favor to a key U.S. ally.

▶ Read more

Blanche order keeps Trump’s ‘self-dealing’ immunity for any past tax audits

The document released by Blanche on Sunday night keeps a provision of the IRS settlement that provided broad tax-audit immunity for Trump and family, while limiting its scope.

It clarifies that the immunity “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the settlement, and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

On Friday, Trump’s attorneys notified a court they would appeal a judge’s scathing ruling that characterized the settlement of the president’s lawsuit against the IRS as an improper exercise in self-dealing.

The judge said that because Trump manipulated the court system by suing an agency he controls, the government cannot claim in official proceedings that the agreement resulted from a legitimate legal process.

Trump says talks on Iran war will begin on Monday after he holds off on ‘massive’ strikes

Trump said new talks to wind down the war in Iran and revive traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will start Monday afternoon, after announcing he is holding off on new massive strikes he had threatened to unleash on the country. Iranian state media, however, quoted the country’s foreign ministry as saying Tehran was not currently holding negotiations with the United States.

Israel struck the Gaza Strip again over the weekend, after the U.S. and Hamas said a deal was reached for the militant group to disarm, a potential step toward ending the war in Gaza that depends on Israel stopping its attacks. The Israeli military said the strikes targeted militant operatives.

Hospitals in Gaza said at least 17 people were killed, including children. A strike on one residential apartment killed three family members including a 4-year-old child, according to Nasser hospital, where the bodies arrived.

▶ Read more

Why immigration remains strong for Trump among Republicans, according to a new AP-NORC poll

Immigration remains a stronger issue for Trump than the economy or Iran, according to a new AP-NORC poll, even after three people were killed in encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in July.

Trump is not getting a glowing endorsement on his immigration approach from Americans overall, the new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found: Only 39% of U.S. adults approve of his performance on immigration, a decline from 49% at the beginning of his second term.

Despite that, about 8 in 10 Republicans continue to approve of how Trump is handling immigration. That’s a slight decline from the beginning of Trump’s second term, when about 9 in 10 Republicans approved, but his support within his base has been mostly stable despite a chaotic year of immigration enforcement actions.

▶ Read more

Iran déjà vu: Trump once again threatens massive escalation against Tehran only to walk back

Trump has played this hand before during the 5-month-old Iran war.

It starts with a grim warning to Tehran that he’s on the cusp of ordering U.S. forces to “obliterate” its power plants or seize key parts of its oil industry if its leaders don’t quickly agree to U.S. terms to end the war. It ends with him edging away with a last-minute declaration, sometimes at the behest of Gulf allies, that he’s going to give diplomacy more time.

The hardball strategy aims to create movement in negotiation through pressure and chaos. But the tactic is facing a challenge with an Iranian theocracy that believes it holds a higher threshold for strategic pain than Washington.

The latest episode began on Friday when Trump grimly declared that he was “losing faith” in negotiations with Iran and warned that the U.S. military “ will be hitting them very hard.”

But by late Saturday night, Trump declared on social media that there were signs of progress on reaching an agreement and so he was calling off a plan to carry out new, massive strikes for the time being.

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Blanche rescinds fund for Trump allies after GOP senators threaten to block his attorney general bid

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche finally put it in writing, issuing a formal order late Sunday terminating Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate his political allies. The move follows weeks of negotiations with two Republican senators who were blocking his nomination for the permanent job.

A spokeswoman for Texas Sen. John Cornyn confirmed the deal, which comes ahead of a Tuesday confirmation vote for Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The other GOP senator, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, did not have immediate comment.

Blanche said at a June hearing that the Justice Department would not move forward with the fund to compensate those who believe they were unfairly prosecuted, as he faced bipartisan outrage over the possibility that violent rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be considered for payments. But Cornyn and Tillis, both members of the Judiciary panel, have said they wanted to see the promise in writing before they endorsed Blanche’s nomination — especially as Trump continued to express support for the idea.

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is running for reelection for the 3rd Congressional District seat she first won narrowly in 2022. A former auto shop co-owner, she is the best-known and best-funded of the four Democrats on the ballot. She also faces challenges from three Republicans, including state Senate Minority Leader John Braun, who has a key endorsement from President Donald Trump. The southwest Washington district is expected to be a key U.S. House battleground this fall.

Washington state has a top-two primary system in which all candidates compete on the same ballot and the two highest vote-getters regardless of party advance to the general election.

The 3rd Congressional District borders Oregon to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Trump received 50.3% of the vote from 3rd District voters in 2024, besting the 47% Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris received. Gluesenkamp Perez received 50.1% of the vote in the 2022 general election and about 52% in 2024.

Incumbents are running for reelection in nine of the state’s 10 congressional districts. The exception is the 4th Congressional District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse is retiring after six terms. Newhouse was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

Eleven candidates are running to replace him, including Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney and entrepreneur and former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler, both Republicans. Trump endorsed McKinney in January on the five-year anniversary of the insurrection. He previously endorsed Sessler’s unsuccessful bid to unseat Newhouse in 2024. Trump received 59% of the 4th District vote in the presidential election that year.

About half of Washington’s 49 state Senate seats and all 98 state House seats are up in 2026. Democrats currently control about 60% of seats in each chamber.

Three of Washington’s nine state Supreme Court justices are on Tuesday’s ballot, including Chief Justice Debra Stephens. A fourth seat is open. Although state Supreme Court seats are nonpartisan, liberals hold a majority and the ideological balance of the court is not at stake.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

In-person voting centers close at 8 p.m. PT, which is 11 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. House, state Senate, state House and state Supreme Court.

Who gets to vote?

Any eligible voter may participate in the state’s top-two primary system.

How many voters are there?

As of July 1, there were about 5.1 million registered voters in Washington.

How many people actually vote?

About 2 million votes were cast in the 2024 all-party primary for governor. That was slightly higher than the roughly 1.9 million votes cast in the 2022 all-party U.S. Senate primary.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

Washington conducts its elections almost entirely by mail, and very few voters cast their votes in person. In the 2024 state primary, about 58.5% of voters delivered their ballots to a drop box, while about 41.3% sent their ballots through the mail.

As of Thursday, about 699,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

The first vote updates of the night tend to include mostly results from mail voting with relatively few results from early in-person or in-person Election Day voting. A handful of counties, including two of the more populous in the state, Spokane and Clark, often release the bulk of their absentee results in their first vote update, but most counties roll them out over the course of the night.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 state primary, the AP first reported results at 11:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:43 p.m. ET, with about 51% of total votes counted. The vote count surpassed the 75% mark on the Thursday following the election at 7:56 p.m. ET and reached about 95% of the total vote six days after the election at 7:24 p.m. ET.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Machine recounts in Washington state are automatic if the vote margin between the top two candidates is less than 2,000 votes and less than 0.5% of the total votes cast for both candidates. Manual recounts are required for statewide contests if the margin is less than 1,000 votes and less than 0.25% of the total votes cast for both candidates. For all other races, manual recounts are required when the margin is less than 150 votes and less than 0.25% of the total votes cast for both candidates. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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

According to the Coast Guard, Dustin Southwick was initially seen around 8 a.m. Saturday on his rental boat in Marathon.

Officials said Southwick was later seen aboard the rental boat, identified as the Mauney Marine, near the 33rd Street boat ramp around noon.

Search crews from the U.S. Coast Guard in Marathon are continuing efforts to locate him.

Anyone with information about Southwick’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Coast Guard Sector Key West.

The Slovenian rider’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team announced its lineup for the three-week race on Monday, confirming Pogačar will take part after claiming a record-equaling fifth Tour de France crown last month.

“It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience,” Pogačar said. “Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back.”

Exclusive clubs

Pogačar joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain, and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders with five Tour de France titles to their names.

Unlike male riders including Hinault, Anquetil, Merckx and Jonas Vingegaard, however, Pogacar has not won the Spanish Vuelta for a hat trick of Grand Tours wins.

Pogačar, who won the Giro d’Italia in 2024 by a big margin, is also bidding to become just the fourth male rider to win the Vuelta and Tour de France in the same year after Anquetil, Hinault and Chris Froome.

Spanish Vuelta

The 81st Vuelta starts on Aug. 22 with an individual time trial in Monaco – where Pogačar lives – before making its way through France and Andorra to Spain. It concludes in Granada on Sept. 13 after nearly 3,300 kilometers of racing.

The 27-year-old Pogačar won three stages when he finished third on his last and only appearance so far at the Vuelta.

“Joining Pogačar are João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak and Ivo Oliveira,” UAE Team Emirates-XRG said.

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

It can play a part in helping America break the chokehold China has on processing critical minerals, but it will take up to a year and a half to build a new factory as the Trump administration pushes to expand domestic production. The company, Phoenix Tailings, recently got a $500 million loan from the Pentagon to ramp up its work, after starting out eight years ago as a backyard lab seeking a cleaner metal-refining method. It's just the latest critical minerals company the government has backed.

The task that workers carry out in heat-resistant suits and sealed face masks has become more urgent as the Iran conflict draws down key munitions such as Tomahawk cruise missiles and THAAD interceptors. While the White House is demanding military contractors speed up production, it’s also imposing stricter rules banning them from sourcing critical minerals from China.

“It will be a tall order and a challenge to replenish these stocks and scale up in the timeframe needed to meet defense demand and regulations,” said Anthony Balladon, chief commercial officer and a co-founder of Phoenix Tailings. He said the company is working hard to boost capacity.

Although the U.S. is quickening its pace to build domestic supplies of critical minerals free of control from its most formidable rival, it will likely take years for companies across the industry to build new mines and boost production of the high-powered magnets essential in many high-tech applications. Extracting some of the hard-to-pronounce elements from existing mine waste can help satisfy the growing demand in the meantime, but it will likely take several companies to do that.

Critical minerals industry has big plans, but it will take time to ramp up

Phoenix Tailings taps waste from traditional mining as well as recycled magnets and disk drives as raw materials, working to counter China in processing where it has the strongest hold on the supply chain.

The company based in the Boston-area city of Woburn, Massachusetts, plans to build a bigger facility to extract and produce critical metals needed in not only defense but also the aerospace and automotive industries.

“We call it the freedom facility because, ultimately, the purpose of this is to ensure that the entire Western Hemisphere, the United States and its allies are free of Chinese influence within the rare-earth space,” Balladon said.

On a recent afternoon, two technicians in heat-resistant hazmat suits were operating an apparatus of cylinders, tubes, funnels and control panels set up on a platform with bright yellow railings. A chemical process involving electricity removes oxygen and turns the material into a grayish metal that can be used to make the extremely strong permanent magnets used in fighter jets, missiles, radar systems and drones.

The metals that Phoenix Tailings refines and other critical minerals play “an outsized role” in defense systems, Balladon said. A $150 million weapons system won’t work if it's missing critical minerals that may be worth only $20,000 to $30,000, he said.

The defense sector is particularly reliant on the metal samarium and needs 50 to 100 tons each year, but U.S. capacity is very limited, he said.

Phoenix Tailings is among the few companies capable of producing the final metal, according to Balladon, but its capacity is only about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) a year. He said the company will scale up to about 5 tons in the next three months but that it will be next year or 2028 before it reaches its goal of 120-ton capacity.

Another US magnet maker looks to France for raw materials

Arnold Magnetic Technologies for years relied on China for samarium to produce the extremely strong, stable-in-high-temperatures magnet that goes into precision-guided missiles such as Tomahawks.

That doesn’t work anymore. For Arnold, the solution to getting the critical minerals it needs has come from a relic of Europe’s past rare-earth industry — abandoned mining dirt in the French city of La Rochelle.

Solvay, a Belgium-headquartered chemical company, stopped separating and processing rare earths from the mined dirt in the 2000s. That was when China was building up most of the world’s processing capacity with a determination to dominate the industry.

China weaponized that near-monopoly last year by choking off its flow of processed critical materials and forcing the U.S. government to back off during a trade war. Solvay then restarted work and has added other rare earths this year, including samarium.

“This ramp‑up is driven by several factors: rapidly growing demand for permanent magnets, increased geopolitical focus on supply chain security, and strong customer demand in Europe and the United States for more diversified, resilient and traceable sources of supply,” a Solvay spokesperson said.

For Arnold Magnetic Technologies, paying more to get its supply from Solvay instead of China has not been a deal-breaker, because the samarium-cobalt magnets it makes account for only a small cost in a weapon system, said Matt Blake, Arnold's CEO.

“They are not the absolute cost drivers,” he said.

Plus, the company says the surge in demand for magnets has worked in its favor.

Some concerns remain. The U.S. is dependent on imports of the critical mineral tungsten, with China controlling roughly 80% of the global mine supply and an even larger share of processing, according to Brodie Sutherland, CEO of Patriot Critical Minerals Corp.

Sutherland, whose company seeks to explore and mine tungsten in the U.S., is concerned that America will not be able to get by without China-sourced tungsten after a Pentagon-imposed deadline of Jan. 1, 2027.

Efforts to ramp up U.S. production will take years, he said, and in the meantime, the Pentagon and its defense contractors will need to rely on existing inventories, expanded recycling and limited non-China sources.

The Iran war and Trump's China order create pressure and opportunity

The need to increase production has become more urgent as renewed fighting with Iran digs into the U.S. military’s already diminished stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors, including Patriots and THAADs, according to a recent analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

It also has raised concerns that the military would have diminished firepower in any potential future conflict with China. CSIS warned in May that it could take at least three years to replenish stockpiles of Tomahawks, Patriots and THAADs, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors.

At the same time, President Donald Trump has announced stricter controls on defense contractors sourcing critical materials from China.

“It is the policy of the United States that not only the finished equipment deployed by our military, but also the critical materials and components necessary to manufacture, maintain, sustain, and repair that equipment, are sourced domestically or from allied nations,” the July 20 executive order says.

Lockheed Martin, which makes THAADs and many other weapons systems, said “we continuously assess the global rare earth supply chain to ensure access to critical materials that support our customers’ missions.” Several other major U.S. defense contractors, including Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Balladon, of Phoenix Tailings, was confident in U.S. companies.

“Ultimately, with the right support and partners across the industry, we think we can make it happen,” he said.

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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.

La sequía persistente y sucesivas olas de calor extremo han privado de agua a uno de los ríos más grandes de Europa, lo que llevó el lunes los niveles del Danubio en la capital de Hungría, Budapest, a alrededor de 10 centímetros (4 pulgadas), muy por debajo del anterior mínimo histórico de 33 centímetros (13 pulgadas) registrado en 2018.

No se espera que los niveles de agua aumenten en el Danubio en los próximos días, ni siquiera semanas, ya que no se pronostican lluvias significativas y, mientras una nueva ola de calor extremo se cierne sobre la región con máximas diurnas que superan los 38 grados Celsius (100 grados Fahrenheit), el consumo de electricidad y agua va en aumento.

La central nuclear de Paks, en Hungría, al borde del cierre

Los niveles récord del Danubio han dejado a la única central nuclear de Hungría —la planta de Paks, construida en la era soviética y con cuatro reactores— al borde de apagarse por completo por primera vez en sus 44 años de servicio.

La planta de Paks, que utiliza agua del Danubio para enfriar sus reactores, apenas producía el lunes 240 megavatios de energía en lugar de los 2.000 habituales, debido a reducciones sucesivas en la potencia de sus cuatro reactores.

En un video publicado en Facebook el lunes, el primer ministro húngaro, Péter Magyar, indicó que los ingenieros habían logrado mantener en funcionamiento temporalmente la última turbina operativa de la planta, evitando un cierre previsto para el fin de semana. Un apagado total probablemente ocurrirá recién el martes o el miércoles, señaló Magyar.

“Esto es una muy buena noticia, porque el cierre completo de la central de Paks todavía puede evitarse, al menos temporalmente, en uno de los días de mayor consumo”, indicó Magyar.

La planta de Paks, ubicada a unos 90 kilómetros (55 millas) al sur de Budapest, representa casi la mitad de la producción eléctrica de Hungría y alrededor de un tercio de su consumo. Hungría ha recurrido a importaciones regionales de electricidad, así como a fuentes renovables, para intentar compensar el déficit de la planta de Paks.

El gobierno de Hungría pidió la semana pasada a los principales usuarios industriales que redujeran su consumo de electricidad y solicitó ahorros voluntarios a los hogares para conservar el suministro, especialmente durante las horas de máxima demanda entre las 5 y las 10 de la tarde.

También anunció que los trenes de carga impulsados por electricidad no tendrían permitido circular durante las horas pico a partir del lunes, con el fin de ahorrar un estimado de 70 a 90 megavatios-hora de electricidad por día.

Aunque las medidas de ahorro fueron inicialmente voluntarias, el gobierno de Magyar emitió el sábado un decreto que permite que se vuelvan obligatorias para grandes consumidores industriales o comerciales.

Magyar dijo el lunes que la campaña de ahorro había resultado en que el día anterior se usaran 700 megavatios menos de electricidad, y dio las gracias a los húngaros por sus esfuerzos.

Serbia y Rumania lidian con los bajos niveles del Danubio

Mientras tanto, las plantas en países vecinos también han registrado caídas drásticas en la generación de energía, que se suman a interrupciones en el transporte fluvial y en la agricultura.

Las fuerzas armadas de Rumania utilizaron el lunes 180 kilogramos (397 libras) de explosivos para volar roca cerca del canal Bala, en el bajo Danubio, en un esfuerzo por redirigir agua hacia el cauce principal del río y en dirección a la central nuclear de Cernavoda, de propiedad estatal.

El caudal del Danubio ha caído a 1.500 metros cúbicos por segundo en Rumania, menos de un tercio de su promedio de julio. Las autoridades ya han apagado una unidad de reactor en la planta de Cernavoda, que está operando a aproximadamente la mitad de su capacidad normal.

El primer ministro interino, Ilie Bolojan, anunció el viernes un estado de alerta a nivel nacional en el sector energético y advirtió que los bajos niveles de agua del Danubio amenazaban con el cierre del segundo reactor de Cernavoda. Pidió a los ciudadanos que limitaran voluntariamente el uso de electricidad durante las horas pico de la tarde-noche.

En Serbia, la principal central hidroeléctrica del país opera a apenas el 20% de su capacidad debido al mínimo récord de agua en el Danubio, lo que llevó al primer ministro Djuro Macut a encabezar una reunión de emergencia el lunes centrada en los problemas energéticos.

Macut instó a los residentes a “minimizar el uso de grandes consumidores de electricidad en sus hogares, como los aires acondicionados”. Describió la situación en un comunicado a última hora del domingo como “grave y exigente”.

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Los periodistas de The Associated Press Jovana Gec en Belgrado, Serbia, y Stephen McGrath en Leamington Spa, Inglaterra, contribuyeron a este despacho.

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

Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard early learning program. Its regulations, which stretch more than 100 pages, outline requirements on everything from child-to-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.

Trump's Republican administration would replace those regulations with around a dozen pages of rules, leaving most of the specifics up to state and local law, said the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not yet public and because they feared reprisal.

In a post on X on Saturday night, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, said to expect a rule to be published this week. The administration “remains committed to strengthening Head Start by preserving federal investment in the program while advancing reforms that expand access, increase local flexibility, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and ensure services are delivered effectively to children and families in need," department spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Monday in an email.

The draft rules would require more documentation from parents who are homeless or unemployed, the people familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press. An early version of the proposal also would have barred parents who are in the United States illegally from enrolling their children, even if the children are U.S. citizens. It's unclear whether those provisions will make the final draft.

Head Start, which operates in all 50 states, has long enjoyed robust bipartisan support. But some prominent conservatives in recent years have called for its elimination, saying the federal government should get out of the education business at every level. Deregulating the program would deliver a win for them and aligns with the Trump administration's goals of scrapping rules it views as onerous or unnecessary.

Head Start is designed to target poverty, experts say

Head Start serves more than half a million low-income babies, toddlers and preschoolers nationwide. For families that qualify, it offers free preschool and screenings to identify developmental delays. It also offers supports for families.

If the changes take effect, they could make Head Start unrecognizable, said Khari Garvin, who ran the Office of Head Start under President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

“We'd have the carcass of Head Start,” Garvin said. “You might have a program that's called Head Start, but in substance it will not be.”

The proposed rules were originally reported in The Bulwark.

Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, said the organization has yet to see the proposed rules. But he said the potential for a massive overhaul has left the organization on edge.

“We're very anxious,” Sheridan said. “When it does come out ... we’ll be ready to fight back where we need to fight back.”

Still, he emphasized that Head Start centers might not be impacted for months, if the rules get on the books at all. Once the proposal is made public, federal law requires the administration to give at least a month for the public to weigh in on it. Then, once finalized, it may take more time for the rules to take effect. There's also the potential for a lawsuit to halt implementation.

Current rules cover dental screenings and staff-to-student ratios

Head Start was created as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and targets the myriad challenges that low-income households face. It serves children and adults alike, coaching parents on reaching their goals, connecting them with services and even employing them.

Head Start operators, which include school districts and nonprofit organizations, are required to provide medical, dental and vision screenings for children and to monitor them for developmental delays. There's also a curriculum framework and prohibitions on physical and emotional abuse of children.

Many of the features that make Head Start distinct from mainstream preschools are spelled out in 122 pages of performance standards. The Trump administration's proposal would toss most of that rule book and replace it with a much shorter version that eliminates or loosens many requirements, the people familiar with the proposal said. But the proposal also calls for some new regulations, such as requiring all instruction in English.

Requirements around staff-to-student ratios and safety standards would be erased. Operators instead would be instructed to follow local and state laws, which are often far more permissive. And the new proposal also says nothing about suspensions and expulsions, the people said, making it easier for programs to kick out kids with disabilities who are difficult to educate.

Head Start is under threat

Head Start, which has enjoyed robust bipartisan support for decades, has faced several threats since Trump took office last year. Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint authored by the official who is now Trump's budget chief, called for the federal government to get rid of the program altogether. Last year, in a draft budget, the administration proposed exactly that, saying: “The federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations, and performance standards for any form of education.” After public outcry, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department oversees Head Start, told Congress the program's funding was safe.

Funding for the program was disrupted not long after Trump took office, leading some programs to have to shutter temporarily. It was once again halted after a government shutdown in October that led some centers briefly to close their doors.

Earlier this year, Trump officials also erased a Biden-era rule that mandated raises and greater benefits for Head Start employees. When the rule went in to effect in 2024, Head Start teachers, the majority of whom have bachelor's degrees, earned less than $40,000 a year on average.

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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed reporting.

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

Persistent drought and successive extreme heat waves have deprived one of Europe's largest rivers of water, pushing the Danube's levels in Hungary's capital Budapest to around 10 centimeters (4 inches) on Monday, well below the previous all-time low of 33 centimeters (13 inches) set in 2018.

Water levels are not expected to rise on the Danube in the coming days or even weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast, and as a renewed extreme heat wave bears down on the region with daytime highs topping 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit), electricity and water use are on the rise.

Hungary's Paks nuclear plant on brink of shutdown

The Danube's record low levels have pushed Hungary's only nuclear power plant, the Soviet-built, four-reactor plant at Paks, to the brink of powering down entirely for the first time in its 44 years in service.

The Paks plant, which uses water from the Danube to cool its reactors, on Monday was producing only 240 megawatts of power rather than the usual 2,000. In video posted to Facebook on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said engineers had managed to keep the plant’s final operating turbine temporarily running, averting an expected shutdown on the weekend.

“This is very good news, because the complete shutdown of the Paks power plant can still be avoided, at least temporarily, on one of the biggest consumption days,” he said, adding that a full power-down was likely on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Paks plant, located around 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Budapest, accounts for nearly half of Hungary’s electricity production and around a third of its consumption. Hungary has relied on regional electricity imports as well as renewable sources to try to make up for the deficit from the Paks plant.

Hungary’s government last week asked major industrial users to curb their electricity consumption and sought voluntary savings from households in order to conserve supply, particularly in peak demand hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.

It also announced that electric-powered freight trains would not be permitted to run during peak hours beginning on Monday in order to conserve an estimated 70 to 90 megawatt-hours of electricity per day.

While conservation measures were initially voluntary, Magyar’s government on Saturday issued a decree allowing for them to be made mandatory for large industrial or commercial consumers.

He said Monday that the conservation push had resulted in 700 fewer megawatts of electricity being used the previous day, and thanked Hungarians for their efforts.

Serbia and Romania grapple with low Danube levels

Meanwhile, plants in neighboring countries have also seen dramatic drops in power generation, as well as disruptions to shipping and agriculture.

Romania’s military on Monday used 180 kilograms (397 pounds) of explosives to blast rock near the Danube’s Bala Canal in order to redirect water into the river’s main channel and toward the state-owned Cernavoda nuclear power plant.

The Danube's water flow has fallen to 1,500 cubic meters per second in Romania, less than a third of its July average. Authorities have already shut down one reactor unit at the Cernavoda plant, which is operating at about half its normal capacity.

Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced a nationwide state of alert in the energy sector on Friday, and warned that the Danube’s low water levels threatened the shutdown of Cernavoda’s second reactor. He appealed to citizens to voluntarily limit electricity usage in peak evening hours.

After meeting with major industrial consumers on Monday, Bolojan said carmakers Dacia and Ford had gone into maintenance and halted auto production until Aug. 19, while other companies agreed to reduce their energy usage during peak hours.

In Serbia, record-low Danube levels have pushed the country’s key hydroelectric plant to operate with only 20% of its capacity, prompting Prime Minister Djuro Macut to preside over an emergency meeting on Monday focusing on energy problems.

Macut appealed to residents to “minimize the use of big consumers of electricity in their homes, such as air conditioners.” He described the situation in a statement late on Sunday as “serious and demanding.”

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Associated Press writers Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, contributed to this report.

Grande had been due to star alongside her “Wicked” co-star Jonathan Bailey in a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park With George” at the Barbican theater in 2027.

Empire Street Productions said Sunday that Grande will no longer be part of the London production. A representative for Grande told People magazine that the 33-year-old singer “will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour.”

“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” the statement said. A representative for Grande did not offer further comment to The Associated Press.

With Grande’s recent breakup from “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater, the ongoing tour and last week’s release of the album “Petal,” attention has swelled, fueling rampant speculation online about her health and appearance. Grande has previously expressed discomfort with public discourse around her weight.

“I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what,” she said in a 2023 TikTok video.

Late last year, while promoting “Wicked: For Good,” she reshared a 2024 interview in which she said it was uncomfortable having being picked apart for her appearance since she was a teenager. In the December social media post, she called the clip a “loving reminder to all.”

Grande found fame as a child performer on Nickelodeon before releasing her debut album, “Yours Truly,” in 2013. She has won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for her role as Glinda in “Wicked.”

Grande's next concert is Monday in Chicago. Her tour is due to wrap up in London on Sept. 1.

“We know this cannot have been an easy decision, and she makes it with our complete understanding and support,” Empire Street Productions said. The company said “Sunday in the Park With George” will open next summer as planned, and that casting would be announced “in due course.”

Talks between the U.S. and Iran are critical to ending the monthslong conflict and reviving stalled cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed before the war.

But Iran’s foreign ministry said it's focused on negotiations with Oman, not the U.S., prompting Trump to criticize the country’s leadership, which has grown increasingly divided over the war’s endgame.

Trump, who has made a habit of threatening strikes on Iran only to dangle the prospect of a last-minute diplomatic reprieve, said Monday that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking."

Elsewhere, Israel struck the Gaza Strip over the weekend, days after the U.S. and Hamas said a deal was reached for the militant group to disarm, a potential step toward ending the war in Gaza.

Hospitals in Gaza said at least 17 people were killed in the weekend strikes, including children. A strike on a residential apartment in southern Gaza killed three family members, including a 4-year-old child, according to Nasser hospital, where the bodies arrived.

The Israeli military said the strikes targeted militants.

Here is a look at the most important developments Monday in the Middle East.

Trump announces renewed talks

Trump said Sunday that he decided against carrying out major strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He said a plan was in place for U.S. forces to carry out “the biggest attack since World War II,” but he decided to give diplomacy more time after hearing from key Gulf leaders and fielding requests from unnamed Iranian officials. He did not provide further details or say who would be involved in the talks.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry maintained that the country was not currently holding negotiations with the United States.

Esmail Baghaei, an agency spokesperson, said Monday that ongoing talks were with Oman, the country on the other side of the strait, and were focused only on establishing a temporary route for safe navigation through the channel.

Nine vessels transited through the strait Sunday, most of them using an Iranian-controlled route, according to trade data and analytics platform Kpler.

Trump voiced frustration at Iran's public posturing.

“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” the U.S. president vented on Truth Social, his social media platform. “They ask for a meeting, some would say “beg,” talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’”

Iran's top delegates head to Iraq and Pakistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived Monday in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to participate in the Arbaeen commemorations, an annual pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims, his office said on social media.

Araghchi’s trip comes as Iraq has been walking a tightrope between Iran and the U.S., an act that has only grown more fraught since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in February.

Meanwhile the country's trade minister headed Monday to Pakistan for an official visit expected to focus in part on ways to ease transit bottlenecks and move more Iranian containers through Pakistani ports during the U.S. naval blockade.

Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Atabak was scheduled to attend a meeting of the Iran-Pakistan Joint Trade Committee in Islamabad and to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the two-day trip.

Syrian and Iraqi leaders discuss security concerns

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Iraq’s Kurdish regional president met Monday to discuss ways of improving mutual cooperation and contributing to regional security.

The meeting between al-Sharaa and Nechirvan Barzani came amid regional tensions as Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups carried out multiple drone strikes targeting American interests across Iraq, including the country’s Kurdish region.

Syrian state media reported last month that authorities at the country’s border with Iraq thwarted an attempt in June to smuggle weapons believed to have been headed to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Hezbollah denied the charges.

Iran executes 2 men it says spied for Israel

Iran’s judiciary said it executed two men Monday after convicting them of spying for Israel during both last year’s 12-day war and the ongoing conflict.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the two as Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, who were accused of providing military coordinates, images and other intelligence used in attacks on Iranian targets. The agency did not specify where the executions took place.

Last week, Iran publicly hanged two men convicted of killing four police officers during nationwide anti-government protests in January.

Gaza residents swelter in tents

Soaring temperatures in Gaza this summer have turned the makeshift tents sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians into suffocating ovens. Made of plastic sheets, the shelters trap heat during the day and offer little ventilation, forcing many families to spend hours outside.

The extreme weather compounds an already dire humanitarian crisis. With limited access to clean water, electricity and sanitation, overcrowded camps are grappling with flies, mosquitoes and other insects. Humanitarian agencies such as the Norwegian Refugee Council warn that the conditions heighten the risk of dehydration, heat-related illnesses and the spread of skin infections, diarrheal diseases and other communicable illnesses.

“It’s very hot. We can’t stay inside the tents. Our tent is made of nylon,” said Aida Abu Hadeesha, a woman displaced from the town of Rafah, near the border with Egypt. “There is no breeze, nothing, and our kids are suffering," she said, adding that the stifling heat continues at night. "The flies and the cockroaches attack us.”

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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press reporters Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

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Meanwhile, six people were killed by Ukrainian drone debris in Arkhipo-Osipovka, a small town on Russia’s Black Sea coast in the Krasnodar region, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said, adding that 40 others were wounded.

Three other people were killed and two were wounded in Ukraine's overnight attack on the illegally annexed Crimea, said the peninsula’s Russian-installed head, Sergei Aksyonov. He gave no details.

Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Zelenskyy outlines Ukraine's war strategy

Ukraine’s innovative long-range drone technology developed during the war has enabled Kyiv to sign military cooperation agreements with nine countries, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.

Under the deals, Ukraine receives long-term funding for its defense industry while partner countries get new defense capabilities, he said, adding that agreements with 15 other countries are being negotiated.

Ukraine is using its long-range strike drones to hit targets deep inside Russia in an effort to push Russian President Vladimir Putin into seeking a peace settlement, Zelenskyy said in a speech to Ukrainian diplomats.

“We will work very hard to make that happen this fall,” he said.

Ukraine wants countries to adopt heavier international sanctions on Moscow, but existing sanctions also need tightening to prevent Russian companies from exploiting loopholes, he said.

Zelenskyy also announced he is appointing Rustem Umerov, who has been involved in U.S. diplomatic efforts to stop the war, as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Russia's glide bombs are big and hard to stop

Russia has used glide bombs against Ukrainian towns and cities since it invaded its neighbor more than four years ago. The Soviet-era bombs are retrofitted with guidance systems and can carry up to 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) of explosives, leaving huge craters. Ukraine has no effective countermeasures.

The Sunday evening onslaught on Zaporizhzhia killed a 71-year-old woman and wounded 31 people, including a 16-year-old girl, as the glide bombs damaged 22 apartment buildings in four districts of the city, Fedorov said.

While Moscow’s forces have captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and hold other parts of the region, its capital city of the same name remains in Ukrainian hands. It is one of the four regions, along with Donetsk, Kherson and Luhansk, that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 even though its forces do not completely control them.

Other large-scale damage of civilian areas has resulted from Russian ballistic missiles, and late Sunday Zelenskyy made another urgent plea for countries to send Ukraine more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.

Only Patriot interceptors can reliably stop ballistic missiles, but they are in short supply due to the Iran war.

“The United States knows what we need. Europe knows what we need. Anti-ballistic missiles must protect people — not sit in stockpiles," Zelenskyy said on social media.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week appeared to back off from his earlier commitment to give Ukraine a license to make Patriots itself. He said Friday that he hasn’t made a final decision.

Zelenskyy has suggested an alternative to Trump whereby Elon Musk allows Ukraine to use Starlink satellites to target ballistic missile launch sites inside Russia. Officials haven't publicly said whether that is being considered.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 181 long-range strike drones overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to the Ukrainian air force. It said air defenses jammed and intercepted 163 drones, but 14 caused damage at 13 locations.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces struck four bulk carriers carrying cargo for the Ukrainian armed forces, including three in waters of the Black Sea and one in the port of Mykolaiv, but provided no further information.

Ukraine's long-range drone strikes cause more damage

Ukrainian drones also struck another major warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online shopping company. The strike was part of a campaign that has hit more than a dozen of the retailer’s distribution hubs and severely disrupted its business.

A Wildberries warehouse in the Vladimir region east of Moscow caught fire in the latest attack, the company said Monday. Three people were injured, Vladimir Gov. Alexander Avdeyev said.

Ukrainian drones also struck the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv has repeatedly targeted that refinery, and many others, since last year as it tries to choke fuel supplies to the Russian army and deny Moscow income from oil exports.

Zelenskyy said the Engels military air base near Saratov, the main base for Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, and other places inside Russia, including fuel storage tanks at the Lyudinovskaya oil depot in Russia’s Kaluga region, were targeted.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday reported that its air defenses overnight intercepted 131 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions, as well as Crimea and the Black Sea.

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

Infantino’s secretive proposal to raise $4.2 billion from investors including the New York investment firm of Joshua Kushner was dropped early Saturday, days after the revelation in media reports provoked a global furor.

UEFA led the backlash and on Thursday its 55 member federations met to agree boycotting all FIFA events and competitions while the proposal was active.

Now lawyers for UEFA have informed FIFA that the European body is “actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints ... arising out of and in connection with the FFE (FIFA Forward Enterprise) plan proposed by FIFA and all related matters.”

The letter dated Friday from the legal firm Dechert in New York was seen Monday by The Associated Press.

The letter named 18 FIFA executives who it said should retain data, documents and electronic messages as potential evidence. They include Infantino, Zurich-based chief finance officer Thomas Peyer and Arsène Wenger, the coaching great who is FIFA's head of global soccer development.

“UEFA puts you on formal notice that any destruction, deletion, alteration, concealment, or loss of relevant materials following receipt of this notice — or following any earlier date on which you were, or reasonably should have been, aware that proceedings were anticipated — may constitute spoliation of evidence,” the letter said.

Europe seeks rival candidate to lead FIFA

The Swedish soccer federation confirmed Monday that UEFA is actively looking "to come up with an alternative candidate” as FIFA president. The next election is scheduled in March.

On Saturday, UEFA signaled it wants to end Infantino’s decade-long presidency, saying he had lost the confidence of world soccer and that “no option should be off the table.”

Hours earlier, Infantino had withdrawn the divisive proposal that offered FIFA’s 211 member federations one-off payments of $20 million each with a mid-September deadline to accept.

The FFE spin-off valued by FIFA at $20 billion would have taken control of the soccer body’s money-making commercial and tournament operations through at least 2038. It promised to more than double development money over that time for the 211 members who already effectively own the Zurich-based not-for-profit governing body.

It was the project of just one man, FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said in a stinging statement Friday to the AP which said staff felt deceived by their boss Infantino.

Legal proceedings are “reasonably anticipated,” UEFA’s lawyer Andrew J. Levander wrote, citing the belief of soccer stakeholders that the plan was “fundamentally incompatible with the proper governance of football.”

Opposition to Infantino

UEFA has been most outspoken against its former employee Infantino while the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, the North and Central American and Caribbean soccer body, also have made strong statements to oppose Infantino’s plan.

Infantino has most support from his traditional base in Africa, while South America’s CONMEBOL is relying on him to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams from 48. That would give more hosting games to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the home country of CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez.

Infantino's path to stabilizing the presidency he has held for 10 1/2 years was unclear Monday which began in New York with a report he was seeking support from the administration of his close ally U.S. President Donald Trump, possibly in a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“There are no plans for @SecRubio to speak with Infantino and there is no call this morning,” Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, posted on social media.

A week is a long time in politics

The private equity plan has provoked a stunning turnaround in fortunes for Infantino since it was revealed last Tuesday by The Times of London.

The 56-year-old FIFA leader left New York after the World Cup final two weeks ago seemingly a lock to be re-elected unopposed next March for a fourth and final term in office through 2031.

The spin-off operation could have created a commissioner-like role for him beyond 2031 paying much more than his current $6 million annual salary and bonus deal as president.

FIFA briefed at the World Cup that Infantino had got pledged letters of support from about 200 of the 211 member federations.

Those letters are now likely being withdrawn across Europe with the Wales federation the first to announce its reversal.

The candidate deadline is Nov. 18 for an election exactly four months later in Morocco, one of Infantino's strongest allies and a co-host of the 2030 tournament with Spain and Portugal.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and AP World Cup coverage

The “register of economic beneficiaries” was accessed at night from Wednesday into Thursday last week, the government said. It said that the breach was noticed on Thursday, that measures were taken to secure data and the system taken offline.

The government said there were no indications that any data was altered or deleted.

The list of people behind companies, foundations and trusteeships is part of efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing.

Liechtenstein is a nation of 40,000 people between Switzerland and Austria, and the financial industry is central to its economy.

The government set up a crisis unit over the weekend to investigate the attack.

Los incendios forestales al oeste de Atenas saltaron las líneas de contención, un día después de que la colisión de dos helicópteros matara a dos tripulantes.

Un griego y un danés murieron y otros dos fueron hospitalizados tras la colisión de los helicópteros. Los cuatro eran operadores privados fletados por el servicio griego de extinción de incendios.

En Francia, los bomberos en la región en torno a Burdeos vigilaban posibles rebrotes dentro de una zona quemada aún en llamas cuatro veces del tamaño de París.

Una ola de calor prolongada y la falta de lluvias registraron a julio como el más seco en Inglaterra y Gales en casi 200 años, según estadísticas provisionales, dijo el lunes el servicio meteorológico británico.

Todo Gales y más de la mitad de Inglaterra están oficialmente en sequía, dijo la Met Office. El periodo seco estuvo acompañado por temperaturas sofocantes en gran parte del Reino Unido, tras olas de calor en mayo y junio.

Gales igualó su récord de su temperatura media más cálida para julio, mientras que Inglaterra y el Reino Unido registraron su segundo julio más cálido.

Zonas alrededor de Atenas en alto riesgo y con cientos evacuados

Los vientos fuertes regresaron al sur de Grecia a última hora del lunes, empujando las llamas hacia agrupaciones de viviendas de montaña, destruyendo granjas y propiedades, y cerrando una autopista.

Las zonas en torno a Atenas seguían en alto riesgo durante la semana, con temperaturas que se prevé que aumenten aún más. Más de 1.000 personas han sido evacuadas de la región en torno al balneario de Porto Germeno y otras zonas al oeste de la capital, incluidas más de 250 rescatadas por embarcaciones desde playas de la zona.

“Este es un incendio difícil que nos ha preocupado”, dijo el portavoz del Servicio de Bomberos, Yiannis Artopios, añadiendo que 12 aviones cisterna y 11 helicópteros operaban en la zona el lunes.

El incendio fue atribuido a una línea eléctrica defectuosa de un parque eólico y llevó al arresto de dos contratistas acusados de incendio provocado por negligencia.

A pesar de los métodos de detección mejorados y de una cooperación ampliada entre los miembros de la Unión Europea, Grecia y otros países a lo largo de la costa mediterránea de Europa sufren incendios forestales devastadores cada verano a medida que los periodos con temperaturas de ola de calor se alargan.

Europa es el continente que se calienta más rápido en la Tierra, a más del doble del promedio mundial desde la década de 1980, según el servicio climático Copernicus de la Unión Europea. El aumento de las temperaturas y la sequía prolongada dejan la vegetación más seca y más combustible, lo que permite que los incendios se propaguen más rápido y ardan con mayor intensidad.

Un enorme incendio en Francia contenido mientras los evacuados regresan a casa

En Francia, miles de evacuados recibieron autorización el lunes para regresar a casa o a sus alojamientos vacacionales después de que un enorme incendio forestal se mantenía contenido. Más de 224.000 personas habían huido en lo que las autoridades describieron como la mayor evacuación civil del país fuera de tiempos de guerra.

El fuego arrasó unos 420 kilómetros cuadrados (162 millas cuadradas), lo que lo convierte en el mayor incendio forestal registrado en Francia. El regreso del lunes incluye la península de Cap Ferret, un punto turístico en la costa atlántica, y Le Porge, el municipio más afectado, donde 183 viviendas fueron destruidas. Los sitios de campamento siguen cerrados.

Otro incendio forestal en Provenza no se reavivó durante la noche, pero el lunes aún no estaba contenido, ya que se esperaban vientos más fuertes, dijeron bomberos y autoridades. Unos 1.500 bomberos, apoyados por helicópteros cisterna, continuaron reforzando las líneas de contención a lo largo del fuego, que ha calcinado unos 18 kilómetros cuadrados (7 millas cuadradas) de terreno.

El Sistema Europeo de Información sobre Incendios Forestales informó que el riesgo de incendios forestales sigue siendo alto en partes del continente hasta el 5 de agosto, incluso en países del norte tradicionalmente más frescos.

Los bomberos en los Países Bajos combatían el lunes un gran incendio en un bosque en la provincia sureña de Limburgo, dijeron las autoridades, mientras el país soportaba otro día de clima veraniego caluroso y seco. El operador ferroviario nacional detuvo los trenes entre dos localidades de la zona debido al incendio.

La fuerza aérea neerlandesa envió dos helicópteros Chinook equipados con grandes contenedores de agua para ayudar a los bomberos a hacer frente al incendio en los Países Bajos. Los medios informaron que un camping en la zona fue evacuado debido a la mala calidad del aire causada por una gran columna de humo.

__________

Corbet y Thomas Adamson informaron desde París; Elena Becatoros en Atenas; Mike Corder en La Haya y Brian Melley en Londres.

__________

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

The Mutiara Sentosa 2 ferry was traveling from Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya in East Java to the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi. Initial reports said it was carrying 271 people, including 39 crew members, based on the ship’s manifest, when the fire broke out between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.

However, by Monday officials said many more people were aboard than listed, and the number of people missing was unclear. Officials were relying on reports from families of victims and survivors in an attempt to determine the number of the missing.

It is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers on a boat or ferry to differ from the manifest. Such discrepancies can complicate search and rescue efforts, said Nanang Sigit, the search mission coordinator who also heads the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation. Indonesian navy ships assisted, along with a number of passing vessels, at the scene about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Sapudi island in the Sumenep regency.

The vessel was also loaded with 180 vehicles, mostly trucks.

Ahmad Abdul Karim, a survivor, said the fire appeared to have started in a truck on the lower vehicle deck.

“Fanned by the wind, the flames spread extremely quickly,” Karim said, “In less than 30 minutes, everyone had been instructed to move to the bow of the ferry.”

Another passenger, Azhari, said many passengers had just woken up when the fire erupted, apparently from the rear of the ferry.

“The fire spread quickly to the middle of the vessel,” Azhari, who goes by a single name, said in a television interview. “There was no other option for us but to jump into the sea.”

He said passengers were in the sea for about four hours before passing vessels began pulling them to safety.

Television news showed exhausted survivors disembarking from a rescue vessel at a harbor in Surabaya, while rescuers transported bodies to ambulances and grieving relatives waited for information.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the government would review the performance of the ferry’s operator, Atosim Lampung Pelayaran, after the National Transportation Safety Committee, or KNKT, completes its investigation.

“First we need to determine the cause based on KNKT’s findings,” Purwagandhi said.

The ferry was built in Japan in 1992 and was sold to Indonesia in 2015. With a length of 160 meters (525 feet), it can accommodate 689 passengers and 49 crew, along with up to 181 vehicles.

The Mutiara Sentosa 2 serves the Surabaya-Makassar route, a voyage that typically takes around 40 hours and is primarily used by domestic travelers and cargo transport between the islands of Java and Sulawesi.

Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.

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Associated Press journalists Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

Wildfires west of Athens jumped containment lines, a day after a midair collision between two helicopters killed two crew members.

A Greek and a Danish national died and two others were hospitalized in the helicopter collision. All four were private operators chartered by the Greek firefighting service.

In France, firefighters in the region around Bordeaux guarded against potential flare-ups inside a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris.

A prolonged heat wave and lack of rainfall led to the driest July in England and Wales in nearly 200 years of recordkeeping, according to provisional statistics, the U.K.’s weather service said Monday.

All of Wales and more than half of England are officially in drought, the Met Office said. The dry spell was accompanied by sweltering temperatures across much of the U.K., following heat waves in May and June.

Wales tied its record for its warmest mean temperature for July while England and the U.K. recorded their second-warmest July.

Athens area remains at high risk with hundreds evacuated

Strong winds returned to southern Greece late Monday, pushing flames into mountain home clusters, destroying farms and property, and closing a highway.

Areas surrounding Athens remain at high risk through the week with temperatures set to rise further. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from around the seaside resort of Porto Germeno and other areas west of the capital – including more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area.

“This is a difficult fire that has troubled us,” Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said, adding that 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters were operating in the area Monday.

The blaze was blamed on a faulty power line from a wind farm and led to the arrests of two contractors on charges of negligent arson.

Despite improved detection methods and expanded cooperation among European Union members, Greece and other countries along Europe's Mediterranean coast suffer devastating wildfires every summer as spells of heat wave temperatures grow longer.

Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought leave vegetation drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely.

Massive blaze in France contained as evacuees return home

In France, thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home or to holiday accommodation Monday after a massive wildfire remained contained. More than 224,000 people had fled in what officials said was the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

The wildfire burned about 420 square kilometers (162 square miles), making it France’s largest wildfire on record. Monday's return includes Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourist hot spot along the Atlantic coast, and Le Porge, the municipality hardest hit by the fire, where 183 homes were destroyed. Campsites remain closed.

A second wildfire in Provence did not flare up overnight, but was still not contained Monday as stronger winds were expected, firefighters and authorities said. About 1,500 firefighters, supported by water-dropping helicopters, continued reinforcing fire lines along the blaze that tore through about 18 square kilometers (7 square miles).

The European Forest Fire Information System said the risk of wildfire remains high across parts of the continent through Aug. 5, including in traditionally cooler northern countries.

Firefighters in the Netherlands were battling a large blaze Monday in a forest in the southern province of Limburg, authorities said, as the country sweltered through another day of hot, dry summer weather. The national railway operator halted trains between two towns in the area due to the fire.

The Dutch air force sent two Chinook helicopters equipped with large water containers to help firefighters tackle the blaze in the Netherlands. Media reported that a campsite in the area was evacuated due to poor air quality caused by a large plume of smoke.

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Corbet reported from Paris. Elena Becatoros in Athens, Thomas Adamson in Paris, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands and Brian Melley in London contributed.

Skubal is a free agent after this season, and Detroit is under .500. But even considering all that, trading away the 2024 and 2025 Cy Young Award winner couldn't have been easy. The Tigers will be judged on how the three prospects they acquired — Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith — perform. History shows that it's possible to come out OK when trading a pitcher of Skubal's caliber, but there are plenty of teams who got little in return.

Here are eight other instances when a reigning Cy Young winner was traded before the end of the following season (hat tip to Baseball Reference for the transaction recaps):

— Frank Viola, Minnesota to New York Mets, 1989: Among the players Minnesota received for Viola were Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani. The former would save 42 games and the latter would win 16 in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series. Viola wasn't a rental — after finishing the 1989 season in New York, he went 20-8 in 1990 for the Mets. But New York never made the postseason with him.

— David Cone, Kansas City to Toronto to New York Yankees, 1995: Cone was actually traded twice the year after his Cy Young season in Kansas City. Toronto acquired him for Chris Stynes and two players who never made the majors. When the Blue Jays floundered, they dealt Cone — in the final year of his contract — to the Yankees for Marty Janzen and two players who never made the majors.

— Pedro Martinez, Montreal to Boston, 1997: Ouch. Montreal knew what it had in Martinez, but he was entering his walk year so the Expos traded him shortly after the '97 season for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas. Boston was able to keep him long term, and in 1999 and 2000, he turned in one of the best two-year pitching stretches in the live ball era: 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA, followed by 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA.

— Roger Clemens, Toronto to New York Yankees, 1999: New York was coming off a 114-win season and a World Series title when it sent fan favorite David Wells to Toronto along with reliever Graeme Lloyd and infielder Homer Bush. In return, the Yankees landed Clemens, who like Skubal was fresh of two straight Cy Youngs. He added another with New York in 2001 and kept pitching until 2007.

— CC Sabathia, Cleveland to Milwaukee, 2008: Another good comp for Skubal, in that the Brewers got Sabathia as a partial-season rental right before he hit free agency. It was worth it when he went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA down the stretch to help Milwaukee reach the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. Outfielder Michael Brantley was a player to be named later in the package that went back to Cleveland, and he would become a five-time All-Star.

— Cliff Lee, Cleveland to Philadelphia, 2009: Yes, that's two straight seasons Cleveland traded away the previous year's Cy Young winner — and Lee wasn't even a pending free agent. He helped the Phillies reach the World Series before being re-traded to Seattle. As part of the deal for Lee, Cleveland got Carlos Carrasco, who would pitch there for over a decade.

— R.A. Dickey, New York Mets to Toronto, 2012: The Mets picked the right time to deal Dickey, who won 20 games in 2012 before New York sent him to the Blue Jays in December. Right-hander Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis d'Arnaud were part of the return, and both were still with New York when the Mets won the pennant in 2015.

— Justin Verlander, New York Mets to Houston, 2023: Verlander is a tricky case since he actually left the Astros as a free agent after winning the Cy Young for them in 2022. Then New York traded him back to Houston in the middle of the 2023 season.

Trivia time

Which 1974 Cy Young winner was able to switch teams for 1975 after an arbitrator declared him a free agent?

Performance of the week

Kyle Freeland threw Colorado's first complete game since 2002 on Sunday in an 8-1 victory over Kansas City. It was Freeland's 251st start and first complete game. Eduardo Rodriguez is now the lone pitcher in major league history with at least 250 starts and no complete games.

Comeback of the week

Two of the craziest comebacks of the season came this week, courtesy of teams trying to stay in the American League wild card race.

Baltimore trailed Detroit 7-0 in the top of the seventh with Skubal on the mound. The Tigers had a 99.4% win probability according to Baseball Savant. The Orioles finally chased Skubal with Leody Taveras' two-out RBI single, and by the time Detroit's bullpen got out of the inning it was 7-5. Baltimore tied it in the eighth, both teams scored twice in the 11th and then the Orioles won 10-9 in 12.

On Thursday, Kansas City led Minnesota 3-0 with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth. (Win probability: 99.5%.) A hit batter, a single and a walk loaded the bases. Then Kody Clemens hit a grand slam to give the Twins a 4-3 victory.

Trivia answer

Catfish Hunter was freed when arbitrator Peter Seitz concluded Oakland owner Charlie Finley failed to make a payment into a long-term annuity fund as specified in Hunter's contract. Hunter then signed with the Yankees.

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

Two photographs published with the announcement showed Suu Kyi shaking hands with Arnaud de Baecque, the ICRC’s representative to Myanmar, and meeting with him in a wood-paneled room.

The Presidential Press and Information Bureau, which released the photographs, said the meeting was held Monday morning but did not disclose the location of the meeting or provide details about what was discussed.

The ICRC confirmed in a statement on Monday that one of its delegates visited Suu Kyi under its standards and procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty, and spoke with her in private, but it did not disclose details of the discussion.

The organization said it continues to engage with all relevant actors to maintain and expand its access to places of detention in Myanmar.

Two other photographs showed Suu Kyi cutting a pink birthday cake bearing the inscription, “Happy Birthday Aunty Suu,” suggesting they may have been taken during a celebration for her 81st birthday in June.

In the photos, Suu Kyi appeared relaxed and was smiling. She did not show any obvious signs of ill health, although her physical condition could not be independently assessed from the images.

The release came as calls are growing from other countries, including Myanmar's fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, for access to or engagement with Suu Kyi as part of efforts to resolve the country's political crisis.

Kim Aris, her younger son living in London, and Myanmar democracy activists has been waging an online campaign named to demand evidence his mother is alive and well.

In a statement sent to the AP, Aris welcomed the reported ICRC visit, saying it could mark the first positive development concerning his mother in more than five years.

“This may be a first step, but it must not be the last,” Aris said.

He thanked governments, the international community and supporters for standing with his family and backing his campaign to seek proof of his mother’s well-being, while stressing that he had not yet received independent confirmation of her condition.

He said he hoped the visit would lead to direct family contact and her eventual release together with all political prisoners.

Suu Kyi was detained Feb. 1, 2021, when the army seized power from her elected government. She has not been seen publicly since then, and the last official photo of her released was in April, when she was moved from prison to house arrest and her sentence was reduced as part of a prisoner amnesty for a Buddhist holiday.

The country's military leaders, who have faced sanctions and widespread international isolation since seizing power in 2021, have sought to project a return to normalcy by holding a 2025 election and increased engagement with regional neighbors.

However, critics say the transition to a nominally elected government largely composed of former generals and holdovers from the previous military-led government has done little to change the military’s grip on power.

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the opposition National Unity Government, said the ICRC’s meeting with Suu Kyi shouldn’t be taken as a real move to address human rights or democracy issues.

“Since, from the outset, a country’s leader was wrongfully arrested and imprisoned by finding faults where there were none, she must be released without any conditions,” he said.

The General Assembly was set to begin debate on a proposed constitutional amendment intended to give Democrats greater latitude to draw congressional maps favoring their party, which currently represents seven of the state's eight House districts. The proposal would have to be approved by voters before lawmakers could begin considering new district lines.

Deep blue Maryland’s move, which the state's minority Republicans have called a blatant power grab, is the latest turn in the national battle over redistricting, which kicked off a year ago and has reshaped the U.S. House map ahead of this year’s midterms.

Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson blocked a different redistricting initiative earlier this year that could have put new maps in place before the fall elections, worried the move could backfire upon judicial review. But he has said his views shifted after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act in late April. That decision offered new grounds for Republicans to swiftly reconfigure districts in Southern states with large minority populations that have elected Democrats, moves that Ferguson called “painful” to watch.

“It felt like the unwinding of any type of democratic norms in the blink of an eye,” Ferguson said in an interview.

Deep blue Maryland could gain one seat

Maryland's lone Republican representative in Congress is Rep. Andy Harris, chairperson of the House Freedom Caucus. Harris' 1st District is centered on the mostly rural Eastern Shore, part of a scenic peninsula separated from the rest of the state by the Chesapeake Bay.

In 2021, lawmakers tried to remake the maps in a way that made Harris' district more competitive for a Democrat to win, drawing in communities across the bay. But a judge struck down those districts in 2022, calling them a “product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”

In light of that decision and in hopes of avoiding future adverse legal rulings, lawmakers will consider legislation to amend the state constitution to make clear that the parameters the judge cited — including that districts be compact in form and have regard given to “natural boundaries” — apply only to General Assembly districts, not congressional ones.

If approved by a three-fifths vote of both chambers, the amendment would go before voters in the Nov. 3 general election. If approved there, lawmakers could revisit the congressional maps for the 2028 election cycle under the constitution’s new guidance.

Ferguson told reporters Monday that future changes to the maps could depend on the outcome of the November midterms.

Republicans say the move sets up a gerrymander

In advance of the special session, Republicans criticized the move by Democrats and raised concerns about limits set on testimony for the special session.

“We are very concerned with the significant limitations on witnesses, and the reality that any bill hearing is obviously intended to be a brief and meaningless formality,” House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said in a statement.

Harris, in an interview, said the “gerrymandering that this constitutional amendment sets up” would break up areas of common interest into districts predominated by urban and suburban areas, disenfranchising rural voters. Such a move would “of course” face a court challenge, he said.

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has expressed frustration over lawmakers' refusal to redistrict earlier this year, cast the move as an urgent necessity in light of Republican moves elsewhere. The proposal currently before lawmakers will ultimately give voters, not “party bosses,” the final say, he said.

“And if the people determine that there’s nothing to do, then there’s nothing to do. But if the people determine that we move, we move,” he said in an interview as he became chair of the National Governors Association.

Redistricting reverberates around the country

Maryland’s special session is part of a new phase in a national redistricting battle that began a year ago, when President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts to help the party hold on to its slim House majority in the midterm elections. Republicans think they could win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states — Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah.

Now some states, such as Maryland and New York, are taking steps to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2028 elections. New York’s Democratic-led Legislature has approved a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize mid-decade redistricting, repeal prohibitions on partisan gerrymandering and make it easier for lawmakers to bypass an independent redistricting commission in the future. The measure needs another round of legislative approval next year before it can appear on a statewide ballot.

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Associated Press reporters David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Steven Sloan in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

The S&P 500 rose 1.3% following its wild July, where it swung up and down as oil prices shot higher because of the war with Iran and other worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 533 points, or 1%, as of 12:27 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2% higher.

Stocks got a lift as the price for a barrel of Brent crude sank 4.7% to $83.83. It dropped after President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he decided to hold off on new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region.

Brent's price careened between $72 and $102 last month as worries rose and fell about when the war with Iran would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again to deliver crude to customers worldwide. The latest acquiescence by Trump on Iran helped to ease worries about the global flow of crude, and Treasury yields correspondingly fell in the bond market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.69% from 4.75% late Friday. It, though, remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran.

Higher yields threaten to undercut prices for stocks and other investments, while slowing the economy by making borrowing more expensive for U.S. households and businesses. The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate has already leaped to its highest level in a year.

Monday's ease in oil prices helped airlines and other companies with big fuel bills lead the market. United Airlines flew 5.4% higher, while American Airlines climbed 5%. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings steamed 4.6% higher.

Tyson Foods rose 2% after the meat company reported a slightly stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected. CEO Donnie King said strength is continuing in the company's chicken business and its prepared foods, which include brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm.

It joined a lengthening list of big U.S. companies to deliver a bigger profit for the spring than analysts expected. That's imperative for Wall Street because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate earnings over the long term, and worries were rising that stock prices may have already shot too high.

Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to deliver earnings per share for the spring that are 47% higher than a year before, according to FactSet, with more than half of the companies having already reported. If that ends up being the case, it would be the strongest growth since the spring of 2021, when the economy was roaring out of the COVID pandemic.

Also offering encouragement for profits was a report on Monday showing that growth for U.S. manufacturing accelerated to its strongest level since 2022.

Keeping Wall Street unsettled, though, were swings for stocks of companies that make computer chips. They've been veering up and down for weeks on worries about whether their surging revenues because of the artificial-intelligence boom are sustainable.

If AI ends up producing less profit and productivity than hoped, Big Tech companies could curtail their spending sprees on data centers that have helped chip stocks soar to tremendous heights.

Micron Technology went from a drop of 6.4% to a gain of 0.7% during Monday's first 90 minutes of trading, for example. It's still up roughly 190% for the year so far.

The manic swings for AI stocks have been most dramatic in South Korea, where the Kospi index is dominated by just two tech titans, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Seoul’s Kospi fell 5.1% Monday, coming off Friday's 17.9% surge that was its best day in history.

In neighboring Japan, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% after the United States and Japan confirmed they had moved together to to prop up the value of the Japanese yen against the dollar. A stronger yen would help to limit inflation in Japan, but it could also potentially hurt Japan’s exporters.

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AP Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach, Mayuko Ono and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.

Less than 10 miles away, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens was making her own appeal at another Black church, where one of the city’s most prominent pastors made the case for her.

There were fewer than 48 hours left in Michigan’s fiercely contested Democratic Senate primary. And after more than a year spent preaching starkly different visions for their party — with tens of millions of dollars poured into the race and national attention focused on it — both candidates had come to some of the same places looking for the votes to win it.

First, Black churches. Later, union halls. Then rallies surrounded by their core supporters.

Stevens, who has been through several competitive Democratic primaries, has a name for the frenzy of the closing days: “the last word phenomenon.”

“Everyone’s trying to get in their last points,” Stevens said.

Where the candidates chose to make those final points reflected the simple contest underneath all the money and ideological warfare: which one can assemble enough of Michigan’s Democratic coalition to win Tuesday.

The primary has become one of the clearest tests yet of where Democratic voters want their party to go. El-Sayed, a progressive backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and other leaders on the party’s left, has run against much of the Democratic establishment. Stevens, a four-term congresswoman backed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and many of Michigan’s top Democrats, has made electability and experience central to her case.

The stakes extend well beyond the primary. The nominee will need to bring a fractured Democratic coalition back together to defeat Republican Mike Rogers in November and hold an open seat that is critical to the party’s hopes of taking control of the Senate next year.

Both hopefuls focused on the Detroit area, where Democratic primaries are often decided

Democratic primaries in Michigan have long run through Detroit, where support from the city’s Black voters is often crucial.

El-Sayed’s pitch to those voters Sunday — during stops at three churches — centered on a vision of economic opportunity and equal treatment.

“I believe in the kind of America where no matter where you grow up, the color of your skin, how you pray, you deserve equal rights in this country,” El-Sayed told the congregation at Kingdom Covenant Church.

“You deserve to go to a good school, you deserve to get healthcare, you deserve to graduate and get a good job,” he added.

El-Sayed was joined by Democratic Reps. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, as well as Yusef Jackson, the son of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson who is president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Pastor David A. Johnson II said welcoming a political candidate was not something he typically did, but “this particular season, it’s time for us to do something different.”

For Robin Robertson, a 59-year-old Detroit resident, El-Sayed’s visit came just in time. Robertson said she had gone back and forth over whom to support, waiting until the campaign’s final days to decide.

She ultimately settled on El-Sayed, saying Stevens “had a good run.”

“His agenda seems to match more for me the things that we need right now,” Robertson said. “And then, he’s here in my little church. That was confirmation that I’m going to vote for him.”

Stevens, meanwhile, emphasized her longstanding connections to Detroit-area churches.

At a church in Pontiac on Sunday afternoon, Stevens stayed after the service to speak individually with congregants, greeting many like familiar faces.

“I come here year-round. This isn’t just a campaign thing,” Stevens said. “Our churches are places of community refuge, community connection.”

Stevens and her allies have also made a direct appeal to Black voters through advertisements highlighting her ties to former President Barack Obama and her work as chief of staff for his administration’s auto rescue effort from 2009 to 2011.

Her campaign acknowledges that a strong showing among Detroit voters will likely be necessary for her to win Tuesday.

Reggie Williams, a longtime constituent who was supporting Stevens at an Oakland County event Sunday evening, said he continues to back her because she “has always been there for the people.”

“She is out and about in the community, always has boots on the ground,” Williams said.

Stevens, El-Sayed will focus on different parts of Michigan on final day of campaigning

After spending much of Sunday pursuing some of the same Democratic constituencies, El-Sayed and Stevens will take different paths across Michigan for the final full day of the primary.

El-Sayed plans to remain in Detroit, joining canvass launches and trying to turn enthusiasm in the state’s largest city into votes.

“This has been the heart of my public service," El-Sayed said about his decision to end the campaign in Detroit. “We wanted to come back here and demonstrate what this movement is and what it could mean."

Stevens will head west, making stops across West Michigan as she tries to maximize support in a region with Democratic strongholds in cities such as Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

The divergent schedules reflect the final calculation facing both campaigns after more than a year of campaigning: There are few voters left to persuade, and increasingly the task is making sure the ones already won over actually cast a ballot.

For El-Sayed, that means leaning into a volunteer operation his campaign says has grown to 12,000 people statewide and trying to drive turnout in places such as Detroit. Stevens is relying on the broader institutional support she has accumulated across the state, including endorsements from many of Michigan’s most prominent Democratic officials, such as Sen. Gary Peters and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

By Monday night, there will be no more churches to visit, union halls to address or rallies to hold. The television ads that have blanketed Michigan will have run their course, too.

Then comes what Stevens described as the inevitable other side of the “last word phenomenon.”

“The votes will be counted,” she said. “The election will be had.”

“It makes me more hungry to keep proving I am who I say I am,” said the star running back, who received a three-year extension in May worth $45.75 million. “It’s making me want to do more than I’ve done in the past.”

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield said he feels “disrespected” by the Buccaneers for not getting the contract extension he sought and plans to play out the final season of his three-year, $100 million deal.

Several players know exactly how they feel, entering the season with something to prove because of either signing a big-money deal, looking for another contract, joining a new team, trying to overcome an injury or working to rebound from mediocre play.

A.J. Brown, WR, Patriots

The three-time Pro Bowl pick was traded by Philadelphia to New England in June for a 2028 first-round draft pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder. Brown, who's still only 29, had 339 catches for 5,034 yards receiving with 32 touchdowns in four seasons with the Eagles — a tenure also marked by cryptic social media posts and comments that soured his relationship with the franchise, including quarterback Jalen Hurts. In New England, Brown gets a fresh start with his childhood favorite team.

Jalen Carter, DT, Eagles

The Eagles signed the ninth overall pick in 2023 to a four-year extension that included $106 million guaranteed through the 2031 season. The huge deal makes Carter the league's highest-paid defensive tackle. It also comes after he had just three sacks last year while shoulder injuries limited him to 11 games. Carter said he feels the responsibility of living up to the contract and returning to his game-wrecking level of play.

Keon Coleman, WR, Bills

The 23-year-old wide receiver has the talent to be a star for the Bills' Josh Allen-led offense. But inconsistency and lapses in focus on and off the field have prevented Coleman from reaching that potential. He has been disciplined three times for being late to meetings. After having eight catches for 112 yards in Buffalo's season opener, Coleman had just 30 receptions for 292 yards in 12 other games. He acknowledged in minicamp that this is a “make or break” season.

Breece Hall, RB, Jets

Hall ran for 1,000 yards for the first time in his career last season and also had 350 yards receiving with five overall TDs while playing in 16 games. He was mentioned often in trade rumors last year, but remained with the Jets. With Frank Reich running the offense, Hall should continue to be a do-it-all bell cow out of the backfield with the hope — based on what the Jets paid him — he'll firmly establish himself as one of the league's top running backs.

Baker Mayfield, QB, Buccaneers

The No. 1 overall pick in 2018 by Cleveland revived his career in Tampa Bay after replacing Tom Brady in 2023. Mayfield insists he has shown himself with the Buccaneers to be a franchise quarterback — and wants to be paid as such. In his first two seasons in Tampa Bay, he made the Pro Bowl and led the Buccaneers to NFC South titles. Mayfield got off to another terrific start last season, but fizzled down the stretch with injuries.

Kyler Murray, QB, Vikings

Arizona released Murray in the offseason, a disappointing end to what was a promising beginning for the 2019 top pick. He signed with Minnesota in March for the veteran minimum of $1.3 million, giving the Vikings a veteran to compete with J.J. McCarthy for the starting job. Murray has been productive at his best as a dynamic dual threat. But he has had to deal with injuries and questions about his work ethic, something he'll try to put to rest with the Vikings. But he needs to beat out McCarthy first.

Michael Penix Jr., QB, Falcons

The eighth overall pick in 2024 came to Atlanta as the Falcons' possible quarterback of the future. Injuries and inconsistency have threatened those hopes. Penix opened last season as the starter, was benched late in Week 3 in favor of Kirk Cousins and then tore an ACL in Week 11. He's working his way back from that injury this summer and the Falcons aren't quite sure when he'll be fully ready. Atlanta signed Tua Tagovailoa, who's also currently banged up, in the offseason to compete with Penix.

Rashee Rice, WR, Chiefs

The 26-year-old wide receiver, who missed the Chiefs’ voluntary offseason workouts and mandatory minicamp, served a 30-day sentence in a Dallas County jail for violating the terms of his probation, stemming from his role in a car crash that left multiple people injured on a Texas highway. Rice also had surgery to clean debris in his right knee shortly before he was sentenced. When he has played, he has been a productive target for Patrick Mahomes with 156 catches for 1,797 yards and 14 touchdowns. But Rice has also played just 28 games in three seasons because of a suspension and injuries.

C.J. Stroud, QB, Texans

The second overall pick in 2023 had a terrific first season, winning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, leading the Texans to the playoffs, making the Pro Bowl and giving Houston hope its franchise QB was in place. Stroud's last two seasons might have caused some doubt. The Texans have made it to the postseason in each of his three NFL seasons, but Stroud had his worst performance in the divisional round against New England when he threw four first-half interceptions. The Texans exercised the fifth-year option on Stroud’s rookie contract in April and he's eligible for an extension, with talks ongoing.

Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jaguars

The 2024 first-rounder set franchise rookie records for catches (87), yards receiving (1,282) and TD receptions (10), quickly emerging as Trevor Lawrence's top target. But Thomas' production nosedived last season with 48 catches for 707 yards and just two TDs. He also tied for second in the NFL with 10 drops. Thomas was impressive during offseason workouts and minicamp, and the hope is being in his second year in Liam Coen's offense will help him more closely resemble the playmaker he was as a rookie.

Deshaun Watson, QB, Browns

Healthy again after tearing an Achilles tendon in 2024 and missing last season after reinjuring it, Watson's competing with Shedeur Sanders for Cleveland's starting job. And this could be the 30-year-old QB's last chance to redeem himself. He has played in just 19 games since being acquired from Houston in 2022 for three first-round picks and then signing a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal. He was suspended by the NFL for the first 11 games that season for his alleged sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. If Watson starts in Week 1 for new coach Todd Monken, it'll be his first game since Week 7 of the 2024 season.

Malik Willis, QB, Dolphins

Tennessee thought Willis could potentially be its franchise QB when it drafted him in the third round in 2022. That never materialized and Willis was traded to Green Bay two years later. He rejuvenated his career last season while filling in for an injured Jordan Love and parlayed that into a three-year, $67.5 million deal with Miami. Willis will be the starter from Week 1, but the Dolphins are putting a lot of faith in a quarterback with only six NFL starts.

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

Monday's witnesses included emergency room doctors who treated Clancy and two of her children, building on testimony some of their colleagues gave for the prosecution last week.

Witnesses in ensuing days could shed more light on the mental health issues at the heart of the case. Clancy's defense says she was a loving mother who was overmastered by postpartum psychosis, a dangerous psychiatric condition that afflicts a small proportion of women after childbirth and affects their hold on reality.

Prosecutors contend that she acted intentionally and should be held criminally responsible for the deaths of Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy, who ranged in age from 8 months to five years.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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Clancy, 35, wept at the defense table as ex-husband Patrick Clancy and other witnesses testified last week about the killings.

He found the children in the basement of the family's home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and their mother gravely injured in the yard. She had jumped out a second-floor window and remains paralyzed from the waist down.

Dr. Michael Snyder recalled Monday how Cora had no heartbeat and was declared dead soon after arriving at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-Plymouth. Eight-month-old Callan was “cold on arrival,” “quite limp” and showed signs of brain swelling.

“It was believed he was strangled and, when he arrived at Plymouth, he was in cardiac arrest,” said Dr. Andrew Capraro of Boston Children’s Hospital, where Callan had been transferred. Callan needed a ventilator to help him breathe but did have a heartbeat. He died three days later.

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyers don’t dispute that she killed the children. But in the criminal trial and a medical malpractice lawsuit, her attorneys have said that she had bipolar disorder that wasn’t fully diagnosed until after the killings and that her condition seemed to worsen on an ever-shifting lineup of psychiatric prescriptions, some of them problematic for bipolar patients.

In the three months before the January 2023 killings, various clinicians prescribed Lindsay Clancy a range of antidepressants, sleep aids, an antipsychotic and other medications while she reported increasingly profound insomnia, anxiety, despair and confusion about what was real, according to her lawsuit.

Defendant sought help for postpartum depression

When she sought care at a postpartum depression program in late December 2022, providers noted that her symptoms might be due to medication, according to her lawsuit. It says those clinicians told her to taper off the antipsychotic drug and then discharged her after a day.

Clancy checked herself into a psychiatric hospital that New Year’s Eve and spent several days there. Once home, she resumed appointments with her psychiatrist, who last saw her for 17 minutes on Jan. 23, 2023, according to her lawsuit.

The next day, she believed a commanding voice was telling her to “kill the children so you can kill yourself,” according to her lawyers.

That evening, she asked her husband to run some errands, a request that prosecutors cast as a ploy to get him out of the house. In a rare site visit this past Friday, jurors passed the businesses to which he went, and then they were escorted through the Cape Cod-style home where the Clancys lived.

Father returns home to a shocking scene

In anguished testimony, Patrick Clancy told jurors last week about returning to a horrible scene at that house: a bloodied bedroom, an open window, his wife on the ground below it, the children in the basement, throttled with exercise bands.

“She killed the kids!” he told a 911 dispatcher on a call played in court.

In separate lawsuits, Lindsay and Patrick Clancy allege that various providers failed her and should have recognized she was a risk to herself and the children. The providers, at least those who have responded to date, deny the allegations and dispute that she clearly told them she intended to harm the children.

Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham sought in an opening statement last week to keep jurors' focus on the defendant, not her doctors.

“This is not a public debate about women’s mental health and how the medical system treats women,” Buckingham said.

If convicted of murder, Lindsay Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.

It starts with a grim warning to Tehran that the Republican president is on the cusp of ordering U.S. forces to “obliterate” its power plants or seize key parts of its oil industry if its leaders don't quickly agree to U.S. terms to end the war. It ends with him edging away with a last-minute declaration, sometimes at the behest of Gulf allies, that he's going to give diplomacy more time.

The hardball strategy — one that Trump honed during his years competing in New York’s real estate scene and has employed in politics — aims to create movement in negotiation through pressure and chaos. But the tactic is facing a challenge with an Iranian theocracy that believes it holds a higher threshold for strategic pain than Washington.

While Trump has reveled in the U.S. military decimating layers of Tehran’s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions and the difficulty of executing a war that is unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November’s midterm election.

The latest episode began on Friday when Trump, surrounded by his Cabinet, grimly declared that he was “losing faith” in negotiations with Iran and warned that the U.S. military “ will be hitting them very hard."

Hours later, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt heightened speculation in Washington — and around the globe — with an ominous statement asserting "Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way.”

But by late Saturday night, Trump declared on social media that there were signs of progress on reaching an agreement and he was calling off a plan to carry out new, massive strikes for the time being.

The next day Trump emphasized that requests to give diplomacy more time from unnamed Iranian officials as well as leaders from Gulf allies — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — were key to his about-face.

“It would have been disastrous for them. And they didn’t want us to do it,” Trump said of Iran as he spoke to reporters on his way back to Washington from a weekend at his New Jersey golf club. “And frankly, Saudi Arabia didn’t want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent.”

On Monday morning, he was back to raising doubts about the prospects of negotiations after the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran announced it is not currently holding negotiations with the United States.

“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” Trump fumed on his Truth Social platform.

Critics see Trump reaching for a reset button in this pattern

Trump may still come to the conclusion that a massive escalation in the conflict with Iran is necessary.

But critics say his hesitation also might reflect an unspoken understanding inside the administration that U.S. military might alone may not be enough to compel Iran to back down and bring an end to a now monthslong war that Trump had earlier downplayed as a weekslong excursion.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a president who has an approach that’s just rather erratic,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, on CBS News' “Face the Nation.” “At this point, he's trying to get us back to February. And I think if he could — if he had a big reset button he could hit — he would certainly take that option.”

There have been several moments over the course of the conflict when Trump has demonstrated his proclivity for the bellicose only to back off at the last minute, while declaring his threats spurred progress:

— In early April, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire in an announcement that came less than two hours before a deadline Trump had set for Tehran to capitulate or face attacks on bridges and power plants — strikes he said would mean “a whole civilization will die.”

— After days of dire threats against Iran, Trump announced on May 18 he was holding off on a major planned military strike because “serious negotiations” were underway, crediting Gulf allies for persuading him to show restraint.

— Then in June, Trump threatened to hit Iran “VERY HARD” and seize Iran’s energy base on Kharg Island to "assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets,” he wrote on social media, only to call off the strikes in a later post after claiming that peace negotiations had progressed with high-level Iranian leaders.

Left unsaid by the president was that such an endeavor would require U.S. troops on the ground in Iran — a risky proposition politically for a president who campaigned on avoiding foreign entanglements and criticized past administrations for getting bogged down in endless wars.

Call with Saudi crown prince affected Trump's decision

With this latest episode, Trump suggested that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman played a particularly important role in him turning away from escalating the fight.

The U.S. president spoke by phone with the de facto leader of the kingdom on Saturday before announcing he was halting strikes that he later boasted would have been one of the biggest U.S. operations since World War II.

The crown prince conveyed that an escalation in fighting could have a severe impact on the global economy if Tehran responded to a new U.S. bombardment by targeting some of the United States’ Gulf allies, according to a person briefed on the call who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

Saudi officials, the person added, have underscored in their engagements with the Trump administration that the kingdom is in a good position to defend itself against further potential Iranian strikes — as are fellow energy titans Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — but that Kuwait could be more vulnerable to attacks by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

As Trump threatens escalation, Republicans face tough polling

Trump has insisted that November’s midterm elections aren't shaping his approach to the conflict that’s spurred unease across the global economy.

But it's certainly on the minds of his fellow Republicans.

About two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28, has not been worthwhile, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research published last week. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.

One of Trump's most outspoken allies on Capitol Hill suggested on Sunday the administration needs to modulate its approach on Iran.

Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said on NBC's “Meet the Press” that the debate in Washington has lost perspective on the devastation the U.S. military has inflicted on Iran since the start of the war.

Still, the Republican lawmaker acknowledged that further escalating the conflict could lead to a further surge in already elevated energy prices and “a lot of inflation for the American people.”

Kennedy made the case that tightening sanctions and targeting Iran's nuclear program — rather than escalating the conflict — might be the best bet for the moment.

“They’re all hellish choices,” Kennedy said. “But for the moment I’d maintain the status quo.”

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AP writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel and Josh Boak contributed reporting.

The endorsement from GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis paves the way for the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance Blanche's nomination on Tuesday after the Justice Department and lawmakers reached a deal to formally rescind the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund" proposed to settle Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Cornyn and Tillis had refused to back Blanche's bid for the permanent post without official confirmation killing the fund meant to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department. Blanche's written order, issued late Sunday, came after the days of negotiations between the Justice Department and the Republican senators who are leaving Capitol Hill when their terms end in January.

“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon," Cornyn, of Texas, and Tillis, of North Carolina, said in a statement.

DOJ order says ‘beyond any doubt’ that fund is dead

Blanche has repeatedly said that the Justice Department was scrapping plans for the fund, which sparked bipartisan outcry over the possibility that violent rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be considered for payments. But skeptical lawmakers said they were concerned that could be revived without a commitment in writing, especially because Trump has continued to defend the idea.

In his order posted on social media late Sunday, Blanche wrote that the department was confirming "beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

Since the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS was announced, “No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid,” the order said. “This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed the Justice Department to limit the scope of a separate piece of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Trump and members of his family from tax audits.

Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings. It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit — Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization — are covered by the tax agreement.

Cornyn and Tillis said in their statement that they were “pleased” with the concessions made by Blanche.

“From the outset, we were clear that we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund that included constraining the scope of audit protection by limiting it to the parties of the Settlement Agreement and legally ending the anti-weaponization fund," they wrote.

Democrats, however, noted that the order rescinding the fund doesn't stop the Trump administration from compensating Jan. 6 rioters through a previously established process that allows people to file claims for damages if they believed they were wronged by the government.

“This supposed ‘deal’ doesn’t prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists in the future,” Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said in a social media post. Schiff added that it also “leaves in place a tax-immunity deal that could help Trump skip taxes on the $2.3 billion he made last year, and still leaves it vague who and what is covered.”

Cornyn, Tillis echo GOP colleagues' concerns as they b

locked Blanche nomination

Blanche’s nomination was thrown into doubt last week after the Judiciary Committee postponed a vote that had been scheduled for Thursday morning as Tillis and Cornyn said they needed more from the administration before they could provide the necessary votes.

After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that he might pull Blanche’s nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year. And on Saturday the president threatened to push forward with the fund if the two Republicans blocked Blanche's nomination.

On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol and could have benefited from the fund had “their lives destroyed.”

“This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered,” Trump said. “A lot of people like it.”

Blanche, who served as Trump’s defense lawyer in his criminal cases, entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to the top post after Pam Bondi was fired in April by Trump, who was frustrated by her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies.

Though Blanche insisted he wasn’t auditioning for the permanent job, he has moved quickly since taking the reins of the department to promote the Trump administration’s agenda and accelerate investigations into the president’s perceived foes.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a post on X that throughout her career, Granger "broke barriers for women in public service.” He added that she “was a dear friend who will be greatly missed.”

Granger, who began her career as a high school teacher and a businesswoman, accomplished many firsts as a politician. She was the first woman elected mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, and the first Republican woman to chair one of the most powerful committees in Congress, the House Appropriations Committee.

First elected to the House in 1996, she did not seek reelection in 2024 and experienced worsening “health challenges” in her final months in Congress, according to a statement her office released in December 2024. Granger, who didn’t cast a vote in Washington after July 2024, didn’t specify or elaborate on those health challenges but said in the statement that frequent travel to Washington had become “both difficult and unpredictable" since early September of that year.

Granger graduated from Texas Wesleyan University in 1965 and considered a career in fashion design but followed her mother into teaching. She worked in the Birdville school district for nine years, teaching English literature and journalism, according to a profile compiled for the publication “Women in Congress, 1917-2006.”

A divorce would lead to a career change. To earn more money, Granger worked from home selling insurance. Her mother, Alliene Mullendore, who moved in with Granger after a stroke, helped keep an eye on the kids. Granger eventually built a successful insurance business that she managed for more than two decades.

“I was a high school teacher with three children, a 2-year and 6-month-old twins, and my husband left," Granger told The Hill in a 2008 profile. “It's the reason I talk so much to working mothers ... you just fight your way through the day.”

Granger got her political start serving on Fort Worth's zoning commission and then won office to the city council. She went on to win election as the city's first female mayor, serving from 1991 to 1995.

Granger’s “Code: Blue” programs included citizen patrol initiatives that halved the rampant crime rate and partnerships with the private sector that drew major businesses to the city. Her resuscitation of Fort Worth’s flagging economic fortunes drew national attention.

In 1996, she was recruited by both parties to run for the House under their banner, and she won as a Republican.

Upon entering Congress, she was named to an advisory board that consulted then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. She also received seats on three committees: Budget, House Oversight, and Transportation and Infrastructure. She resigned those assignments as part of accepting a seat on the Appropriations Committee.

On the committee, she focused on defense spending, including championing the production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in Fort Worth.

When Republicans took charge of the House in 2023, Granger became the committee's chair, where she sought to enact steeper non-defense spending cuts than the top-line numbers House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden agreed to as part of avoiding an economically disastrous government default.

Masataka Yoshida homered and drove in two runs, and Jake Bennett (7-4) allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings to help the Red Sox win their fifth straight game. Boston is 23-3 since July 3.

Emmet Sheehan (4-8) was pulled after allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings, with the Red Sox pushing across two runs in a 30-pitch first inning.

Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu then clocked Sheehan for back-to-back homers to start the third inning, followed by Yoshida’s solo shot for a 5-3 lead two batters later.

Rafaela went 7 for 14 with four homers and five RBIs in the series. He has an eight-game hitting streak with four straight multi-hit outings.

Jarren Duran picked up Boston’s fourth solo homer in the sixth inning off reliever Kyle Hurt.

The Red Sox added two more runs in the eighth inning on a wild pitch and passed ball.

Andy Pages had three RBIs, but the Dodgers couldn’t follow up any momentum created by their blockbuster trade for Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal on Saturday night.

Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing was pulled out of the lineup shortly before the game started because of right arm irritation, with Eliezer Alfonzo taking over behind the plate.

Up next

Red Sox: LHP Patrick Sandoval (0-0, 3.32 ERA) was set to start the opener of a three-game series at home against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.

Dodgers: LHP Justin Wrobleski (11-2, 2.88 ERA) could get the call in the first of three games at the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.

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

Before late last week, the dollar was trading above 163 yen, touching 40-year highs. After regulators were suspected of stepping in, it fell below 160 yen.

Early Monday, after the official announcement of the intervention, the dollar fell to nearly 155.20 yen. That’s a big drop for the exchange rate. The dollar was trading at 156.70 yen early Monday Eastern time.

Even though it has attracted millions of bargain-hunting tourists, the yen's prolonged weakness against the dollar has been a source of frustration for Tokyo. Since Japan imports so much of what it consumes, a weak currency pushes prices higher. High oil prices have amplified that problem and that's putting pressure on the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to do more to address the rising cost of living.

Joint intervention was needed to stem the yen's decline

Efforts earlier this year to raise the value of the yen against the dollar did little to budge the exchange rate.

Normally foreign exchange markets determine the relative values of currencies, but there are many factors that shape what happens in the markets.

A big gap between interest rates in the U.S. and Japan has led investors to sell yen and buy dollars to take advantage of the higher yields from dollar-denominated assets. Both the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve kept their interest rates unchanged at meetings last week, maintaining that gap.

So, last week, when the dollar slipped below 160 yen and stayed there, the U.S. side was suspected of lending a hand.

Officials usually stay mum on such actions. But on Sunday, Trump confirmed that the U.S. side had helped, and Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama likewise issued a statement saying the finance ministry had purchased yen in coordination with the U.S. Treasury Department.

“We will not hesitate to conduct further joint intervention,” she said.

Such overt acknowledgment of market intervention is rare, said Neil Newman, managing director and head of strategy at Astris Advisory Japan. He said the last big example was when governments intervened following a massive earthquake and tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan in 2011.

Why the US is helping support the yen

When asked why Washington was helping, Trump said Sunday that “We have a good relationship with Japan. We’re very strong —- very, very strong financially — and they are, you know, they have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help, and we’re always there for Japan. Japan’s been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.”

Trump said the U.S. got “financial benefit” out of the intervention, calling it a “signal of friendship.”

“It’s also good for the world economy,” he said.

A weaker dollar makes U.S.-made goods more competitive, reducing their costs in yen terms, and might help increase American exports to Japan, Newman said.

“It’s very rare that the Americans will work with the Japanese on this, but there is an alignment of interests here basically between Japan and America,” Newman said.

It was a “low-cost” way for Washington to pay a favor to a key U.S. ally, while also protecting the stability of foreign exchange and bond markets, Shigeto Nagai, head of Japan economics for Oxford Economics, said in a report.

Analysts question if the intervention worked

The latest intervention appears to be having a more durable impact than earlier cases this year, and the yen may have a slightly stronger path for the rest of the year, Nagai said.

But the factors that have contributed to the yen's long-term weakness remain.

Takaichi has pushed to cut Japan's sales tax on food to 1% from 8% and to dramatically increase government spending. Such moves would tend to weaken the yen since it would increase inflation and add to Japan's already massive government debt.

The Bank of Japan has moved slowly to raise its benchmark rate from near zero to the current 1%, its highest level in 31 years but still well below the Federal Reserve' s rate of 3.5%-3.75%.

It likely will continue to slow-walk any changes as it evaluates the impact of the Iran war and other factors on the economy, Nagai said.

Meanwhile, a surge in oil prices because of the war and resulting higher inflation has kept the Fed from cutting rates.

“The yield differential remains wide, Japan’s energy-import burden remains significant, and the Bank of Japan is still moving more slowly than the market would normally require to generate a sustained currency reversal,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

___

Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. AP journalist Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney responded to an NCAA request for clarity about her Friday ruling that granted a fifth year to athletes who graduated high school in 2022 and were not included in the new NCAA rule that allows five seasons of eligibility for Division I players.

She said the decision still stands. But the clarification said her ruling had no impact on other NCAA rules, which would include its prohibition on players signing pro contracts, then coming back to college.

The NCAA filed its intention to appeal the case later Sunday night.

The ruling, as first written, had the potential to upend the upcoming college football season, where teams are starting camp planning on the “five for five” rule to take effect beginning next fall.

Extending it to players this fall granted hundreds a chance to return to school. In the direct aftermath of the decision, some media reports were listing players on NFL and CFL rosters who were signaling they’d be open to returning to school.

But that appears to be off the table after Sweeney's clarification that said it was strictly about the players whose eligibility ended last school year. It did not extend beyond that — neither to rules regarding when athletes can enter the transfer portal nor to elements of the landmark House lawsuit settlement, which dictates how many players teams can put on rosters and how much schools can pay them.

The rulings out of U.S. District Court in Denver figures to impact sports differently. Football teams, for instance, have already started practice for this season, while baseball doesn't start for a while.

In making decisions, teams figure to factor the NCAA's appeal of Sweeney's order and whether to risk bringing back players who could then be declared ineligible if her decision is overturned.

NCAA President Charlie Baker issued a statement after Sweeney's initial ruling came out Friday, saying the ruling was potentially chaos-inducing and a reason Congress needs to pass the Protect College Sports Act. That bill, being considered in the Senate, includes lawsuit protection for the NCAA over eligibility rules, the likes of which they are defending in several courts around the country.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Joe Mack homered, Xavier Edwards added an RBI single and Sandy Alcantara tossed six-plus solid innings for the Marlins, who won the final three games of the four-game series. Miami slugged six homers in the series, while the Mets went deep twice.

Alcantara (12-6) allowed four hits, including Luis Robert Jr.’s single and Jared Young’s double to open the seventh, and struck out five.

Petersen walked Marcus Semien before striking out Jorge Polanco and Francisco Alvarez and coaxed A.J. Ewing into a ground out to second.

Pete Fairbanks worked around a pair of walks in the ninth and earned his 17th save for the Marlins, who entered Sunday 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the final National League playoff spot.

Mets relievers Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán each threw a hitless inning after spot starter Robert Stock (0-1) went a career-high five innings.

Stock, making his first big league appearance since June 8, 2025 and just the third start of his career, allowed three hits, including Mack’s homer, and struck out four. The right-hander made his big league debut in 2018 as a reliever for interim Mets manager Andy Green in San Diego.

Up next

Marlins have not announced a starter for Tuesday’s home series opener against Atlanta LHP Chris Sale (12-6, 2.08 ERA).

Mets LHP Sean Manaea (2-5, 4.42) starts Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series at Cleveland against Guardians LHP Joey Cantillo (8-6, 3.88).

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

La primera fase del proceso, establecido de común acuerdo, incluye “la adopción de las medidas necesarias para el restablecimiento de los servicios consulares”, indicó un comunicado difundido por las cancillerías de los dos países.

Lo siguiente, agregó el reporte oficial, será la normalización de las relaciones diplomáticas con un cronograma que ambos países convendrán. No proporcionó una fecha específica.

Las relaciones bilaterales se suspendieron en julio de 2024, cuando el gobierno del entonces presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro anunció el retiro de las misiones diplomáticas en siete países: Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Perú, República Dominicana, Uruguay y Panamá.

La medida fue en respuesta a los cuestionamientos de los polémicos comicios presidenciales, en los que el organismo electoral venezolano declaró ganador a Maduro, en medio de las denuncias de fraude de la oposición, que aseguró que el excandidato Edmundo González había vencido al mandatario por una amplia diferencia de votos.

Organismos observadores internacionales, tales como el Centro Carter, calificaron de “creíbles” las actas electorales exhibidas por la oposición, en las que aseguraban se demostraba la victoria frente al gobierno en una proporción de 2 a 1.

Luego de que Delcy Rodríguez se convirtiera en presidenta encargada tras la incursión militar estadounidense en la que Maduro fue capturado, y que mostrara cercanía con la presidencia de Donald Trump, algunos otros países —entre ellos Chile y Perú — han anunciado acuerdos para restablecer relaciones diplomáticas con Venezuela.

Monday will feature a round of early showers near the Florida Keys, with another round of rain and storms in the afternoon. Because the storms are expected to move slowly, localized flooding cannot be ruled out. Highs could reach the lower 90s, with heat index values climbing into the triple digits.

Plan for unsettled weather to continue into Tuesday.

A resolution to the conflict, which has lasted more than five months, could give oil shippers the ability to send vessels out of the Persian Gulf, where tankers of oil and other products have been trapped during the fighting.

The price of U.S. crude oil fell 5% to $80.79 per barrel Sunday night. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 5% to $83.87 per barrel.

Oil prices have been swinging widely since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February, pushing past $100 per barrel multiple times during the spring.

As the conflict continued, high oil prices seeped into the cost of gasoline, jet fuel and many other products that are delivered using diesel. Motorists have paid more at the pump and customers shelled out more for airfare due to higher jet fuel costs. In some countries, fuel supplies ran low, leading to rationing and sporadic closures of schools and government offices.

Meanwhile, oil and gas companies amassed huge profits in the spring due to the high oil, gasoline and diesel prices that resulted when petroleum shippers couldn't get through the critical Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that borders Iran, due to the fighting.

Prices for U.S. crude oil on Sunday night remained about 20% higher than before the conflict began.

By landing the reigning two-time American League Cy Young winner with time to spare and without sacrificing their pursuit of a third straight World Series title, they reinforced their status as both baseball’s dominant power and public enemy No. 1.

“It just seems like there’s always blowback with us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday. “People are passionate. We feel good about it. There’s nothing that we did that no one else couldn’t have done.”

In the near term, Skubal’s arrival gives the Dodgers another powerful arm to an already loaded rotation responsible for the lowest WHIP and batting average in the majors. He is scheduled to make his debut on Tuesday at the Chicago Cubs, having gone 7-5 with a 2.79 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings over 16 starts for the Detroit Tigers this season.

“We got better,” reliever Edwin Díaz said “We got, like I said, one of the best pitchers in the league, and now we have him as a teammate, so that’s a really good plus for us.”

Having Skubal can allow the Dodgers to be cautious with Shohei Ohtani as he recovers from left knee soreness and a right biceps injury that have kept the two-way superstar from pitching since July 3. Ohtani will resume playing catch sometime during the three-game series against the Cubs, Roberts said, and the Dodgers remain optimistic he will be able to return to the mound this season.

“You can never predict the future, but if you said, ‘Hey, place a bet on it,’ I would be very confident placing it that he will be back pitching,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.

In the medium term, Skubal’s presence further strengthens the Dodgers’ already impressive credentials as they push to become the first National League team to three-peat. If healthy, they will be able to choose from an elite group of starters, many with proven playoff success such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell.

Skubal brings his own track record, having gone 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in six playoff starts over the past two postseasons. Friedman described his efforts last fall as “must-see TV.

“I was in awe watching the energy, the dominance he exhibited there, and I can’t wait to see it in Dodger blue,” Friedman said.

Not only did the acquisition further boost their own rotation, it should allow the Dodgers to move other starters into the bullpen, something they did to great effect during the 2025 title run.

“We’re not going to be flippant about this moment in time and how special this group, this era can be in the history of this incredibly storied organization, and we’re going to do everything we can to win the last game of the year,” Friedman said.

In the long term, the Dodgers’ trade for Skubal represents one more salvo in the looming battle over baseball’s finances and competitive balance.

Los Angeles made the trade without giving up any of its most touted prospects in what is regarded among MLB’s top farm systems, which has been a frequent pattern during this run of three titles over the previous six seasons. Those assets have allowed them to consistently upgrade through trades without needing to send established major league contributors back the other way.

Roberts credited the organization’s ability to find and develop talent as being just as important to the Dodgers’ recent success as much as their deep pocketbooks have allowed them to sign the likes of Ohtani to massive contracts.

“I just laud our front office,” Roberts said. “We have to have the players to be able to pull something like this off.”

As long as the current system is in place, the Dodgers will not apologize for their interest to acquire the best players available through whatever means are accessible to them.

“But as we’ve talked about a lot, whenever there’s a star-level player that is available that can really shift championship odds, those are the moments that we’ll be more aggressive,” Friedman said.

Skubal was with the Dodgers in the dugout during a 8-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night. The team also posted pictures of his new Dodgers' No. 29 jersey and locker and video of Skubal meeting his new teammates on social media.

“Just knowing he's in Dodger blue, it's pretty surreal,” Roberts said after the game. “I don't think I've felt this good after getting swept, so that's a silver lining.”

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

That hands-on approach to leadership is one of the reasons Adebayo was presented with the 2026 NBA Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award.

“Boy, would have never thought we’d be here,” Adebayo said.

From toy drives and backpack giveaways to turkey drives and working with Miami’s youth, Adebayo’s community efforts caught the attention of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

“But your unwavering commitment to extending opportunities for young people,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a special video message before presenting the 29-year-old with the award.

“The Bam Books and Brotherhood Foundation, what it’s doing for kids to be literate, into sports, you can’t put a price on that kid engagement,” said James Cadogan, executive director of the NBA Social Justice Coalition. “But you can tell it’s authentic and from the heart.”

Cadogan said it was Adebayo’s consistency that stood out.

“It’s not just a me thing. To get this award, you have to impact a lot of lives. I feel like I’ve done that over the course of my career,” Adebayo said. “To be able to finally get the award... it’s not a big deal to me because I feel like impacting lives is more important.”

Humble is the best way to describe the nearly 7-foot star, with values he said were ingrained in him by his biggest fan — his mother.

“It warms my heart when I see her smile a lot,” Adebayo said. “Her seeing that I’m trying to do something good in this world -- that goes a long way.”

“Perfect pace, perfect read,” he said.

The 24-year-old Thorbjornsen sealed his spot in the FedEx Cup playoff after rolling into the Motor City No. 69 in the standings. The top 70 advance to the postseason after next week’s Wyndham Championship.

“Just to be in the playoff for the first time is very exciting, he said. ”It's great to be playing against the best players in the world."

Thorbjornsen started the fourth round three shots behind leader Davis Riley, whose rough start opened opportunities for the field.

“The start got the best of me and kind of put me behind the eight-ball early unfortunately,” Riley said.

Thorbjornsen took advantage, surging into the lead at No. 14 with his third of four birdies in a six-hole stretch and closing with a clutch, curling putt that went in the right side of the cup.

He's the eighth first-time winner this season on the PGA Tour and the second straight, following Jackson Koivun’s victory last week at the 3M Open.

“It was such a battle, playing with some great players," Thorbjornsen said. "Everyone was in the mix after nine holes.”

Xander Schauffele (65) briefly led during the final round and finished second, two shots behind Thorbjornsen.

“I played really well and he just beat me straight up, so hats off to him,” Schauffele said.

Riley (70) was another stroke behind in third, falling out of the lead with four bogeys.

Rasmus Hojgaard (68) was alone in fourth, four shots back.

Hideki Matsuyama (64), Matt Wallace (67), Kristoffer Ventura (68) were another stroke back, tied for fifth.

Thorbjornsen was born in Cleveland, grew up in Massachusetts and attended Stanford. He won the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur over Akshay Bhatia, who has three PGA Tour wins.

He went straight to the PGA Tour in 2024 as the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University ranking.

“I think it's one of the best programs in golf,” Thorbjornsen said. “It’s changed all of our lives.”

Thorbjornsen chipped in from 35 feet for birdie at No. 12 on a day when he accurately aimed for pins that left him with some short birdie putts before his long one on his 72nd hole.

He had a bogey-free round, an accomplishment many other players on the leaderboard were unable to pull off on a day that started with rain and became windy when the clouds cleared.

Riley started with a one-shot lead and quickly lost it — and couldn't find his ball in fescue at No. 4 after about a dozen people helped him try — with three bogeys through six holes.

He rallied with three birdies in a seven-hole stretch before giving back a stroke with a bogey at No. 17, taking away his chance to possibly force the tournament into a playoff.

The eighth and final Rocket Classic drew its strongest field and biggest crowds.

The PGA Tour is moving to a new model for 2028, effectively creating two tours and Rocket Mortgage decided not to exercise its option to host another tournament next year. The Detroit-based company isn’t interested in continuing to spend $15 million a year to be part of the second tier in the new era and didn’t want to double the costs to be part of the elite tier.

“There have been some conversations about having a tournament here again," tournament director Mark Hollis said. “Michigan deserves to have professional golf.”

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

In preparation, the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex in Miami Gardens was packed with students and parents picking up supplies and backpacks.

Parents and students could also pick up gently used uniforms.

On Sunday, Local 10 News’ Bridgette Matter sat down with incoming Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rafael Villalobos, who will replace current Superintendent Jose Dotres when he leaves his position in February.

They went over some changes parents should know about, including the school breakfast and lunch program.

The district was recently reassessed by the federal government, and free breakfast and lunch will be offered at 121 qualifying schools.

“The other families that are not part of the 121 schools, we did reach out to them directly, letting them know and encouraging them to apply,” said Villalobos. “And the reason we did that is so that people could prepare coming into the school.”

If your child’s school does not qualify, you can apply for free or reduced meals and will receive that if eligible.

And like in Broward County, Miami-Dade is also seeing declining enrollment.

“We have had a steady decrease of student enrollment, and we know that that decrease, there’s multiple factors that are related to it,” he said.

This school year, nine schools are set to be closed or repurposed in an effort to consolidate.

The district is also reminding drivers to be patient as buses and school traffic return to the roads.

“That said, we want to wish you an awesome beginning of the school year and thank you for choosing Miami-Dade County because we are your best choice,” said Villalobos.

Additionally, the district wanted to remind parents to have their contact information up to date with their child’s school.

“I’m running for governor to eliminate your property tax bill,” he said during an appearance on “This Week in South Florida” Sunday.

Fishback is a Republican and political newcomer. He’s a Davie native and a businessman who has gained steam online amid some controversial comments.

The 31-year-old has been accused of using antisemitic and racist language, and was asked about it by TWISF host Janine Stanwood.

“In both of these cases (of alleged racist remarks), you’re talking to Black people and you’re using the word ‘slave’, and ‘lynched’. Is that intentional?” asked Stanwood.

“What’s intentional is Byron Donalds took $104 million from some of the largest out of state donors in this country, people like Mark Zuckerberg gave him $5 million cause they wanna build data centers in Broward, Dade county,” Fishback replied.

Congressman Byron Donalds is the frontrunner in polling and fundraising, and is endorsed by Donald Trump, but according to the RealClearPolitics average, Fishback is a top contender.

He has received 9% of the vote, though still trailing by a large margin.

Fishback has been kept out of the state republicans’ key political events, including June’s Sunshine State Showdown.

The state party explained that he took part in an unsanctioned debate and attacked his fellow Republicans.

“The only people I think I’ve ticked off are Byron Donalds and his consultants,” Fishback said.

Fishback has centered his campaign around eliminating property taxes and banning all data centers from coming to Florida.

He says voters don’t care about his controversies.

“Genuinely I’ve never had a voter come up to me and complain about my language, because voters are not considered about my vote choice, they’re considered about how they’re gonna pay their electricity bill,” he said.

The Republican primary election is set for Aug. 18, with the winner facing the Democratic nominee on Nov. 3.