Fort Lauderdale police said officers responded at about 5:03 a.m. to a crash involving a pedestrian in the 2100 block of Northwest 21st Avenue.

Officers said they found a man at the scene and began life-saving measures. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue personnel later pronounced him dead at the scene, police confirmed.

Authorities said the driver remained at the scene, and FLPD’s Traffic Homicide Unit is investigating the crash.

No other details about the victim were immediately released.

The case is prompting the Florida Department of Health and mosquito control to place traps in areas with a high density of mosquitoes.

Those traps will then allow officials to test the species, and to also test for dengue, west Nile, malaria and other mosquito born viruses.

Mosquito control has also responded to more house calls where residents are asking their areas be sprayed.

Health officials say the symptoms of dengue can present as a flu-like illness, with severe muscle aches, joint pain, fever and sometimes a rash. Medical experts say dengue will appear within 14 days of being bitten.

Local 10 spoke with infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty about what to look for if you feel you have been infected and how some cases can be severe or fatal.

“In addition to the symptoms you had before, you can get damage to vital organs, not just your lungs, but your liver, other organs could be severely affected and it can be fatal,” she said.

Even more concerning is that there is no specific dengue antiviral available at this time, though there are medications to treat the symptoms to get past the infection.

So what can you do to protect yourself? Wear protective clothing, use mosquito repellant and drain any standing water from around your homes.

Jail records show Dasheona Ford, 29, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Tuesday.

Records show she is facing multiple felony charges stemming from several cases, including strong-arm robbery, grand theft, organized fraud, fraudulent use of a credit card, unlawful use of a communications device and money laundering.

Ford’s arrest comes after Miami Beach police arrested taxi driver Reynoso Osias last week in connection with the investigation.

Police said the investigation began after a June 14 strong-arm robbery near 11th Street and Washington Avenue. The victim told detectives that after leaving a nightclub, a woman later identified as Ford approached him, took his iPhone and fled to a waiting yellow taxi.

Surveillance video captured Ford entering the taxi, police said. Minutes later, cameras showed Ford getting out of the vehicle and approaching another person who appeared visibly intoxicated before removing a cellphone from the man’s pocket, according to investigators.

Detectives said they later expanded the investigation to another incident on June 28 involving an intoxicated victim whose cellphone was stolen and money was withdrawn from his bank accounts, police said. Investigators said surveillance footage showed the victim entering the same taxi.

The victim told detectives he had no memory of getting into the vehicle and had not hailed or requested a taxi, according to police.

Investigators ultimately identified Osias as the taxi driver and said evidence connected him to the stolen phones and fraudulent financial transactions. When detectives arrested him last week, police said they found eight Apple iPhones inside a plastic bag beneath the driver’s seat.

Jail records show Osias is facing multiple felony charges, including kidnapping, conspiracy to commit strong-arm robbery, organized scheme to defraud, offenses against computer users and unlawful use of a communications device.

Ford’s jail records list additional charges across several cases, including organized scheme to defraud involving $50,000 or more, fraudulent use of personal identification information, theft of a credit card and additional counts of grand theft and credit card fraud.

As of Wednesday morning, Ford remained held at TGK, where her bond was listed as “to be set.” Osias was being held at the MetroWest Detention Center, where his bond was listed at $17,500.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as executioners attempted to put her to death last Wednesday for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The lethal injection drug didn’t kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were left burned and blistered.

Her survival raises further questions about her medical and legal future. Her attorneys said her prognosis remains unclear and that she faces a long recovery.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” attorneys for Pike said in a statement. “Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented.”

Her attorneys said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.”

It’s the first indication Pike’s health has improved

As recently as Sunday, Pike’s attorneys said she had remained unconscious and on a ventilator.

Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said the development “bodes well for a good recovery.” But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.

“She’s still in the ICU,” he said. “She has recovered to a certain degree that she’s able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk. There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well.”

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction said she could provide no information other than that Pike remained hospitalized Tuesday.

A court hearing is set for Wednesday

Pike’s attorneys are set to go to court Wednesday as they seek to learn more about what happened in the failed lethal injection.

The attorneys are seeking a court order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence, including drug lot numbers, records and other information from the Sept. 30 attempted execution. Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles scheduled a Wednesday morning status conference in the case.

Pike’s attorneys said in their Tuesday statement that they continue to ask outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute Pike’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time,” her attorneys said.

Lee halted further executions following Pike’s hospitalization and ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.” U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the state’s Republican candidate to replace him, called on the state to explore other methods of execution to ensure it can continue carrying out capital punishment.

Could the state try again?

In addition to questions about competency — whether Pike can understand why she would be put to death — Pike has strong arguments that it would be cruel and unusual for the state to try again to execute her, said Deborah Denno, a Fordham Law professor who has studied execution methods for 36 years. It could also violate the prohibition on double jeopardy, trying or punishing someone twice for the same offense, Denno said.

In other recent cases, states have been allowed to try again after failing to establish a suitable intravenous line, she said, but Pike is the first person to survive after the lethal drug was actually administered.

“They carried out every aspect of the execution,” Denno said. ”She didn’t die, but every process they intended, they did it.”

Seattle University Law Professor Michael Russo, who handled capital cases as a public defender in Los Angeles, called the failed execution horrible but said he doubted whether the Supreme Court would stop the state from trying again on double-jeopardy grounds, should it decide to do so.

“There’s nobody else in the history of the death penalty in this country who has gone through what she’s been through,” Russo said. But, he added, “I think what this Supreme Court would say is, her sentence was to die — to be executed — not to suffer an attempt at execution.”

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Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson contributed from Seattle.

Israelis are marking the third anniversary of the Palestinian militant Hamas group’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which sparked a devastating war in Gaza, while for Palestinians the anniversary ushers in yet another day of misery.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage is available here.

Houthis claim more attacks in Saudi Arabia

The Houthis used ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, to attack military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia, the rebels’ military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said Wednesday on social media. He didn’t provide evidence for the claim.

The attacks targeted King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, with missiles, he said.

Flights to and from the airport were disrupted, with planes holding away from the airfield, according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform.

Also attacked were Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other “critical sites” in the cities of Najran and Asir, Saree said.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, said they intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the rebels north of Riyadh.

The attacks came as Saudi Arabia and its allied Yemeni forces launched a major ground and air offensive on the Houthis on Yemen’s western coast and elsewhere in the country.

The Houthis also said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against Yemen’s port city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government.

An Associated Press journalist heard explosions that rocked the city around 2 a.m. local time.

Israelis mourn while Palestinians endure hardship

Israelis have gathered at intersections, bomb shelters and the site of a music festival that Hamas-led militants overran on Oct. 7, 2023, to mark the anniversary of the attack that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. The attack also sparked the war in Gaza and led to a series of conflicts across the Middle East.

For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day of misery and difficulties after an Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Most of the population, about 2 million people, lives in vast, squalid tent camps, with large parts of the strip’s cities reduced to rubble. More than half the territory remains in the hands of the Israeli military, and despite a ceasefire deal reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily.

Israeli campaign leaves Rafah in ruins

Three years after Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the city of Rafah, which used to be home to a quarter million people, lies in ruins.

The Israeli military has razed the southern city and other towns and districts to the ground, satellite imagery shows.

Demolition, using bulldozers and explosives, has continued since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal was reached a year ago.

Gaza’s devastated landscape is just one of many wounds that the enclave’s 2 million Palestinians have endured since the Israeli campaign that has killed over 74,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. More than one out of every 10 people from Gaza’s prewar population has been killed or wounded by Israeli fire.

With almost the entire population homeless, the coastal territory is now effectively one of the world’s most populated tent cities.

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

“Artists With Autism” turns creative talent into real-world opportunity, and artwork into independence.

Despite some major setbacks in recent months, the group’s vision and its mission hasn’t changed.

“The main focus was helping them become independent as artists,” founder Cynthia Kaegi said. “To learn skills that were marketable — for hoping that they could get a job.”

RELATED STORY: (PART 1) - Colors that connect — inside ‘Vichy’s Art’

Kaegi launched the non-profit, noting her son’s artistic passions and wanting more opportunity for those on the autism spectrum.

The group was born in 2012 and opened a gallery and training space at Festival Marketplace in Pompano Beach, until warehouse redevelopment forced them out, with no home base.

“We need to find a new home right away and a new gallery to show our art —as well as sell them,” said local artist, Joseph Michael Vidal.

The group kept going though — taking its mission to local art markets, events and pop-up galleries across South Florida.

The Plunge Beach Resort’s gallery, which regularly features local artists, invited the group to share and showcase their work in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea — through its Plunge into the Arts program.

“This is a perfect opportunity where people who don’t usually have interaction with people with autism, that they can meet them and talk to them, and they can admire what their talents are, because when you’ve met one person with autism, that’s one person with autism. They are all different and and that’s why it’s called a spectrum,” Kaegi said.

Artists With Autism is looking for businesses or organizations that may be able to sponsor or provide a permanent space. The group is also seeking additional art markets and community events where artists can display their work.

To get involved or find art/events, click here.

The organization is encouraging more artists with autism to get involved as it expands — building bridges with new audiences.

“It’s a good thing to show that everyone has a great talent,” said Vidal.

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

It happened along the 700 block of Northwest 11th Street.

Security video obtained by Local 10 News showed everything unfold, as a truck is parked out front and suddenly lurches forward into the front of the store.

Camera angles from inside the store show how fast it happened.

A group of people were sitting inside when it took place, and a woman wearing a pink shirt was seen trying to flee as the truck entered the business.

That woman was later taken to the hospital for treatment, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Her husband, who asked to only be identified as Joseph, was with her inside the store when it happened. He says the impact left him disoriented.

“Not only was I deaf because of the loud bang, I was confused and I seen a lot of smoke, so I was trying to figure out what was going on,” he said.

Inside the business, a massive mess was left behind.

The driver said he thought the truck was in reverse when it instead went forward.

Mohammad Hassan, the owner of the store, estimates the damage will cost north of $35,000.

“I’m feeling so upset,” he said. “I’m really disappointed. I’m really upset.”

Hassan, who has owned the store for over two years, says he will have to shut down the store until repairs can be made, which will be difficult because it his livelihood.

“This is my main business,” he said. “Everything comes from it, my rent, everything comes from here. I don’t know how long the store will have to be shut down.”

Police have not said whether the driver of the truck, who was allowed to go home, will face any charges or be cited for the crash.

No direct impacts from Tropical Storm Isaias in the southwestern Gulf are expected, but our friends and neighbors along the northern Gulf Coast are likely to experience the season’s first hurricane by Friday. Hurricane watches for that region could be issued as early as later this afternoon.

Small SUV: 2027 Nissan Rogue Hybrid

Nissan’s best-selling model is getting its first full redesign since 2021, and it’s a significant one. The fourth-generation Rogue small SUV debuts with a new hybrid powertrain called E-Power that works more like an electric vehicle than a traditional hybrid. A small gas engine acts as a generator, recharging a battery that powers the electric motors driving the Rogue. The result is reduced noise and quicker acceleration compared to the regular Rogue, Nissan says. Nissan also estimates that the Rogue Hybrid will get 38 mpg in combined city/highway driving. That’s a bit less than what the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 hybrids can do, but it’s still very good for a small SUV.

Starting price: $37,065, including destination fees

Three-row SUV: 2028 Toyota Highlander

The Highlander undergoes a massive change for 2028, becoming an all-electric three-row SUV with a quoted range of up to 320 miles. Buyers who still want a gas- or hybrid-powered three-row Toyota SUV will need to look at the larger Grand Highlander. But you needn’t step up to the bigger version to get a reasonably comfortable third row, even for adults. Edmunds’ first drive in the new all-electric Highlander showed the new version’s way-back seat to be much more comfortable than the outgoing model’s. Besides the Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia EV9, there aren’t many three-row EVs aimed at bigger families, so we’re excited to see Toyota offering an all-new alternative.

Estimated starting price: $60,000

Luxury SUV: 2027 Audi Q9

At the same time Audi is sunsetting the longstanding A8 flagship sedan, it’s adding a new full-size three-row SUV. The 2027 Q9 is the largest vehicle Audi has ever built, and it’s aimed squarely at rival German stalwarts like the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS. Power comes from a 429-horsepower turbocharged V6. Inside, there’s seating for seven or a more premium six-passenger layout with second-row captain’s chairs. The Q9’s third-row seating area is considerably roomier than the one in the Q7, which also gets a redesign this year. Audi has also fitted the Q9 with all of its latest technology and driver assist features.

Starting price: $89,095, including destination

Compact pickup: 2027 Slate Truck

No 2027 model has generated more buzz among budget-conscious shoppers than the Slate Truck, the debut model from an American startup automotive company. The Truck is a bare-bones two-seat electric pickup that’s smaller than a Ford Maverick. By design, it comes without factory paint or even an infotainment touchscreen. Instead, buyers are encouraged to personalize it to their liking, up to and including the option to turn the cargo bed into a seating area and effectively turn the Truck into a five-seat SUV. The Slate Truck is an intriguing option for affordable vehicle, but go in with your eyes wide open: It lacks many features you might take for granted in other vehicles, and its estimated range of just 205 miles is a concern.

Starting price: $26,400, including destination

Full-size pickup: 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Chevrolet’s full-size truck is getting its first redesign since 2019, and that should make it a more capable rival to the Ford F-150, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tacoma. The 2027 Silverado 1500 brings a bolder exterior design, a new interior and a standard 16.3-inch touchscreen. Two new V8 engine options join the carryover turbocharged four-cylinder and diesel six-cylinder. The 5.7-liter V8 produces 402 horsepower, while the larger 6.2-liter V8 cranks out 481 horsepower. Both are more powerful than the Silverado’s previous V8s. Expect Super Cruise — GM’s hands-free driving technology — to be available on top trims. And like all full-size trucks, there will be many variants — seven to be exact, topping out at more than $80,000 for the off-road-oriented ZR2 or the luxurious High Country.

Estimated starting price: $40,000

Edmunds says

The new model year is jam-packed with big updates for some of the most popular vehicles on the market. These models we listed above will have some significant advantages over a vehicle in the here and now. Buyers shopping for new wheels will have a lot of exciting options to choose from in the next few months.

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This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. Josh Jacquot is a contributor at Edmunds.

Isaias was located about 285 miles (460 kilometers) west of Progreso, Mexico, and about 580 miles (935 kilometers) southwest of the Mississippi River’s mouth, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving east-northeast at 8 mph (13 kph).

It was not immediately known where the storm may make landfall on the Gulf Coast. The hurricane center’s initial projections said the center of Isaias could come onshore somewhere between eastern Louisiana and the western Florida Panhandle. People in those areas were urged to prepare for the storm.

“There is an increasing risk of dangerous wind and storm surge impacts along portions of the northern Gulf Coast,” the hurricane center said. “Residents from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle should closely monitor the latest forecast updates and ensure they have their hurricane plan in place.”

Isaias also will bring areas of heavy rain to portions of the Gulf Coast and much of the U.S. Southeast on Friday and into the weekend, forecasters said.

The storm comes as the Atlantic hurricane season has been unusually quiet this year due to a strong El Niño, which disrupts storm formation over that ocean. Storm activity in the Pacific has been above average.

Vaccaro is seeking damages she says were caused by Hill, who has denied the allegations.

Jurors were shown video captured by a baby monitor inside the couple’s home that showed an argument between Hill and Vaccaro while their newborn baby was sleeping.

The two could be heard screaming and yelling profanities. At one point, Hill appeared to take the baby with him.

Local 10 News previously obtained video from the former couple’s Sunny Isles Beach home showing Hill holding their daughter during an argument and looking over the edge of a balcony.

The video was recorded during an April 2025 domestic dispute that prompted police to respond to the couple’s condominium. No arrests were made.

Vaccaro has accused Hill of multiple instances of physical and emotional abuse during their marriage.

Taking the stand Tuesday, Vaccaro said she endured abuse during the marriage and had remained silent about it.

“During this whole period of an 18-month marriage, it’s been a consistent two week on, two weeks off situation. Of course, we had our moments where it was beautiful, but the two weeks of when he goes back to this angry man, it’s bad,” she said. “It’s something I can’t live with, today. I can’t allow my daughter to see. I’m a new mom, obviously. I’ve endured a lot of abuse during this marriage, and I’ve been very silent.”

Vaccaro described several incidents of alleged physical abuse, including one in July 2024. She said Hill attempted to strike her in the stomach while she was pregnant and that she blocked the blow with her hands. She also accused Hill of pulling her hair during the same confrontation.

“I was pregnant, and he treated me like I was just a man,” Vaccaro said. “It was so violent. I was hurt so bad.”

Vaccaro’s attorneys also presented jurors with a photograph that she said showed a mark on her neck following an earlier confrontation with Hill.

She testified that Hill had wrestled with her over her ring and other jewelry, tackled her onto a bed and pulled the jewelry from her neck.

“He was wrestling me for my ring and my jewelry on my neck and tackling me to the bed and ripping it off,” Vaccaro said.

The jury also heard testimony concerning an alleged postnuptial agreement. Vaccaro said Hill pressured her to sign the agreement, and her attorneys presented text messages they said were exchanged during the dispute.

Hill has denied the allegations. His attorneys have challenged Vaccaro’s account and argued that her claims have been exaggerated.

Christie Bright, Hill’s attorney, urged jurors to examine the allegations against the evidence presented in court.

“Those are very serious allegations, and they deserve to be treated seriously. But taking an allegation seriously doesn’t mean accepting it because it was made,” she said. “It means examining the evidence. It means comparing what someone said today, this week, in this courtroom, to what they said contemporaneous to when it was happening.”

The trial is expected to last about 10 days.

• South Florida to honor victims today, marking 3 years since Hamas’ attack on Israel
• Woman hospitalized after truck crashes into northwest Miami-Dade business
• ‘Dangerous’ Florida Keys fugitive captured in Mexico after 5 days on run

You can watch a live feed of our news broadcast at Local10.com/Live.

Isaías se ubicaba unos 460 kilómetros (285 millas) al oeste de Progreso, México, y a unos 935 kilómetros (580 millas) al suroeste de la desembocadura del río Misisipi, según el Centro Nacional de Huracanes de Estados Unidos, con sede en Miami. Tenía vientos máximos sostenidos de 65 kilómetros por hora (40 millas por hora) y se desplazaba hacia el este-noreste a 13 km/h (8 mph).

No se sabía de inmediato en qué parte de la costa podría tocar tierra la tormenta. Las proyecciones iniciales del centro de huracanes indicaban que el centro de Isaías podría ingresar a tierra en algún punto entre el este de Luisiana y el oeste de la franja nororiental de Florida. Se instó a las personas en esas áreas a prepararse para la tormenta.

“Hay un riesgo creciente de impactos peligrosos por viento y marejada ciclónica a lo largo de partes de la costa norte del Golfo”, dijo el centro de huracanes. “Los residentes desde Luisiana hasta la franja nororiental de Florida deben seguir de cerca las últimas actualizaciones del pronóstico y asegurarse de tener listo su plan para huracanes”.

Isaías también llevará áreas de fuertes lluvias a partes de la costa del Golfo y a gran parte del sureste de Estados Unidos el viernes y durante el fin de semana, dijeron los meteorólogos.

La tormenta llega en una temporada de huracanes del Atlántico inusualmente tranquila este año debido a un fuerte El Niño, que interrumpe la formación de tormentas sobre ese océano. La actividad de tormentas en el Pacífico ha estado por encima del promedio.

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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.

As the Saudi capital is targeted again, new cagelike fences have been erected this week around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi state-run Aramco oil company near the Riyadh airport.

The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said on social media that the rebels launched ballistic missiles and drones against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said they intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh. Flights were briefly disrupted, according to Flightradar24.

The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, has faced a string of attacks on oil and military targets in recent days. Now Saudi Arabia and allied Yemeni forces have launched a major ground and air offensive against the Houthis aiming to retake territory that the rebels seized a month ago along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Those positions gave the Houthis better surveillance as they pursue a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping. On Monday, officials said forces of the Saudi-led coalition recaptured several key areas around the strait, through which about 12% of global trade transits.

Houthis also push for strategic areas inside Yemen

“The Houthis believe that they can maximize Saudi economic costs and compel Saudi Arabia to surrender to Houthi demands by striking civilian infrastructure, such as oil facilities and airports,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in an analysis.

The Houthi spokesperson said they also targeted Abha airport in Saudi Arabia, a frequent target of rebel drones and missiles. The rebels also claimed to hit an air base in the city of Khamis Mushait and two military bases in Najran and Asir. All are in the southwest, near the Yemeni border.

Inside Yemen, fighting has centered in and around the crucial town of Dhubab, some 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) south of the port city of Mokha that the rebels seized last month, according to both the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government.

Clashes were also reported in Waziayah district in southwestern Taiz province, which links Yemen’s highlands to the Red Sea and overlooks roads to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Al-Malki has vowed “full operational support” to Yemeni government forces until the Houthis are “eliminated.” The coalition has said 100 fighter jets were providing support. Another aim is to liberate Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital.

The offensive began after the rebels seized Turbah town on a main road linking the provincial capital of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, with Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government. Officials have said U.S. support has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning.

The escalation has revived Yemen’s civil war after a four-year ceasefire. Almost 1,000 people have been killed in the latest fighting, with over 180,000 displaced, according to the United Nations. Cholera and malnutrition cases are increasing, access to trauma care is more difficult and some hospitals have shortages of surgical and other supplies, the World Health Organization said this week.

Houthis target the airport in Aden with missiles

The Houthis also said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against Aden. An Associated Press journalist heard explosions around 2 a.m.

The rebels hit a military camp close to the city's airport with ballistic missiles, Saree said. Security authorities in Aden said the Houthis targeted the airport with two missiles, with no casualties. The airport is close to the seat of government.

“The targeting of this vital civilian facility represents a direct threat to the safety of civilians, passengers, employees and flight crews,” the Aden police said in a statement.

One missile hit close to the runway just before the scheduled landing of a flight from Cairo, the Human Rights Ministry said. Flight 603, operated by Yemen’s flagship airline, landed safely in Aden at 3:30 a.m., according to flight tracking platform FlightAware.

The ministry said the missile hit as other passengers were waiting to board their flight to the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.

The office of Prime Minister Balendra Shah decided on Monday that search and rescue operations for victims of the Aug. 26 floods will cease. Instead, authorities will concentrate on rehabilitation and reconstruction including restoring roads and bridges cut off by floods, particularly in remote areas where damaged infrastructure has made aid deliveries difficult.

Rescuers have so far recovered the bodies of at least 1,455 people, but 5,285 others remain missing, including hundreds of foreign nationals.

The government estimates reconstruction and recovery will cost $4.77 billion. Nearly 33,000 people have been affected and about 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Hopes for finding survivors were briefly revived after two Nepalese workers were rescued from an underground tunnel at the Trishuli hydropower project on Sept. 4, and again two days later when rescuers found a Chinese man at the same location.

Families of victims have held protests and vigils in Nepal, calling for search efforts to be improved.

“I am so angry at the government for giving up on search and rescue with thousands of people still missing. I just don’t understand how they can do that when we still have hope left that our loved one can still be found,” said Usha Khatri, who has spent days searching for her husband in multiple towns where the river flows and bodies have been recovered.

During her ongoing search she has checked photos of bodies that were recovered but buried for preservation until identification is made.

“Either they have to give up the body or show some solid proof that my husband is gone and only then can they declare him dead,” Khatri said.

“They have abandoned us and they should not have stopped the search,” said Mahesh Shrestha, whose brother was an engineer at a hydropower plant that was hit. “Our family demand they continue looking for him.”

Others welcomed the decision and said they are seeking government-issued death certificates.

“After so many days and weeks there is little or no hope of finding anyone alive. We are sure that none of our family members survived and we are just looking for a closure,” said Nirajan Poudel, who lost five family members in the flood.

Several people whose relatives remain missing have performed symbolic funerals. Cremation is an important final rite in the Hindu tradition and performing the ceremony even without a body provides a sense of spiritual release for some families.

Poudel said the government has so far refused to issue death certificates, saying laws need to be amended first. Death certificates are necessary in Nepal for families to receive compensation, insurance and inherit properties.

Nepal's government did not immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press for more information about the death certificates.

The election late Tuesday was a significant moment in a political crisis in the small Balkan nation that has caused legislative deadlock for over 19 months and two early parliamentary elections.

Just before Shiroka Pula was elected, lawmakers also approved a law limiting the powers of a special court in The Hague, Netherlands, which was set up to investigate and prosecute war crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the country's 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia.

During the extraordinary session in Parliament, Shiroka Pula secured 81 votes in the 120-seat parliament. Outside, thousands of protesters had gathered demanding that the legislature pass the law limiting the powers of the war crimes court, known as the Specialist Chambers.

Shiroka Pula recently served as president of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. She will become Kosovo’s third female president since the country’s post-war independence. She was a last-minute consensus candidate backed by the ruling Self-Determination movement and the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

The role of president in Kosovo is largely ceremonial, though office holders do play an important role in foreign policy and serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. She will have to endorse the law limiting the power of the Hague court for it to become binding.

In her speech after taking the oath late Tuesday, Shiroka Pula said: “Today, I accept with great honor and full responsibility the duty of President of the Republic of Kosovo.”

“This mandate does not belong to one person alone, it belongs to our citizens, our institutions, and the state for which many generations have sacrificed,” she said.

Shiroka Pula’s election came after over two weeks of protests following a verdict by The Hague-based court convicting four of Kosovo's wartime rebel leaders of war crimes, including the country's former president Hashim Thaci. They were sentenced to between 13 and 25 years in prison.

Kosovo has criticized the verdicts as unjust, maintaining that the KLA, which Thaci had led before entering politics, had fought against Serbian oppression. Both residents and politicians feared the court ruling would tarnish Kosovo’s independence struggle.

More than 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, were killed during the conflict in Kosovo, while about 1 million ethnic Albanian Kosovars were driven from their homes during the fighting.

Many molecules of life come in versions that look alike but aren’t exactly identical, like right and left hands. One mirror image of the chemical carvone smells like mint, for example, while the other has a whiff of caraway.

When designing drugs to treat diseases, scientists want to be choosy about which mirror image they’re getting. They want the version of a molecule that’ll treat a cold, not the kind that’ll make the sniffles worse.

Kagan and Soai found ways to make chemistry pick a side, designing and manipulating reactions to produce the desired mirror image.

“This is probably the coolest experiment in organic chemistry,” said Peter Somfai, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. “Taken together, the groundbreaking discoveries by Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have reshaped our understanding of molecular chirality — how it is created, amplified and transmitted.”

The discovery enabled most modern medicines

Scientists paid tribute to Kagan and Soai's groundbreaking work, which the Nobel committee described as a feat never previously achieved by anyone “other than life itself.”

“It might be difficult to say that this drug, or that drug, was developed using this,” Somfai said. “I would say all of them, because we use this as a tool, we use this as an understanding, how to develop catalysts, how they function.”

“Chirality” comes from the Greek word for “hand.”

In the 1980s, Kagan’s work showed there might be a way to design reactions to produce one form of a molecule over the other. Years later, Soai brought that dream to life. He created the first-ever chemical reaction to produce only one of a molecule’s mirror images, in what’s now known as the “Soai reaction.”

“The medicines we have today would not be possible without this chemistry,” said Rigoberto Hernandez, president of the American Chemical Society.

Kagan, 95 years old and born in France, is affiliated with the Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, and Soai, born in 1950 in Japan, with the Tokyo University of Science.

The French Academy of Sciences, of which Kagan is a member, congratulated the two scientists and expressed its pride in the prize.

Neither the Université Paris-Sud nor the Tokyo University of Science responded immediately to AP requests for comment.

“I’m very excited to receive the very nice news,” Soai told the committee and journalists by phone. “Of course this is one of the most exciting days in my life.”

He said he was shopping near his home when he was reached by the Nobel committee.

More Nobel prizes will be awarded over the next week

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winner in Stockholm.

Last year, three scientists won the chemistry Nobel for their development of new molecular structures that can trap vast quantities of gas inside, laying the groundwork to potentially suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere or harvest moisture from desert environments.

This year's prizes began with the Nobel for medicine, awarded Monday to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works. The physics award Tuesday recognized a scientist's efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos.

The literature prize is set to be awarded Thursday. After Friday’s peace prize is awarded, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced Monday.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), whether for an individual, a small group of laureates or an organization.

———

This story has been corrected to clarify that Kagan, and not Soai, is 95 years old.

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Ramakrishnan reported from New York and Dazio from Berlin. Associated Press journalists Alexa St. John in Detroit and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.

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AP Nobel Prizes: https://apnews.com/hub/nobel-prizes

In Athens to discuss deepening economic, energy and security cooperation with Greece, Rubio will deliver a speech later Wednesday overlooking the ruins of the Acropolis, a widely recognizable symbol of the city's ancient civilization associated with the creation of popular participatory government and the social contract.

Rubio intends to remind listeners of qualities he says were born in Greece and later defined the West, such as curiosity, courage, ambition and a restless spirit of exploration and discovery of the unknown.

“It has become fashionable today to believe that enlightened foreign policy means prioritizing the ‘global community’ over one’s own people. Here, too, we have much more to learn from the men of Ancient Greece. They knew that there was nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation, nor in fighting to defend its interests above all else,” Rubio plans to say in the speech, excerpts of which were distributed by the State Department.

“Today, we find ourselves at a crossroads," he will say, according to the excerpts. "The next decade will write the story of the next century. The course we take will determine whether the West maintains its place at the head of the world, or resigns itself to a future of atrophy, servitude, and decline. We will either choose to act now or lose the choice to act at all.”

Rubio will urge Europe to uphold its traditional values

Rubio is seen by many as the gentle face of the Trump administration and has been frequently dispatched to clarify or otherwise address concerns about the president’s frequently undiplomatic statements.

In some quarters, however, Rubio’s Athens speech may be seen as a follow-on to the blistering address Vice President JD Vance gave at last year’s Munich Security Conference, in which he excoriated Europeans for allowing unchecked immigration and accused them of overreliance on America and inattention to their own security.

Vance and Rubio are the leading contenders to assume Trump’s mantle at the top of the Republican Party, which faces stiff challenges in next month’s congressional midterm elections.

The Trump administration has repeatedly accused countries in Europe of backsliding on their traditional values and democratic principles by stifling the free speech of conservatives and falling short on commitments to international partners like the United States.

Many of those countries have rejected the complaints and accused the U.S. under Trump of being guilty of similar behavior and worse with its staunch anti-immigration stance that some believe is racist.

Left-wing groups protest across Greece

Ahead of his visit to Athens, about 1,500 people gathered to protest Rubio’s presence and the war in Iran, chanting “American killers!”

The demonstration was organized by a communist labor union and other left-wing groups and was held ahead of extensive road closures planned in Athens on Wednesday. Organizers said similar protests were held in at least 12 other Greek cities. Public demonstrations were banned by the police in central Athens Wednesday.

Rubio seeks to reassure NATO allies

Rubio is on the second leg of a three-nation tour of NATO allies that has already taken him to Iceland and will end in Portugal on Thursday. The trip is aimed at reassuring U.S. partners that the Trump administration is committed to their success and security despite what has been an often brusque and sometimes rude approach to traditional friends that has stirred unease.

Rubio began emphasizing historical themes on Thursday, when he met Iceland's foreign minister at the site of the landmark 1986 summit between former President Ronald Reagan and then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a meeting that many believe marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War and was a catalyst for the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union.

It remains unclear what impact Rubio's visits will have, although on Tuesday in Reykjavik, he sought to reassure Iceland that President Donald Trump’s administration has no designs on the island. Rather, he said the U.S. shares Iceland's deep concerns about Arctic security as tensions between the U.S. and Russia rise in the High North and elsewhere.

Iceland has been uneasy about Trump’s intentions toward it after he posted a map showing the colors of the U.S. flag sprawling across all of North America and extending to Iceland and Greenland. That wariness has persisted despite an agreement last month to increase the U.S. presence in the neighboring Danish territory of Greenland that appears to have ended Trump’s demands for the U.S. to take full control of the island.

But after Rubio’s talks in Reykjavik, those tensions appeared to be on the wane. Rubio said the United States would not do anything in Iceland without Iceland’s consent.

Visit follows allegations of misconduct by US ambassador

Before delivering his speech in Athens, Rubio declined to comment when he was asked about allegations of misconduct leveled at U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle.

At a joint news conference with the Greek foreign minister, Rubio said he would not address the matter while visiting a foreign country, but added: “Suffice it to say our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

The top Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Gregory Meeks, have initiated probes into claims reported last month by the Wall Street Journal that Guilfoyle acted improperly while serving as the top U.S. envoy to Greece.

The Journal reported that Guilfoyle told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.

Guilfoyle, a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Trump’s son Donald Jr., has denied any wrongdoing, and Rubio has defended her before.

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Associated Press writer Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.

Ukraine had anticipated the attack, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the previous day that intelligence services had concluded that Russia was building up for a “massive” strike.

Although Ukraine knew about the looming attack, which coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday, it couldn’t fend it off completely.

The deaths and damage illustrated the difficulty Ukraine has in countering Russia’s ballistic missiles and the new jet-powered drones used in Moscow’s escalating bombardments. Without ammunition for its U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems, Ukraine can’t stop Russian ballistic weapons. It is racing to develop a new generation of interceptors fast enough to catch Moscow's high-flying jet-propelled drones.

Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a long-range aerial war as their armies remain largely deadlocked on the battlefield, more than 4 ½ years after Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbor. The unrelenting aerial attacks are hurting Russia but could be ruinous for smaller Ukraine.

U.S.-led peace efforts appear unlikely to bring any short-term relief, with the possibility of holding low-level technical talks still under discussion. Putin, meanwhile, is pressing ahead with the invasion in the belief that Ukrainians will buckle under the pressure and Kyiv’s Western supporters won’t stay the course, Western analysts say.

“Russia is pursuing a deliberate strategy of terror,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X. “Trying to make daily life impossible for Ukrainians who want to live in peace.”

Russia wants Ukrainians to be afraid to fall asleep

, official says

A Russian strike destroyed an apartment block in Pryluky, in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, killing 15 people, including four children, and wounding about 50, authorities said.

Deaths were also reported in three other Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, according to Zelenskyy.

“The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” the Ukrainian leader said on social media.

Ukraine is looking worldwide for available Patriot missiles, which are in short supply due to the Iran war.

“Russian ballistic missiles remain the greatest challenge. And air defense packages for us right now are a vital necessity,” Zelenskyy said.

In Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region, two people were killed and seven injured, said Vitalii Diakivnych, head of the regional military administration, and a rescue operation was continuing.

“That is exactly what the enemy is counting on. For us to be afraid to fall asleep. To let our children out of our sight. To plan anything. So that everyone thinks: next time it could be my address,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the military carried out a massive strike overnight targeting industrial facilities involved in the production and storage of missiles and drones across Ukraine. The ministry said that port and ship repair facilities in the southern Odesa region and ships carrying cargo for the Ukrainian military were also hit.

Ukraine strikes back with attacks on Russian oil facilities, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine has hit back at Russia by launching long-range drones and missiles at oil refineries and storage depots.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukraine targeted two oil facilities and a training ground in the Perm, Samara, and Astrakhan regions of Russia.

Russian officials made no immediate comment.

Zelenskyy also indicated that Ukraine had struck in the Black Sea. He posted images of a fire said to show an oil tanker burning in the water near the Russian city of Sochi.

It was not possible to independently verify the images.

Some Russian online media late Tuesday also posted the images. Unconfirmed media reports said it was carrying oil from Novorossiysk to India and was attacked by Ukrainian sea drones.

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

“Some very tough political choices stare us in the face,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech in Singapore ahead of autumn IMF-World Bank meetings to be held in Bangkok next week.

“My message to the world's economic policymakers next week will be this: we cannot keep delaying necessary policy action — you have the tools, now have the wisdom to use them,” she said.

At the meetings in Bangkok, finance ministers and central bank governors of 191 IMF-World Bank member countries will assess the state of the world economy and discuss strategies to support financial stability and sustained growth.

So far, the hardest recent hits to global well-being have come from conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere, Georgieva noted.

But excessive debt is a growing burden for wealthy countries such as the U.S., Japan and Germany, as well as low-income countries that must choose between spending on public welfare or repaying onerous loans at a time of high interest rates, she noted.

Georgieva pointed to risks associated with the rapid buildup of data center capacity to deliver artificial intelligence, which has helped push stock prices in many places to record highs, supporting strong economic growth despite high energy costs due to the Iran war.

Investments in AI are likely to exceed the relative scale of spending on building railroads, electricity grids and telecommunications networks.

“Love it, hate it or fear it, AI is here, rapidly becoming a key driver of countries' relative fortunes in the world economy,” she said.

The AI building boom is underpinning robust corporate earnings as well as higher inflation. But there is a lag between the heavy investments involved and the arrival of AI's benefits, Georgieva said.

“Should earnings fall short,” she said, “hyperscaler leverage and large and growing global holdings of U.S. equities could turn a disappointment into a far-reaching shock.”

Seven of the top 10 countries for AI-related trade are in the Asia-Pacific region, where the share of global economic activity has risen to 43% from 25% in 1991, the last time the meetings were held in Bangkok.

While China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries with strong tech sectors are benefiting from the AI boom, it is bypassing most others, Georgieva said, adding to economic inequality. AI also is raising energy demand, pushing prices for fuel, fertilizer, food and other key commodities still higher.

She urged countries to rein in public spending and to raise the cost of borrowing as needed to control inflation, while protecting the most vulnerable members of their societies.

Policies are needed to ensure AI is well regulated and to train workers, make labor markets more flexible, facilitate entrepreneurship and improve energy security, Georgieva said.

Nearly every poster, stump speech or televised debate seems to reference the attack, which has scarred the country and remains fresh in the minds of voters. Three years on, the worst security failure in Israel’s history now threatens to end the career of its longest-serving prime minister.

“October 7 is kind of a framework for the entire political discussion that is going on,” said Tamar Hermann, an expert on Israeli public opinion at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. “All of us are post-traumatic in a way.”

Netanyahu’s opponents want him to pay for the failures that led to the deadliest day in Israel’s 78-year history and plunged the country into a series of inconclusive wars. His defenders say Netanyahu was betrayed by the military establishment and that he has led Israel through a dramatic rebound from its darkest hour.

A loss in the Oct. 27 election would likely end the career of the soon-to-be 77-year-old Netanyahu. A victory would mark the greatest turnaround yet for a man who has defied naysayers for three decades.

A deadly day that has shaken an entire region

On the morning of Oct. 7, Hamas militants fired several thousand rockets into Israel and thousands of militants attacked through holes blown in the border fence or with boats or motorized paragliders. Some 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed over 74,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities, left the territory in ruins and sparked an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. Israel later went to war against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, seized a chunk of Syria, attacked targets in Yemen and joined the U.S. in two wars against Iran.

Hundreds of Israelis, mostly young soldiers, have died, and nearly every household has been touched by the violence. Netanyahu promised “total victory,” but Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s theocratic government all remain intact.

Israel’s international standing has plummeted, a number of foreign governments have accused it of genocide — a charge it vehemently rejects — and Netanyahu is now wanted by the International Criminal Court.

After a string of resignations by top security officials, Netanyahu is the only senior figure from Oct. 7 still in office, making this month’s election in many ways a referendum on his leadership.

It's the focus of the campaign for both sides

Netanyahu and his opponents have put Oct. 7 at the forefront of their campaigns — for different reasons.

His opponents — from across the political spectrum — call his outgoing coalition “the massacre government.” Netanyahu says he has led a “war of redemption.”

His chief rival is Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose son and nephew were killed in battle in Gaza. The opponents have pledged to form a government of “repair and reconstruction” — beginning with the formation of an official commission of inquiry into Oct. 7. They also have vowed to end draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox religious men, a long-standing policy that has outraged the secular majority at a time of war, and accuse Netanyahu of threatening Israel's democratic institutions.

“The most fateful elections in the history of the State of Israel are between evasion and enlistment,” Eisenkot wrote on X. “Between taking responsibility and fleeing from responsibility.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected calls for a commission of inquiry while trying to shift the blame to security officials. He recently accused the then-head of the Shin Bet security service, Ronen Bar, of withholding information ahead of the attack. Bar has vowed to file a defamation lawsuit.

Netanyahu has meanwhile denied reports in American media outlets that the United Arab Emirates and Egypt warned him ahead of Oct. 7.

He insists the country is stronger than ever.

“Our enemies expected us to collapse,” Netanyahu said in a recent address to the United Nations. “Well, we didn’t collapse. Instead, we rose and fought like lions.”

Oct. 7 victims are seeking seats in parliament

Eisenkot’s new Yashar party list includes two parents who lost children on Oct. 7. Netanyahu’s Likud party also includes two grieving parents, among them the mother of a policeman killed in battle on Oct. 7 whose remains were the last to be returned to Israel as part of a ceasefire. Another Likud candidate lost both legs while serving in Gaza.

The leader of the dovish Democrats party, Yair Golan, is a retired general who put on his uniform and rushed to the southern border to fight on Oct. 7. The centrist Together party’s list has another former general, Noam Tibon, who also battled militants as he rescued his son’s family, and the mother of a soldier killed that day.

Other parties have also added people directly impacted by the attack.

Organizers, including victims' relatives, say they are keeping politics out of a mass memorial service in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. But they have hardly concealed their anger at the country’s leadership.

“We will not let anyone evade responsibility,” Yonatan Shamriz, whose brother was taken hostage and mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers after escaping captivity, said in a radio interview.

There is little discussion of the Palestinians

Largely missing from the Israeli public discourse is any discussion of the dire situation in Gaza or the fate of the Palestinians.

Israeli leaders have said little about the unprecedented death toll in Gaza, the humanitarian catastrophe and the lack of reconstruction. Instead, they have focused largely on the country’s pain over Oct. 7.

There is almost no mention of peace talks, and even Netanyahu’s challengers largely oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the international community's preferred solution for the decades-old conflict.

When a pair of Israeli filmmakers released a documentary last month about civilian deaths in Gaza, party leaders across the spectrum, including Eisenkot, accused them of treason.

Oct. 7 has hardened the bitter split over Netanyahu

Polling suggests a close race between Netanyahu and his chief rival, Eisenkot, with an uncertain outcome.

According to the Israel Democracy Institute, over 60% of Israelis say their attitudes toward Oct. 7 are a central factor in whom to vote for. That number jumps to 68% among the Jewish majority; Arab voters are most concerned with a crime wave in their communities.

But Hermann, the IDI polling expert, said this doesn’t necessarily mean bad news for Netanyahu. She says the past three years have hardened attitudes on both sides.

Just because everyone says Oct. 7 is important, she said, “doesn’t mean that they will come out with the same conclusion.”

Gov. Genta Koja, in Tokyo for the first time since taking office a week ago, conveyed Okinawa's outrage in his meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, asking her government for further efforts to reduce the burden of hosting U.S. military bases on the small island.

“Okinawa has requested preventive measures every time similar crimes were repeated in past, and now we have this case again,” Koja told Takaichi in a guest room at the Prime Minister's Office packed with reporters.

“I must say past disciplinary measures and human rights education implemented by the U.S. military have not worked at all,” Koja said.

People in Okinawa have long opposed the heavy U.S. military presence on the island and complained about noise, pollution and crime related to American bases, though some have come to see its strategic value due to what is widely viewed as a growing threat from China.

Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old Ohio native belonging to the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel and stealing her wallet and backpack. He has denied the allegations, according to Japanese media.

Takaichi said she regretted the “heinous crime” and shared the outrage. Noting the new disciplinary measures announced by the U.S. military Tuesday, Takaichi said she expected the American government to take subsequent steps.

Japan and the U.S. will discuss “how to implement preventive measures that are effective,” she said.

Hours earlier, the U.S. military in Okinawa announced a 48-hour pause of all military operations for training through noon on Friday, as well as restricting the ability of troops to leave their base and prohibiting consumption of alcohol.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, wrote in a letter posted Tuesday on X that episodes like these “demand we pause for reflection” and that serving on the Japanese island “comes with responsibility.”

U.S. troops on Okinawa will be under a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. for 30 days following the two-day training period, Watson said.

Koja said he appreciated prompt response from the Japanese and U.S. governments to the murder case “as a sign they both took the case seriously.”

However, he will need to see details of the ongoing training, he said, and requested the Japanese involvement to make U.S. disciplinary measures more effective.

A majority of the more than 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security agreement are based on the island.

Earlier Monday, Koja made the same request in his meeting with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

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Associated Press writers Ben Finley and Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

For now, it will show off its bulging bundle of intellectual properties, with the official announcement touting “a franchise portfolio spanning Top Gun and Harry Potter to White Lotus and SpongeBob SquarePants.”

Several such lists could be made without any overlap. Tony Soprano is now under the same roof as Michael Corleone. The creations of J.R.R. Tolkien and Taylor Sheridan now share a home. And the DC Universe is in the same space as “Star Trek.”

Both companies also have a storied history — some of it even recent — of non-franchise creations, whose creators are worried about what will be left for them as big swaths of Hollywood fear for their jobs and productions.

Moviegoers and TV viewers may wonder what all the fuss was about in the short run, while in the long run they may not recognize the landscape that's left.

Here’s a look at how the consumption and production of film and television will look in the near future.

What does it mean for TV and streaming?

The streaming services that provide the most direct interface viewers have with the two merged companies — HBO Max for Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount+ for Paramount — will look the same Wednesday as they did Tuesday, but they won't stay that way.

In its announcement of the completed deal, echoing what CEO David Ellison previously told shareholders, Skydance said the two streamers “will unify into a single service over time.” No timeline was given.

The classic broadcast and cable properties the two companies own that feed those services — HBO, TNT, HGTV, and Food Network for Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS, MTV, BET and Nickelodeon for Paramount — should also show no short-term evidence of change, but that won't mean major upheaval isn't coming.

Combined, the two services have well over 200 million subscribers, though it’s not wholly clear how much overlap there is between the two. HBO Max’s share of that is nearly double that of Paramount+. That could have an effect on the branding of the chimera to come, and some of the HBO Max name — which Warner Bros. Discovery previously tried to drop in favor of just Max — could live on.

“I do not believe the consumer is going to observe the difference in the organization, whether it be in raised subscription fees to HBO Max or raised subscription fees to Paramount+ or new programming rolled out in the first quarter,” said J. Christopher Hamilton, a professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. “I think it’s going to take some time for them to really, really lock in on what implemented changes will have the least amount of disruption to the consumer base, but also to the town.”

Skydance TV slate includes ‘Pitt,’ ‘Potter,’ ‘Lotus’ and ‘Landman’

The pipelines for each streamer have kept pumping as though no massive change was coming.

The biggest forthcoming piece of TV for Warner Bros. is its Harry Potter reboot, with a Christmas premiere for Season 1 on HBO Max and Season 2 shooting already underway for whatever its streamer is called when it drops.

Season 3 of “The Pitt,” which won best drama Emmys for each of its first two seasons, is well underway and set for an early 2027 release, and “The White Lotus” is set to finally complete its monthslong shooting of Season 4 on the French Riviera with a release sometime next year.

“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” has wrapped shooting its second season and is slated to start rolling out episodes early in 2027, and the fourth and final season of its fellow “Game of Thrones” scion “House of the Dragon” is set to start shooting in the new year.

Paramount+'s slate is dominated by the many cowboy-coded creations of Sheridan, with new seasons forthcoming on “Landman,” “Tulsa King” and several of the spinoffs, prequels and sequels of his “Yellowstone.”

One major change is inevitable: Sheridan's contract runs out in 2028, when he'll be off to NBCUniversal.

What does it mean for the movies?

In the past week, Paramount announced two franchises in development: a G.I. Joe movie with Bradley Cooper, directed by Danny McBride, and a live-action Transformers film, executive produced and creatively shaped by Steven Spielberg.

The Paramount slate has in the past dozen-plus years been heavily weighted toward franchise fare, whether it’s “Mission: Impossible,” “Star Trek,” “Sonic the Hedgehog,” or any of the other big-name brands in its arsenal.

While the studio had a slew of best picture winners in the 1990s, including “Forrest Gump,” “Braveheart” and “Titanic,” it’s been a bit of a drought since (broken only by 2007's “No Country for Old Men,” which Paramount distributed internationally).

Acclaimed executives are among the early exits

Warner Bros., meanwhile, had been on a hot streak with a combination of original and franchise films. This year, under the stewardship of Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, they collected 30 Oscar nominations and won 11, including best picture for “One Battle After Another.”

Ellison wrote in a post on X last week that by combining the two storied studios, “we aren’t rewriting history — we’re equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine.”

But neither Abdy nor De Luca will be part of the merged operation, which left filmmakers like Tony Gilroy reeling. Gilroy called their exits “a seismic change in Hollywood of a magnitude that I don’t remember,” adding, “They’re just real film people. And these studios are real studios. There’s no reason for them to be merged or pulled apart.”

Paramount Motion Picture co-chairs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg will lead the overall film operation for Skydance now. James Gunn and Peter Safran are expected to continue running DC Studios.

Skydance will also include Warner Bros.’ newest specialty label, Clockwork, with former NEON executive Christian Parkes remaining its head. The label was established to support independent projects, both produced in-house and acquired, with future releases including “Anora” filmmaker Sean Baker’s latest, “Ti Amo!,” and Park Chan-wook’s Matthew McConaughey and Pedro Pascal movie “The Brigands of Rattlecreek.”

What about movie theaters?

Theatrical exhibition lives or dies by a robust release schedule, and the promise of “a minimum of 30 high-quality theatrical films” a year will likely be an appealing one to exhibitors. Next year, the combined studios could exceed that with some 36 releases including a Superman sequel, a Minecraft movie sequel and “A Quiet Place Part III.”

Over the past two years, North American theater owners have reinvested some $2.7 billion in their cinemas, according to a report from the trade association Cinema United. The domestic box office is currently healthy, up around 19.5% from last year and is expected to cross the $8 billion mark this week.

The merged company has some big releases on the horizon for the remainder of this year too, including “Dune: Part Three.”

Cinema United’s president and CEO Michael O’Leary last month reiterated that their primary objective is to safeguard theaters from the “harms of legacy consolidation,” but the group was encouraged by the consent decree’s language on “increased film production for five years, meaningful theatrical exclusivity and wide distribution, prohibitions on cost increases, and continued access to the catalogs of Paramount and Warner Bros.” Those conditions, O’Leary said, will enable theaters to “to adapt and succeed.”

Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 0.1% a day after reaching a record 7,818.93. Despite worries over the Iran war, high inflation and pressures from the bond market, the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts has soared 23% since hitting a trough in late March.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3%, while Nasdaq futures declined 0.4%.

Crude prices rebounded early Wednesday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 1.3% to $101.88. That’s about $55 more than a barrel cost at this time last year.

U.S. benchmark crude rose 0.6% to $89.99 per barrel.

Yemen's Houthi rebels used ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, to attack military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia, the rebels’ military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on social media Wednesday. He didn’t provide evidence for the claim.

Also attacked were Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other “critical sites” in the cities of Najran and Asir, according to Saree.

And after falling back slightly this week, bond yields are on the rise again.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.33%, while the 30-year Treasury climbed to 5.71%.

The Fed releases the minutes from its September meeting when U.S. central bank officials raised the key interest rate. The minutes may provide clues about where the Fed, and interest rates, are heading.

Earnings season is also just around the corner and PepsiCo will report its quarterly results Thursday. Delta Air Lines posts earnings Friday and several of the country’s biggest banks release quarterly performances next week.

Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to deliver overall growth of nearly 30% in earnings per share from a year earlier, according to data provider FactSet. If they’re correct, it would be the third straight quarter of growth better than 25%.

Investors have grown leery of how much growth is being driven by companies in the artificial intelligence race. Those companies can take a hit when it becomes more difficult to borrow, and the 10-year Treasury can be an indicator of credit costs ahead.

The tech sector is the biggest decliner before the opening bell. Micron Technology's stock dropped more than 3%, while shares of Advanced Micro Devices declined nearly 2%. Shares of Nvidia and Broadcom were also lower.

In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1% to 7,783.00, while Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.8% to 10,460.81. In Germany, the DAX fell 1.3% to 25,116.49. Asian markets were lower. Markets in Shanghai were closed for a national holiday.

The U.S. dollar fell to 158.13 Japanese yen from 158.10 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1197 from $1.1260.

In southern Israel, families mourned at intersections, bomb shelters and the site of a music festival that the militants overran three years ago in the deadliest attack in the country's history. It is the first anniversary since all the hostages, living and dead, were returned, marking a new stage of grief.

For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day of misery after an Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Most Gaza residents live in vast, squalid tent camps, with large parts of the strip’s cities reduced to rubble. More than half the territory remains in the hands of the Israeli military. Despite a ceasefire deal reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily.

For the region, the day highlights a startling transformation over the past three years.

Israeli troops occupy a large chunk of southern Lebanon in their conflict with the Hezbollah militant group, which began firing on Israel in 2023 in support of Hamas. Iran and the United States are locked in a confrontation that has seen attacks across Gulf Arab countries and has shaken the global economy — a conflict that Israel helped launch and that the Gaza war paved the way for, even if they weren’t directly connected.

Families mourn at the Nova Festival site

Near the town of Reim, where the music festival was underway when militants attacked, families gathered around photos of their killed relatives. Hundreds of people paid their respects to the more than 350 people killed in and around the festival site. Videos from that day showed militants gunning down fleeing revelers, shooting the wounded at point-blank range and ambushing those seeking refuge in nearby bomb shelters.

On Wednesday, survivors' relatives hugged at 6:29 a.m. — the exact time the first rockets were launched three years ago — as explosions boomed in nearby Gaza.

Anya Davitashili, who lost her 25-year-old son, Sean, said she visits the site every Saturday. It’s where she feels closest to him.

“I have a video of him dancing here that ends at 6:29 in the morning, it’s in front of my eyes all the time,” she said. “Every morning, you wake up and there is just endless missing.”

A released hostage marks his first Oct. 7

Elkana Bohbot, 37, is marking the anniversary in Israel for the first time since his release after 738 days of captivity. For most of that time, he said, he was held underground in a dark, damp tunnel.

Bohbot, who was abducted from the festival, was kept in a small cell with other hostages, given little food and allowed to bathe only every few weeks, he said. His captors forced him to take part in propaganda videos, including one where he acts out a fake call to his family.

In the year since his release, Bohbot has undergone physical and emotional rehabilitation. In August, his wife, Rivka, gave birth to a daughter, fulfilling his promise to himself in the tunnels to give his 5-year-old son, Reem, a sibling.

The newborn Michele is “not a symbol for my people, she is more of a symbol for the enemy,” Bohbot told The Associated Press. “This child is the message for you that we were here and we will always be here forever.”

Palestinians in Gaza live surrounded by ruins

No events are expected Wednesday in Gaza, but Hamas in a statement praised the Oct. 7 attack as an example of ”heroism, resilience and national solidarity” and said it had returned the Palestinian cause to the world’s attention.

“The conflict with the enemy did not begin on that day, as its final chapters are not written yet,” it said.

Palestinians in the territory said the extent to which their lives had deteriorated over the past three years was previously unimaginable.

“We witnessed death, destruction, and bombardment that we had never known before,” said Walid Akram, a Gaza City resident who, like most in Gaza, has been displaced by the war.

Raed Khozeiq’s coastal neighborhood in Tel al-Hawa was largely flattened. Nothing about his life now is the same, he said.

“No country in the world has gone through what we have experienced here,” he said. “A war of extermination, starvation, the absence of schools and universities — nothing remains.”

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its figures but says around half were women and children. The numbers from the ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

While a ceasefire that took effect Oct. 10, 2025, halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued, targeting what Israel says are Hamas militants. Since the ceasefire, 1,460 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the ministry. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period. Restrictions on the entry of goods and aid have contributed to a hunger crisis, food security experts say.

The anniversary comes to a radically altered Middle East

A contentious election in Israel at the end of the month hangs over this year's anniversary. The government’s official memorial services took place Oct. 5, closer to the Hebrew calendar's anniversary of the attack.

The separate commemorations reflect deep divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his handling of the war and his reluctance to launch an official inquiry into failings of the day.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who hopes to unseat Netanyahu, looked at the photos of the dead in Reim and spoke with sobbing family members.

Gadi Eisenkot, the head of the opposition Yashar! party, met with families at a bomb shelter where many were killed as they tried to flee.

The attack set in motion a cascade of events that led to wars across the Middle East as Israel confronted Hamas, Hezbollah and their backer Iran. Israel has seized swaths of territory in Syria and Lebanon, where more than 300,000 Lebanese remain displaced. The United States joined Israel in attacking Iran’s military and nuclear program in two rounds, battering Iran and upending global markets far from the battlefield.

Violence has also risen across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israel’s far-right government has heightened restrictions on Palestinians while emboldening extremist settlers who have attacked them and destroyed their property.

___

Associated Press journalists Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Sam Metz in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Now, Skydance must decide how to make the most out of a trove of entertainment assets, including the HBO Max and Paramount+ video streaming services, a film library that includes “Star Trek,” “Barbie,” “Top Gun,” “Harry Potter,” and “Superman,” and two major news organizations, CNN and CBS News.

All are under the direction of Ellison and his new co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.

Here's a look at the new company, by the numbers:

$81 billion

How much it cost Paramount to buy Warner, excluding debt. Skydance acquired Paramount last year for $8 billion.

Around $80 billion

Skydance's estimated net debt following its acquisition of the two movie studios, according to Morningstar.

Around $550 million

Warner CEO David Zaslav’s “golden parachute,” or compensation package, that he is set to receive now that the merger is closed. This is the value Warner Bros. assigned to the executive's severance, stock awards and health coverage in a March regulatory filing.

The compensation package is about 68 times more than “Digger,” Warner’s last movie as a standalone studio, brought in domestically this past weekend.

$10.99

What you will pay monthly for HBO Max’s basic plan, which includes ads. The cost of an ad-supported monthly subscription to Discovery+ is $5.99, while the Paramount+ ad-supported Essential plan costs $8.99 a month. The subscription costs increase for each of the services’ ad-free plans.

Nearly $70 billion

What Skydance says its annual revenue now is following its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Prior to the merger, Paramount Skydance and Warner had a combined revenue of $65.3 billion for the 12 months ended in June, according to FactSet.

$77.71 billion

The market cap for Warner Bros. Discovery as of Monday, before the merger closed. That is about seven times greater than what Paramount Skydance's market capitalization was on the same day.

30

Number of movies Ellison promised the combined studios would release per year in the first two years after the merger. The number rises to 32 in the three years after that. Ellison made the promise as part of a settlement with 12 states that sued to block the merger.

11.8%

Share of total TV viewing that cable, broadcast and streaming properties owned by Paramount (6.5%) and Warner Bros. Discovery (5.3%) accounted for in July, according to Nielsen.

Most recently, working with other agencies like the Key West Police Department, FWC divers were in the Lower Keys to identify boats anchored improperly.

Divers found vessels held in place by car motors, tires, cinder blocks and steel wheels -- objects that can make an environmental mess and damage pristine sea grass.

“An illegal mooring is basically anything that is not an anchor,” said FWC Lt. Jeremy Foell.

Monroe County has been adding designated mooring fields to curb unmanaged and unsafe anchoring.

“They understand the good cause that we’re trying to make,” said FWC Officer Miguel Despian “They understand that we’re trying to make the water safe.”

FWC says it’s trying to educate boaters not only on what a legal mooring is, but also how long a boat can stay in place.

An updated law is now in effect to stop boats from sitting in the same spot in the water for a long period of time, unless owners get a permit.

Living on the water is a way of life for hundreds of people in the Florida Keys, but officials want to make sure those residents are safe.

Derelict vessel specialist Riana Sargent says she sees what can happen when a boat falls into disrepair. Sargent told Local 10 that enforcement operations can help people stay in compliance.

“It’s a very, I would say, an alternative form of housing. So we do try to work with a lot of people to at least do the minimum and get them at least safe and functional on the water,” she said.

Under law, vessels anchored in Florida waters for 14 days or more, within any 30-day period, are now required to obtain a free FWC permit. More information on that, click here.

The Miami Heat hosted their annual Red, White, and Pink Game presented by the Baptist Health Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute.

The intra-squad scrimmage offered fans an early look at the Heat ahead of the regular season, but the purpose extended far beyond the court as the goal of the evening was to shine a bright light on cancer survivors and warriors.

The organization knows their voice is loud and influential, with a resounding message.

The team stepped on to the court escorting loved ones and the community of those who have been impacted by cancer.

Local 10’s Jason Carter was there, and his full report can be seen at the top of this page.

“As the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution proceeds with an investigation of members of the Broward County Commission and county government, it would not be prudent for me or members of my staff to engage in discretionary budget negotiations with the Commission while that investigation remains active,” Tony said in part in a statement on Monday.

According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the investigation pertains to consultant contracts over commissioners’ move to retake the fire department from BSO and to study taking airport and port policing in-house and out of Tony’s purview.

The newspaper reported that during a mid-September news conference, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier would not elaborate further on the probe or whether any crime was alleged.

“This decision is to protect the people of Broward County from unnecessary disruption, uncertainty, or questions about whether budget discussions could be influenced by the investigation,” Tony said in the statement. “It is not a judgment about the investigation’s outcome.”

During a commission meeting Tuesday, Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen was fired up while addressing Tony and BSO’s $850 million budget.

“Let us audit your budget, sheriff,” Bogen said. “Stop bullying us, stop doing your ridiculous disparaging videos.”

Tony has not been to a commission meeting in person in several months. Bogen added that the county passed a new budget last week.

“As far as I’m concerned, sheriff, you’re not negotiating, you’re not showing up to meetings,” said Bogen.

Other commissioners also weighed in on Tuesday, with some questioning the spending within BSO.

“The sheriff is not the one building spas and guided toilets and workout centers, that’s coming from leadership in the sheriff’s office,” said Commissioner Michael Udine.

Armando Lopez, 53, of Key Largo, failed to show for his trial on several felonies related to the theft and carjacking at the Plantation Key courthouse in Islamorada on Friday; he was convicted on nearly a dozen counts.

In December 2024, deputies said Lopez, then 52, brutally beat a woman in a domestic violence incident, fought with an MCSO sergeant trying to arrest him, then stole his cruiser and drove away.

Deputies said he then stopped a woman and carjacked her SUV, later wrecking it on U.S. 1 after a high-speed chase.

Video obtained by Local 10 News showed the wild chain of events.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office detectives were able to figure out that Lopez rented a car before the final day of his trial and tracked him to Laredo, Texas, where he entered Mexico at the border, officials said.

A day and a half later, U.S. Marshals located him in Mexico, where he was arrested by that country’s police, authorities said.

“Thank you to the hardworking men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and all of our law enforcement partners for getting this dangerous criminal off the streets,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in a statement.

He now faces extradition back to the Keys.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Lopez would face additional charges for fleeing the country. He is staring down a possible life sentence after his trial conviction.

“He will get the justice he deserves for his actions,” Ramsay told Local 10 News.

Harry Moon, the president of NSU, recently reported that one of the seven students named in a Sept. 16 civil lawsuit alleging that a 20-year-old sophomore was raped at a fraternity house in Ithaca, New York, was admitted to NSU in Davie.

“At the time of admission, the university was not aware of allegations subsequently reported in media,” Moon recently wrote in a letter to students on Oct. 4. “Once we learned of the reported incident, we acted immediately on behalf of the safety and well-being of our students and the NSU community.”

Moon did not identify the NSU student, who had allegedly been a member of Chi Phi fraternity’s Xi chapter and was a suspect of the alleged gang rape on Oct. 19-20, 2024, in the 100 block of Edgermoor Lane in Ithaca.

The students in the fraternity were temporarily suspended from Cornell after the woman reported the rape to the Cornell University Police Department on Nov. 8, 2024, according to the civil lawsuit, which refers to the victim as Jane Doe and accuses Cornell of negligence.

“I was super drunk ... I was being hit ... physically hit very, very hard ... I can say with 100% confidence I was raped,” Jane Doe told police, according to a transcript of an interview by Cornell University PD that started on Nov. 14, 2024, and was published by CBS News New York on Sept. 30.

The civil lawsuit alleged the victim suffered “injuries, including, but not limited to, severe emotional and psychological distress, humiliation, fright, dissociation, anger, depression, anxiety, a severe shock to her nervous system, physical pain, and mental anguish, and emotional and psychological damage.”

No one was charged with a crime. Cornell expelled two of the seven students after a Title IX investigation, The New York Times reported on Oct. 3. The public civil litigation recently prompted a Tompkins County grand jury’s review.

“It can take years of therapy and healing for victims of sexual assaults to fully process and understand what happened to them. Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence,” Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten wrote in a statement on Sept. 28.

On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she had removed Van Houten from the case and named James as the special prosecutor to investigate, present evidence to a grand jury, and “prosecute any” offenses.

“Because this matter involves federal law regarding an individual student, the university is legally restricted by federal regulations that limit what the university can share,” Moon wrote in the recent letter to NSU students.

In 2022, an Instagram page celebrating students of the NSU University School, the private high school at 3375 SW 75 Ave., in Davie, featured one of the suspects as a 2023 graduate who had been admitted to Cornell to study biological sciences.

In the civil lawsuit, Jane Doe accused the student of sending a message to the “Chi Phi Actives” Snapchat group chat announcing that there was “Free Pu---” and “in doing so ... organized and encouraged” the alleged gang rape. The NYTimes identified the student as one of the two who were expelled from Cornell.

“The university continues to monitor the situation and will remain vigilant. As a result of actions we have taken, we are not aware of any current threat to the university community with regard to the matter,” Moon wrote in the letter to NSU students.

Mars Rivera was among the NSU students who said they felt uneasy about what was not included in Moon’s letter.

“Obviously, it doesn’t say if he’s been removed or if he’s still here or any of that,” Rivera told Local 10 News.

Cornell announced on Tuesday that Sally Yates, a former deputy attorney general, will look at how Cornell handles sexual misconduct complaints.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, support is available 24/7 at the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.

“Every person in here has a different Dolly Parton that they are in love with,” Summers told a crowd of fans gathered Tuesday for the opening of a new museum in Nashville dedicated to the beloved singer who died in August at age 80.

The 20,000-square-foot Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum includes exhibits focused on many different aspects of her life and legacy, from her Smoky Mountain roots and Dollywood, to her movie roles, her fashion, her faith, her family and the Imagination Library.

“You’ve got to find her and find out where you fell in love with her and then follow the path from there. So I think the journey is what most people are going to enjoy the most,” Summers said.

The museum is located inside a 240-room themed hotel called Dolly Parton’s SongTeller, where the lobby and open spaces are adorned with glitter, rhinestones, guitars, butterflies, Dolly portraits and lots and lots of pink. The building also includes two performance spaces, a cafe and hotel rooms that come with musical instruments to encourage songwriting.

One of the not-to-be-missed sights is Parton's original wedding dress that she wore when she got married to husband Carl Dean. The dress was believed lost until Parton's niece Rebecca Seaver, who is curating the museum, found it about a year ago wrapped in a paper bag and shoved into a trunk, Summers said.

For many in Parton's orbit, the opening of the museum and hotel is bittersweet without the person who inspired it.

“We were as surprised as anybody that she’s not here to see it,” Summers said. “It’s beautiful to get to see all of her work come to life, and it’s hard to know that she won’t ever have seen it.”

The U.N. health agency said Tuesday that it has been in contact with Russian authorities following reports of the death last week of a woman who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

The case and the investigation, led by Russian officials, have revived memories of the COVID-19 pandemic and allegations the coronavirus may have emerged at a Chinese lab. WHO has not provided a definitive answer to how the pandemic began.

“There is currently no indication that we are dealing with anything similar to the pandemic,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told The Associated Press, referring to the woman’s illness.

Here’s what to know about the case and how experts are mobilizing after her death:

Pneumonic plague is a form of the disease that affects the lungs

The incubation period for pneumonic plague — which means lung-based, and is the most virulent form of the disease — can be as short as 24 hours, according to WHO. It’s a less common but severe form that can spread between people through respiratory particles.

If untreated, the illness can be fatal, but recovery rates are high if detected and treated in time, WHO says.

Symptoms include shortness of breath and coughing, often involving the coughing up of blood.

The more common form of plague — bubonic plague — is caused by the bite of an infected flea, and can develop into open sores filled with pus.

Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that is mostly caused by viruses or bacteria, and is spread generally through contact with infected people or from airborne droplets. WHO says pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide.

What Russian officials are saying about the case

Through an international health alert system, Russian health officials on Tuesday said a full range of preventive measures had been carried out — including tracing of the deceased woman’s contacts, medical monitoring and lab tests.

“Test results showed no presence of dangerous infectious disease pathogens in any of the contacts,” said the note from Russian authorities, which was relayed to The Associated Press by WHO.

“Based on available data, laboratory test results, and health status, medical monitoring for 100% of the contacts has now been concluded,” it said. “The epidemiological situation is stable and remains under monitoring.”

The woman died at a hospital in Shelekhov, a town just outside the city of Irkutsk, and its mayor said the hospital was placed under quarantine. The top officials from Russia’s national public health watchdog traveled to the region Friday.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised the public to follow official statements from the watchdog agency, Rospotrebnadzor, rather than “rumors or speculation.”

WHO has mobilized its own experts to look into the case

Lindmeier, the WHO spokesman, told a U.N. briefing Tuesday that the institute where the woman worked “studies dangerous pathogens,” including plague in a part of Siberia where the disease “occurs naturally in wild animals.”

He said Russian officials have not yet asked for WHO experts to deploy to Russia, where authorities are “looking into whether pneumonic plague caused her death.”

Russian authorities later told WHO that no case of plague has been recorded in Irkutsk, Lindmeier said.

“According to the authorities, the woman’s illness initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection,” he said. “No case of plague or other high threat pathogen has been found.”

Trump and Rubio comment on the case

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he was watching the situation with concern and that the United States would be willing to help, though he said he had not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the case.

Asked about Trump’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Tuesday that “it is always very good when mutual assistance is offered.” He wouldn’t elaborate further, deferring to Rospotrebnadzor.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Russian authorities to share more information.

“Maybe there’s nothing there. Maybe it’s bigger than we thought. We don’t know,” he said at a news conference in Iceland.

“We encourage Russia to be more transparent and share more information with the world,” Rubio said, adding this has so far been “quite limited, but hopefully that will change in the next few hours and days.”

Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, said that “plague carries a huge history and is still present in many parts of the world, including Russia,” although because of modern living conditions and antibiotics, its potential was limited.

Dr. Glenn Wortmann, at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center, said the bacteria that cause plague don’t “travel very far” and a person would “really need to be face-to-face” with an infected person to get pneumonic plague.

“The chance of this spreading widely in Russia and then extending here to the U.S. will not happen, not with this type of bacteria, because it’s not spread easily and we have antibiotics to stop it from spreading,” he added.

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Associated Press writers Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Matthew Lee in Reykjavik, Iceland, contributed to this report.

That's how long it's been. And the Cleveland Guardians have absolutely no interest in being on the other side of the field for the end of that streak.

Chicago leads Cleveland 2-0 in their best-of-five AL Division Series going into Game 3 on Wednesday at Rate Field. The White Sox are hoping to advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2005, while the Guardians are looking to take one step toward a remarkable comeback.

“For us the mindset is very clear: We’ve got to win another game because we don’t have the luxury to lose another one,” Guardians third baseman José Ramírez said.

It's the first home playoff date for Chicago since 2021, marking another moment in a surprising season after losing a total of 324 games over the previous three years. The team is encouraging its fans to wear black as part of its blackout theme.

“I think it’s going to be electric,” White Sox reliever Bryan Hudson said Tuesday. “I don’t think it will be anything we’re used to or we’ve been in this year. I think it's going to be awesome. I think all the boys are going to have some extra adrenaline.”

Chicago was much improved at home this season, going 48-33 after finishing with a 33-48 record at Rate Field in 2025. It won four of its six home games against Cleveland in the regular season.

While this is new territory for most of the White Sox, the Guardians are in the playoffs for the third straight year. The AL Central champions were better on the road (44-37) than they were at home (41-40) this season.

“I always like playing on the road when it’s an exciting, loud crowd, and anticipate it’s going to be just that,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “And our guys have played in this environment over and over again, whether it be postseasons in the past or regular-season games. So expecting it to be a loud, hostile crowd that’s talking a lot of smack to us from behind the dugout, and we enjoy that.”

Each team is going with an opener. Left-hander Sean Newcomb starts for Chicago, and right-hander Daniel Espino takes the mound for Cleveland.

The White Sox have relied on their relievers while winning their first four playoff games this year. They are the only MLB team in the modern era to have their bullpen pitch five-plus innings, strike out five-plus batters and earn the win in four consecutive games, regular or postseason, according to Stats Perform.

Newcomb worked two scoreless innings after Anthony Kay got the first out for Chicago during a 4-3 win in Game 2 on Monday.

“We’ve leaned heavily on our bullpen, not only throughout the season but certainly here in the playoffs as well,” general manager Chris Getz said. “Is it creative? It is. Do we need to be different? We do. But we’re also leaning into the strengths of our pitching staff and our team.”

Chicago has been helped by off days after the first two games in the series. If Cleveland avoids elimination in Game 3, the teams will play again on Thursday.

Espino made his first career playoff appearance in the series opener, getting two outs in relief of Parker Messick. The 25-year-old Espino has long been considered one of the team's top prospects, but he was hampered by shoulder injuries before making his major league debut in June.

“You just go out there and believe in your abilities and be confident on the work that you’ve put in,” Espino said. “And I can tell you, I’m prepared for this moment.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Scott was 60.

Since Isabel was driving a marked Coral Springs Police Department sports utility vehicle, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the fatal crash.

Isabel was accused of speeding, and prosecutors charged him with misdemeanor reckless driving.

Dash camera video released on Tuesday showed Scott on the ground after the impact, and a crowd of witnesses standing on the sidewalk.

The Arizona Supreme Court said the information was copied for 1.3 million people with unpaid court fees, fines and restitution payments for traffic and criminal violations dating back as far as 30 years.

Those leading the attack also took records of nearly 30,000 active and inactive orders of protection and 150,000 reports dating back to 2010 from a foster care board that makes recommendations in cases where parents are alleged to be unfit or unable to care for a child.

The court’s technology staff shut down the attack on a backup server about two hours after spotting it on Sept. 24. Since then, the court has notified those affected by the breach.

“We don’t have any evidence it has been used or shared” after the attack, state Supreme Court spokesperson Alberto Rodriguez said Tuesday.

The attack, which is under investigation, hasn’t affected or delayed any court cases, Rodriguez said.

No records were altered or deleted, and the attackers didn’t steal information about jurors, witnesses or court employees.

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Videos also captured the sound of about a dozen gunshots fired, and two men jumping out of a third-floor window at Aliro, at 14040 Biscayne Boulevard. One of the men appeared to have dropped cash on the floor as he ran away.

Hours after the shooting and abduction at Aliro, a captain found Eddrick Malik Bethune dead on the side of the road in the area of Southwest 216th Street and 189th Avenue, in Redlands, according to MDSO detectives.

A wounded victim arrived at a nearby hospital after the shooting at Alir, according to the North Miami Police Department. MDSO homicide detectives reported not being able to speak to the wounded victim because of “his medical status.”

Detectives were also investigating a vehicle arson in southern Miami-Dade that was related to the murder investigation.

Detective J. Rodriguez asked anyone with information about the case to call 305-471-2400.

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

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MDSO flyer

"It’s important to have a little bit of pride and to be able to say: `That’s not us and we’re going to prove it,’" the New York Yankees pitcher said.

After making four errors in a dismal Game 2 defeat, New York's players and staff arrived home about 5 a.m. Tuesday in a 2-0 AL Division Series deficit for the second straight year, this time against the Tampa Bay Rays. The best-of-five matchup resumes Wednesday night in the Bronx with Fried starting for the Yankees and Nick Martinez for the Rays.

With one more loss to Tampa Bay, the World Series title drought for Major League Baseball's winningest team would extend to a 17th season — matching the most since Babe Ruth led New York to its first championship in 1923. New York hasn't advanced past a higher-seeded team in a postseason series since 2020.

“This group has done a really good job all year of bouncing back through a tough game, through some tough moments in the season and handled it all very well. So that’s my expectation this time. It has to be,” said manager Aaron Boone, who spoke with players individually rather than give a rah-rah speech.

Tampa Bay could party at Yankee Stadium for the second time in two weeks, after clinching the AL East on Sept 22.

Seeking their first World Series title, the Rays are nearing an American League Championship Series against the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland. They haven't advanced that far since 2020, when they lost in the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Martinez used to sit in the Yankee Stadium bleachers when he played college ball from 2009-11 at Fordham University, located about 5 miles away.

“I imagine it’s going to be an electric crowd with their season on the line,” he said.

Teams taking 2-0 leads in best-of-five postseason series have won 83 of 93 times, according to MLB. The last comeback from an 0-2 deficit was the 2017 Yankees against Cleveland.

“There's no taking games off,” Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca said. “Obviously taking the first two has put us in a really good spot, but it’s still the same mindset going forward.”

Errors in postseason becoming new Yankees tradition

Third baseman Ryan McMahon, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., shortstop George Lombard Jr. and catcher Austin Wells all made errors in Game 3 that led to three unearned runs in New York's 5-2 loss.

In addition, Lombard didn't field Chandler Simpson's two-hopper and right fielder Spencer Jones allowed Jonathan Aranda's liner — a ball with 65% hit probability — to fall starting the fifth, which sparked a four-run inning.

“It was just one of those things that it all kind of happened back-to-back-to back,” Lombard said.

Throwing errors by McMahon and Chisholm in the first along with a catcher's interference call against Wells gave the Yankees their first three-error postseason inning.

“It didn’t seem like we really showed up today,” pitcher Cam Schlittler said.

Two years ago, the Yankees had two errors and a mental lapse that led to five unearned runs in a season-ending Game 5 World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Tampa Bay put 31 balls in play, two shy of the high for any team in a postseason game this year. The Rays were just behind Milwaukee for the top regular-season team batting average, .2585 to .2581, and led the American League in on-base percentage.

Simpson is 12th in sprint speed and DeLuca 16th among players with at least 150 competitive runs this year, according to MLB Statcast.

“Just very contact-oriented,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Just the speed getting down the line, the urgency it forces on the infielders, really good infielders — it forces them to get out of their comfort zone and make a highlight-reel play. Those are tough to make.”

Yankees' vanishing offense

New York's players in the third through seventh spots of the batting order went 0 for 33 with 11 strikeouts in the first two games: Luis García Jr., Jones, Lombard, Chisholm and Trent Grisham.

Aaron Judge's absence has been glaring.

New York was fourth in runs, 13th in batting average and second in OPS through May 31, its last game before the three-time AL MVP went on the injured list due to a fractured rib.

From June 1 through the end of the season, the Yankees were 24th in runs, 29th in batting average and 27th in OPS. Judge returned for seven games from Sept. 8-16, hitting .174 with three RBIs before a calf strain.

“I’m considering a couple things but haven’t settled on anything,” Boone said of possible lineup changes.

Fried has baby on the way

Fried's longtime girlfriend, Reni Meyer-Whalley, is due to give birth any day.

“I’ve got a really supportive family that understands that this is my job, and it’s not going to affect what happens tomorrow,” he said Tuesday.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Parents and students used the workshop’s designated time for public comments to advocate for their schools.

“We have over 60,000 open seats across our district,” Superintendent Howard Hepburn told School Board members during the meeting.

Sarah Leonardi, the School Board’s chair, attributed the low enrollment to a “nationwide demographic change.”

Hepburn said BCPS has lost more than 48,000 students over the past decade. This impacts the budget, which is tied to enrollment.

The list of elementary schools considered for closure includes Dolphin Bay, Silver Lakes, Hollywood Park, Oakridge, Coral Springs, Forest Glen, Lloyd Estates, and Banyan.

The School Board’s next workshop is on Nov. 4. Hepburn is set to release a memo with his recommendations on Nov. 5, and the final vote is on Dec. 15.

District’s enrollment data

Watch the meeting

Related link: BCPS Redefining Our Schools 2026-27

Related documents (.PDF)

• School Board workshop’s agenda packet
• School Board workshop’s agenda
• Redefining Our Schools presentation

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on social media Tuesday that the president’s comments have been misunderstood and misrepresented in a “media freakout” that is “not rooted in reality.”

Trump was discussing the Iran war and the resulting high gas prices that have become a midterm liability for Republicans during his remarks in Nebraska when he mentioned the possibility of an Iranian attack on U.S. soil.

“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” he said of the war and its economic fallout. “They can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.”

The commentary, including Trump’s casual mention of the two California cities, was delivered in the familiar meandering style that he uses at campaign rallies, when he speaks for extended periods — often an hour or more — and is only occasionally following prepared remarks on a teleprompter.

Critics, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, seized on his statements. The governor, a Democrat who could run for president in 2028, called Trump “deranged and dangerous” for, in Newsom’s framing, “saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego.”

Cheung, in his response Tuesday, said it was obvious that Trump was not calling for such an attack.

“The media freakout over President Trump’s comments is not rooted in reality,” he said. “He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President.”

Cheung added that Iran “has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.”

Still, at least one Republican politician shared Newsom’s interpretation.

“As a Navy veteran, I served to protect Americans, not write off American cities as an acceptable price of war,” Jim Desmond, the Republican congressional nominee in a metro San Diego district, wrote on social media, adding that “no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”

Trump has often criticized U.S. cities as he campaigns, especially the largest areas that lean heavily Democratic. At a recent North Carolina rally, he described the state’s cities as “blood-soaked killing fields.” North Carolina’s violent crime rate ranks in the middle third of states, according to FBI statistics.

Iran has said that it’s not pursuing nuclear weapons, but has enriched uranium to near-weapons-grade levels that have no civilian purpose.

Wednesday will feature partly mostly cloudy skies with scattered showers and storms developing during the afternoon. As south-southwest winds stir, temperatures will make a run for 90°F.

Ervin, a business owner who has previously served as vice mayor, is campaigning for the seat on a pink-clad golf cart as she makes her way around the city.

Ervin says her community involvement goes back more than a decade, including her time as president of a local booster club.

“My greatest thing that I can attribute things to is when I was president of the booster club, the booster club was created to help the city of Opa-locka in our dark year,” she said. “It allowed me an opportunity to truly, truly engage with community.”

Ervin says the rising cost of living and lack of affordable housing are bigger-than-citywide issues. She says the commission has worked with agencies to help residents.

“We are doing so many things now to help people,” she said. ”We do food drives. They come out, they get food. Well, if they could get free food from us, that alleviates them spending so much money in the grocery stores.”

She also points to the city’s community service program.

“We have just launched our community service program that helps people to get resources to pay your light bills and stuff like that,” Ervin added.

Tydus says people encouraged her to enter the race.

“People started calling me that know me, and I guess that inspired them to ask me to run,” she said.

Tydus was the city’s Black clerk and says she has 20 years of experience in public service.

She says one of her first priorities would be changing the city’s image.

“The first thing that I would do would be an image change,” she said. “I’m so tired of seeing on YouTube, the city of Opa-locka at the top of the list of everything that’s negative, and that’s not true.”

She also says the city should do more to help residents understand and manage the rising cost of living.

“I would assess our spending and try and provide as much social services that we can provide here in the city for our residents,” she added.

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A federal criminal complaint obtained by Local 10 News on Tuesday states that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers pulled Alberto Hernandez Castillo, 40, aside after he arrived on a World Atlantic Airlines flight from Havana on Sunday.

Agents said Hernandez Castillo, a Cuban national and legal permanent U.S. resident, claimed to have nothing to declare and said he was on the island to visit family.

“During the interview, CBP officers observed an unexplained bulge on the front of (his) pelvis/waist area and noted that he appeared nervous,” a Homeland Security Investigations special agent wrote in the complaint.

That, the agent wrote, led the officers to give him a pat-down.

“The pat-down revealed that Hernandez Castillo was concealing six cylindrical clear plastic containers, each wrapped in tape with some black meshed material affixed near the openings,” the agent wrote. “The tubes were then sewn into (his) underwear. Each tube contained live birds.”

Ten live birds, in fact.

Authorities said they found eight yellow-faced grassquits and two blue grosbeaks. The two species are commonly found in the illegal bird trade.

According to the complaint, Hernandez Castillo claimed the birds were for “personal use” and then invoked his right to remain silent. Agents said there’s no evidence he ever submitted the proper paperwork for their importation.

Records show he appeared in Miami federal court on Monday and was subsequently released on a $25,000 personal surety bond.

He faces a charge of smuggling goods into the United States.

A man arrested on the same charge in a similar case in San Diego faced up to 20 years in prison, federal prosecutors noted in 2025.

Michael Kotlikoff was Cornell's longest-serving provost before assuming the presidency on an interim basis in July 2024 and on a permanent basis last year.

In his second month in charge, dining and custodial workers walked off the job in a labor dispute that ended about two weeks later. Last fall, some faculty and students criticized Kotlikoff for agreeing to pay $60 million to end Trump administration civil rights investigations into the Ivy League school. And earlier this year, he defended himself from accusations that he tried to back his car into a group of demonstrators following a debate over Israel and Palestinian rights, saying he was the victim of harassment.

But it was the school’s handling of the investigation into the alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, just a few months into his presidency, that threatens his leadership.

The Cornell faculty senate indicated that it plans to vote on a resolution of no confidence in the school's administrators. And at a Monday protest, students chanted and waved signs calling on Kotlikoff to resign or be fired and for fraternities to be banned.

“Throughout his administration, he’s refused to take accountability for anything that has happened,” said one of the protesters, sophomore Sophia Kong. “He does not represent us.”

Kotlikoff, 75, has come under scrutiny since the woman, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit last month alleging she was sexually assaulted by multiple Chi Phi members two years ago after being pressured into drinking alcohol and taking drugs.

The woman reported the alleged assault to Cornell police in November 2024, three weeks after she said it occurred. Campus police investigated and sent a summary of their findings to the district attorney’s office, which relied on the information in deciding not to bring criminal charges. Separately, Cornell conducted a Title IX investigation.

Amid mounting outrage over the school’s handling of the case, Kotlikoff called the allegations “deeply disturbing” over the weekend. In an apologetic video, he also reaffirmed his commitment to supporting an independent review called for by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has assailed the campus police department for not fully conveying the woman’s story to prosecutors.

No criminal charges have been filed. The Chi Phi chapter was shut down, and the university has said it expelled some students and suspended others. The accused men have all either denied participating or said that the sex that took place was consensual.

Experts are divided on whether it's fair to criticize Kotlikoff

As some experts see it, Kotlikoff had limited options. Without criminal charges, only Cornell’s Title IX investigation continued. While the federal law is best known as a gamechanger for female college athletes, it also is supposed to protect sexual assault and harassment accusers. But it is packed with protections for the accused, including giving them the right to cross-examine their accuser. Most victims don't proceed, and when they do, lawsuits from the accuser and accused over the outcome of the proceedings are common.

There are also limits on the punishments schools can mete out, especially for bystanders, said Peter Lake, who directs a center focused on higher education law and policy at Stetson University College of Law in Florida.

If universities act too quickly, they risk a situation like what happened at Duke University two decades ago, when a woman falsely accused three lacrosse players of rape, he said. The players ultimately reached an undisclosed settlement with Duke, which had suspended them, canceled the team’s season and forced their coach to resign after the accusations were first made.

But some point to the role of university leadership in setting campus culture. Critics note that Cornell's fraternities have a history of problems, including hazing and sexual misconduct, and argue that more should have been done to set a better tone and educate students about consent.

“If you are the leader of that campus and this is part of your portfolio of what happens on your campus, it’s not like ‘Oh well that only affects the members of that fraternity and the women that they’re attempting to sleep with,’” said Jane Stapleton, co-founder of the Prevention Innovations Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. “That impacts the entire fabric of the culture of, ‘How do men respect women? How safe is it to be a woman?’”

Kotlikoff has discussed steps to address the case

Within a few weeks of the alleged assault, Kotlikoff issued a statement detailing the investigation and decrying the alleged behavior as “abhorrent.”

A task force on sexual assault that was launched afterward included recommendations such as improved education on Title IX and what it described as “sexual citizenship.” The report said that a 2025 survey found that 35% of undergraduate women and 8% of undergraduate men report experiencing sexual assault during their time at Cornell.

The extent of Cornell’s investigation has emerged in court records filed after one of the punished students sued the school. According to Cornell’s account, investigators conducted 50 interviews with 32 witnesses and gathered evidence that included witness accounts, electronic communications and social media messages. The process ultimately led to a disciplinary hearing that stretched over 12 days.

Kotlikoff has called for a “serious look” at Greek life, but the end of fraternities on campus is not being considered. Instead, Kotlikoff said Cornell would engage students, alumni and others in examining how to preserve the benefits of Greek life while strengthening accountability and transparency.

Not every president survives such situations

A little over a decade ago, former Baylor University President Ken Starr, best known for the probe that led to Bill Clinton’s presidential impeachment, lost his job amid allegations that the Texas Baptist school mishandled several cases in which football players were accused of attacking women. In 2021, Oregon State trustees accepted the resignation of university president F. King Alexander, concluding he was unable to rebuild trust at the school because of his role in the mishandling of sexual misconduct cases during his previous tenure at Louisiana State University.

More recently, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was among several U.S. college leaders to resign under pressure for the handling of protests over the war in Gaza.

Soham Bera, a Cornell sophomore, said students have “incredibly low faith” in the university leadership.

“Now, with all this news, with all the attention, we can finally make change,” he said at Monday’s protest.

Lili Rose Mas, a junior who was also calling for Kotlikoff to step down, said she was encouraged by the number of students who joined the protest.

“It makes me have more faith in humanity,” Mas said. “I truly think that Gen Z might be the generation that changes the world, because, like, these old people in the admin are not doing anything, but all the students here care about this.” ___ Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

She started a petition on Sept. 26, one day after a teen was found unresponsive inside a slide at the playground.

“From day one we were like how is this ok how is this safe,” said Marche. “They reopened it literally the next day, which I thought was odd.”

What she didn’t know at the time were the specifics, that Miami mother Estefanía Valladares says her 13-year-old son Olvin Cabreras Valladares was allegedly strangled to death by his shirt collar after it became caught on a loose screw inside the slide.

“I can’t believe they reopened the slide right after, its insane,” said Shenandoah resident Linet Del Sol.

The city has not confirmed Valladares’ account, but Del Sol provided a photo and said her eight year old daughter’s leggings tore on that same slide over the summer.

“She said mom look, and she said it was caught in the screw,” said Del Sol.

On Monday, Local 10 News reached out to Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, Miami Commissioner Rolando Escalona and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for a comment or an interview.

Tuesday, the city sent an updated statement, which read:

“Our deepest condolences are with the child’s family and loved ones. This matter is under active investigation, and the City is working diligently to gather all the facts and bring closure to the family. To protect the integrity of that process, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

City of Miami Communications Director Helena Poleo

Escalona is the commissioner of Miami’s District 3, where the park is located.

He also responded Tuesday with a statement in which he calls for a “thorough review” of what happened while requesting a “review of equipment across city of Miami parks.”

“Our thoughts are with the family during this difficult time. We want to be mindful of what they are going through and approach this matter with care and respect.

“While this incident remains under investigation, we have asked the City administration to conduct a thorough review of the incident at Shenandoah Park. We have also requested that the administration review playground equipment across City of Miami parks. We will continue to follow the review closely as more information becomes available.”

Office of Miami Commissioner Rolando Escalona

A park supervisor also referred Local 10 News to a city spokesperson for answers to questions about complaints or inspections.

“This is a child’s life, they should definitely be more communicative,” said Marche

The city’s parks and recreation safety handbook includes accident investigation guidelines and suggests watching for “exposed hardware” and “routine maintenance” as safety tips.

It’s unclear what sort of maintenance or inspections were conducted before or after the incident.

“That is definitely not something you can check just from the outside,” said Del Sol.

Missouri staff initially detected an issue with Jones' heart over the summer during freshman intake testing, an emotional Drinkwitz said at a news conference in Columbia, Missouri.

The team's medical staff sought out a second opinion with the Mayo Clinic when they weren't getting a resolution or answers after two weeks of observation.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic detected a much more serious heart problem, Drinkwitz said. The coaching staff was told last week that Jones needs a transplant.

“We found out that Johnnie's now on a heart transplant list, and he's in Mayo, and it's tough right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family as they go through this,” Drinkwitz said. “You’re just not prepared for that kind of news. Our team wasn’t prepared for that kind of news. We’re praying for him.”

The seventh-year coach asked Mizzou fans to join in that prayer, saying the 18-year-old “needs help in a hurry.”

Drinkwitz first referenced Jones during his postgame interview after Missouri's win over Florida on Saturday. He explained Tuesday that he knew Jones was watching the game, which moved the Tigers to No. 14 in the AP Top 25.

Jones is receiving care in his home state. He graduated from Venice High School on Florida's Gulf Coast and signed with Missouri as a four-star recruit.

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After an abruptly disappointing finish for the Lynx in the WNBA playoffs, the smooth-shooting and defensively tough forward the team has tried to build a title contender around is uncertain to return.

Collier will be one of the most prominent players in the league to enter free agency before the 2027 season, along with Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell and Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young. Collier signed a one-year contract with Minnesota following the new collective bargaining agreement that brought a surge of higher salaries to the sport's biggest stars.

“Whatever she decides, we're both going to be OK,” head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve said after the Lynx were swept in two games by the New York Liberty in the first round of the playoffs.

Collier was drafted with the sixth overall pick in 2019 out of Connecticut, two years after the Lynx won their last of four WNBA championships.

“What ‘Phee’ has given this franchise, we’re super proud of. And we’re super proud of the work we’ve poured into her,” Reeve said. “If she lands on being here, great. And if there’s something better for her, that’s life.”

Collier, for her part, was not ready to dive into such a major decision during her exit interview session with reporters so soon after the last game.

“I can tell you that I love it here. I love the organization. I love my team and everything like that, but I just haven’t had the time to give that any thought,” said Collier, who was limited to 16 games during the regular season and watched WNBA Rookie of the Year Olivia Miles carry the club in her absence.

The five-time All-Star and 2024 Defensive Player of the Year award winner had plenty of adjustments to make once she rejoined the lineup, with a true point guard in Miles and veteran Courtney Williams moving to the shooting guard spot. After the Lynx lost Game 1 to the Liberty, Reeve said she thought Collier needed to be more assertive on offense, one of many shortcomings for them in the series.

Collier is eager for a full offseason to work on her game without the rehabilitation process dominating her time. The 30-year-old expressed confidence that the Lynx with their current core are good enough to win a title, despite a second straight early exit from the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. But there's a possibility they'll take their next swing without her.

“Of course I don’t want that to be my last game with ‘Phee,’ and she knows that, but I also want her to figure out what this next chapter looks like for her and make the best decision for her,” teammate Kayla McBride said. “I want that to be here of course, but I just want her to choose her.”

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

Saint, whose acting work lasted well into her 90s, died at her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday, confirmed family representative Jeff Sanderson.

Saint had one of the most spectacular debuts in Hollywood history, as the love interest of Marlon Brando’s tormented Terry Malloy in “On the Waterfront,” and her first trip to the Academy Awards was memorable too. Pregnant with her first child, Saint accepted her Oscar from Frank Sinatra and smilingly murmured a unique winner's speech: “I think I may have the baby right here.” (Her son, Darrell, was born two days later.)

The award for the 1954 classic made her an instant star, but she soon astonished Hollywood with a firm independence that would mark her career. She refused offers of studio contracts and declined chances to follow up on her great success, explaining that she was taking time off to become acquainted with her new son. (A daughter, Laurette, was born in 1958.)

A curated career

In her first decade in Hollywood, Saint appeared in a mere seven films. She declined such top-level productions as “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” with Gregory Peck, “Summer and Smoke” with Laurence Harvey and “The Rainmaker” with Burt Lancaster. She credited her husband, TV and stage director Jeffrey Hayden, with persuading her to star in Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” the classic 1959 thriller in which Saint plays a spy who seduces Grant, but ends up falling for him.

“I vividly remember him saying, ‘Honey, I think you should find a quiet spot. I’ll take care of the children and I want you to really think about this and reread this script,’” she told Vanity Fair in 2014. “He was so right. And that’s what husbands are for.”

Instead of being put off by her selectivity, studios continued offering her starring roles in such films as “Exodus” (with Newman), “Raintree County” (Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift) and “All Fall Down,” with Warren Beatty.

She turned more to television in the 1970s and enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1980s as the mother of Cybill Shepherd in the hit sitcom “Moonlighting” and as Tom Hanks’ mother in the film comedy “Nothing in Common.” She won an Emmy for the 1990 miniseries “People Like Us,” and had roles in such 21st century movies as “Because of Winn-Dixie,” “Superman Returns” and “Winter’s Tale,” adapted from Mark Helprin's novel of the same name. In 2021, she played Marisa Tomei's aunt in the brief audio play “The Bus Ride,” part of “The Pack Podcast.”

Saint was married to Hayden for 65 years, until his death in 2016.

That was her real name

When Saint emerged in the public consciousness, many believed her theatrical-sounding name must have been invented. She was born with it on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey. The family moved to Delmar, a small town near Albany, New York, where her father was a Goodrich Rubber Co. manager. Eva's goal was to become a third-grade teacher like her mother, but at Bowling Green State University in Ohio she tried out for a play and won the leading role.

After graduation, she lived with her parents and began hunting for acting jobs in Manhattan. After a fruitless year, she landed a two-line role as a telephone operator on a radio drama and soon was working steadily on soap operas and nighttime dramas, appearing for two years as Claudia on “One Man's Family.” Network television was booming in the early 1950s, and her looks and dramatic sense made her a favorite with casting people and producers.

She credited Lee Strasberg with helping her overcome shyness

A critical turn in Saint's career came when she auditioned before Elia Kazan and was accepted into the Actors Studio, which shaped a generation of method-actor stars. She credited acting coach Lee Strasberg with helping her overcome her shyness.

“Lee Strasberg, when he got to know me a little bit, gave me a scene to do where I had to cry in front of my peers,” she told The Santa Barbara Independent in 2009. “I worried about it, I worked on it, I tried to use what I was learning at the studio. I finally did the scene, and I cried, and my peers were crying with me. It was just an incredible moment for me.”

Saint was rejected for the single female role in the play “Mister Roberts,” but was hired to understudy the actor chosen, Jocelyn Brando, Marlon's sister. In six frustrating months Saint never got to substitute for Brando. She finally made it to Broadway in “A Trip to Bountiful,” which she had played on television.

Kazan invited her to try out for the female lead in “On the Waterfront” by improvising a scene with Brando. She was told to try to stop a young man from entering her apartment. She told the Los Angeles Times in 2001: “All I know is that Marlon got in the door and turned on the music. We started dancing. He flicked my skirt. Kazan saw the sparks fly, and that's how I got the part.”

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Thomas, a former Associated Press Hollywood correspondent who died in 2014, was the primary writer of this obituary.

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This story has been corrected to show that Saint and Hayden were married for 65 years, not 55.

They are often debilitating and repeatedly overlooked and dismissed.

When these conditions are accurately identified, though, they are highly treatable.

Local 10’s Kristy Kreuger full Good Health report can be seen at the top of this page.

The rescue happened at C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines, where Jahmil Lewis and his friend, Jayson Gerrado, were spending time with friends when they saw the woman drive into the lake.

Gerrado said he knew there was little time to act as the water rose around the submerged vehicle.

“I just said a quick prayer, ‘Please God, don’t let there be any alligators,’” Gerrado said.

The men entered the water and reached the vehicle as it became completely submerged. One of them was able to open a back door, allowing the woman to free herself from her seat belt.

As they pulled her from the car, the door nearly closed on Gerrado’s leg.

The rescue happened months ago, but video of the incident was posted on social media Tuesday and quickly went viral, prompting renewed attention to the two men’s actions.

The woman’s son later spoke with the rescuers over FaceTime and called them angels.

“My mom loves them,” he said. “She talks about them all the time. She prays for them all the time.”

The rescue has also led to a lasting friendship between the Good Samaritans and the woman’s family.

The woman’s son said the incident serves as a reminder that strangers are still willing to put themselves at risk to help others.

“We’re still one big community,” he said.

The National Hurricane Center is forecasting that the system will strengthen into a hurricane over the next couple of days.

It will likely bring impacts to the Florida Panhandle and parts of the northern Gulf Coast by the end of the week.

Roberts said the move was a one-game adjustment to give the Dodgers a different look against Braves left-hander Chris Sale.

When Sale shut out Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers 1-0 on Aug. 26, Ohtani was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. For his career, Ohtani is 3 for 15 with no homers and 1 RBI against Sale.

With the best-of-five series tied 1-1, Roberts has Mookie Betts hitting leadoff and Freddie Freeman hitting second on Tuesday night. The No. 5 spot is the lowest Ohtani has hit since 2020 with the Angels.

“We all understand that Sale’s gonna be tough,” Roberts said. “But the guys I feel at the top have a good chance to get on base, and I do think that there’s going to be opportunities where the game, the situation, bleeds into Shohei’s at-bat.”

Ohtani, who hits from the left side, batted second in the Braves' 3-2 win at Los Angeles to tie the series on Sunday night.

Roberts said he discussed the lineup move with Ohtani on Monday night and said the four-time MVP “completely understood.”

Roberts also said: "Ohtani said, 'I was going to come to you in September and say, why don’t you hit me seventh?' My point being, he wants to do whatever will help the team. So I feel good about this today. And it’s nothing as a sign of what’s more to come. It’s just for today specifically.”

Ohtani hit .275 with 30 homers and 81 RBIs in the regular season. He had two hits with two strikeouts in eight at-bats in the first two games of the series.

Ohtani played in the final five games of the regular season after coming off a two-week stint on the injured list with nagging right biceps and left knee issues. He went 5 for 21 with an extra-base hit, eight strikeouts and a walk over the final five games.

Roberts acknowledged Ohtani has been chasing pitches as he attempts to find his stroke and will continue to see pitches off the plate “until he shows some restraint.”

Roberts said he does not expect Ohtani to hit fifth in Wednesday's Game 4 against Braves right-hander Tyler Mahle.

“I just feel this gives us the best chance to beat the Braves today and combat Sale, to combat what they’re going to throw after Sale,” Roberts said. “And I feel good about it.”

Roberts said the lineup move is “not a lack of confidence in any player. It’s more of what I feel gives us the best chance to win today. And then that’s, in a short series, that’s the mindset that everyone has to have.”

Ohtani isn't the only high-profile hitter who has struggled in the series and the postseason.

Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. is 3 for 18 in the postseason with no homers and is 2 for 9 in the first two games of the series. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss hasn't moved Acuña from his No. 2 spot in the lineup, but he slid Acuña from right field to designated hitter in a late lineup change. Lane Thomas entered the lineup in right field.

“I just think it’s the ebbs and flows of a season where guys get hot and cold,” Weiss said Tuesday of Acuña's slump. "And the same thing happens in the postseason. He’s one of those guys that’s one swing away from doing something really spectacular. So I don’t try to overthink it too much. It’s going to happen at some point."

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he would be talking with Putin about the case “very soon.” Health authorities are investigating after the death of an employee at an anti-plague institute, which authorities attributed to pneumonia with an unknown cause.

Asked what the U.S. intelligence community was saying about the case, Trump said the U.S. is in “very deep discussions” on the topic. “We’ll be able to report about it, probably tomorrow,” Trump said.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday said the case presents a “very low” risk outside Russia. The United Nations agency said it was in contact with Russian authorities following reports of the death last week of a woman who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

On Monday, Trump said the U.S. would be willing to help Russia with the situation. “It’s a rough disease. You know, that’s a disease we used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter. They’re like an army,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The call also comes as the Trump administration faces an Oct. 18 deadline to decide which Russian entities, if any, it will sanction under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which Trump signed into law on Sept. 18.

Ukraine has given the administration and Congress a wish list of Russian companies, vessels and individuals it would like to see hit with U.S. sanctions under that law.

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AP writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

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The next name on the list is Isaias (pronounced ees-ah-EE-ahs).

While the exact details and nature of the threat later this week still need to be ironed out, the odds of a stronger and more coherent tropical system continue to rise and interests from Louisiana through Florida’s Big Bend should check back frequently on the forecasts this week.

At a minimum, a heavy rain and flash flood threat is all but baked in across a wide swath of the northern Gulf and into the Deep South, where double-digit rainfall totals are possible later this week and into the upcoming holiday weekend.

For now, the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) is forecasting a slight risk of flash flooding (flood threat level 2 of 4) for most of the southeast U.S. from North Florida westward to Louisiana this weekend.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see these flood threat levels increase for areas closer to the coast as confidence in the forecast grows tomorrow and Thursday.

92L’s early clues

Invest 92L had a healthy collection of showers and thunderstorms wrapping around its developing center early Tuesday as it organized only about 100 miles east of Tampico, Mexico, over the southwestern Gulf.

A buoy located about 125 miles east of 92L’s estimated center found lowering pressures down to about 1008 millibars Tuesday morning, a meaningful fall relative to surrounding stations and an indication that 92L is becoming better organized.

As we discussed in Monday’s newsletter, this early organization is critical to the system’s future, with a better-formed and stronger system over the next few days feeling the tug of higher-up jet stream winds which would whisk it farther northeast (toward Alabama or Florida rather than Louisiana) and position it in a more conducive environment for continued strengthening.

This is generally what the AI models have been advertising, with Google DeepMind’s ensemble system continuing to favor a stronger track toward South Alabama or the western Florida Panhandle.

On the other hand, the traditional physics-based European model keeps 92L (future Isaias?) weaker initially, which takes it on a slower track northward toward Louisiana, battling a less conducive configuration of upper-level winds on approach to the northern Gulf in the vicinity of southern Louisiana by this weekend.

Will we see a hurricane threat to the northern Gulf later this week?

It’s certainly possible that 92L clears the bar and becomes the first hurricane (and latest first hurricane on record) of the Atlantic hurricane season as it approaches the northern Gulf Coast later this week.

While at the pre-genesis stage – that is before a bona fide tropical depression or tropical storm has formed – we should take intensity guidance with a healthy dose of skepticism, our most reliable consensus aids – those like HCCA (the HFIP Corrected Consensus Approach) that blend our best-performing models and correct for their biases – suggest this is at least a borderline hurricane by Friday as it closes in on the northern Gulf.

It’s worth noting that the early morning cycle of Google’s DeepMind 1,000-member ensemble put the odds of 92L peaking as a hurricane at north of 80%, with about 40% of the ensembles climbing to Category 3 or stronger (see earlier plot). As we’ve discussed in previous newsletters, we should be a little wary of DeepMind’s intensity guidance before we have a defined depression or storm, but it’s a noticeable uptick from earlier cycles from one of our better performing models.

That said, by the time the system reaches the coast, it could be feeling the toll of strong jet stream winds advancing quickly from the west which might weaken it as it moves ashore but would also act to widen the heavy rainfall footprint and flood threat well inland across the southern U.S.

We’ll also need to monitor for the possibility of severe weather (severe thunderstorms and tornadoes) later this week into this weekend along the northern Gulf.

Bottom line

Based on current trends, there’s a growing threat of a strong tropical storm or hurricane approaching the north-central or northeast Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle by Friday into the weekend.

It’s too early to know how strong the system will be once it moves ashore, but model guidance right now ranges from a tropical storm to a low-end hurricane.

Regardless of development, a widespread heavy rain event will accompany the system across much of the southeast U.S. this weekend, with especially high rainfall totals nearing or eclipsing double digits along and to the east of where the system moves inland. The heaviest rain should begin in earnest for coastal areas on Friday and extend inland through the weekend.

In the short-term, we’ll be watching to see how organized 92L gets over the next 24 to 36 hours, with faster organization favoring a stronger storm a little farther east later this week.

Michael Padrino, Gladys Machado’s lone surviving child, wept from the witness stand as he addressed his family’s killer in court. His testimony brought many people in the courtroom to tears, including several jurors.

“We were supposed to have more time together, more birthdays, more holidays,” he said. “Sitting around doing nothing, those were the best times.”

Padrino, now 19, was 5 years old when his stepfather, Sierra, brutally killed Machado, 29, and his sisters: Julia, 6, and Daniela, 3.

Padrino was unharmed because he was with his great-grandmother that day.

“They were going to be amazing people. They had so much life ahead of them,” Padrino said. “Maybe they would have changed the world. Maybe they would love just lived normal lives and been happy, but we will never find out now and that is something I have to live with.”

FULL VIDEO: Michael Padrino gives victim impact statement

He later added, “There are so many things I would tell them if I could, so many things I would say different. I would tell my mom thank you for everything she did for us, and I would tell Julia to remember how smart she was and how she made sure everyone knew it, and I would tell Daniela I still remember her exactly as she was. I would tell them all that I love them, and I wish I had the chance to say it more while they were all here.”

Turning to Sierra, Padrino said, “And you, you took them. You know you did.”

After a brief break, several jurors returned to the jury box in tears and the prosecutor rested the state’s case after a series of emotional victim impact statements, including one from the girls’ father, Michael Padrino Sr.

“I am writing because my daughters no longer have a voice in this world. Their lives, their childhood, their innocence, their chance of life to grow, and every year they were supposed to live were taken from them,” Padrino Sr. said. “For 14 years, I have carried a pain no parent should ever have to live with.

“Julia was smart, sweet and loving. She always had a big smile on her face. She loved to stay with me when we had our days together. Daniela was always happy and playful, always laughing and just full of life. They were both always playful and sweet. They will always live in my heart.”

Gladys Machado’s best friend, Shannon Castro, also spoke.

“Mikey deserved to have his mother and sisters beside him,” Castro said. “Nothing (can) bring back the pain they carry, but I hope by speaking about who they were, their lives will never be forgotten.”

Sierra’s defense team is set to start their case on Wednesday.

There were 37 high school students, the bus driver and the bus driver’s daughter inside the bus when the chain-reaction crash happened.

A 16-year-old student on the bus and another driver involved were killed.

Video shows the school bus traveling on a two-lane road when a driver of a white Chevrolet Malibu is seen crossing over the double yellow line, running into the back wheels of the bus.

The impact caused the bus to veer into the other lane, slamming into a Jeep head-on before flipping into a ditch.

Community members are calling the bus driver a hero after she was initially pinned in her seat, but figuring out a way to escape in order to help the students on the bus.

Investigators have identified the driver of the Malibu as Maria Jimenez, 23, a nursing student.

The sheriff says she was not speeding nor on her phone at the time of the crash.

The driver of the Jeep has been identified as DeShawn Smith, who was on his way to work when the bus hit him head-on, killing him.

The student who died has been identified as tenth-grade student Adinaluz Oyola.

Of the 35 people who were taken to the hospital, three students remain hospitalized.

They are all expected to be okay.

As for the driver who was responsible for the crash, the sheriff said she will likely face potential traffic citations and/or civil charges, but no criminal charges.

In a marriage of two massive Hollywood portfolios, Paramount’s $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery closed Tuesday, uniting everything from cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and SpongeBob Squarepants to news delivered by Anderson Cooper and Gayle King.

The resulting company, a behemoth now known as Skydance, reshapes the media world. Here’s what the deal may mean for streaming, movies, news and more:

Streamers HBO Max and Paramount+ now under same umbrella

Skydance brings Paramount+ together with HBO Max with plans to unify its streaming products “into a single service over time.” What this would be called and how it might affect consumer costs and choices remains unknown. David Ellison, the architect of the deal and the company’s CEO, has suggested HBO could still have some level of independence.

“Our viewpoint is, HBO should stay HBO,” Ellison said earlier this year. “They built a phenomenal brand, they are a leader in this space and we just want them to continue doing more of it. But by bringing the platforms together, all of our content will be able to reach even a broader audience than we can do standalone.”

Paramount also has acquired Warner’s smaller Discovery+ streamer, joining Paramount+, Pluto TV and BET+.

Critics have expressed skepticism about how consumers might benefit, warning that already rising subscription fees could spike as the conglomerate meets payments on the billions of dollars in debt Ellison took on to finance the deal.

What’s not in dispute is the size of the resulting library of content. Paramount+ and HBO Max alone add up to roughly 14% of the U.S. streaming market, comparable to rival Disney+, but still behind Amazon Prime at 17% and Netflix at 19%, according to the streaming guide JustWatch. It pairs movie franchises like “Mission: Impossible” with “Lord of the Rings,” television hits from “I Love Lucy” to “Friends,” and personalities ranging from Guy Fieri to RuPaul.

Don’t expect a “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Drag Race” anytime soon, but with so many properties combining forces, there is potential for all kinds of crossover.

Hollywood consolidates even more, shrinking to 4 big studios

Paramount and Warner Bros. are two of Hollywood’s oldest studios. Their merger means fewer companies control legacy film production.

Under a settlement reached last month with 12 states, the combined company has agreed to distribute 30 films in theaters each year for the next two years — and 32 films each year for three years after that. The fine print notes that only 50% of those movies would have to be “produced or jointly produced” by the combined company. Skydance also agreed to increase spending on film production in the U.S. by at least $1.5 billion over the next five years.

Still, many have expressed worry about what further consolidation could mean for jobs and which projects are greenlit down the road. Regulatory filings have indicated that the new ownership will be looking for ways to cut costs — including layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations.

Hollywood’s big six shrank to five when Disney bought most of 20th Century Fox in a deal finalized in 2019. Now it's a big four: Skydance, Disney, Universal and Sony.

The deal joins news giants CNN and CBS and some worry about interference

The deal also puts news giants CNN and CBS under the same ownership, a concern among many journalists given the Ellison family's close relationship with President Donald Trump.

CBS News has taken steps to appeal to more conservative viewers since Ellison installed Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. At “60 Minutes,” the new management brought heaps of turmoil, with the firings of its executive producer and three veteran correspondents, who have claimed that Weiss sought changes to news reports that appeared to be driven by politics.

Trump, who has attacked the reporting of both networks as “fake news,” said Tuesday that he's happy the merger closed, and that Skydance is “going to be a great company.”

Foreign investors poised to hold sizable indirect ownership stakes are also in the spotlight. The FCC cleared Paramount’s request for sovereign funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to indirectly own nearly 50% of the combined company’s equity interests, and potentially up to 100% through future investments, but no voting rights.

Ellison has said editorial independence will be maintained at CNN. The combined company is retaining Mark Thompson as CNN’s editor-in-chief, and has agreed to form a “News Editorial Independence Board.”

Skydance’s corporate board of directors will choose who sits on this new body.

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Grantham-Philips reported from Chicago.

The marathon batch of Nations League matches ended Tuesday with Merino — a star off the bench so many times for Spain in recent years — powering home an 88th-minute strike to complete the world champions’ stirring recovery in a 2-1 win in Split.

The Arsenal midfielder had already equalized in the 61st minute after entering as a halftime substitute, with Spain trailing to a goal by veteran midfielder Ivan Perišić. That marked the first time the Spanish had conceded the first goal in a match since the European Championship in 2024.

Kane’s double in England’s 3-0 win over Czechia came on his record-tying 125th appearance for his country. It took him to 91 international goals, extending an outright England record.

“It was the perfect night for me personally and also the team,” said the Bayern Munich striker, who is among the favorites for the Ballon d'Or being awarded on Oct. 26.

Spain joined Portugal as the only teams to win all four of their group games in the Nations League over the last two weeks and has confirmed its place in the competition's quarterfinals taking place in March.

England's only dropped points in that period? They came in a loss to Spain.

Merino gets Spain out of trouble again

Time and again, Merino delivers off the bench for his country.

At the recent World Cup, he netted a stoppage-time winner over Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in the round of 16 and then in the 88th minute to see off Belgium in the quarterfinals a few days later.

Two years earlier, Spain's progress to the Euro 2024 title included a win over Germany in the quarterfinals sealed by Merino's 119th-minute winner.

On Tuesday, there he was again, dancing around the corner flag — to mimic his father Miguel's goalscoring celebration from the early 1990s — after coming to Spain's rescue against Croatia.

“He understands these moments in a match so well,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “He’s got that gift for goals and important ones, too.”

His first goal was a lovely sidefooted finish after Merino received a short pass in the area from Dani Olmo. The second, scored when Croatia was down to 10 men after Perišić's sending-off for two yellow cards, was a rising shot that flew into the roof of the net.

Spain is now undefeated in 42 matches dating back to a loss to Colombia in March 2024 and is still setting the standard in world soccer.

Kane ‘the best England player to ever wear the shirt,’ says Bellingham

England coach Thomas Tuchel said this week he was running out of superlatives for Kane, and the striker's teammates think the same.

“There’s not much more you can say that hasn’t already been said," England star Jude Bellingham said after Kane inspired the team to a third straight win and the brink of the Nations League quarterfinals.

“He is the best England player to ever wear the shirt and it is an honor to play with him."

Kane, who moved level with former goalkeeper Peter Shilton on the list of most caps won for England’s men’s team, swept home a close-range finish in the 40th minute and headed home at a corner in the 57th to push to 91 England goals.

Before that, it was Kane who sent in the cross that Czechia right back Vladimir Coufal turned into his own net to put England ahead.

Kane can break the appearance record when England plays Croatia on Nov. 12, also at Wembley.

“He will inspire loads and loads of young people to play football and encourage people to have a career like him and try their luck,” Tuchel said. “He’s a fantastic role model and he deserves the praise.”

Four straight wins for Switzerland

Another team on maximum points is Switzerland, which beat North Macedonia 3-0 in the second-tier League B thanks to goals by Fabian Rieder, Johan Manzambi and Dan Ndoye in Lucerne.

The Swiss, quarterfinalists at the World Cup and one of Europe's most consistent soccer nations, are heading for promotion back to the top level of the competition.

Things look much bleaker for Scotland, though, after a 2-1 home loss to Slovenia that ended with boos from supporters at Hampden Park.

Sebastien Pocognoli has picked up four points from a possible 12 in his first camp as Scotland coach after replacing Steve Clarke.

While Scotland's other home loss in this international window — 3-0 to the Swiss — can be attributed to a quality opponent and an early red card, this latest defeat will raise more questions — especially after the hosts went ahead thanks to Ryan Christie’s close-range goal.

Aljosa Matko and Danijel Sturm scored in the second half for Slovenia.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Miami Fire Rescue personnel responded shortly before 2 p.m. to the fire along Southwest 14 Street, between 27 and 29 avenues, in the Little Havana neighborhood.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, according to MFR personnel.

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

Related social media post

‼️At 1:57 pm, MFR responded to a car fire next to a home. Fire was quickly extinguished and prevented from extending to the residence. One female was taken to hospital for precaution with minor smoke inhalation‼️#miami #carfire #fire pic.twitter.com/qOdQF2oxe3

— Miami Fire-Rescue (@CityofMiamiFire) October 6, 2026

Paul Simon sang about going there to ease an aching heart in 1986 on a Grammy-winning album titled, well, “Graceland." A year later, Philadelphia punk band The Dead Milkmen wrote their own song about a trip to Graceland that was decidedly less reverent, with lyrics like, “Goin’ to Graceland/It’s gonna be fun/We’ll get to see all Elvis’s guns.”

Maybe Graceland is all things to all people.

Elvis bought the large Classical revival home on about 14 acres of farmland in 1957, moving in with his mother, father and grandmother. Later came his wife Priscilla and then daughter Lisa Marie. From the beginning, the home was accessible to the public, right there on Highway 51 South, now known as Elvis Presley Boulevard. The distinctive wrought-iron gates decorated with musical notes and guitar players resembling Elvis are pretty much a giveaway.

Bruce Springsteen tells a story of jumping over the wall in the 1970s in hopes of meeting Elvis. He wasn't home at the time, but if he had been, he might have allowed the visit. Elvis was known to watch for fans on the security cameras and go down to the gates to sign autographs.

When Elvis died at Graceland in 1977, mourners lined up outside the walls in a spontaneous vigil. They came back the next year and the next. After the home was opened to tours in 1982, they were finally able to enter the gates and file past Elvis' grave.

Yes, Elvis is buried at Graceland — right in the yard — along with his parents, grandmother, daughter and grandson.

Today we take Graceland as a pilgrimage site for granted, but stepping back for a second it seems rather odd. The homes of most other celebrities aren’t thronged by adoring fans, certainly not half a century after their deaths. Maybe it's the way Elvis' mythology is so entwined with his Memphis house?

"Such a strong association between a man and his home is unique and unprecedented in the 20th century" is the way a 2006 application for National Historic Landmark status put it. (Spoiler alert: They got it.)

Then there's the name: Graceland.

Although Elvis didn't name the house himself, it's hard to imagine his legacy would be the same if he had lived at “Presleyland,” or that Paul Simon would have waxed poetic about going to “The Elvis Mansion.”

As Simon so aptly put it: ”I’ve reason to believe we all will be received in Graceland.”

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.

The club announced Tuesday that Tyrone Mears is out as head coach of its women’s professional team, effective immediately.

A club spokesperson said Paul Jennison will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

“We want to thank Tyrone for his passion, dedication and commitment to Fort Lauderdale United FC,” said Aly Hassan, General Manager of Fort Lauderdale United FC. “He has invested a great deal in our players and our organization, and we appreciate his contributions to the club. We wish Tyrone nothing but the best moving forward. Paul Jennison will step in as interim head coach as we continue to focus on the remainder of the season.”

Mears joined the club ahead of its inaugural season and led Fort Lauderdale United FC to the Gainbridge Super League Final in 2025.

Club founder and chairman Tommy Smith also thanked Mears for his time with the organization.

“We appreciate everything Tyrone has given to Fort Lauderdale United FC and wish him success in his next chapter,” Smith said. “As an organization, we are committed to building a club that consistently competes at develops talent at the highest level. That commitment to excellence drives every decision we make, and our focus remains on putting our players, staff and supporters in the best position to succeed.”

The club says it will evaluate its coaching structure and begin looking for a permanent head coach.

“I have given it my all for 14 years,” Johnson said Tuesday in a statement, “season after season pushing my body to the max and tirelessly working my craft to not only live up to the legacy of the guys that came before me, but to set a new standard of success for the best franchise in all of sports.”

Johnson had been a late scratch for last week's game against the Los Angeles Rams for personal reasons. He said Tuesday despite wanting to finish the season, his “personal and family priorities in my life have changed.”

Johnson missed time in training camp for personal reasons before saying that this season would probably be his last.

“Lane Johnson is an all-time Eagle and one of the best players ever to play his position in NFL history,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “Lane was a major contributor to our team success for 14 seasons, helping to bring two Super Bowl championships and many other memorable moments to the organization and the city of Philadelphia.”

The 36-year-old Johnson was a first-round pick in 2013 and was a first-team All-Pro in 2017 and 2022. He earned second-team honors in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Johnson has been a pillar at right tackle and won a pair of Super Bowls with the Eagles.

Johnson took a leave of absence during the 2021 season as he battled anxiety and depression and has since shared his story at mental health clinics in the area.

Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, said earlier this year his potential retirement came into focus last season after conversations with his family and an injury-filled season. He missed Philadelphia’s final seven regular-season games and the wild-card playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

“Right now, it is critical that I focus on my mental health,” Johnson said. “I owe it to my teammates, coaches, the organization and the fans to have my head and heart 100 percent in the game. And right now my heart is telling me that it's time to say goodbye to football.”

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Offensively, the Longhorns (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) and Sooners (2-2, 0-1) have struggled and sputtered through long stretches behind units that were expected to deliver much more punch than the penalties, punts and blooper-reel turnovers they have so far.

“I see flashes of who we want to be,” said Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who remains the Longhorns' play-caller in his sixth season with the program. “My biggest critique is the consistency.”

Texas enters the game ranked No. 1 for the past month after beating previous No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 12. But since then, quarterback Arch Manning has been wildly inconsistent, the offensive line has struggled to protect him and penalties have stalled drives.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, is searching for anything from struggling quarterback John Mateer to jump-start a unit that ranks No. 104 nationally and complement a defense that can hold out only so long.

Put these teams on the field Saturday and a scene like Oklahoma's classic 14-3 win in 2001, sealed with Teddy Lehman's deflected pass interception in the final minutes, may be set for a replay.

Texas until built for sizzle seems to be stuck on simmer

It might seem a stretch to critique an undefeated No. 1 with the best resume over the first month of the season. But the Texas offense has been anything but the well-oiled machine that was expected from the sum of its expensive parts.

Sarkisian used the offseason to load up on transfer playmakers he could sprinkle throughout the offense around Manning. He landed wide receiver Cam Coleman and running backs Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers. And he bragged that the program upgraded at each position.

Coleman leads the team in touchdowns catches with four but had just one catch in the last game against Tennessee for 30 yards. Brown scored two touchdowns against Tennessee and he and Smothers have rushed for 394 total yards. Yet the Longhorns are averaging less than 4.0 yards per attempt and haven't shown much of a breakaway threat since Smothers went for 45 yards on the first play of the season.

Manning led the electric 21-point fourth-quarter comeback against Ohio State but completed just 50% of his passes a week later against UTSA. Against Tennessee, Manning was twice penalized for attempting a pass beyond the line of scrimmage. He also was sacked six times and Texas had eight offensive possessions of six plays or fewer in a game in which the Longhorns totaled just 262 yards.

The silver lining against Tennessee was a second-half drive for a field goal that gave the Longhorns a two-score cushion they would need when Tennessee rallied late.

“What we’ve done well is we won,” Sarkisian said. “I feel like we’ve had moments where we needed to be at our best and we responded.”

Manning certainly expects more from the offense than it's produced so far.

“We’ve got a mature group. We need to be at our best more often in the game," he said. "Not just when we need it.”

Mateer and the Sooners leaking confidence and struggling

Oklahoma made the College Football Playoff last season and the hope was that another year with a healthy Mateer could get the Sooners' offense up to par. The hype around him in preseason training camp teed up the expectations.

Nothing has worked so far.

The Sooners have topped 17 points just once and that came in the opener against UTEP. Mateer has six turnovers, including three on consecutive possessions in a 41-13 loss at No. 2 Georgia. One was a fumble near the Bulldogs' end zone that was returned for a touchdown, a lowlight that will live in Sooners' infamy. Oklahoma coach Brent Venables acknowledged that there were discussions about replacing Mateer at halftime.

“The fact that I haven’t performed is disappointing,” Mateer said. “But I’m blessed to play ball today and to get better.”

Oklahoma's struggles on offense go deeper than quarterback. The Sooners average just 99 yards rushing, ranking next-to-last in the SEC. The offensive line has surrendered 13 sacks. The Sooners now face Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons, who set a school record with 5 1/2 sacks against Tennessee.

“We have a good football team. We haven’t put it all together yet, and at times, we’ve looked not very good at all," Venables said.

Oklahoma was undefeated and ranked No. 6 and Texas already had two losses when the teams met last season. Mateer played that game less than three weeks after surgery to repair an injured throwing hand and tossed three interceptions as Texas won 23-6.

Oklahoma started this season No. 10 but is now unranked. It has seven wins over a No. 1 opponent in program history, but none came when the Sooners were unranked.

Oklahoma hasn't scored a touchdown against Texas since a 34-30 victory in 2023.

“Everybody’s anxious to have an opportunity,” Venables said. "Winning kind of cures a lot.”

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The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Illinois, said McDonald’s pricing tool uses artificial intelligence to collect data that competing franchises wouldn’t normally share, like store-level sales. The Chicago-based burger giant has said it makes the tool available to U.S. franchisees to help them set prices at their individual restaurants.

The lawsuit also blames the pricing system for raising McDonald’s U.S. prices.

“McDonald’s has built and for years deployed its own information-sharing pricing platform, which draws on data from its millions of daily transactions to set menu prices across thousands of U.S. restaurants,” the lawsuit states. “The result is algorithmic price-fixing aimed at customers who are already stretched thin.”

McDonald’s said Tuesday that the lawsuit is “filled with inaccuracies” and it would vigorously defend itself.

“AI does not set menu prices at McDonald’s restaurants – McDonald’s franchisees do,” the company said in a statement. “Optional tools are available to franchisees to help them make the best decisions for their businesses and customers, but these tools do not automate, coordinate or fix pricing in any way.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a consumer, Michael Thomas, of DeKalb, Illinois. According to the lawsuit, Thomas frequently visits McDonald’s and orders a Quarter Pounder with cheese, french fries and a Coke. The lawsuit said Thomas noticed price differences between McDonald’s stores near his home.

McDonald's said it has used an AI-enhanced pricing tool for more than a decade. The program determines the optimal price for menu items based on a store’s sales, location and other factors, including competitors’ prices.

McDonald's said that long before adopting the AI-enhanced tool, it collected data and recommended prices to its franchisees, who own and operate 95% of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. stores.

“All we do is provide the context of what’s going on,” a McDonald’s spokesman told The Associated Press. “We don’t have any way to affect the menu pricing in a restaurant.”

But the lawsuit said McDonald's has “significant leverage over its franchisees” and can pressure them to follow its pricing recommendations.

The Associated Press left a message Tuesday with the National Owners Association, which represents McDonald’s franchisees.

McDonald’s has been experimenting with various value strategies in the U.S. and other markets for several years as it tries to win back lower-income consumers, whose visits to fast-food chains have dropped.

But franchisees don’t always follow its guidance. During a conference call with investors in August, McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said only 60% of its U.S. restaurants were offering McDonald’s proposed menu of 10 items for under $3.

“As you know, in our system, that’s not something that we just flip the switch on,” Kempczinski said. “It requires conversations with franchisees.”

The lawsuit asks the judge to certify the case as a class action and to require McDonald's to pay damages to the class. It also seeks to prevent McDonald's from enforcing agreements that restrict competition.

When he and Edmund Hillary reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain on May 29, 1953, one of the first things Hillary did was take out his camera and aim it at his fellow climber, the Sherpa Norgay, as he waved an ice ax tied with flags for Britain, India, Nepal and the United Nations.

Since that moment, camera lenses have seldom been pointed at Norgay, or the many Sherpa who have followed in his history-making footsteps. But the new Apple Studios film “Tenzing,” directed by Jennifer Peedom, puts Norgay back in the center of the frame, telling the life story of the Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer.

“Tenzing’s story is the ultimate underdog heroic story but had been pushed to the margins,” Peedom says. “Everest occupied such a large part of our imaginations. It’s become this icon of human achievement, yet the story of one of the first men to climb to the summit was largely unknown.”

“Tenzing,” which opens Friday in theaters before streaming Oct. 16 on Apple TV+, chronicles Norgay’s path leading up to Everest and the daring ascent that he and Hillary (played by Tom Hiddleston) made in 1953. Both were outsiders — Norgay was born in Tibet before moving to the Khumbu region of Nepal — in a British expedition led by Col. John Hunt (Willem Dafoe).

The film is a rousing mountain adventure and biopic but one made with uncommon authenticity. Tenzing’s son Norbu Tenzing is an executive producer. Cultural consultants Dr. Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa and Dr. Nima Namgyal Sherpa were leaned on. Most of the Sherpas portrayed in the film are played by real mountaineering Tibetan people.

And Norgay, a role shared across time frames, is principally played by Genden Phuntsok, a Chinese actor of Tibetan descent. Phuntsok had appeared in two acclaimed films by the Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden. But “Tenzing” is his first Hollywood film. To prepare for the role, he lived for 10 days with Phurba Tashi Sherpa, the subject of Peedom’s 2015 documentary “Sherpa.”

“From the top of the hill outside his village, you can see the top of Everest,” Phuntsok says. “All the people in the village were really kind to me. For them, Tenzing Norgay is their hero.”

Hiddleston's Hillary takes a supporting role

Hiddleston plays Hillary, the New Zealand climber, with the kind of dashing charisma that many Hollywood productions would have put front and center. Instead, “Tenzing,” about an international expedition, itself became an operation of multiculturalism. At the center is the friendship between Norgay and Hillary, a relationship forged on the southeast ridge of Everest and that continued after their ascent.

For Phuntsok and Hiddleston, making “Tenzing” was likewise a partnership.

“Genden and I saw Everest with our own eyes for the first time at the same time,” Hiddleston says. “Jennifer’s insistence and inspiration was for us to trek as far as we could toward base camp when we started.”

For Peedom, the terrain was familiar. The Australian filmmaker has spent much of her career as a documentarian shedding light on the Sherpa, including “Sherpa,” about the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall that killed 16 Nepali mountain workers. To her, it was surprising that more documentarians hadn’t focused on Sherpa stories before her.

“Being a young camera operator, I’d notice the extent to which the Sherpa were written out of the story or would end up on the cutting room floor,” Peedom says.

“Tenzing” crucially reorients the ascent of Everest as less a conquering of nature than a spiritual quest. The historic Tibetan name for the mountain is Chomolungma, and, for Norgay, climbing it was a religious experience. For Phuntsok, it was similar.

“In my culture, this is a holy mountain,” Phuntsok says. “The first time you see it, it looks small because it’s very far away. I thought, ‘My god, Tenzing summited that.’”

Hiddleston believes Norgay’s legacy is not just his feat of mountaineering but this regard for nature as something to pay homage to, not conquer.

“We can learn a huge amount from the spiritual attitude toward the mountains as presented in this film, especially by Tenzing,” Hiddleston says. “The respect for the mountains by Tenzing and the Sherpas is the respect afforded to a goddess, to a divine presence of magnificence and power in front of which you feel only humility and awe.”

“I hope the film stands as a testament to the beauty of Nepal and the beauty of the culture there, and reminds us of our delicate balance with nature,” he adds.

‘Tenzing’ opens in the wake of tragedy in Nepal

That balance was tragically felt in August when a deadly flood tore through a Himalayan river valley in Nepal. The destruction, in which at least 1,400 people were killed, was set off by a 2,000-foot-wide (609.6-meter-wide) chunk of ice that broke off a mountain glacier due to the effects of climate change.

Last month, Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah addressed the U.N. General Assembly, noting that Nepal, where electricity is overwhelmingly generated from hydropower, has contributed less than one-tenth of 1% of the heat-trapping gases behind climate change. He called it “not just a local tragedy, but a warning to the world.”

As Peedom has screened “Tenzing” at fall festivals, she has reminded viewers of the tragedy in Nepal, and the possibility of more like it to come.

“Those mountains are starting to crumble,” Peedom says. “There are 15,000 glaciers alone in Nepal, 1,500 of them have glacier lakes in front of them. When those things collapse, there’s going to be more and more of these catastrophes.”

Meanwhile, record numbers of climbers ascend Everest. After China closed the ascent route from Tibet, numbers swelled on the Nepal side. Kami Rita Sherpa, a renowned guide who has summited the mountain more than 30 times, urged authorities to limit the endless stream of climbers on Everest. In May, a record 274 climbers reached the summit in a single day.

The Senate Leadership Fund is putting $5 million in the state to shore up Graham, who was appointed this summer as an interim replacement for her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. The spending was confirmed by a person with direct knowledge of the plans.

The spending is meant more as an insurance policy, said the person, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, and Republicans remain confident in their chances to retain the seat.

Meanwhile, Trump’s midterm blitz is tentatively scheduled to take him to the state ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, according to a separate person familiar with the plans who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Trump rallied with Graham days before the August runoff primary, helping to boost her chances against Ralph Norman as they faced off for the Republican Senate nomination. Graham is running against Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician.

SLF’s spending plans, first reported by Axios, come several days after news that the deep-pocketed super PAC was pulling back in North Carolina and pouring money into Kansas, another conservative state that has become more competitive in recent weeks.

The funding also comes after Trump attacked Andrews on social media, using an anti-transgender slur.

“Darline is a High Quality person, maybe the Highest,” Trump wrote in his post. Using the slur, Trump said Andrews is “not, in particular, as it pertains to representing the Values of the Great People of South Carolina.”

In a response shortly after Trump’s post, Andrews said she is in the Senate race to “fight for my patients, my three kids, and South Carolina.”

“And I’m going to work with anyone to put South Carolina first, because lowering costs and making life better for families across our state is going to take all of us working together,” Andrews said.

David J. Rush fabricated a “highly classified” government program to justify the acquisition of luxury property in south Florida that he intended to resell for personal profit, according to a court filing. Rush separately concocted a bogus “sensitive government activity" to obtain the gold bars, the filing says.

Rush's fraudulent conduct cost the federal government approximately $194 million in total losses, according to the Justice Department. The losses included over $1.8 million in privately chartered flights that Rush authorized for personal use at the government's expense.

Under questioning from investigators, Rush admitted that he provided a foreign government official with information about the identity of a secret source for the U.S. government, a new court filing says. The filing doesn't specify which country the foreign official represented.

Prosecutors also accuse Rush of lying to colleagues and government contractors about his military and academic credentials and the fake program that he invented, falsely claiming it was authorized by high-ranking U.S. officials.

“Rush used his legitimate government authority and manufactured personal bona fides to create confidence in his directions,” the court filing says.

Rush, 49, of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, court records show. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff is scheduled to sentence Rush on Jan. 28 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Several months ago, Rush tried to fraudulently authorize the release of $100 million from a government contract, according to Tuesday's filing. He directed somebody else to transfer approximately $145 million to a holding company formed at his direction, then used those funds to acquire four “luxury” properties in Palm Beach and Hobe Sound, Florida, the filing says.

In previous court filings, prosecutors said Rush stashed roughly $46 million worth of gold bars from the federal government at his Virginia home. They also accused him of fraudulently claiming tens of thousands of dollars in compensation for military leave after he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2015.

“Federal employees are entrusted with serving the American people, not themselves,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency immediately referred the matter to the FBI after an internal investigation turned up evidence of Rush's crimes.

“David Rush abused his position and betrayed the public trust and should be held fully accountable for his actions," Ratcliffe said in a statement.

Rush was arrested after investigators searched his home and seized approximately 300 gold bars, roughly $2 million in U.S. currency and about 35 luxury watches, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. A judge ordered Rush to be held without bond after his initial court appearance earlier this year.

During a hearing in June, defense attorney Jessica Carmichael said Rush wasn't charged initially with any crimes related to the discovery of the gold bars, which she referred to as “basically a nonissue” and “nothing more than a sensational tidbit.” She said her client properly obtained the gold bars and kept them locked in a safe in his basement.

“Mr. Rush never claimed they were his,” Carmichael said.

Carmichael declined to comment on Rush's guilty plea after Tuesday's hearing.

Authorities say Rush lied about his education and military background on job applications, falsely claiming to be a former Navy pilot who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University in South Carolina and a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

Investigators determined that he didn’t serve as a Navy pilot and didn’t attend either school. Rush enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy Reserve as a lieutenant in 2015, according to the FBI affidavit.

Cuba’s Chargé d’Affaires in Washington, D.C., Lianys Torres Rivera, gave an interview to Reuters and said that, given the lack of progress in conversations with the U.S., the Cuban military has begun preparations for a possible U.S. intervention.

Cuba fully understands that, if such an intervention were to come, it would not be an invasion as many expect, but rather an aerial drone and missile attack. According to military experts and sources at the Pentagon, such an attack could take less than forty-eight hours to neutralize Cuba’s military.

The U.S. military has also incorporated preparations and contingency plans to deal with Cuban drones if any were launched against the U.S. mainland. My own personal belief is that Cuba would first target the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, which is located very close to one of Cuba’s main military installations near Santiago de Cuba.

Oct. 5: Cuba will not negotiate regime change with U.S.

Over the weekend, Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, made it very clear that Cuba will not negotiate regime change with the U.S. In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Cuban government that if they don’t change their regime, the consequences would be worse.

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This leaves the U.S. with limited options moving forward. 1) Wait until Raul Castro dies and see what happens. 2) Strengthen the opposition inside the island. 3)Take military action against the island nation.

None of these options lead to a clear and quick path to a quick change in their system of government. A military invasion of Cuba by the U.S. could lead to a prolonged stay on the island until some form of government can be established from within the island and with the support from the Cuban exile community. However, there are some in the exile opposition that consider themselves possible leaders in a free Cuba, which could further complicate things.

Lastly, the extended war with Iran and the mid-term election results in the U.S. could also complicate what the U.S. does with Cuba.

Oct. 2: Who is driving U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba?

In the last several months, we have witnessed Secretary of State Marco Rubio continuing to sanction top officials of the Cuban government and their organizations, trying to force them to change or come to the table and negotiate with the U.S.

On the other hand, we just learned that the White House authorized a sale of 3.2 million barrels of oil to Cuba supposedly going to Cuba’s private sector. Are you kidding?

When dealing with Venezuela and Cuba, Trump has clearly shown that making money is more important than regime change in these two countries.

Oct. 1: Robberies and delinquencies increase in Cuba

According to Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez (14yMedio), this past Monday a bank was robbed in Lawton, Cuba in the middle of a major power failure.

The robbers got away with the money that was to be paid the next day to people who had retired. At the same time, many solar panels that have been installed around Cuba to help with the growing electrical shortages are being stolen at night by robbers.

The Cuban government is concerned that as socio-economic conditions continue to get worse on the island nation, these practices will increase. So far, no one has been caught.

El dinero, que también servirá para apoyar la balanza de pagos según la entidad monetaria, forma parte de los 1.900 millones de dólares acordados en julio por el gobierno del presidente conservador R odrigo Paz con el FMI para respaldar su programa de reformas económicas encaminado a enfrentar la peor crisis económica del país en 40 años.

A finales de junio, el gobierno aplicó un sistema flotant e en el que el precio del dólar dependerá de la oferta y la demanda. Con la medida se busca estabilizar el cambio del boliviano por el dólar que hace casi dos años se disparó a casi el triple de su precio en un mercado paralelo.

El analista económico Gonzalo Chávez expresó que el primer desembolso alivia la liquidez, pero no resuelve la escasez estructural de divisas. Agregó, por otra parte, que el programa puede ayudar a movilizar recursos adicionales del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y el Banco Mundial, entre otros organismos internacionales.

Mientras tanto hace dos semanas se retiró el 100% de la subvención al diésel, cuyo precio ahora fluctuará según el mercado internacional. Por su parte, la gasolina mantendrá el subsidio hasta fin de año y se definirán nuevas medidas en enero del próximo año. Los ajustes han generado rechazo en diferentes sectores que han anunciado protestas.

Nearly $12 million worth of ads have already aired, according to AdImpact, as part of the $20 million the Department of Homeland Security tapped for the contract.

But Trump’s plan to pay for the ads with MAGA Inc. doesn’t mean there’s any reimbursement coming, said a White House official who was not authorized to talk publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Trump said the ads were “really good” and “promotion for the country, done by many presidents before.” Asked whether he'd repay the funds already spent, he said, “We’ll decide.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer slammed Trump for not committing to reimbursement and said he believes the president’s plan for covering future costs represents illegal coordination with his super PAC.

“Trump must return this money to the American people and there must be a full investigation into this gross waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Schumer told The Associated Press.

The ads, which began airing in late September, glorify Trump and echo his political messaging going into the midterms. One features a clip of Trump talking about the threat of communism and another is a replay of an ad from his last presidential campaign. The fifth ad in the campaign began airing Tuesday, focusing on the Trump administration's capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Republicans and Democrats alike have said the ads aren't an appropriate use of U.S. government money. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said they shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars.

The Trump administration tapped $20 million from the Department of Homeland Security to pay for the campaign-style ads glorifying the president that have drawn widespread criticism. Two top Democratic senators said last week that the money is being drawn from Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” and was supposed to go toward U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, who chairs the panel that oversees DHS funding, said Tuesday that she had not yet seen Trump’s ads, but she said taxpayer money should be used as intended.

“We’ll take a look at that,” Britt said at the Capitol. “You want to make sure that any use of taxpayer dollars is done judiciously and in accordance with the law.”

Legal experts said the ads might even violate federal statutes, including a law against congressionally appropriated money being used for “publicity or propaganda” and another limiting the partisan political activities of government employees.

The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements similar to what past administrations have done to promote policies. Trump on Monday posted on his Truth Social platform calling the ads “positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” while also promising to pay for them with “money I raised for MAGA Inc.”

That is Trump’s political war chest, which had amassed more than $400 million by the end of July. Trump has begun tapping it to boost Republican candidates across the country in the midterm elections.

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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

After a tumultuous, roughly yearlong process, Skydance-owned Paramount closed its $81 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday. And beyond Hollywood, the mega merger brings two titans of the American TV news landscape — CBS and CNN — under the same roof.

On the eve of the deal's completion, Skydance confirmed that CNN's Mark Thompson will stay on as editor-in-chief of the network — separate from CBS, where Bari Weiss remains at the helm. But how the combined company's news operations will look farther down the road is yet to be seen.

Politics are also top of mind. The billionaire family of Skydance CEO David Ellison has a cozy relationship with President Donald Trump — who has been far from shy about targeting coverage he deems unfavorable from both CNN and CBS. Last month, his administration moved to bar CNN from the White House. And the network's new ownership arrives as coverage ramps up less than a month ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Ellison has pledged to maintain “complete” editorial independence. Under a recent settlement with states that challenged the merger, the company also agreed to establish new monitoring of CBS and CNN by forming a “News Editorial Independence Board” within 180 days.

Still, Skydance's corporate leaders will choose who sits on this board. And critics warn of the consequences of industry consolidation overall.

CNN's editor-in-chief remains

Skydance announced Monday that Thompson — who has been CNN's chair and CEO since 2023 — would continue to lead the network. In a staff memo published by Business Insider and others, Thompson said he had “real confidence” Ellison and other Skydance leaders “will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for.”

Thompson, a former chief executive of the BBC and The New York Times, acknowledged that some details of how CNN will operate have yet to be finalized — but said he planned to lead the network “with the same responsibilities and prerogatives that I have now.”

CBS News and its hallmark “60 Minutes” program have already seen ample editorial turmoil since coming under Skydance ownership last year. For critics of those changes, news of Thompson staying at CNN marks a meaningful safeguard, but some experts cautioned that time will tell.

“Both CNN and CBS News will ultimately sit under the same corporate ownership, and ownership can exert influence in ways that are much more subtle than directly telling an editor what stories to cover," said J. Christopher Hamilton, an associate professor at Syracuse University.

The long-term question “is whether that independence remains intact when it becomes costly or uncomfortable for the parent company,” he added.

Charles Schreger, an adjunct professor at NYU's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, expects Thompson not to be influenced by politics — and said he doesn't think Skydance would keep the executive on if the company didn't "have the intention of letting him operate (CNN) in a neutral way.”

New editorial monitoring

According to court documents, the new editorial independence body will include five “active or retired” journalists with at least 10 years of experience.

Still, those members will all be appointed by and report to the combined company's board of directors. Ellison is staying in Skydance's top chairman spot.

“While it is termed independent, it is going to be filled with members appointed by Paramount,” said Megan Duncan, an associate professor of journalism at Virginia Tech's School of Communication. She predicts that will “lessen the teeth of this board."

Per the settlement, the board's responsibilities include establishing a set of “guiding editorial principles” based on CBS and CNN's standards and practices, resolving “any disputes” between both employees at the two networks and corporate management and “monitoring adherence to ethical journalism.”

“We’re gonna make sure that CNN and CBS News are completely editorially independent,” Ellison reiterated Tuesday, during a media event alongside his new co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.

When asked in particular about conversations with Trump, Ellison later added “we have not talked to any political leader of any party about news — other than to say that we want to be in the truth business and we want to be in trust business.”

‘Disappointed that we could not do more’

Top prosecutors like California Attorney General Rob Bonta — who led the coalition of 12 states that initially sought to block the Paramount-Warner merger — have said this new board will help “ensure independent, objective, fact-based reporting."

Still, others wished the settlement could've gone further. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong wanted a full divestiture of CNN and CBS and said last month he was “deeply disappointed that we could not do more.”

Meanwhile, while joining the rest of the states in the wider settlement, Colorado and Washington notably declined to sign off on the editorial board terms.

Separately, as part of a settlement with Hollywood writers, the Writers Guild of America said Paramount also agreed to prohibit writer layoffs specifically at CBS News Broadcast for the next five years.

Experts like Duncan stress it will be important to keep an eye on any future job cuts — or merging of future resources in the name of profits.

That might look like CNN and “60 Minutes" being able to share findings from one high-profile interview, for example, she explains. A consequence could be fewer approaches to report on important stories.

“The more news that we have that is competing for an audience’s credibility and attention, the better off we are as a democracy,” Duncan said. She also pointed to CNN's robust international coverage today, and warned there might be cuts to that reporting if the company chooses to focus on consolidating its U.S. audience — which could have an outsized impact on “our first draft of history.”

Sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also set to hold sizable indirect ownership stakes of the now-combined Skydance. These investors don't have voting interests in the company, but critics say the money opens the door to potential behind-the-scenes influence overall.

Trump and CNN

Last month, Trump barred CNN — as well as Politico and MS NOW — from the White House due to what he called unfavorable coverage. All three outlets since filed a joint lawsuit, and are continuing to fight their case in court.

CNN has long attracted ire from the Republican president and members of his administration. Earlier this year, the White House attacked CNN for its coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran — and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

CBS has faced its own attacks from Trump, too. Skydance’s 2025 acquisition of Paramount was approved by the Federal Communications Commission just weeks after the company agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over editing at the network's “60 Minutes” program.

Back in December, just days after Paramount launched its then-hostile bid for Warner, Trump said that CNN spread “poison and lies” and that it was “imperative” the network be sold.

He applauded the merger's closing more broadly on Tuesday — saying Skydance is “going to be a great company.”

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Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman in London contributed.

It's one of a series of events Trump is holding across the country to showcase investments in factories, as high gasoline prices from the Iran war and persistently elevated inflation have damaged the president’s approval ratings on the economy.

“The workers of Baltimore and the shipyard here at Sparrows Point have been a vital part of the American industrial strength for literally over a hundred years,” the president said, adding that the work being done “is going to be a big component for our future military.”

The site where he spoke was Sparrows Point, Maryland, which formerly housed a steel mill for Bethlehem Steel that closed in 2012.

Trump is trying to rally Republican voters with less than a month before the midterm elections on Nov. 3. This event, though, was in the solidly blue state of Maryland — and Democratic Gov. Wes Moore didn't attend.

Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the governor, said Moore was blocked from speaking at the event. Moore, who is seeking reelection, is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028. He ultimately didn't attend.

“Governor Moore has always said he will work with anyone when it comes to delivering for Marylanders but bow to no one when it comes to standing up for them,” Moussa said.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly posted on X that Moore “was graciously invited to attend" as a guest, and that the “White House worked extensively with his staff and security team to facilitate” that.

Instead, she wrote, Moore "boycotted" the event because he wanted to make the announcement “about himself.”

Despite the dustup, Moore joined Trump in praising the project, saying in a statement that the project could potentially create “the most jobs in Maryland in history.” The new facility is expected to create 3,100 direct jobs with several thousand more indirect jobs being supported.

Before the event, guests, including several dozen service members, mingled with food and drink inside a hangar-like structure adorned with Anduril banners proclaiming “Who Dares Strike at Liberty,” “Command the Sea Command the World” and “The Shipyard is the Weapon.”

Behind the stage where Trump spoke, a backsplash touted “Rebuild the Arsenal.”

Several members of the the Baltimore Ravens, like star cornerback Marlon Humphrey, were among those invited. The president plans to attend Saturday's big college football matchup between Alabama and Georgia, after attending Texas at Tennessee late last month.

“Whoa," Trump proclaimed of the players. "All these guys are making a lot of money.”

The president also said he wasn't necessarily personally cut out to go aboard submarines, offering, “Me, I'd rather be floating on seas.”

The $3.7 billion covers “the cost of standing up the facility, building the workforce, filling it with modern technology and other capabilities required to do the work that we will be tasked with,” Chris Brose, Anduril’s president and chief strategy officer, said on a conference call with reporters organized by the White House.

Administration officials on the call said he government would commit $2.9 billion to the project by purchasing what the factory in Baltimore County, Maryland, produces. The Trump administration is trying to revive America’s shipbuilding capabilities for national security and economic reasons.

Trump said the deal will allow U.S. taxpayers to take a 40% stake in the shipyard and will ensure that “the historic grounds of Sparrows Point will never fall silent again.”

Brose said Anduril would take advantage of “manufacturing revolutions” in the aerospace and other sectors, along with software, to change how factory production would occur.

The U.S. has 26 Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines and expects to add two more to its fleet in the spring, according to an official on the call. That official spoke anonymously as a condition set by the White House.

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Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

Lawyers for the friends said they intend to file several more defamation claims this week against content creators and have previously indicated their intent to sue the Rev. Al Sharpton and “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin for comments they made while discussing Wells' death.

The fathers of the three friends, who are under 21 and considered minors under Mississippi law, filed the federal lawsuit Monday on their behalf.

The lawsuit alleges Owens defamed the three friends after posting on X: “ARREST THEM IMMEDIATELY!!” Owens' post also linked to an Instagram video, which theorized the three friends killed Wells and tampered with his phone, according to the lawsuit. The post was made days after a Mississippi grand jury declined to recommend charges in Wells’ death.

Owens has 1.2 million followers on X and had previously pledged $25,000 to a reward fund for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Wells' death.

“Not only is he defaming them, he’s basically saying to the mob, get your pitchforks, get your torches,” said Edward Paltzik, a defamation and media attorney representing the three friends.

The Associated Press attempted to contact Owens through social media and SMAC Entertainment, which, according to its website, manages Owens, but did not immediately receive a response.

The three were part of a group of 30 friends, including Wells, who rode to Horn Island on three boats on the Fourth of July. Wells' friends said Wells did not return to the mainland with them, choosing instead to stay behind to talk with a girl, a claim his family has disputed. His body was found two days later off the island's coast.

Both state and independent autopsies have not determined Wells' cause of death, though the grand jury found his death was “consistent with drowning.” Wells' family and their lawyers disputed the grand jury's findings, pointing to unexplained bruising on the back of his head and noting that his airways and stomach were devoid of water.

Images showing Wells with white friends the day he went missing fueled online speculation that racial dynamics played a role in his death.

Two of the three friends who are suing Owens were singled out online in part because they appear in a photo with Wells and one other friend on a boat, which was circulated on social media after his disappearance. The third called Wells’ mother and the U.S. Coast Guard to report Wells missing.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle said James Cody Bryant of Bellingham, Washington, communicated with Jesse Van Rootselaar in British Columbia for at least six months ahead of the shooting. Bryant, who identifies as female, did not report Van Rootselaar's plans to authorities, authorities allege.

W. Mike Herrington, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office, said without Bryant's “misplaced loyalty" and willingness to livestream the killings, officials didn't know if Van Rootselaar would have gone through with the attack.

“We certainly know the shooter was concerned that not enough people would see the livestream without Bryant broadcasting it and was depending on Bryant to amplify the livestream because the shooter did not have many followers on social media," Herrington added.

Authorities say Van Rootselaar first killed her mother and stepbrother at home before attacking a nearby school in the mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, killing five children ages 12 and 13 at the school as well as an educational assistant. Twenty-five others were wounded.

Van Rootselaar was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Investigators accessed Van Rootselaar's Twitch account and found that she had initiated a video livestream while sitting in her vehicle with a rifle and long gun in her lap. The livestream lasted about 20 seconds before it was disconnected, and was only viewed by one other account.

Bryant is accused of helping to plan the attack

Bryant was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country — a “novel” charge for a case like this, said Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd during a press conference.

Bryant made a first appearance in court on Tuesday afternoon and is being detained ahead of a preliminary hearing set for Oct. 20. The federal public defender's office, which represents Bryant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Communicating over Discord with Van Rootselaar, Bryant gave tactical advice on how to carry out the killings to have the strongest impact, according to the complaint.

“Hallways also mean a lot of ways people can escape,” Bryant wrote, the complaint said. “Corners to turn. Wide open spaces means numbers.”

Bryant also sent Van Rootselaar money to purchase a lighter that would be used to construct an explosive device and advised Van Rootselaar about how to keep the plot a secret by deleting online messages and using virtual private networks, officials said.

According to the criminal complaint, Bryant and Van Rootselaar met online about three years ago on Omegle, a since-shuttered video chat site that connected users with strangers at random. Their communications were sporadic during the first year because she was “institutionalized” after being deemed a danger to herself, the complaint said. She was locked up again after setting her room on fire. But they spoke daily during the six months leading up to the attack, officials said.

“Van Rootselaar often spoke about planning to use guns to murder her family members and others because she felt she had been mistreated,” the complaint said.

Both Van Rootselaar and Bryant identified as trans, Herrington said. But authorities do not have any indication that’s why they stayed connected online, he said.

Bryant sometimes urged Van Rootselaar to reconsider, officials say

Bryant tried to talk Van Rootselaar out of committing the attack at various points, authorities said.

“I truly hope you reconsider today,” Bryant told her in January, according to the complaint. “I wish there were any other path for you, you shouldn’t have to do something like this.”

But ultimately, Bryant did not alert law enforcement and instead provided support for carrying out the shooting, authorities said.

When Van Rootselaar expressed concern that Bryant would “snitch” and alert authorities, Bryant repeatedly assured her that would not happen, officials said.

“I could,” Bryant wrote, according to the filing. “I don’t want to honestly. I know I can like, save lives I guess but idk,” using the abbreviation for “I don’t know.”

Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in Ottawa that the allegations were devastating.

“Nothing will bring back the eight lives that were devastated back in February, but it is important that those who are responsible are held to account," he told reporters.

Anandasangaree said it was too soon to say whether Bryant could also face charges in Canada, but added that Canadian prosecution would be possible if investigators determine Canadian laws were broken.

Bob Zimmer, the federal lawmaker who represents Tumbler Ridge, said the victims deserve answers.

“It is deeply troubling, the allegations that this individual coached the shooter all throughout the process in an effort to livestream the event,” Zimmer said.

Tumbler Ridge in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia, near the provincial border with Alberta. The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as having 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.

The families of victims are suing artificial intelligence company OpenAI in U.S. federal court, seeking to hold the ChatGPT maker responsible for failing to alert police to the shooter’s alarming interactions with the chatbot.

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The story and headline have been corrected to identify Bryant as a resident of Washington. Authorities say Bryant identifies as female.

Associated Press reporter Rob Gillies contributed to this report from Toronto.

Only one family member of those killed in an Iranian drone strike March 1 on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait confirmed to The Associated Press that they planned to attend Tuesday's reception with Trump and the first lady. Troops who survived the attack have raised questions about why they were stationed at a site that didn’t have sufficient air protection and was viewed as a likely target.

The war, launched Feb. 28, has claimed the lives of 19 U.S. troops and wounded more than 800 others. The annual gathering honors Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, which falls on the last weekend of September.

The White House said this year’s reception honors nearly 40 fallen service members from conflicts dating to the Vietnam War. Trump was expected to deliver remarks followed by a candle-lighting ceremony and a musical performance that included a rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

Families are still waiting for answers about what happened in the March 1 strike

Gold Star families have expressed frustration over the lack of information from the Pentagon about the strike in Kuwait.

“There are questions about what happened before the attack, what information was available, what decisions were made, and what happened in the moments leading up to six American soldiers losing their lives,” Joey Amor — whose 39-year-old wife, Master Sgt. Nicole M. Amor, was among those killed — said in a public Facebook statement Monday. “I am done asking quietly. Today, I am asking the American people to stand with these six families and demand transparency.”

U.S. soldiers wounded in the attack told the AP of the unheeded concerns they raised about the threat and that the military medical system failed them in the weeks that followed. The AP’s account of the March 1 attack is based on interviews with 13 soldiers.

The Army declined to comment on the AP’s reporting on the Port Shuaiba strike, saying it had not yet briefed the families of those killed on the outcome of its investigation into the attack, which was completed in June. The Army has said it is still redacting sensitive information before releasing the findings. The Pentagon also declined to comment.

Honoring soldiers who died in combat can be a powerful recognition of their service that cuts across politics, said John Thompson, a former Army sergeant and founder of Salute to the Fallen, an Iowa organization that supports veteran mental health, suicide prevention and funeral expenses.

He said several families told him they could not go because they did not receive enough notice about the event.

At least two families say they did not receive an invitation

The White House began sending out invitations to Gold Star families — the military’s designation for relatives of troops killed while on active duty — about two weeks ago, according to several families who said they received phone calls and emailed invitations.

“What they’ve told me is there has been a lot of confusion around this event, and they weren’t given the details in time,” Thompson said, adding that some were also not in a position to pay for the trip.

At least two said they did not receive an invite, though there can be hurdles to tracking down families' personal information.

Some Gold Star families say they are grateful for how the Trump administration and military have honored their loved one’s sacrifice. Other families say the way the White House has handled the reception is the latest indication that the administration does not respect the price they have paid.

In the early days of the war, Trump described it as a “little excursion." On Sept. 4, he called the conflict “small potatoes.”

The widow of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, who died in the March 1 attack, said she and her two children were not invited.

Tina Marzan said that in the immediate aftermath of her husband’s death, she told federal officials she did not want to be contacted after receiving multiple calls. But she had hoped they would have tried to reach her or others in her family for an event like this, she said.

“We should be there,” Tina Marzan told the AP. “I mean, that’s not a question.”

The White House said it does not contact people who request not to be contacted.

Some family members of soldiers who were killed in the war have not taken issue with Trump's remarks.

Donna Burhans, the mother of Maj. Cody Khork, who was one of those killed at Port Shuaiba, said she did not receive an invitation but would not have attended because it's too painful. She has described herself as a “big fan” of Trump after meeting him during the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base.

“I just can’t keep going thru (sic) this over and over,” she told the AP in a text message.

The White House said it attempted to send invitations to Khork's family members.

The spouse of Maj. Alex Klinner, an airman who was killed in an Iran-related combat operation this summer, said receiving less than two weeks’ notice did not give her enough time to arrange for overnight care for her three young children.

In a text message, Libby Klinner said she would not have gone anyway, adding, “I have no interest in supporting an administration that has been so reckless with the lives of our service members."

___

Brook reported from New Orleans, and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

Delvis Jesus Gonzalez, de 50 años, fue detenido en su casa. La policía de Miami dijo que revisó videos de vigilancia y lo identificó como el hombre que presuntamente se llevó el vehículo.

Según la policía, una mujer estaba en un juego de béisbol cerca de la cuadra 2200 de Northwest 11th Court, en el barrio Allapattah de Miami. Mientras tanto, una persona conocida suya dormía en su carro.

Según el informe de arresto, la mujer regresó al lugar donde había estacionado su Volkswagen y descubrió que no estaba.

La mujer llamó a la policía. Un testigo que recorría la zona encontró el carro cerca de Northwest 22nd Place y la calle 7, según el informe. La persona seguía dormida en el asiento trasero.

Los agentes revisaron entonces videos de vigilancia de un restaurante cercano.

El informe indica que en el video se ve a un hombre bajarse del carro por el lado del conductor. Los agentes identificaron a Gonzalez porque ya habían tenido contacto con él antes.

Luego, la policía fue a la casa de Gonzalez, donde lo encontró y lo detuvo, según el informe.

Ya detenido, Gonzalez “les dijo espontáneamente a los agentes que se llevó el carro porque lo dejaron prendido”, señala el informe.

Los detectives dijeron que después entrevistaron a una mujer. Ella reportó que del carro faltaban una billetera negra, la llave electrónica y una tarjeta de crédito.

La policía dijo que recorrió la zona y encontró el carro abandonado. A pocos pies de distancia aparecieron varias tarjetas de crédito.

Según el informe, más tarde le leyeron a Gonzalez sus derechos Miranda y renunció a ellos. Luego dio lo que el informe describe como “una confesión completa de su participación en el secuestro”, pero después se negó a seguir hablando.

Su confesión no aparece en el informe de arresto que se hizo público.

Según los registros, en ese caso Gonzalez enfrenta tres cargos:

• secuestro
• allanamiento de una vivienda ocupada
• hurto mayor de vehículo

Local 10 News obtuvo un segundo informe de arresto sobre Gonzalez. Describe otro presunto robo, esta vez en un edificio de apartamentos.

Según ese informe, el 5 de octubre los agentes recorrían la zona por el caso del carro robado. Fuera del apartamento de Gonzalez encontraron un paquete de Amazon abierto.

La policía contactó al residente. Él revisó su cuenta de Amazon y confirmó que el paquete se había entregado a las 5:10 a.m. del 4 de octubre.

Luego, el residente revisó las cámaras de seguridad, según el informe. Las imágenes presuntamente muestran a Gonzalez entrar al edificio entre las 5:30 y las 6 a.m., tomar el paquete y marcharse.

El paquete contenía cartuchos para una pluma de microagujas, valorados en $26.99, indica el informe.

El informe también señala que a Gonzalez ya se le había prohibido formalmente la entrada a ese edificio.

Gonzalez fue llevado al Jackson Memorial Hospital para recibir atención médica. Según el informe, después iba a ser trasladado al Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Según los registros, en el segundo caso Gonzalez enfrenta cargos de allanamiento de una estructura ocupada y de hurto menor con dos o más condenas previas.

Hasta la tarde del martes, Gonzalez seguía detenido en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Su fianza figuraba como “por determinar”.

In a message on X, the Colombian leader said his government will provide economic support to the families of the 17 Colombian suspects, who are expected to face trial in Florida. He also said he had ordered Colombia’s ministries of justice and defense to provide them with legal support.

“The innocent cannot pay for crimes committed by sinners,” de la Espriella wrote. “I want to know exactly what happened and for the responsibility of each individual to be cleared up.”

At least 22 Colombian veterans, working for a Florida security contractor, are believed to have been involved in a July 2021 raid on the home of Moïse that resulted in his assassination.

Three Colombians were killed in clashes after the killing, while the other 17 were arrested in Haiti. Another Colombian veteran, Mario Antonio Palacios, escaped from Haiti but was later extradited to Florida, where he was sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping.

In May, an additional four defendants, including a Venezuelan American businessman and a Haitian-American citizen, were convicted of financing and organizing the plot to kill Moïse, whose assassination has been followed by years of political instability and gang violence in the poor Caribbean nation.

The 17 Colombians now held in Florida are among 30 people charged in federal court in the U.S. with crimes in connection with the assassination, including a former Haitian official currently on trial.

Federal prosecutors in the U.S. say South Florida served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust Moïse and replace him with someone of the conspirators’ choosing.

During hearings with judges in Haiti, some of the Colombian suspects said they had been deceived by recruiters, who lured them to Haiti by telling them they would be providing security for politicians in that country.

The Colombian suspects have also claimed they were tortured in Haitian prisons and were forced to sign legal document s in a language they did not understand.

“I am absolutely happy that someone finally listens to us,” said Milena Carmona, the wife of Colombian suspect Jheyner Carmona. “We have evidence that shows that they were taken to Haiti to be used as scapegoats” for Moïse’s assassination.

De la Espriella, who was sworn into office in August, has portrayed himself as a staunch supporter of Colombia’s armed forces.

In his message on X, he backed the Colombian veterans now being held in Florida.

“I am not the kind of president who abandons his heroes when they face difficulties,” de la Espriella said, pledging his government's support for their legal defense "so that this situation can be cleared up.”

De la Espriella’s comments mark a significant shift in the Colombian government’s approach to the suspects.

Last year, former President Gustavo Petro apologized to Haiti’s government for the alleged involvement of the Colombian veterans in the assassination.

“I ask for forgiveness, because some white Colombians came here to kill the president of Haiti,” Petro said at the time while visiting the Caribbean nation.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

The Bayern Munich striker is level with former goalkeeper Peter Shilton on the list of most caps won for England's men's team. He can break the record when England plays Croatia on Nov. 12, also at Wembley.

The 33-year-old Kane moved onto 91 international goals — an outright England scoring record — by sweeping home a close-range finish in the 40th minute and heading home at a corner in the 57th. He also delivered the cross that Vladimir Coufal turned into his own net to put England ahead.

“He's only getting better,” England star Jude Bellingham said of Kane, who has been England captain since 2018 and is among the favorites to win the Ballon d’Or when the prestigious award is handed out on Oct. 26 in London.

Kane made his England debut in March 2015, scoring inside 80 seconds of coming on as a substitute against Lithuania.

Kane now has 38 more goals than Wayne Rooney, who is No. 2 on the scoring list.

Shilton, who played for England from 1970-90, congratulated Kane in a video message on social media ahead of the game — and said the former Tottenham striker could set an appearance record that “might never be beaten.”

“Because you're still going strong, Harry,” the 77-year-old Shilton said. “You're still playing well and scoring goals. And I know how much dedication and hard work you actually put into achieving this.”

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Barkov was hurt in the Panthers' overtime loss at San Jose on Thursday. It appeared his left knee — not the knee that needed to be surgically rebuilt last year — buckled on the play, and the Finnish captain immediately left the ice in obvious discomfort.

The timetable would suggest that Barkov will probably be out somewhere between 20 and 25 games before he could return.

“That’s our best window,” Maurice said. “Could be a little less, could be a little more. But we think six to eight (weeks) is the right rehab time.”

Florida plays at Los Angeles on Tuesday to end a season-opening four-game road trip. Maurice revealed the timetable after the Panthers' morning skate in advance of that game.

The Panthers placed Barkov on long-term injured reserve over the weekend, after it became clear his absence would last longer than 10 games. The Panthers weighed multiple options on how to proceed and Barkov saw team doctors Monday before a final plan was agreed upon.

Barkov was injured 20 minutes into the team’s first training camp practice for the 2025-26 season and missed the entire campaign, one of many injury issues that played a role in Florida going from a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion to a team that missed the playoffs.

If there is a silver lining, it’s that Florida is well-versed in how to play without Barkov — who isn’t just the team captain, but is generally considered to be the team’s best player.

“If he hadn’t been injured last year we would have thought, ‘Gee, six to eight weeks is a long time,’” Maurice said. “I think last year was six to eight months, so we’re taking it.”

Over his most recent 10 seasons — excluding when he missed last season — Barkov had 722 points, 485 hits and 463 blocked shots. No other NHL player reached those numbers in all three categories over those years; Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele were the only others with at least 700 points, 400 hits and 400 blocks in that span.

And the Panthers were clearly breathing a sigh of relief knowing that he will be back this season.

“It’s good for everything, maybe most importantly for Barky,” Maurice said. “He’s our captain and we miss him and he feels it when he’s not around. So, he’s probably the happiest of all of us.”

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

He said Barkov will undergo non-surgical rehabilitation.

Maurice described the six-to-eight-week timeline as the team’s “best window,” while cautioning that the recovery could take a little less or a little more time.

BREAKING: Barkov (lower body) out 6-8 weeks.

Non-surgical rehab.

Maurice: “That’s our best window. Could be a little less, could be a little more.”

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) October 6, 2026

The Panthers had previously placed Barkov on long-term injured reserve, also known as LTIR, which he suffered during Thursday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Barkov’s left leg appeared to buckle while he was battling for the puck along the boards during the second period. He left the ice under his own power but did not return.

The injury is not related to the right knee injury that sidelined Barkov for the entire 2025-26 season, Maurice said after the game. Barkov underwent surgery last season after tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee during training camp.

The 31-year-old Finnish center had only recently returned to game action and was playing his second game of the season when he suffered the latest injury.

The Panthers’ decision to place Barkov on LTIR meant he would have to miss at least 10 games and 24 days under NHL rules. At the time, the team had not publicly announced a specific diagnosis or recovery timeline, although ESPN’s Emily Kaplan initially reported that sources indicated there was optimism the injury would not be season-ending.

That optimism was confirmed Tuesday with the six-to-eight-week recovery estimate.

Maurice said the six-to-eight-week estimate represents the team’s best expectation for Barkov’s return, leaving open the possibility that he could return sooner or require additional time to recover.

The Florida Panthers will face the Los Angeles Kings at the Crypto.com Arena at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday.

En un informe de arresto, la policía de Doral identificó al sospechoso como Juan Leonel Jimenez Silva. Es originario de Venezuela y vive en el noroeste de Miami-Dade.

Según el informe, la investigación comenzó cuando un ciudadano creó un perfil en internet y se hizo pasar por un muchacho de 15 años. La policía recalcó que esta persona no actuaba por orden del Departamento de Policía de Doral ni de ninguna otra agencia del orden.

De acuerdo con la policía, el ciudadano usaba la aplicación de citas Grindr el jueves pasado. Alrededor de las 8 p.m., Jimenez Silva contactó la cuenta.

Los investigadores dijeron que poco después la conversación pasó a WhatsApp. Allí, la persona le dijo a Jimenez Silva que tenía 15 años.

Según la policía, Jimenez Silva siguió comunicándose con él aun después de conocer la supuesta edad.

El informe indica que la conversación se volvió sexual. Jimenez Silva presuntamente envió imágenes y mensajes sexualmente explícitos al “adolescente”. La policía añadió que también le pidió fotos desnudo y le habló de actos sexuales.

Los investigadores dijeron que Jimenez Silva insistió varias veces en conocerlo en persona. También lo invitó a su casa y le dio su dirección.

Finalmente, ambos acordaron reunirse en BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, cerca del Miami International Mall, según el informe.

Confrontado en un restaurante de Doral

La policía dijo que Jimenez Silva llegó al restaurante creyendo que vería al joven de 15 años. En cambio, se encontró con dos hombres adultos.

Según el informe, uno de ellos se había hecho pasar por el adolescente y el otro grababa el encuentro.

Dentro del restaurante, los hombres le preguntaron a Jimenez Silva por qué había ido a encontrarse con el supuesto menor, indicó la policía.

De acuerdo con los investigadores, Jimenez Silva salió del restaurante y cruzó corriendo el estacionamiento. Luego se subió a una SUV Toyota blanca registrada a su nombre y se marchó.

Al día siguiente, los dos hombres fueron al Departamento de Policía de Doral, según el informe. Allí entregaron declaraciones juradas, capturas de pantalla de la conversación de WhatsApp y el video de la confrontación en el restaurante.

La policía dijo que ambos también identificaron a Jimenez Silva en una rueda de reconocimiento fotográfico.

Arrestado días después

Jimenez Silva fue detenido el lunes por la noche en su casa.

Según los investigadores, le leyeron sus derechos Miranda y aceptó hablar con los detectives. Admitió que la conversación comenzó en Grindr y luego pasó a WhatsApp.

De acuerdo con la policía, Jimenez Silva dijo que al principio no creyó estar haciendo nada malo, porque los usuarios de Grindr deben ser adultos. Sin embargo, reconoció que la persona le dijo que tenía 15 años al comienzo de la conversación por WhatsApp, señala el informe.

La policía indicó que Jimenez Silva dijo sentirse atraído por el supuesto adolescente y que le parecía mayor de 15 años.

Según el informe de arresto, Jimenez Silva confirmó que la cuenta de WhatsApp era suya. También reconoció haber enviado los mensajes e imágenes sexuales que describieron los investigadores. La policía añadió que identificó dos selfis suyas en las que aparece vestido y confirmó haber enviado cuatro imágenes de actividad sexual.

Finalmente, Jimenez Silva fue arrestado por cuatro cargos:

• transmisión electrónica de material dañino para un menor
• uso de una computadora para viajar a encontrarse con un menor
• uso de una computadora para seducir, solicitar o atraer a un menor a cometer actos sexuales
• intento de agresión lasciva contra un menor

Hasta la mañana del martes, Jimenez Silva seguía detenido en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Según los registros de la cárcel, el venezolano tiene una retención migratoria y por eso no puede salir bajo fianza.

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Olvin Cabrera Valladares loved soccer and was a student at Miami’s Citrus Grove K-8 Center. His mother told Local 10 News the 13-year-old died last week after a freak accident at a Miami park.

“He was my baby, my youngest, just 13 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him,” said Valladares. “He just wanted to play, and sadly, it was playing that took his life.”

On the morning of Sept. 25, Olvin was supposed to be at school.

Instead, his mom says he rode his scooter 2 miles south to Shenandoah Park, located at 1800 SW 21st Ave. She says she learned what happened next from a man who came to the park later that day with his kids and discovered Olvin stuck inside the slide.

“He told me he pulled on him, but he was caught on a screw,” she said. “He pulled again, and my son fell out. His arm was inside of his shirt, and his collar was tight around his neck.”

The slide is lined with screws.

The ones Local 10 News could observe with our camera were flat, but the witness told Olvin’s mother he was hanging in the middle of the tube by his T-shirt collar, which became caught on a screw and choked him.

After being rushed to the hospital, Olvin was placed on life support.

One week later, he was declared brain dead.

“As a mother, it’s very hard to lose a son,” said Valladares. “I never thought I would lose my son.”

The day Olvin was found, the city of Miami closed the park for what it called a “non-criminal investigation.”

Sky 10 flew over the scene and could see a playground surrounded by yellow tape.

Neither the Miami Police Department nor the city have confirmed the alleged chain of events.

It’s unclear whether the slide was inspected or repaired after the incident, but by the next day, the park was back open and the slide was back in use.

“I have a message for parents,” said Valladares. “Be careful taking your children to these parks. Look at the tragedy that happened to my son.”

Local 10 News reached out to Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, Miami Commissioner Rolando Escalona and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for a comment or an interview.

A city spokesperson responded via email, saying, “Our deepest condolences are with the child’s family and loved ones. This matter is under active investigation, and the City is working diligently to gather all the facts and bring closure to the family. To protect the integrity of that process, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

Olvin’s mother is trying to raise money to pay for his unexpected funeral and has started a GoFundMe page.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department lawyers will “provide direct legal advice and counsel” to unaccompanied migrant children, according to an announcement in the Federal Register signed by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The decision, announced last week without fanfare, offered no details beyond that broad mandate.

Health and Human Services said in a statement that its Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division will work under its general counsel's direction toward “safely reuniting these children with their families and ensuring they have the legal support they need.”

“This new division will give the Department an additional mechanism to provide these children direct legal support while dedicated public servants work around the clock to safely reunify them with their families,” the department told The Associated Press in a brief statement. It didn't answer additional questions, including whether it would continue to contract with nongovernmental groups for legal representation or when its new legal division is expected to be fully operational.

The move appears to lay the groundwork for one of the biggest changes since guaranteed free legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children was introduced in 2008. It comes after the administration cut ties with the Acacia Center for Justice, a nongovernmental organization that managed 24,000 cases and held a contract to provide representation through a vast network of legal service providers.

The change means migrant children will not have an independent representative to advocate for them who doesn't have a conflict of interest, said Shaina Aber, the Acacia Center's executive director.

“Placing children’s legal representation and services inside of the same agency that holds children in federal immigration custody is an unprecedented step that does not meet basic standards of independence of counsel,” Aber said. It “will only give HHS new opportunities to forsake children’s rights and well-being.”

Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, a nonprofit that provides free legal representation and social services to unaccompanied children, called the creation of the new in-house HHS legal team “part of a pattern of attacks that this administration has engaged in, in terms of undermining zealous representation of unaccompanied children in their immigration proceedings.”

The new division will work independently from other government agencies that deal with the minors, including the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for the custody and care of the children who arrive in the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian.

There is some precedent for government-paid attorneys defending clients against government prosecutors in civilian and military courts, but as criminal defense lawyers and not in immigration court.

But Young noted that the child's lawyer, the judge, and government attorneys seeking deportation will all be federal employees. Judges are appointed by the Justice Department and prosecutors work at the Department of Homeland Security.

“A government attorney who’s employed by the government most likely would be coached and encouraged to take the position of encouraging the child to agree to voluntary departure and to leave the United States rather than to present a full representation of the facts of their case,” Young said.

Amid the uncertainty, children have been going to their court hearings without legal representation lately, according to advocates.

Americans for Immigrant Justice, another nonprofit that provides free legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant children, said it has been challenging to secure lawyers for the minors since the government suspended funding to legal aid organizations on July 31 through Acacia.

Sui Chung, the group's executive director, said the need for legal representation exceeds the available resources.

“To deny legal counsel to the most vulnerable among us — children who have already fled trauma — is a fundamental breakdown of the fairness our Constitution promises," Chung said. “Children deserve our strongest protection."

The government recently awarded a contract to another organization, Our Rescue, with a potential value of up to $244 million. The transition to Our Rescue, which has been challenged by Acacia, has led to short-term arrangements, including a temporary contract with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

Speaking Tuesday at preseason ACC basketball media days, Phillips touted the health and financial gains for the league while also saying schools “need direct access to state their case” when it comes to the proposed law to reform college athletics. The U.S. Senate has approved a version of the measure and sent it to the House.

The presidents and chancellors of Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina sent a letter last week to House leaders seeking to increase the bill's membership cap for conferences from 20 to 22 schools. They also requested removing a requirement for a school to be independent for three years before joining another league.

Tomahawk Nation, a site covering Florida State athletics, was first to obtain a copy of the letter. A North Carolina spokesman confirmed its authenticity when contacted by The Associated Press.

Phillips said he would continue to stay in touch with all ACC schools and noted most back the measure.

“We have 14 schools that feel really good about it that want to sign it, and we have four schools that have an issue with a portion of it," he said. "So that’s what I’m going to continue to push towards the decision makers and those that have written the bill to date.”

FSU and Clemson filed lawsuits against the ACC in 2023 and 2024, respectively, to challenge the league's ability to levy hundreds of millions in exit fees to leave the conference. The league countersued. The parties ultimately settled the case in early 2025 with a deal that revised long-term exit costs while also revamping the league's revenue-distribution model as a way for schools generating the highest TV ratings to earn more money.

That's been part of a series of changes by the league to bolster the financial picture while facing a growing gap behind the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, though still finishing ahead of the Big 12 among the Power Four. The ACC reported about $826.5 million in total revenue in tax filings covering the 2024-25 sports season, with schools earning a full distribution share getting an average of $47.1 million.

That continued an upward trajectory from $617 million for 2021-22 in Phillips’ first full season, good for a full-share average of $39.4 million. By comparison, the Big Ten and SEC both crossed the $1 billion mark in total revenue in their 2024-25 filings, with the Big Ten paying an average of nearly $79.9 million to full-share members while the SEC came in at nearly $72.4 million.

The ACC's legal settlement with Clemson and FSU helped make the 2030-31 a significant marker. The ACC's exit fee will decline each year before leveling off around $75 million per school that season, while media deals for other leagues are expiring around that time to create at least the potential for another wave of broad realignment.

Provisions in any new law could make that harder, starting with membership caps that could limit the available landing spots. In addition, requiring a school to operate as an independent for a defined period after leaving a league would mean missing formerly guaranteed media payouts before being able to cash in elsewhere.

“I’ve been very consistent about I have always tried to make sure that this was a conference that people wanted to be in, and I’m really proud of what we’ve done,” Phillips said. “We’re as healthy as we’ve ever been."

Phillips declined to discuss “hypotheticals” when asked whether he was concerned about whether this was a sign of multiple schools intending to leave.

“The conference is in a good place,” he said. "Healthy, functioning, achieving at a high level. We’ll see where all this takes us. So you have to be ready. You have to be ready for anything. But I feel good about where we’re at, and we’ll see what this bill ends up doing.”

___

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Opa-locka police identified the suspect in an arrest report as Arlande Delius Sylvestre.

According to the arrest report, officers responded to a home in reference to a reported battery with injuries at approximately 5:40 a.m. Monday.

When officers arrived, they found the victim with visible injuries to his forehead and other parts of his body, police said. Officers searched the surrounding area but did not find Sylvestre, who the victim said had fled on foot before police arrived.

The victim told investigators that he had been sleeping on a couch inside the home when the smell of smoke woke him.

According to the report, the victim saw Sylvestre setting the couch on fire and yelled at him.

Police said Sylvestre then struck the victim in the forehead with a machete, causing a deep cut.

The victim told police Sylvestre then got on top of him, pinned him against the couch and grabbed one of his arms while repeatedly striking him with the machete.

During the attack, Sylvestre allegedly yelled, “I’m going to kill you!”

The victim fought back and was eventually able to break free, according to the report. Police said Sylvestre chased him while still armed with the machete and attempted to strike him again.

The victim managed to get away and call 911 as Sylvestre fled the scene, according to police.

The report states that Sylvestre returned to the scene with the machete before officers arrived and again confronted and chased the victim.

The victim fled because he feared he would be injured again, according to the report.

He described the machete to investigators as approximately 24 inches long and black and blue with lettering on it. Police said the victim’s injuries were consistent with being caused by a machete.

The arrest report also states that Sylvestre is subject to a non-expiring protection order issued in January 2024 involving his girlfriend after he allegedly stabbed her. Police said that after leaving the scene Monday, Sylvestre called his girlfriend and located her in person, violating that protection order.

Police said Sylvestre was read his Miranda rights and invoked his right to remain silent.

He was arrested and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where he was booked on charges of arson, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault and violation of an injunction.

A motive for the alleged attack is unclear.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Sylvestre remained at TGK. Online jail records listed his total bond as “to be set.”

A statement shared by his family on his official Instagram account confirmed Jackson died Monday, three days after his 70th birthday. No cause of death was provided.

“Freddie was more than a legendary voice. He was a kind, generous soul who loved his fans, his family, his friends, and his music with everything he had. For decades he gave us the songs that became the soundtrack to our love stories, our celebrations, and our most treasured memories. That gift will live on forever,” the statement read.

“To everyone who ever sang along, danced, or felt something when Freddie took the stage: thank you. You were family to him, and he carried your love with him always,” it continued.

Details regarding arrangements will be announced in the coming days.

Jackson was born and raised in Harlem, where he learned all about soul music and sang gospel at White Rock Baptist Church. He started his career in the New York club scene, eventually making his way out West with the band Mystic Merlin in the late '70s. He soon returned to New York and released his debut album, “Rock Me Tonight,” in 1985. His distinctive voice proved to be his superpower: The album, which was quickly certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, also led to his two career Grammy nominations. Those were for best new artist and best male R&B vocal performance for the single “You Are My Lady.”

“Rock Me Tonight” also created a new R&B superstar: Jackson became a mainstay of those Billboard charts and a fixture of contemporary urban radio play throughout the ’80s and early '90s.

His sophomore album, 1987's “Just Like the First Time,” was also certified platinum.

Jackson shared his kidney disease diagnosis in 2024

In 2024, Jackson revealed he had been diagnosed with kidney disease in a video shared to his social media accounts.

“This journey has had its challenges but I’ve decided to face it with openness and resilience,” he said in the clip. “It’s important to me that I share this with you, not just as a part of my personal story, but as a way to make a positive difference.”

At the time, Jackson also revealed he had partnered with the National Kidney Foundation to raise awareness of the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 in 7 American adults has chronic kidney disease. As many as 9 in 10 don’t know they have it.

Chronic kidney disease is a condition where the kidneys are damaged and struggle to filter blood. As a result, excess waste and fluids remain and can lead to other health issues, such as heart disease.

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Delvis Jesus Gonzalez, 50, was taken into custody at his home after Miami police said they reviewed surveillance video and identified him as the person who allegedly drove away in the vehicle.

Police said the incident happened while a woman was attending a baseball game near the 2200 block of Northwest 11th Court in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood, while a person she knew slept in her car.

According to the arrest report, the woman returned to her parked Volkswagen and discovered that it was missing.

The woman called police, and a witness canvassing the area located the car near Northwest 22nd Place and Seventh Street, where the person was still sleeping in the back seat, according to the report.

Officers then reviewed surveillance video from a nearby restaurant.

The report states that police identified Gonzalez in the video as he exited the car from the driver’s seat, based on a prior interaction with him.

Police then went to Gonzalez’s home, where they found him and took him into custody, according to the report.

While in custody, Gonzalez “spontaneously stated to the officers that he took the car because they left it running,” the report states.

Detectives said they later interviewed a woman who reported that a black wallet, car key fob and credit card were missing from the car.

Police said they searched the area, located the abandoned car, and found several credit cards a few feet away from its location.

According to the report, Gonzalez was later read his Miranda rights, waived them and gave what the report describes as “a full confession of his involvement in the kidnapping” before later refusing to continue talking.

His confession wasn’t included in his publicly released arrest report.

Records show Gonzalez is facing one count each of kidnapping, burglary of an occupied dwelling and grand theft of a vehicle in that case.

A second arrest report obtained by Local 10 News involving Gonzalez describes a separate alleged theft at an apartment building.

According to that report, officers were canvassing the area on Oct. 5 in connection with the vehicle theft case when they found an opened Amazon package outside of Gonzalez’s apartment.

Police contacted the resident, who checked his Amazon account and confirmed the package had been delivered at 5:10 a.m. Oct. 4.

The resident then reviewed surveillance footage, which allegedly showed Gonzalez entering the building between 5:30 and 6 a.m., taking the package and leaving, according to the report.

The package contained microneedling pen cartridges valued at $26.99, the report states.

The report also states that Gonzalez had previously been issued a trespass warning for the building.

Gonzalez was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital for medical treatment and was expected to be taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center afterward, according to the report.

In the second case, Gonzalez is facing charges of burglary of an occupied structure and a petit theft charge involving two or more prior convictions, records show.

As of Tuesday afternoon, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set.”

Local 10 News obtuvo el martes una denuncia penal federal sobre el caso. Según el documento, agentes de la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP) llamaron aparte a Alberto Hernandez Castillo, de 40 años. Había llegado el domingo en un vuelo de World Atlantic Airlines procedente de La Habana.

Según los agentes, Hernandez Castillo es ciudadano cubano y residente permanente legal de EE.UU. Afirmó que no tenía nada que declarar y que había ido a la isla a visitar a su familia.

“Durante la entrevista, los agentes de CBP observaron un bulto inexplicable en la parte delantera de (su) pelvis o cintura y notaron que parecía nervioso”. Así lo escribió en la denuncia un agente especial de Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional (HSI).

Según el agente, eso llevó a los oficiales a cachearlo.

“El cacheo reveló que Hernandez Castillo ocultaba seis recipientes cilíndricos de plástico transparente, cada uno envuelto en cinta adhesiva y con una malla negra cerca de las aberturas”, escribió el agente. “Los tubos estaban cosidos a (su) ropa interior. Cada tubo contenía pájaros vivos”.

En total, eran 10 pájaros vivos.

Las autoridades dijeron que encontraron ocho tomeguines de la tierra y dos azulejos. Ambas especies aparecen con frecuencia en el tráfico ilegal de aves.

Según la denuncia, Hernandez Castillo dijo que los pájaros eran para “uso personal” y luego se acogió a su derecho a guardar silencio. Los agentes dijeron que no hay pruebas de que haya presentado los documentos necesarios para importarlos.

Según los registros, compareció el lunes ante un tribunal federal en Miami. Después quedó en libertad bajo una fianza personal de $25,000.

Enfrenta un cargo de contrabando de mercancías hacia Estados Unidos.

En 2025, fiscales federales señalaron que un hombre arrestado por el mismo cargo en un caso similar en San Diego se exponía a hasta 20 años de prisión.

On Tuesday, 39-year-old Messi bid farewell to international soccer after 21 years, 126 goals, two Copa América titles and a World Cup championship, scoring a penalty and setting up Argentina’s other two goals for a 3-0 victory over Benin. What was otherwise an unremarkable friendly against the West African nation became a moment that this soccer-crazed country had long dreaded.

“It feels like an era is ending, knowing he won’t play for the national team anymore,” said Valentino Ruso, 17, who was heading to a friend’s house in Buenos Aires to watch the game. “I’m sad. I think everyone is upset today. He will be missed.”

Argentines had an intense, often unforgiving relationship with the shy boy who left his hometown of Rosario at 13 for the youth academy of Spanish club Barcelona. As he grew into a global icon of near-mythical stature, his compatriots adored and abused him, sometimes questioning his commitment to his home country and accusing him of indifference to it.

But by the time he ended his dazzling international career, his devotion to Argentina was no longer in question. Nor was Argentina’s devotion to its most famous export, whose triumphs reminded the country of its capacity for greatness through years of political and economic instability.

“Argentines often say, ‘Thank God I was born at a time when I could experience the miracle of watching Messi play,’” said Andrés Rabinovich, a University of Chicago scholar who has researched soccer’s role in Argentine culture. “It’s hard living in Argentina. Soccer is often one of the few things that offers you some respite, some joy.”

For years, Argentines had debated when and how Messi should leave the world stage. His Aug. 31 announcement that he’d be retiring from the national team, weeks after Argentina’s loss to Spain in the World Cup final, prompted an outpouring of gratitude and grief — even as Messi will continue to light up Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.

“I don’t know if there has ever been a love story between a player and a nation as great as the one you built,” his teammate Rodrigo De Paul wrote on Instagram.

The Argentine soccer federation turned Tuesday’s game — Messi’s 208th — into a national farewell billed as “the last tango.” More than 85,000 tickets to Buenos Aires’ largest stadium sold out in 90 minutes, seats that were originally priced around $60-$300 later fetching over $2,500 on resale sites. Players from Argentina’s 1978, 1986 and 2022 World Cup-winning squads returned to see him off.

After the final whistle, Messi’s eyes glistened as his teammates gathered around him, applauding. A rumbling chorus of “Olé, olé, olé, olé, Messi, Messi” rose from the stands as tens of thousands of fans jumped, sang and bowed toward him as if in worship. A banner at midfield proclaimed him the "Eternal Captain.”

“The truth is, I'm talking more than I ever have. I don't want to leave here, I don't want to leave this field,” Messi told the crowd, which roared as if he had scored. “I just want to tell you that I love you, I'm going to miss you, and I'm grateful to God to be Argentine."

Winning over his own

During the 2000s and 2010s, Messi amassed trophies with his club and won diehard fans from Barcelona to Bangladesh. Yet a major championship for his own country eluded him.

Where the world saw a supernatural talent, some at home saw an outsider who had never played professionally in Argentina and seemed to buckle under the weight of their expectations. Argentine crowds chanted “Diego, Diego,” invoking Diego Maradona, the larger-than-life hero of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup victory, and reminding Messi of a standard he had yet to meet. Messi’s quiet reserve, so at odds with Maradona’s defiant swagger, fueled doubts about his patriotism.

After Argentina lost a third consecutive final in 2016, Messi briefly quit the national team.

“There’s some resentment by the people that stay in Argentina for those who leave, this sense of, ‘They think they’re better than us,’” said Rabinovich, adding that he identifies with Messi as a fellow teenage migrant. Rabinovich said he moved to Canada during Argentina's 2001 economic crisis, around the time Messi left for Europe. “The old-school Argentines would say, ‘Diego is the Argentine. Messi is soft, a little Spanish boy.’”

The turning point came in 2021, when Argentina beat Brazil to win the Copa América, South America’s championship, for the first time in 28 years. Messi collapsed to the turf as his teammates, delirious, ran to hug him. The player long accused of feeling too little could not stop sobbing.

“Winning clearly disarmed his critics. That’s how soccer works in Argentina,” said Diego Murzi, a sports sociologist at Conicet, Argentina’s national scientific research council. “Criticism of things off the field goes hand in hand with defeats on it.”

The World Cup victory the following year in Qatar sealed his place as a national hero. Messi had delivered the one prize that had eluded him, and millions of Argentines poured into the streets in collective ecstasy, his name in their chants and his No. 10 on their backs.

“I’ll never forget it. I’d never experienced anything like that, being out there with everyone, celebrating together,” said Antonia Correa, 70, a kiosk owner, recalling that day as she waited for a bus in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. “We saw that he wasn’t just an extraordinary player, but an excellent human being.”

In recent weeks, newspapers have hummed with nostalgic tributes and murals celebrating Messi have sprung up across the country. La Nación, a leading Argentine daily, released “Immortal,” a documentary chronicling his final World Cup run, and published a 196-page special edition devoted to his career. Since June, a 26-meter (85-foot) statue of Messi kneeling with the World Cup trophy has towered over passing motorists in Patagonia. On Tuesday, Buenos Aires’ landmark Obelisk glowed sky blue and white, the colors of the national flag, while news sites live-blogged every minute of the Benin friendly as if it were a World Cup final.

A jersey without an heir

Across Argentina, fans who grew up watching Messi as their parents watched Maradona have covered their skin with tattooed tributes to the soccer great, portraits of him kissing the World Cup trophy. It was easy to believe the world’s greatest player would always be one of their own.

“I don’t think we’ll have somebody like him again, somebody with that sort of enduring power,” said Pablo Brescia, a University of South Florida professor who writes about Argentine culture and soccer. “Like Maradona, he’ll be unique — a figure that can’t be repeated.”

Messi’s contract with Inter Miami runs through the 2028 season. But the ritual of watching him carry Argentina’s hopes and anxieties into every match is over.

“Watching Messi play, you felt anything could happen,” Murzi said.

When Tuesday’s match finally ended, the crowd remained, their ovation roaring through the stadium. Messi took a final lap, a tiny figure beneath the lights, soaking it in. At the tunnel, he paused to lift his arms toward his fans one last time. Then he was gone.

___

See AP’s full soccer coverage here.

En un informe de arresto, la policía de Opa-locka identificó al sospechoso como Arlande Delius Sylvestre.

Según el informe, los agentes acudieron a una vivienda alrededor de las 5:40 a.m. del lunes. Habían recibido un reporte de agresión con lesiones.

Al llegar, encontraron a la víctima con heridas visibles en la frente y en otras partes del cuerpo, dijo la policía. Los agentes recorrieron la zona, pero no encontraron a Sylvestre. Según la víctima, había huido a pie antes de que llegara la policía.

La víctima les contó a los investigadores que dormía en un sofá dentro de la casa cuando la despertó el olor a humo.

Según el informe, vio a Sylvestre prendiéndole fuego al sofá y le gritó.

La policía dijo que Sylvestre entonces le dio un machetazo en la frente que le causó una herida profunda.

La víctima contó que Sylvestre se le subió encima, lo inmovilizó contra el sofá y le agarró un brazo mientras lo golpeaba una y otra vez con el machete.

Durante el ataque, Sylvestre presuntamente le gritó: “¡Te voy a matar!”.

La víctima se defendió y logró zafarse, según el informe. La policía dijo que Sylvestre lo persiguió con el machete en la mano e intentó golpearlo de nuevo.

Según la policía, la víctima logró escapar y llamar al 911 mientras Sylvestre huía.

El informe indica que Sylvestre regresó al lugar con el machete antes de que llegaran los agentes. Volvió a enfrentar a la víctima y a perseguirla.

La víctima huyó por miedo a que lo hiriera otra vez, según el informe.

Describió el machete como de unas 24 pulgadas de largo, negro y azul, con letras. Según la policía, las heridas de la víctima coincidían con las de un machete.

El informe también señala que Sylvestre tiene una orden de protección permanente a favor de su novia, emitida en enero de 2024. La orden se dictó después de que presuntamente la apuñalara. La policía dijo que, tras irse del lugar el lunes, Sylvestre llamó a su novia y fue a buscarla en persona, con lo que violó esa orden.

Según la policía, a Sylvestre le leyeron sus derechos Miranda y se acogió a su derecho a guardar silencio.

Fue arrestado y trasladado al Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Allí quedó registrado con cuatro cargos:

• incendio provocado
• agresión agravada con arma mortal
• asalto agravado
• violación de una orden de protección

Se desconoce el motivo del presunto ataque.

Hasta la tarde del martes, Sylvestre seguía en el TGK. Según los registros de la cárcel, su fianza total figuraba como “por determinar”.

Harry Moon, presidente de NSU, informó recientemente que NSU admitió en su campus de Davie a uno de los siete estudiantes nombrados en una demanda civil presentada el 16 de septiembre. Según la demanda, una estudiante de segundo año, de 20 años, fue violada en una casa de fraternidad en Ithaca, Nueva York.

“Cuando fue admitido, la universidad no tenía conocimiento de las acusaciones que luego salieron en los medios”, escribió Moon recientemente en una carta a los estudiantes. “En cuanto supimos del presunto incidente, actuamos de inmediato para proteger la seguridad y el bienestar de nuestros estudiantes y de la comunidad de NSU”.

Moon no identificó al estudiante de NSU. Según la información disponible, era miembro del capítulo Xi de la fraternidad Chi Phi. Además, es uno de los sospechosos de la presunta violación, ocurrida entre el 19 y el 20 de octubre de 2024 en la cuadra 100 de Edgermoor Lane, en Ithaca.

La mujer denunció la violación ante el Departamento de Policía de Cornell University el 8 de noviembre de 2024. Después de eso, Cornell suspendió temporalmente a los estudiantes de la fraternidad, según la demanda civil. La demanda identifica a la víctima como Jane Doe y acusa a Cornell de negligencia.

Cornell expulsó a dos de los siete estudiantes tras una investigación bajo el Título IX, informó el lunes The New York Times. El litigio civil, de carácter público, llevó recientemente a un gran jurado del condado de Tompkins a revisar el caso.

“Las víctimas de agresión sexual pueden necesitar años de terapia y sanación para procesar y entender por completo lo que les pasó. Buscar justicia a veces nos obliga a reconsiderar o reabrir casos cuando recibimos nuevas pruebas”. Así lo escribió el fiscal del condado de Tompkins, Matthew Van Houten, en un comunicado del 28 de septiembre.

El viernes, la gobernadora de Nueva York, Kathy Hochul, anunció que había apartado a Van Houten del caso. En su lugar nombró a James como fiscal especial para investigar, presentar pruebas ante un gran jurado y “procesar cualquier” delito.

“Como este asunto involucra leyes federales sobre un estudiante en particular, las normas federales limitan legalmente lo que la universidad puede divulgar”, escribió Moon en la carta a los estudiantes de NSU.

Entre los estudiantes de NSU que dijeron sentirse inquietos por la carta de Moon estaba Mars Rivera.

“Obviamente, no dice si lo sacaron, si sigue aquí ni nada de eso”, dijo Rivera a Local 10 News.

Otros videos captaron el sonido de una docena de disparos. También muestran a dos hombres saltando por una ventana del tercer piso de Aliro, en el 14040 de Biscayne Boulevard. Al parecer, uno de ellos dejó caer dinero en efectivo al suelo mientras huía.

Horas después del tiroteo y el secuestro en Aliro, un capitán encontró el cuerpo de Eddrick Malik Bethune a un lado de la carretera, según los detectives de la Oficina del Sheriff. Estaba en la zona de la calle 216 y la avenida 189 del suroeste, en Redlands.

Según el Departamento de Policía de North Miami, un herido llegó a un hospital cercano después del tiroteo en Aliro. Los detectives de homicidios de la Oficina del Sheriff dijeron que no han podido hablar con él debido a “su estado de salud”.

Los detectives también investigaban el incendio intencional de un vehículo en el sur de Miami-Dade, relacionado con el caso del asesinato.

El detective J. Rodriguez pidió a cualquier persona con información sobre el caso que llame al 305-471-2400.

Los detectives también pidieron a quien tenga información sobre este u otros casos que llame a Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477 para mantener el anonimato.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan did not immediately rule on ABC’s request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission from conducting its early review, which it said was unconstitutional, a violation of free speech and a retaliation for content President Donald Trump dislikes.

A government attorney argued that, as a procedural matter, the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over ABC’s case because it belongs in a different venue. The government also challenged the network’s First Amendment arguments, and said ABC had failed to show it suffered irreparable harm.

A ruling was not expected until at least mid-October. After extensively questioning both sides, she asked them to submit brief additional arguments by Oct. 9, for the government, and Oct. 14, for ABC.

ABC and its parent company, Disney, sued the FCC and FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in August, several months after the commission ordered eight ABC-owned stations to submit renewal applications for their broadcast licenses years ahead of schedule.

The case is one of several ongoing legal battles between Trump’s Republican administration and news outlets — including The Associated Press — over their coverage and access to the executive branch since Trump returned to the White House for a second term.

At Tuesday's two-hour hearing, ABC attorney Beth Wilkinson harkened back to the French Revolution to illustrate what she called the chilling effect that the renewal process was having on the network. It was, she said, like having one's “head on the guillotine,” forced to wonder “if anything we say is going to make it come down.”

“Our editorial decisions are being affected right now,” Wilkinson said, noting that the U.S. midterm elections are fast approaching. “We are watching everything that we do.”

She reiterated the First Amendment argument ABC has been making since the beginning — that it was being targeted for its content. “President Donald Trump has made his stance clear over and over again,” Wilkinson said. “What he says is because of that content, because of that speech, ABC should lose its license.

“These are blatant violations of the U.S. Constitution,” she said, calling it a threat not just to ABC but to all broadcast media.

Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel, the Department of Justice attorney, explicitly rejected the guillotine analogy.

Georgiev-Remmel argued that the court lacked jurisdiction, but that even if it decided it had jurisdiction, a preliminary injunction should still be denied. He said ABC had not established a likelihood of success on the merits of the case, and also had not established irreparable harm, because the network’s eight licenses remain valid.

Issuing a preliminary injunction at ABC’s request would mean “allowing them to sidestep” the path that Congress has set up for regulatory action appeals, Georgiev-Remmel said.

Asked by the judge what irreparable harm ABC had suffered, Wilkinson answered: “The irreparable injury is the chill, and the threat of retaliation for First Amendment speech and editorial decisions ABC makes every day.”

In its lawsuit, ABC had asked the judge to temporarily prohibit the FCC from taking any further action related to its license renewal proceedings. ABC also sought to prohibit the commission from trying to coerce or threaten the network to alter its “exercise of editorial discretion.”

“The First Amendment demands an immediate end to the Commission’s retaliatory campaign,” ABC attorneys wrote.

Carr, a Trump ally, ordered the early review of the stations’ licenses in April — just after a joke by ABC’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel infuriated Trump, who called for the comedian's firing.

ABC also had been fighting Carr’s efforts to make the morning talk show “The View” subject to equal-time rules. Carr defended his agency’s actions against ABC by saying broadcasters have a duty to “operate in the public interest.”

Government attorneys urged the court to dismiss ABC’s lawsuit, accusing the network of trying to prematurely ward off scrutiny by federal regulators.

“To foreclose the Commission from using all the tools at its disposal to investigate whether Plaintiffs are meeting their statutory and regulatory duties would seriously harm both the government and the public,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.

AliKhan was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

___

Noveck reported from New York, and Boone from Boise, Idaho.

Tuesday's announcement by the National Book Foundation of five nominees in each of five competitive categories has at least one notable omission: Marlon James' “The Disappearers,” a Booker Prize finalist praised by The New York Times as among the century's best releases. James' novel, centered around the vicious beating of a group of gay men in Jamaica in the 1980s, had been on the National Book Awards fiction longlist of 10 released last month.

Winners, each of whom receive $10,000, will be revealed during a Nov. 18 dinner ceremony in Manhattan. Honorary medals will be presented to Salman Rushdie and Perri Klass.

Danticat's “Dèy” and Luiselli's “Beginning Middle End” are fiction finalists in a category of wide-ranging characters, subjects and locations. Danticat's story of a mass shooting attack and its aftermath takes place in Miami, Haiti and Brooklyn, while Hannah Lillith Assadi's “Paradiso 17” follows the worldwide journey of an exiled Palestinian. Luiselli's family narrative spans generations and continents and Julián Delgado Lopera's “Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You” is set in Colombia. In Morgan Thomas' “Mad Eden,” a transgender healthcare worker in Florida struggles for stability in an unfriendly world.

Knausgaard, the Norwegian author with a wide international following, is a finalist in the translation category for “The School of Night,” translated by Martin Aitken. Other nominees include Vicente Luis Mora's “Centroeuropa,” translated from the Spanish by Rahul Bery; Intan Paramaditha's “Night of a Thousand Hells,” translated from the Indonesian by Stephen J. Epstein and Tiffany Tsao; Mohamed Mbougar Sarr's “Pure Men,” translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud; and Samar Yazbek's “Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life: Voices of Survival and Witness in Gaza,” translated from the Arabic by Leri Price.

In nonfiction, Colin Asher is a finalist for “The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music,” Abdelrahman ElGendy for “Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming,” Camonghne Felix for “Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom,” Sara Nović for “Mother Tongue” and Joseph Osmundson for “Spawning Season: An Experiment in Queer Parenthood.”

David Levithan, a finalist for young people's literature, is among a small circle of book editors who also have accomplished careers as authors, including Jenny Jackson at Alfred A. Knopf and Jill Bialosky at W.W. Norton & Company. Levithan is an editorial director at Scholastic and a prolific writer nominated this year for “The Fight of Our Lives: AIDS in America,” a collaboration with Gabriel Duckels.

The other young people's literature finalists are Elana K. Arnold's “Holloway,” Tae Keller's “When Tomorrow Burns,” Keala Kendall's “That Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic” and Julian Randall's “Shook.”

In poetry, the nominees are Victoria Chang's “Tree of Knowledge,” Carolina Ebeid's “Hide,” Brenda Hillman's “Still House in the Desert: An eco-contemplation,” Fady Joudah's “Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza” and Susan Stewart's “Bramble.”

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said in a letter posted on social media Tuesday that episodes like these "demand we pause for reflection” and that serving on the Japanese island “comes with responsibility."

The arrest of the Marine has renewed protests against the heavy American military presence on the southern island and the rise in military-related crime. The killing could also complicate Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to strengthen the Japanese military on Okinawa and to work more closely with the U.S. military to deter China in the region.

“We live, work, and socialize alongside the people of Okinawa; their home is our home,” Watson wrote. “Every interaction with our neighbors either builds or undermines the trust that is essential to our team. When that trust is damaged, it affects the strength of our alliance and the security of this region. Accordingly, we will take time to think hard about discipline, standards and our alliance responsibilities.”

The 48-hour pause will last from Wednesday through Friday. Service members will receive training on standards, discipline and “our responsibilities as members of the Okinawan community.” Restricting the ability of troops to leave military bases and interact with the local community is a common response by military leaders to major crimes.

Okinawa prefectural police said they arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the island’s capital city, Naha, early Saturday and stealing her wallet and backpack. He has denied the allegations, according to Japanese media. Ballard is from Ohio, the Marine Corps said.

Security camera footage showed a man entering the hotel with the woman and later leaving alone.

Ballard was arrested when a patrolling officer saw him walking later Saturday in an entertainment district in Okinawa City, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Naha. His shaved head and the tattoos on his arms matched those of the man in security footage, Kyodo News agency reported.

“I must say, discipline and troop education are not working at all,” Kenji Higa, who lives in Okinawa City, told the Okinawa Times. He was referring to the U.S. military’s measures taken in response to past criminal cases.

People in Okinawa have long opposed the heavy U.S. military presence on the island, but some have come to see its strategic value due to what is widely viewed as a growing threat from China.

Okinawa was under U.S. occupation from World War II until 1972. Today the U.S. population on the island is nearly 80,000, with nearly 30,000 being active duty troops from all four branches of the armed forces, though the Marines make up the bulk of the forces.

There has been anger over increasing crime linked to the U.S. military. The number of such criminal cases rose to 101 last year from about 40 in 2020, according to police.

After the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. service members, huge crowds protested the U.S. troop presence on Okinawa. There was also anger over the rape of a teenage girl by a U.S. service member in 2024 and the delayed disclosure of the crime.

____

Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were arrested at their sprawling mansion in Arcadia, a city about 13 miles (20 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

The children suffered daily beatings from cruel nannies as the couple watched over a network of surveillance cameras and laughed, according to prosecutors. The couple allegedly recruited women across the country to serve as surrogates, promising them that they were just looking for another child to grow their family.

The couple face several counts of child abuse as well as conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory after the fact and dissuading a witness, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

“This case is unprecedented. It is horrific,” he said during a morning news conference. “The physical abuse, beating and punishment that these very young children received is despicable.”

In an afternoon court appearance in nearby Pasadena, the couple pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations with a Mandarin interpreter. Prosecutors sought $100 million bail per person because of the serious nature of the charges and because they are flight risks.

The couple have over 200 personal and 70 corporate bank accounts with annual transfers of $250 million, Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri said.

Both were said to have U.S., Mexican and Chinese passports, though investigators have not determined if they are all legitimate; prosecutors said they used fake passports to create some of the bank accounts.

Inside the couple's home, investigators found a bank statement showing more than $70 million in one account along with assets such as antique sculptures and specialty alcohol that added up to nearly $10 million, according to Teymouri.

LA County Superior Court Judge Kerry White set bail at $20 million each with home detention and a protective order against visiting their children.

Mitchell Krems, the couple's attorney, called the bail amount “absurd” for the type of charges his clients face and said Zhang's health should be taken into consideration.

Zhang, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, has a rare form of leukemia and is recovering from a bone marrow transplant, Krems said.

Fifteen children were removed from the opulent home last year after an allegation of abuse, and another six living elsewhere were also located. They ranged in age from 2 months to 13 years, with most between 1 and 3. Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of the children, while the rest were carried and delivered by surrogates.

Hochman said the couple set up an agency, Mark Surrogacy, that they operated from home and used to hire surrogates throughout the U.S. But prosecutors said the couple misled the women, telling some that they could not conceive and others that they only had one child and wanted one more to complete their family.

“The house could only be described as a house of horrors for these incredible young children,” Hochman said.

Prosecutor says videos show nannies and Xuan abusing children

Zhang and Xuan were first arrested in May 2025 after a hospital reported that their 2-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury, the result of being violently shaken by a nanny, according to Arcadia police.

Police did not file charges at the time, saying they needed to complete the investigation.

Hochman said the couple set up three rooms they called learning centers, where the children spent several hours a day sitting at desks under the supervision of nannies.

Through an extensive surveillance system including motion-activated cameras, the couple watched and at times laughed as the nannies physically abused the children, including daily beatings, he said.

In one video, Xuan is shown entering a room and telling a nanny to strike a child harder, Hochman said, and in another he joins the nanny in hitting the child.

The nannies were allegedly told “not to leave any physical marks on the children,” and when police arrived to investigate in May 2025, the children were told to deny they had been beaten.

After examining the surveillance video, police issued an arrest warrant for Chunmei Li, the nanny seen hurting the 2-month-old infant. However she fled to Tijuana, Mexico, and then China.

After the children were taken into state custody, Xuan and Zhang were allowed supervised visits. During one such visit, Zhang read to a child and wrote in the book, “Tell them you're happy with me, tell them you want to come home,” lead prosecutor Teymouri said.

Krems said it was “patently false” that Xuan was involved in beating any of the children and blamed all the abuse on the nannies.

“My client, Mr. Xuan, intervened swiftly,” Krems said. “He fired the nanny, excised her from the house.”

Prosecutor says motive for discipline remains under investigation

When asked about the couple’s motivation, Hochman said that was part of the investigation, as was the parentage of each child.

Krems, Xuan’s attorney, previously told ABC7 that Xuan’s goal was to raise children who become productive adults.

“The reason he has all these children is because he wants them to contribute to society. He is not a man who is self-indulgent,” Krems said. “Some who are wealthy might spend on jewelry or cars, but he is actually spending his resources to help his children become educated.”

After Tuesday's court hearing, he said Xuan and Zhang immigrated from China to exercise their freedom and have as many children as they want.

“If they were white, if they were Elon Musk, and they weren't Chinese, they wouldn't experience this level of scrutiny,” Krems said.

Surrogates say they were misled

Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman agrees to carry and deliver a child for another person or couple, often after an embryo transfer.

There is no comprehensive federal law regulating surrogacy, leaving most rules to the states.

California is considered to be surrogacy-friendly because it has clear laws governing the process. Both sides are required to have lawyers, and there must be a written, notarized contract before an embryo transfer takes place.

At least eight women came forward to say they were aggressively pursued to serve as surrogates. The women, many of them first-time surrogates, said they were given misleading or incomplete information about the couple’s family situation and intentions.

Krems denied that the couple lied to surrogates about their intentions.

The district attorney's office said a federal investigation was ongoing.

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Marcelo reported from New York.

“Sam spent eleven of his fifteen seasons in a Cleveland uniform as one of the game’s most feared hurlers. A strikeout king. He was a cherished member of our Alumni Ambassador program and loved sharing stories with our fans when he visited Progressive Field. Most importantly, Sam’s life was a story of redemption,” Guardians senior vice president of public affairs Bob DiBiasio said in a statement.

McDowell's baseball career and post-career sobriety served as the inspiration for the Sam Malone character from the iconic television sitcom “Cheers.”

McDowell had a 15-year career in the major leagues from 1961-74, including 11 in Cleveland. The left-hander had a 141-134 record in 425 games, including 346 starts. He had 2,453 strikeouts, 103 complete games and 23 shutouts. McDowell also pitched for San Francisco, the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh.

In 1965, McDowell went 17-11 and led the American League in ERA (2.18) and strikeouts (325). He was 20-12 in 1970 and led the AL in both strikeouts (304) and walks (131). Cleveland traded him to San Francisco after the 1971 season.

McDowell's 9.21 strikeouts per nine innings remains a Cleveland franchise record and his 2,159 strikeouts with the club are second. He was inducted in the franchise's hall of fame in 2006.

McDowell said in his 2022 autobiography that he attempted suicide in 1963, but survived because when he pulled the trigger it was on the lone dead shell among live rounds in the chamber. He quit drinking in 1980 and went on to earn an associate’s degree in sports psychology and addictions from the University of Pittsburgh after entering rehab.

He was certified as a counselor two years later and was a recovery consultant for the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.). He was recognized with the B.A.T Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Sally Yates, who was a deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, will spearhead the review, the trustees said. The assessment is to include how the Ivy League university investigates reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment, how the disciplinary process works, campus police responses and more.

“It is imperative that Cornell be willing to examine itself with the same rigor we expect of others," trustee Chair Anne Meinig Smalling said in a statement.

The announcement comes after days of outrage and a large protest over Cornell’s response to a complaint from a woman known publicly only as Jane Doe. She told campus police in November 2024 that, a few weeks earlier, she had been sexually assaulted by multiple Chi Phi fraternity brothers after being pressured into drinking and taking drugs.

No criminal charges have been filed. The Chi Phi chapter at Cornell was shut down, and the Ivy League university has said it expelled some students and suspended others.

Yates will look at how the woman's complaint was addressed and at the oversight of fraternities, sororities and other campus groups, Cornell said.

The woman sued the university, seven former students, the fraternity and others last month.

Lawyers for two of the former students denied they participated in a sexual assault. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives have been unsuccessful. Court records show that during an investigation that Cornell conducted under the federal Title IX law, some of the accused students contended that the sexual activity was consensual.

The lawsuit put a new, nationwide spotlight on the allegations and how the campus police, university and local prosecutor had reacted.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is now conducting a criminal investigation and may soon name outside lawyers to assist. Meanwhile, her deputies have spoken with Jane Doe's attorney and the local prosecutor, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten. James also talked to him herself, her office said Tuesday.

Van Houten looked into the allegations in 2024 and brought no charges — then reopened his office’s investigation after seeing Jane Doe's lawsuit. After Gov. Kathy Hochul put James on the case last week, Van Houten said he supported the appointment.

Hochul, James and Van Houten are all Democrats.

The governor also called for an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the matter — the review that Yates now will lead.

Yates had a decades-long career at the Justice Department, serving for years as the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta and later as a deputy attorney general.

She achieved particular prominence in January 2017 when, as acting attorney general in the early days of the Trump administration, she directed Justice Department attorneys not to defend the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s refugee and immigration ban. She was swiftly fired, with Trump accusing her of betrayal and insubordination.

Yates also generated headlines when it emerged that, in a conversation days before her departure, she had expressed alarm to the Trump White House about contacts that Trump’s new national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had had with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period. Flynn later was fired.

Yates has been in private practice since her departure from the Justice Department. Her practice at the King & Spalding law firm includes conducting independent investigations for outside organizations and companies.

She led a high-profile inquiry into alleged abuse and misconduct, including claims of harassment and coercion, at the National Women’s Soccer League. The investigation concluded in 2022 with a finding of systemic abuse.

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Peltz reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michael Sisak in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.

The league on Monday suspended line judge Jeff Seeman for two games for swearing at Arizona’s Trey McBride and referee Adrian Hill for one game for yelling and gesturing at Minnesota’s Eric Wilson.

"NFL officials have a responsibility to conduct themselves professionally on the field, and the actions in these incidents fell short of that standard," Referees Association executive director Scott Green said in a statement. “Accountability matters, but that should not result in discipline that is excessive or inconsistent with established precedent.”

Seeman was caught on camera cursing at McBride during the Cardinals’ loss at the New York Giants. Hill yelled at Eric Wilson and pointed for him to get away after the Vikings linebacker tried to help him to his feet after a collision knocked him over.

“Officials are routinely subjected to highly charged interactions and, at times, verbal abuse from players and coaches," Green said. “While that never excuses misconduct by an official, it shouldn’t be dismissed as simply part of the game. The League expects the highest level of professionalism from its officials, and it should demand the same from everyone on the field.”

The NFLRA said it would meet with the league's officiating department to discuss disciplinary standards and with Players Association leadership to address on-field conduct and the growing levels of confrontations between players and officials.

“We will defend the principle that discipline must be fair, consistent and proportionate," Green said. “Holding officials accountable while ignoring or minimizing the conduct directed at them is neither fair nor an effective way to address this issue.”

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

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According to the Miami Police Department, officers responded to the area of Northwest Seventh Avenue and Northwest Seventh Street at approximately 4 a.m. after receiving reports of a man down in the roadway.

When officers arrived, Miami Fire Rescue medics were already transporting the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition, authorities confirmed. The victim later died from his injuries.

“Our detectives are reviewing cameras in the area,” Officer Mike Vega said. “They’re talking to witnesses, there was a Good Samaritan that was traveling southbound, saw a body in the middle of the street and stopped to render aid, and also contacted police.”

A preliminary investigation determined that the victim had been riding a scooter when he was struck by a vehicle whose driver fled the scene, police said.

“This is advice to people that are driving and either hit a person, hit something, and they get scared because they don’t have insurance, or they don’t have a driver’s license, or they don’t have the registration with them. If you don’t have all these things, stay on the scene, do the right thing, and then eventually, all you’re going to get is a ticket or a citation,” Vega said. “But in this case, since the driver fled the scene, now he’s facing a more serious charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.”

Police have not released additional information about the vehicle or driver involved.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Miami Police Department or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.