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It came a little more than a week after detainees were moved out of the Collier County facility, officially the home of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, citing hurricane concerns.

“There’s no question that its mission made the state of Florida safer,” DeSantis said during Thursday’s announcement, saying the facility was always designed to be temporary.

The news conference featured White House Border Czar Tom Homan and Florida State Board of Immigration Enforcement Executive Director Anthony Coker.

“Today doesn’t end the cooperation” between the state and federal governments, Homan said.

Meanwhile, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced that her office intends to sell the county-owned airport “to the National Park Service and other authorized Everglades restoration partners for permanent conservation following the eventual decommissioning of the immigration detention facility currently operating at the site.”

A county news release states that Levine Cava’s office “will evaluate and identify the appropriate legal process for the sale and transfer of the property for incorporation into the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.”

“From the very beginning, I have raised serious concerns about the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention facility because people have been held there in inhumane conditions without meaningful due process, while occupying land alongside one of the world’s most precious natural ecosystems,” Levine Cava said in the release. “Once this facility is decommissioned, we have an opportunity to permanently protect these lands for Everglades restoration and ensure they remain protected for generations to come. That is the legacy we should leave.”

The release states that the airport’s “remote location, limited aviation utility, significant maintenance obligations, and increasingly constrained compatibility with surrounding conservation lands have reduced its long-term strategic value as an aviation asset.”

The airport was built in the late 1960s as the Everglades Jetport, with plans to turn it into the world’s largest airport and a supersonic travel hub.

Under the grand plans, the airport would have been linked to Miami by monorail.

But the cancellation of the planned Boeing 2707 supersonic jet and environmental concerns surrounding the Everglades location meant that the project never materialized.

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Curaçao vs. Ivory Coast, a Group E match, is at 4 p.m.

Ecuador vs. Germany, a Group E match, is at 4 p.m.

Tunisia vs. Netherlands, a Group F match, is at 7 p.m.

Japan vs. Sweden, a Group F match, is at 7 p.m.

Turkey vs. United States, a Group D match, is at 10 p.m.

Paraguay vs. Australia, a Group D match, is at 10 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Related list: Track teams advancing to Round of 32

TOURNAMENT’S SCHEDULE

Group stage continues

June 26: There are six matches: The Group I, Norway vs. France, game is at 3 p.m. The Group I, Senegal vs. Iraq, game is at 3 p.m. The Group H, Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, game is at 8 p.m. The Group H, Uruguay vs. Spain, game is at 8 p.m. The Group G, New Zealand vs. Belgium, game is at 11 p.m. The Group G, Egypt vs. Iran, game is at 11 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 27: There are six matches: The Group L, Panama vs. England, game is at 5 p.m. The Group L, Croatia vs. Ghana, game is at 5 p.m. The Group K, Colombia vs. Portugal, game is at 7:30 p.m. The Group K, Congo vs. Uzbekistan, game is at 7:30 p.m. The Group J, Algeria vs. Austria, game is at 10 p.m. The Group J, Jordan vs. Argentina, game is at 10 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders at 7:30 p.m. on June 27. Parking is free. Broward County is offering free Express bus transportation from the arena to the Miami Stadium, also known as Hard Rock, in Miami Gardens, to FIFA World Cup ticket holders.

Round of 32 begins

June 28: There is a match at 3 p.m.

Miami watch party: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 29: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 30: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 1: There are three matches at noon, 4 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 2: There are three matches at 3 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 3: There are three matches at 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 9 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Round of 16 begins

July 4: There are two matches at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 5: There are two matches at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens for the last day from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 6: There are two matches at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

July 7: There are two matches at Noon and 4 p.m.

Quarterfinals begin

July 9: There is a quarter-final match at 4 p.m.

July 10: There is a quarter-final match at 3 p.m.

July 11: There are two quarter-final matches at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders at 5 p.m. on July 11. Parking is free.

Semifinals begin

July 14: The fan festival is closed. There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 14 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

July 15: There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 15 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

Finals begin

July 18: The third-place play-off match is at 5 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 18 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 5 p.m. bronze final.

Sunrise ride to stadium: The Amerant Bank Arena has free parking for FIFA World Cup ticket holders who ride Broward County’s free Express bus transportation to the Miami Stadium, also known as Hard Rock, in Miami Gardens.

July 19: The final match is at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 1 p.m. on July 19 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 3 p.m. final.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders for the final on July 19. Parking is free.

Related stories

• Key information for fans attending matches at Miami Stadium
• Security guard accused of stealing FIFA referee uniform from Miami Beach hotel

Track the groups

• Group A
• Group B
• Group C
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Group J
• Group K
• Group L

El partido entre Curazao y Costa de Marfil, correspondiente al Grupo E , se jugará a las 16:00.

Ecuador contra Alemania, partido del Grupo E , se juega a las 4 pm.

El partido Túnez contra Países Bajos, correspondiente al Grupo F , se jugará a las 19:00.

El partido entre Japón y Suecia, correspondiente al Grupo F , se jugará a las 19:00.

El partido entre Turquía y Estados Unidos, correspondiente al Grupo D , se jugará a las 22:00.

Paraguay contra Australia, partido del Grupo D , se juega a las 22:00.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre de 15:00 a 01:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Lista relacionada: Equipos de atletismo que avanzan a la ronda de 32

CALENDARIO DEL TORNEO

La fase de grupos continúa

26 de junio : Seis partidos: Grupo I , Noruega vs. Francia, partido a las 15:00 h. Grupo I , Senegal vs. Irak, partido a las 15:00 h. Grupo H , Cabo Verde vs. Arabia Saudita, partido a las 20:00 h. Grupo H , Uruguay vs. España, partido a las 20:00 h. Grupo G , Nueva Zelanda vs. Bélgica, partido a las 23:00 h. Grupo G , Egipto vs. Irán, partido a las 23:00 h.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 14:00 a 23:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

27 de junio : Seis partidos: Grupo L , Panamá vs. Inglaterra, partido a las 17:00 h. Grupo L , Croacia vs. Ghana, partido a las 17:00 h. Grupo K , Colombia vs. Portugal, partido a las 19:30 h. Grupo K , Congo vs. Uzbekistán, partido a las 19:30 h. Grupo J , Argelia vs. Austria, partido a las 22:00 h. Grupo J , Jordania vs. Argentina, partido a las 22:00 h.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 16:00 a 01:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Fiesta para ver el partido al amanecer : El Amerant Bank Arena, un recinto cubierto, organiza una fiesta gratuita para quienes tengan entrada a las 19:30 h del 27 de junio. El estacionamiento es gratuito. El condado de Broward ofrece transporte gratuito en autobús exprés desde el estadio hasta el Miami Stadium, también conocido como Hard Rock, en Miami Gardens, para los poseedores de entradas para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA.

Comienza la ronda de 32.

28 de junio : Hay un partido a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 13:00 a 22:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

29 de junio : Hay tres partidos a la 1 pm, 4:30 pm y 9 pm.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas desde el mediodía hasta la medianoche en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

30 de junio : Hay tres partidos a la 1 pm, a las 5 pm y a las 9 pm.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas desde el mediodía hasta la medianoche en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

1 de julio : Hay tres partidos a las 12:00, a las 16:00 y a las 21:00.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre de 11:00 a 23:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

2 de julio : Hay tres partidos a las 15:00, 19:00 y 23:00.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 14:00 a 22:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

3 de julio : Hay tres partidos a las 14:00, 18:00 y 21:30.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 13:00 a 21:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Comienza la ronda de octavos de final.

4 de julio: Hay dos partidos a la 1 pm y a las 5 pm.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas desde el mediodía hasta la medianoche en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

5 de julio : Hay dos partidos a las 16:00 y a las 20:00.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas el último día de 15:00 a 23:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

6 de julio : Hay dos partidos a las 15:00 y a las 20:00.

7 de julio : Hay dos partidos a las 12:00 y a las 16:00.

Comienzan los cuartos de final

9 de julio : Hay un partido de cuartos de final a las 16:00.

10 de julio : Hay un partido de cuartos de final a las 15:00.

11 de julio : Hay dos partidos de cuartos de final a las 17:00 y a las 21:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido al amanecer : El Amerant Bank Arena, un recinto cubierto, organiza una fiesta gratuita para quienes tengan entrada a las 17:00 horas del 11 de julio. El aparcamiento es gratuito.

Comienzan las semifinales

14 de julio : El festival de aficionados ha finalizado. Hay un partido de semifinales a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a las 3 pm el 14 de julio en The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para el partido de semifinales.

15 de julio : Hay un partido de semifinales a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a las 3 pm del 15 de julio en The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para el partido de semifinales.

Comienzan las finales

18 de julio : El partido por el tercer puesto se jugará a las 17:00.

Fiesta para ver la final en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a las 3 pm del 18 de julio en The Sandbowl, detrás de The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para la final de bronce de las 5 pm.

Viaje al amanecer al estadio : El Amerant Bank Arena ofrece estacionamiento gratuito para los poseedores de entradas para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA que utilicen el servicio de autobús exprés gratuito del condado de Broward para llegar al Miami Stadium, también conocido como Hard Rock, en Miami Gardens.

19 de julio : El partido final es a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver la final en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a la 1 pm del 19 de julio en The Sandbowl, detrás de The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para la final que comienza a las 3 pm.

Fiesta para ver el partido al amanecer : El Amerant Bank Arena, un recinto cubierto, organiza una fiesta gratuita para ver la final el 19 de julio para los poseedores de entradas . El estacionamiento es gratuito.

Historias relacionadas

• Información clave para los aficionados que asistan a los partidos en el Estadio de Miami.
• Un guardia de seguridad fue acusado de robar un uniforme de árbitro de la FIFA de un hotel en Miami Beach.

Rastrea los grupos

• Grupo A
• Grupo B
• Grupo C
• Grupo D
• Grupo E
• Grupo F
• Grupo G
• Grupo H
• Grupo I
• Grupo J
• Grupo K
• Grupo L

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The list of items needed included first aid kits; emergency gear such as flashlights, heavy-duty batteries, solar phone chargers, and work gloves; and baby care such as diapers.

Fraga announced that donors can drop off the items at any of the four drop-off locations that opened in Doral. Here is the list:

• GEM headquarters was open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, at 1850 NW 84th Ave.
• Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office Lobby was open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Monday to Friday, at 2700 NW 87th Ave.
• Doral Legacy Park Community Center was open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., from Monday to Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at 11400 NW 82 St.
• El Arepazo is open 24 hours from Monday to Sunday at 10191 NW 58th St.

For more information about how to make a financial donation to GEM, visit this page.

Related stories

• 2 powerful quakes hit Venezuela, killing at least 164 and injuring nearly 1,000
• Back-to-back powerful earthquakes hit Venezuela, causing widespread damage

This is a developing story.

La lista de artículos necesarios incluía botiquines de primeros auxilios; equipo de emergencia como linternas, baterías de alta capacidad, cargadores solares para teléfonos y guantes de trabajo; y artículos para el cuidado del bebé, como pañales.

Fraga anunció que los donantes pueden dejar los artículos en cualquiera de los cuatro puntos de entrega que abrieron en Doral. Aquí está la lista:

• La sede de GEM estaba abierta de 9:00 a 16:00, de lunes a viernes, en 1850 NW 84th Ave.
• El vestíbulo de la Oficina del Supervisor de Elecciones del Condado de Miami-Dade estuvo abierto de 8 a. m. a 5 p. m., de lunes a viernes, en 2700 NW 87th Ave.
• El centro comunitario Doral Legacy Park estuvo abierto de 17:00 a 21:00 horas, de lunes a viernes, y de 8:00 a 17:00 horas los sábados y domingos en 11400 NW 82 St.
• El Arepazo está abierto las 24 horas de lunes a domingo en 10191 NW 58th St.

Para obtener más información sobre cómo hacer una donación económica a GEM, visite esta página .

Historias relacionadas

• Dos potentes terremotos sacudieron Venezuela, dejando al menos 164 muertos y cerca de 1.000 heridos.
• Dos fuertes terremotos consecutivos sacudieron Venezuela, causando daños generalizados.

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An Avianca spokesperson said the move will provide the airline with additional space to accommodate increased flight activity at FLL and streamline operations for travelers flying between Fort Lauderdale and destinations across Latin America.

The airline confirmed in a news release that its first flight departing from Terminal 4 will be a service to Bogotá, Colombia, on Monday.

Airport officials said the terminal change is expected to improve passenger flow and efficiency, particularly for international travelers, while providing convenient access to U.S. Customs and Border Protection services.

“Moving to Terminal 4 gives us the space and operational flexibility needed to support our growth at FLL, improve passenger flows and better serve travelers connecting between South Florida, Latin America and the rest of our network,” the airline wrote in a statement.

The transition is being coordinated with Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the Broward County Aviation Department.

Avianca said it will also update signage, booking systems and passenger information platforms to reflect the terminal change.

Un portavoz de Avianca dijo que el cambio proporcionará a la aerolínea espacio adicional para acomodar el aumento de la actividad de vuelos en FLL y agilizar las operaciones para los viajeros que vuelan entre Fort Lauderdale y destinos en toda América Latina.

La aerolínea confirmó en un comunicado que su primer vuelo saliendo desde la Terminal 4 será un servicio a Bogotá, Colombia, el lunes.

Funcionarios del aeropuerto dijeron que se espera que el cambio de terminal mejore el flujo de pasajeros y la eficiencia, particularmente para los viajeros internacionales, al tiempo que proporciona acceso conveniente a los servicios de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de EE.UU.

“Trasladarnos a la Terminal 4 nos da el espacio y la flexibilidad operativa necesarios para apoyar nuestro crecimiento en FLL, mejorar el flujo de pasajeros y servir mejor a los viajeros que conectan entre el sur de Florida, América Latina y el resto de nuestra red”, escribió la aerolínea en un comunicado.

La transición está siendo coordinada con el Aeropuerto Internacional Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood y el Departamento de Aviación del condado Broward.

Avianca dijo que también actualizará la señalización, los sistemas de reservas y las plataformas de información para pasajeros para reflejar el cambio de terminal.

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According to a complaint affidavit from the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Criminal Investigations Division obtained by Local 10 News on Thursday, the suspects were identified as 59-year-old Phillip Salvatore Nunzio Jr. and 56-year-old Christine Ann Nunzio, of Hollywood.

Jail records show both face more than 20 charges, including racketeering, money laundering, insurance fraud and criminal use of personal identification information.

According to the affidavit, investigators determined that from at least 2017 through 2023, the couple engaged in a “recurring scheme to fraudulently obtain life insurance proceeds by falsifying employment records, insurance enrollment documents, beneficiary designations, and claim forms.”

The affidavit states that the fraudulent submissions were made primarily through group life insurance policies issued by Mutual of Omaha and Lincoln Financial Group.

Investigators said Christine Nunzio used business entities under her control, including C&C Construction and Design Group Inc., to create the appearance of legitimate employment relationships in order to enroll non-consenting individuals in group life insurance plans.

Authorities said Christine Nunzio named either herself or her husband as the beneficiary of the policies and directed claim proceeds into accounts she controlled.

According to the affidavit, following the death of an individual whose name was redacted, a life insurance claim was submitted and paid in the amount of $100,284.93. Investigators said the funds were deposited into a joint account controlled by the Nunzios.

Authorities also identified additional life insurance claims totaling $110,000 and $63,700 that were deposited into accounts controlled by the couple and followed by what investigators described as “extensive rapid fund transfers.”

“A forensic examination of Christina Nunzio’s work laptop revealed life insurance claim forms, payroll spreadsheets, job descriptions, and correspondence directly related to the fraudulent claims,” the affidavit states.

The affidavit further states that deleted files and email attachments confirmed Christine Nunzio’s active role in preparing and submitting claim documentation.

Investigators said financial records also demonstrated prior knowledge of financial distress, including loan defaults exceeding $145,000.

As of Thursday, both Phillip and Christine Nunzio were being held without bond at the Broward County Main Jail.

Según una declaración jurada de denuncia de la División de Investigaciones Criminales del Departamento de Servicios Financieros de Florida obtenida por Local 10 News el jueves, los sospechosos fueron identificados como Phillip Salvatore Nunzio Jr., de 59 años, y Christine Ann Nunzio, de 56, de Hollywood.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que ambos enfrentan más de 20 cargos, incluyendo crimen organizado, lavado de dinero, fraude de seguros y uso criminal de información de identificación personal.

Según la declaración jurada, los investigadores determinaron que desde al menos 2017 hasta 2023, la pareja participó en un “esquema recurrente para obtener de manera fraudulenta beneficios de seguros de vida mediante la falsificación de registros de empleo, documentos de inscripción de seguros, designaciones de beneficiarios y formularios de reclamación”.

La declaración jurada indica que las presentaciones fraudulentas se realizaron principalmente a través de pólizas de seguro de vida grupales emitidas por Mutual of Omaha y Lincoln Financial Group.

Los investigadores dijeron que Christine Nunzio utilizó entidades comerciales bajo su control, incluyendo C&C Construction and Design Group Inc., para crear la apariencia de relaciones laborales legítimas con el fin de inscribir a personas sin su consentimiento en planes de seguro de vida grupales.

Las autoridades dijeron que Christine Nunzio nombró como beneficiario ya sea a ella misma o a su esposo y dirigió los pagos de las reclamaciones a cuentas bajo su control.

Según la declaración jurada, tras la muerte de una persona cuyo nombre fue redactado, se presentó y pagó una reclamación de seguro de vida por $100,284.93 USD. Los investigadores dijeron que los fondos fueron depositados en una cuenta conjunta controlada por los Nunzio.

Las autoridades también identificaron reclamaciones adicionales de seguros de vida por un total de $110,000 USD y $63,700 USD que fueron depositadas en cuentas controladas por la pareja y seguidas de lo que los investigadores describieron como “transferencias rápidas extensas de fondos”.

“Un examen forense de la computadora portátil de trabajo de Christina Nunzio reveló formularios de reclamación de seguros de vida, hojas de cálculo de nómina, descripciones de trabajo y correspondencia directamente relacionada con las reclamaciones fraudulentas”, indica la declaración jurada.

La declaración jurada también señala que archivos eliminados y adjuntos de correo electrónico confirmaron el papel activo de Christine Nunzio en la preparación y presentación de la documentación de reclamaciones.

Los investigadores dijeron que los registros financieros también demostraron conocimiento previo de dificultades financieras, incluyendo incumplimientos de préstamos que superaban los $145,000 USD.

Hasta el jueves, tanto Phillip como Christine Nunzio permanecían detenidos sin derecho a fianza en la cárcel principal del condado Broward.

Esto ocurre poco más de una semana después de que los detenidos fueran trasladados fuera de la instalación del condado Collier, oficialmente el Aeropuerto de Entrenamiento y Transición Dade-Collier, citando preocupaciones por huracanes.

Un comunicado de la oficina del gobernador indica que la conferencia de prensa del jueves, programada para las 11:15 a.m., contará con la participación del zar de la frontera de la Casa Blanca, Tom Homan, y el director ejecutivo de la Junta Estatal de Control de Inmigración de Florida, Anthony Coker.

Local 10 News planea transmitir en vivo la conferencia de prensa del gobernador.

Mientras tanto, la alcaldesa de Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, anunció que su oficina tiene la intención de vender el aeropuerto propiedad del condado “al Servicio de Parques Nacionales y a otros socios autorizados de restauración de los Everglades para conservación permanente tras la eventual desactivación del centro de detención de inmigrantes que actualmente opera en el sitio”.

Un comunicado del condado indica que la oficina de Levine Cava “evaluará e identificará el proceso legal apropiado para la venta y transferencia de la propiedad para su incorporación al Plan Integral de Restauración de los Everglades”.

“Desde el principio, he planteado serias preocupaciones sobre el centro de detención ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ porque las personas han sido retenidas allí en condiciones inhumanas sin un debido proceso significativo, mientras ocupa terrenos junto a uno de los ecosistemas naturales más valiosos del mundo”, dijo Levine Cava en el comunicado. “Una vez que esta instalación sea desactivada, tenemos la oportunidad de proteger permanentemente estas tierras para la restauración de los Everglades y garantizar que permanezcan protegidas para las generaciones futuras. Ese es el legado que debemos dejar”.

El comunicado señala que la “ubicación remota, la utilidad limitada para la aviación, las importantes obligaciones de mantenimiento y la compatibilidad cada vez más restringida con las tierras de conservación circundantes han reducido su valor estratégico a largo plazo como activo de aviación”.

El aeropuerto fue construido a finales de la década de 1960 como el Everglades Jetport, con planes de convertirlo en el aeropuerto más grande del mundo y un centro de viajes supersónicos.

Bajo esos ambiciosos planes, el aeropuerto habría estado conectado con Miami mediante un monorraíl.

Pero la cancelación del avión supersónico Boeing 2707 planeado y las preocupaciones ambientales relacionadas con la ubicación en los Everglades hicieron que el proyecto nunca se materializara.

How do we know this? Researchers tickled 13 captive apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos — and recorded the results. The new research reexamined those decades-old recordings and compared them with the newly captured giggles of four young children while they were being tickled and playing at home.

It turns out that the chuckles of humans and great apes follow similar rhythms, with regular timing between their laughs, a uniting thread that likely reflects their ties to a common ancestor, researchers said.

“In a way, we are very similar to other great apes because we’ve been laughing in a similar way for 15 million years,” said study author Chiara De Gregorio, a primatologist at the University of Warwick in England.

Laughter communicates a playful, happy feeling without using words. Many animals can laugh too, but the giggles don’t follow human patterns as closely. When researchers tickle rats, for example, they respond with ultrasonic squeaks.

Scientists trying to uncover how laughter evolved have picked apart animals’ facial expressions, but less work has been done on how laughs sound. And compared with apes, human laughter has become faster and more complex. For one, our laughs sound different based on context — from a polite chuckle among colleagues to a full-bodied guffaw with close friends.

“We are like the masters of laughter, I would say,” said De Gregorio, whose findings were published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology.

These giggles evolved to best suit animals’ different social lives, said Brittany Florkiewicz, who studies animal communication at Lyon College and had no role in the new research. She said the study’s findings make sense, and point to a need for more investigation.

Florkiewicz said she’d like to hear comparable recordings of other animals with playful facial expressions, like dogs, horses and cats. That could tell us more about how laughter evolved, so we can “understand what makes us uniquely human, but also what is similar between humans and other animals.”

Studying the origins of laughter may seem corny, but it's one aspect of human communication that can help us understand others — including how we learned to speak. Because sounds don't fossilize, scientists are using the evidence we do have to trace things back, one chuckle at a time.

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

Bosnia and Herzegovina (64) advanced in third place, and Qatar (51) was eliminated from the tournament.

Related story: Track teams advancing to Round of 32

Coverage of group-stage matches

JUNE 24: DAY 4

• Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Qatar 3-1
• Switzerland beat Canada 2-1

JUNE 18: DAY 3

Canada gets 3 more points

• Game analysis: Jonathan David’s hat trick propels Canada to its first World Cup win, 6-0 over Qatar
• FIFA game video: David scores 1st goal
• FIFA game video: Nathan Saliba‘s free kick

Switzerland gets 3 more points

• Game analysis: Switzerland coach uses hydration break to spark late goal barrage in 4-1 World Cup win over Bosnia
• FIFA game video: Switzerland’s Johan Manzambi scores
• FIFA game video: Switzerland’s Rubén Vargas scores

JUNE 13: DAY 2

Qatar and Switzerland each get 1 point

• Game analysis: Boualem Khoukhi’s goal on header in stoppage time earns Qatar a 1-1 World Cup draw with Switzerland
• FIFA game video: Switzerland’s Breel Embolo scores 17th-minute penalty kick
• FIFA game video: Khoukhi’s equalizer

JUNE 12: DAY 1

Canada and Bosnia each get 1 point

• FIFA game video: Canadian Cyle Larin scores goal
• FIFA game video: Bosnian Jovo Lukić scores goal
• FIFA post-match video: Interviews with players in French, English, and Bosnian
• Canada is ready to become a soccer nation as it hosts World Cup opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina
• A Bosnian song about disillusionment with the American Dream becomes a World Cup banger

Track the groups

• Group A
• Group C
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Group J
• Group K
• Group L

South Korea (22) and the Czech Republic (41) were eliminated from the tournament.

Related story: Track teams advancing to Round of 32

Coverage of the group-stage matches

JUNE 24: DAY 3

• Mexico beats Czech Republic 3-0 to win all 3 World Cup group-stage matches for 1st time

• South Africa reaches World Cup knockout round for 1st time with 1-0 win over South Korea

JUNE 18: DAY 2

Mexico gets 3 more points

• Game analysis: Mexico becomes first country to reach knockout stage of World Cup, beating South Korea 1-0
• FIFA game video: Mexico’s Luis Romo scores
• FIFA game video: Edson Álvarez’s save

South Africa and Czech Republic each get 1 point

• Game analysis: South Africa keeps its World Cup hopes alive with a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic

JUNE 11: DAY 1

Mexico’s “El Tri” wins 2-0 against South Africa

• After-game analysis of the opening match
• 3 red cards mar opening World Cup match between Mexico and South Africa
• Get a feel for celebrations in Wynwood and in South Beach
• FIFA game video: Goal by Julián Quiñones
• FIFA game video: Goal by Raúl Jiménez
• FIFA video: Game highlights
• FIFA post-match video: Interviews of Mexican players in Spanish and South African players in English
• FIFA post-match video: Interview of Mexico’s Coach Javier Aguirre in Spanish

South Korea wins 2-1 against Czech Republic

• After-game analysis of opening match
• FIFA Video: Goal by Oh Hyeon-gyu
• FIFA Video: Goal by Hwang In-beom

Track the groups

• Group B
• Group C
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Group J
• Group K
• Group L

The single direct-knockout matches to advance into the World Cup’s Round of 16 are from June 28 to July 3. Here is the list of the qualifying teams:

The team’s without a status so far

• France (Group I)
• Norway (Group I)
• Colombia (Group K)

There will be 12 group winners. There are six so far.

• Mexico (Group A )
• Switzerland (Group B)
• Brazil (Group C)
• United States (Group D)
• Germany (Group E)
• Argentina (Group J)

There will be 12 group runner-up teams. There are three so far.

• South Africa (Group A )
• Canada (Group B)
• Morocco (Group C)

There will be eight third-place teams. There is one so far.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina (Group B)

Tournament’s schedule

June 28: There is a match at 3 p.m.

Miami watch party: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 29: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 30: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 1: There are three matches at noon, 4 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 2: There are three matches at 3 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 3: There are three matches at 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 9 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Round of 16 begins

July 4: There are two matches at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 5: There are two matches at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens for the last day from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 6: There are two matches at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

July 7: There are two matches at Noon and 4 p.m.

Quarterfinals begin

July 9: There is a quarter-final match at 4 p.m.

July 10: There is a quarter-final match at 3 p.m.

July 11: There are two quarter-final matches at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders at 5 p.m. on July 11. Parking is free.

Semifinals begin

July 14: The fan festival is closed. There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 14 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

July 15: There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 15 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

Finals begin

July 18: The third-place play-off match is at 5 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 18 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 5 p.m. bronze final.

Sunrise ride to stadium: The Amerant Bank Arena has free parking for FIFA World Cup ticket holders who ride Broward County’s free Express bus transportation to the Miami Stadium, also known as Hard Rock, in Miami Gardens.

July 19: The final match is at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 1 p.m. on July 19 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 3 p.m. final.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders for the final on July 19. Parking is free.

Track group-stage

• Group A
• Group B
• Group C
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Group J
• Group K
• Group L

The movie mogul still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York and others in California, and he remains behind bars. But the New York rape charge had remained unresolved after an overturned conviction followed by two hung juries. The judge formally dismissed the charge Thursday.

Weinstein had a neutral expression as court officers led him out of court in his wheelchair. The Oscar-winning producer denies all the accusations.

The rape charge concerned an allegation that he raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013. Mann has testified that she also had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with Weinstein, who was married at the time.

But she told jurors she repeatedly tried to leave and said no to any sexual activity as he cornered her in the hotel room. She said he persevered, demanding that she undress and grabbing her arms, until she was afraid to keep protesting.

“After a lot of thought and reflection, I have chosen not to proceed with a fourth trial against Harvey Weinstein,” Mann wrote in a letter that a prosecutor read to the court. “It was clear to me at this last trial I could no longer endure going through this any longer.”

The trial took a visible toll on Mann, 40, who testified for five days and was questioned for the first time about a diary-like, soul-baring note she wrote two days after the alleged rape, which the note did not mention. At one point during her testimony, Mann said she was struggling to focus, prompting court to wrap up early for the day.

Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said Thursday that prosecutors believe Mann and hail her “bravery, strength, courage and inspiration” to other survivors, but given her feelings about proceeding, “dismissal is appropriate.”

The 74-year-old Weinstein, meanwhile, reported chest pains during jury deliberations in the most recent trial, spurring another early end to court.

“The interests of justice would have never been to bring this case at all,” defense lawyer Jacob Kaplan said.

Weinstein was one of the movie industry’s most powerful figures, a producer of such tastemakers and hits as “Shakespeare in Love,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Chocolat.”

Then a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public in 2017, fueling the #MeToo campaign for accountability and eventually leading to criminal charges.

Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of raping Mann. Then an appeals court overturned that verdict for reasons unrelated to her testimony. Jury deliberations broke down at a 2025 retrial, and jurors deadlocked again at another retrial this spring.

The rape charge in this case was a low-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison — less time than Weinstein already has served. He faces considerably longer sentences on his other, separate convictions in New York and California, including raping an Italian actress in Los Angeles.

Weinstein didn’t testify at any of the trials, though he complained during and after the 2025 New York retrial that it was unfair; the judge disagreed.

His lawyers have maintained that all his accusers, who were trying to go places in show business, had completely consensual sexual liaisons with a movie studio boss who could help them. Weinstein himself has said he “acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.”

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they choose to be named, as Mann has done.

La samba no ahogó las gaitas, ya que el Ejército Tartán y sus faldas escocesas de lana invadieron el Hard Rock Stadium en Miami Gardens.

Las puertas del estadio se abrieron a las 3 de la tarde. Los aficionados habían llegado temprano para pasar por un control de seguridad, varias colas, largas caminatas, un viaje en autobús y la revisión de las entradas.

La demanda de entradas fue alta. Los precios de reventa iniciales oscilaron entre 1600 y 1855 dólares. Posteriormente, el precio promedio de las entradas se situó entre 3500 y 5445 dólares. Los asientos premium alcanzaron los 25 800 dólares.

Noticia relacionada : Un oráculo jaguar negro en Río de Janeiro presiente que Brasil vencerá a Escocia en el desafío del Grupo C.

Tras los partidos del Grupo C que comenzarán a las 18:00, los dos equipos con más puntos avanzarán a la siguiente fase del torneo: los dieciseisavos de final .

Brasil llega con cuatro puntos y Escocia con tres. Independientemente del ganador del miércoles por la noche en Miami, ambos podrían clasificarse. Haití disputará su último partido del Mundial contra Marruecos en Atlanta, Georgia.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 14:00 a 21:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Fiesta para ver el partido en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a las 4 pm del 24 de junio en The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para el partido entre Escocia y Brasil que comienza a las 6 pm.

Noticia relacionada : Ronaldinho dice “que empiece la magia” tras fichar por el Ravenna, club italiano de la Serie C, a los 46 años.

Progreso del Grupo C

19 DE JUNIO: DÍA 2

Brasil consigue 3 puntos

• Análisis del partido : Matheus Cunha anota 2 goles y Brasil elimina a Haití del Mundial con una victoria por 3-0.

Marruecos consigue 3 puntos.

• Cobertura previa al partido : Los aficionados escoceses han llegado a Boston para la Copa del Mundo y los bares están teniendo dificultades para dar abasto.

13 DE JUNIO: DÍA 1

Brasil y Marruecos obtienen 1 punto cada uno.

• Análisis del partido: Brasil remonta para lograr un empate 1-1 contra Marruecos en su debut en el Mundial gracias al gol de Vinícius Júnior.
• Vídeo del partido de la FIFA : Ismael Saibari de Marruecos anota.
• Vídeo del juego FIFA : ¡Un especial de Vinicius Jr.!

Escocia consigue 3 puntos tras jugar contra Haití.

• Análisis del partido : Escocia celebra su 28.º aniversario de ausencia en la Copa del Mundo con una victoria por 1-0 sobre Haití en el Grupo C.
• Vídeo del partido de FIFA : John McGinn de Escocia anota.
• Historia previa al partido : El tan esperado regreso de Haití a la Copa del Mundo conlleva un desafío formidable.

Calendario del torneo

25 de junio : Seis partidos: Grupo E , Curazao vs. Costa de Marfil, partido a las 16:00 h. Grupo E , Ecuador vs. Alemania, partido a las 16:00 h. Grupo F , Túnez vs. Países Bajos, partido a las 19:00 h. Grupo F , Japón vs. Suecia, partido a las 19:00 h. Grupo D , Turquía vs. Estados Unidos, partido a las 22:00 h. Grupo D , Paraguay vs. Australia, partido a las 22:00 h.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre de 15:00 a 01:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

26 de junio : Hay seis partidos: Grupo I , Noruega vs. Francia, partido a las 15:00 h. Grupo I , Senegal vs. Irak, partido a las 15:00 h. Grupo H , Cabo Verde vs. Arabia Saudita, partido a las 20:00 h. Grupo H , Uruguay vs. España, partido a las 20:00 h. Grupo G , Nueva Zelanda vs. Bélgica, partido a las 23:00 h. Grupo G , Egipto vs. Irán, partido a las 23:00 h.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 14:00 a 23:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

27 de junio : Seis partidos: Grupo L , Panamá vs. Inglaterra, partido a las 17:00 h. Grupo L , Croacia vs. Ghana, partido a las 17:00 h. Grupo K , Colombia vs. Portugal, partido a las 19:30 h. Grupo K , Congo vs. Uzbekistán, partido a las 19:30 h. Grupo J , Argelia vs. Austria, partido a las 22:00 h. Grupo J , Jordania vs. Argentina, partido a las 22:00 h.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 16:00 a 01:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Fiesta para ver el partido al amanecer : El Amerant Bank Arena, un recinto cubierto, organiza una fiesta gratuita para quienes tengan entrada a las 19:30 h del 27 de junio. El estacionamiento es gratuito. El condado de Broward ofrece transporte gratuito en autobús exprés desde el estadio hasta el Miami Stadium, también conocido como Hard Rock, en Miami Gardens, para los poseedores de entradas para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA.

Comienza la ronda de 32.

28 de junio : Hay un partido a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 13:00 a 22:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

29 de junio : Hay tres partidos a la 1 pm, 4:30 pm y 9 pm.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas desde el mediodía hasta la medianoche en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

30 de junio : Hay tres partidos a la 1 pm, a las 5 pm y a las 9 pm.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas desde el mediodía hasta la medianoche en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

1 de julio : Hay tres partidos a las 12:00, a las 16:00 y a las 21:00.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre de 11:00 a 23:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

2 de julio : Hay tres partidos a las 15:00, 19:00 y 23:00.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 14:00 a 22:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

3 de julio : Hay tres partidos a las 14:00, 18:00 y 21:30.

Eventos para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans se celebra de 13:00 a 21:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Comienza la ronda de octavos de final.

4 de julio: Hay dos partidos a la 1 pm y a las 5 pm.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas desde el mediodía hasta la medianoche en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

5 de julio : Hay dos partidos a las 16:00 y a las 20:00.

Fiestas para ver el partido en Miami : El festival para fans abre sus puertas el último día de 15:00 a 23:00 en Bayfront Park, en 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

6 de julio : Hay dos partidos a las 15:00 y a las 20:00.

7 de julio : Hay dos partidos a las 12:00 y a las 16:00.

Comienzan los cuartos de final

9 de julio : Hay un partido de cuartos de final a las 16:00.

10 de julio : Hay un partido de cuartos de final a las 15:00.

11 de julio : Hay dos partidos de cuartos de final a las 17:00 y a las 21:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido al amanecer : El Amerant Bank Arena, un recinto cubierto, organiza una fiesta gratuita para quienes tengan entrada a las 17:00 horas del 11 de julio. El aparcamiento es gratuito.

Comienzan las semifinales

14 de julio : El festival de aficionados ha finalizado. Hay un partido de semifinales a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a las 3 pm el 14 de julio en The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para el partido de semifinales.

15 de julio : Hay un partido de semifinales a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver el partido en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a las 3 pm del 15 de julio en The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para el partido de semifinales.

Comienzan las finales

18 de julio : El partido por el tercer puesto se jugará a las 17:00.

Fiesta para ver la final en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a las 3 pm del 18 de julio en The Sandbowl, detrás de The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para la final de bronce de las 5 pm.

Viaje al amanecer al estadio : El Amerant Bank Arena ofrece estacionamiento gratuito para los poseedores de entradas para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA que utilicen el servicio de autobús exprés gratuito del condado de Broward para llegar al Miami Stadium, también conocido como Hard Rock, en Miami Gardens.

19 de julio : El partido final es a las 15:00.

Fiesta para ver la final en Miami Beach: Las puertas se abren a la 1 pm del 19 de julio en The Sandbowl, detrás de The Bandshell, en 7275 Collins Ave., para la final que comienza a las 3 pm.

Fiesta para ver el partido al amanecer : El Amerant Bank Arena, un recinto cubierto, organiza una fiesta gratuita para ver la final el 19 de julio para los poseedores de entradas . El estacionamiento es gratuito.

Historias relacionadas

• Información clave para los aficionados que asistan a los partidos en el Estadio de Miami.
• Un guardia de seguridad fue acusado de robar un uniforme de árbitro de la FIFA de un hotel en Miami Beach.

Rastrea los grupos

• Grupo A
• Grupo B
• Grupo C
• Grupo D
• Grupo E
• Grupo F
• Grupo G
• Grupo H
• Grupo I
• Grupo J
• Grupo K
• Grupo L

Torrey Holston y Jose Romero fueron declarados culpables en mayo por la muerte del hombre de 39 años.

En octubre de 2019, el cuerpo de Randazzo fue encontrado cerca del Southern Seas Resort en Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Su iPhone, sus zapatillas, su billetera y sus llaves fueron robados después de que recibió un disparo en la parte posterior de la cabeza.

Aunque ambos hombres fueron declarados culpables de asesinato, no fueron declarados culpables de poseer un arma ni de disparar un arma de fuego.

“Creo que el jurado fue claro y unánime sobre la participación de ambos. Quizás no pudo determinar más allá de una duda razonable quién fue el verdadero autor del disparo”, dijo el juez Michael A. Usan.

El abogado de Romero, Jim Lewis, dijo a Local 10 en mayo que se está considerando una apelación y afirmó que juzgar a ambos hombres juntos fue un “perjuicio”.

“Siempre habíamos pedido ser juzgados por separado. Nunca se alegó que Jose Romero llevara un arma en este incidente. Sí se alegó del coacusado, por lo que hasta cierto punto pagamos el precio”, dijo Lewis.

Los fiscales no estaban solicitando la pena de muerte en el caso, pero ambos hombres enfrentaban sentencias obligatorias de cadena perpetua.

The 6-3 decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

The Republican administration argued that judges cannot second-guess immigration officials' decisions about protections that were intended to be temporary.

The court's conservative majority agreed, finding that the law creating the program keeps courts out of the process. “The Secretary’s TPS designation decisions are not subject to judicial review,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote.

Immigration lawyers said the countries at issue remain unsafe for migrants to return and they argued that the administration ended the protections in an unlawfully hasty process tinged by racial animus. During Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, he amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats.

The court majority found that the statements from Trump and his administration were not “overtly racial." Alito said that Haitian people should not face character attacks. “But whatever one may think of the cited statements, they are insufficient to show that the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation was based on the race of the Haitian people,” he wrote.

The court's three liberal justices dissented, writing that the law does allow for judges to step in if officials sidestep the process for ending the protections. Race, meanwhile, does appear to have played a role, Justice Elena Kagan wrote.

“The evidence is there, plain to see, in the President’s statements, which the majority (and for that matter, his own lawyers) cannot even bear to repeat,” she wrote. “Respectfully, I dissent from the Court’s decision that they may instead be put on the next plane."

Lawyers for the Haitian immigrants said the Haitians would be in danger if they were sent back. “Simply put, the Supreme Court’s ruling will directly result in thousands of innocent people dying violent, needless deaths,” Geoff Pipoly and Andy Tauber said.

They urged the Senate to approve an extension of deportation protections for Haitians. That measure has languished since it was passed the House on a rare bipartisan vote in April.

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, also condemned the decision.

“This ruling is a devastating betrayal of Haitian families who have lived, worked, and contributed to this country for years –- only to be cast out based on anti-Black immigration sentiment,” he said.

The Department of Justice appealed to the Supreme Court after judges postponed the end of the program for about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The high court sided with the administration before and allowed the end of the program for people from Venezuela.

Federal authorities deny prejudice played a role. They also cited a Supreme Court decision from Trump’s first term that rejected bias claims based on his social media posts and upheld a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, DHS has ended the protections, including some that had been in place for more than a decade, for people from 13 countries.

The terminations were made even though countries such as Haiti and Syria remain dangerous, immigration lawyers said. Four Haitian women who were deported from the United States in February were found beheaded and dumped in a river several months later, lawyers said in court documents.

The United States first granted protections to Haitians in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and extended them multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents.

Syrians were first granted protected status in 2012, during a civil war that lasted for more than a decade before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in late 2024.

The program was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife and other instability. It allows people already in the country to stay with work permits in increments of up to 18 months, but it does not provide a path to citizenship.

Leer en español

Haitians, who have been struggling with gang violence, had a reason to celebrate. Coach Sébastien Migné, a former player, made it happen.

In South Florida, Haitian Americans had a rallying cry, “Grenadye, alaso!” for “Warriors, advance!” Lenny Joseph and Wilson Isidor listened.

On Wednesday, during the 10th minute of a definitive match against Morocco, Joseph, 25, became Haiti’s first FIFA World Cup 2026 scorer.

Haiti had not scored a FIFA World Cup goal since the legendary Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff couldn’t stop Emmanuel Sanon from scoring in 1974 in Munich.

At the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou also could not stop Joseph’s swift back-heeled flick at the near post.

Isidor, 25, made FIFA World Cup history with a goal from outside the box at the 43rd minute. The forward’s powerful shot flew into the top corner.

Jean-Kévin Duverne, a defender, delivered the two assists: A low cross pass to Joseph and a short pass to Isidor just outside the penalty area.

Morocco won 4-2, and Brazil won 3-0 against Scotland in Miami Gardens. Both advanced in Group C to the tournament’s Round of 32.

Although the road was over for Haiti after the June 19 match against Brazil, the stadium in Atlanta was full of Haitian fans. The team had also gained new fans from other countries.

In Colombia, the owner and employees of Saeta, a company that sponsored the Haitian players’ jerseys, were grateful. They had never displayed their brand at a FIFA World Cup before.

THE RISING STARS

Joseph and Isidor, who were both born in France, are both of Haitian descent.

Joseph was born in Paris. His father, Djimon Joseph, is of Haitian descent, and his mother is from Congo. He plays for the Hungarian club of Ferencváros.

Isidor was born in Rennes. His father is also from Haiti, and his mother is French. He plays for the English Premier League’s Sunderland A.F.C.

Duverne, who is of Haitian descent, was also born in Paris. He plays as a right-back for Belgian Pro League club Gent while on loan from French club Nantes.

More on the FIFA World Cup

• FIFA video: Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide
• FIFA video: Haiti trains before match with Morocco
• FIFA video: Match preview: Haiti vs. Morocco
• FIFA video: Haiti trains before match with Brazil
• How Brazil advanced to Round of 32 after 3-0 victory against Scotland
• Over 65,000 Brazilian and Scottish FIFA World Cup fans celebrate love of soccer at Miami Stadium
• About 30,000 FIFA World Cup fans join big Miami Bayfront Park watch party
• Dedicated World Cup fans arrive early to the Miami Stadium
• One and Only Exclusive: Feds allow behind-the-scenes look at Miami Stadium security during FIFA World Cup

Los haitianos, que han estado lidiando con la violencia de las pandillas, tenían un motivo para celebrar. El entrenador Sébastien Migné , un exjugador, lo hizo posible.

En el sur de Florida, los haitianos-estadounidenses tenían un grito de guerra, “Grenadye, alaso!”, que significa “¡Guerreros, avancen!”. Lenny Joseph y Wilson Isidor escucharon.

El miércoles, en el minuto 10 de un partido decisivo contra Marruecos, Joseph, de 25 años, se convirtió en el primer goleador de Haití en la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026.

Haití no había marcado un gol en una Copa Mundial de la FIFA desde que el legendario portero italiano Dino Zoff no pudo evitar que Emmanuel Sanón anotara en 1974 en Múnich.

En el Mercedes-Benz Stadium de Atlanta, el portero marroquí Yassine Bounou tampoco pudo detener el rápido taconazo de Joseph en el primer palo.

Isidor, de 25 años, hizo historia en la Copa Mundial de la FIFA con un gol desde fuera del área en el minuto 43. El potente disparo del delantero se coló por la escuadra.

Jean-Kévin Duverne, defensa, dio las dos asistencias: un pase raso cruzado a Joseph y un pase corto a Isidor justo fuera del área de penalti.

Marruecos ganó 4-2 y Brasil venció 3-0 a Escocia en Miami Gardens . Ambos avanzaron en el Grupo C a los dieciseisavos de final del torneo .

Aunque la trayectoria de Haití había terminado tras el partido del 19 de junio contra Brasil , el estadio de Atlanta estaba repleto de aficionados haitianos. El equipo también había ganado nuevos seguidores de otros países.

En Colombia, el propietario y los empleados de Saeta , empresa que patrocinaba las camisetas de los jugadores haitianos, se mostraron agradecidos. Nunca antes habían exhibido su marca en una Copa Mundial de la FIFA.

LAS ESTRELLAS ASCENDENTES

Joseph e Isidor, ambos nacidos en Francia, son de ascendencia haitiana.

Joseph nació en París. Su padre, Djimon Joseph, es de ascendencia haitiana, y su madre es del Congo. Juega en el club húngaro Ferencváros.

Isidor nació en Rennes. Su padre también es de Haití y su madre es francesa. Juega en el Sunderland AFC de la Premier League inglesa.

Duverne, de ascendencia haitiana, también nació en París. Juega como lateral derecho en el Gent, club de la Primera División belga, mientras está cedido por el Nantes francés.

Más información sobre la Copa Mundial de la FIFA

• Vídeo de la FIFA: El portero de Haití, Johny Placide
• Vídeo de la FIFA: Haití entrena antes del partido contra Marruecos.
• Vídeo de la FIFA: Previa del partido: Haití vs. Marruecos
• Vídeo de la FIFA: Haití entrena antes del partido contra Brasil.
• Cómo Brasil avanzó a los dieciseisavos de final tras su victoria por 3-0 contra Escocia.
• Más de 65.000 aficionados brasileños y escoceses de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA celebran su pasión por el fútbol en el Estadio de Miami.
• Cerca de 30.000 aficionados al Mundial de la FIFA se unieron a la gran fiesta para ver el partido en Miami Bayfront Park.
• Los aficionados más fieles al Mundial llegan temprano al estadio de Miami.
• Exclusiva única : Las autoridades federales permiten un vistazo entre bastidores a la seguridad del estadio de Miami durante la Copa Mundial de la FIFA.

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According to an arrest report from the Medley Police Department, Michael Turro-Cabrera, 43, of Pembroke Pines, was arrested Tuesday on charges of grand theft of cargo under $50,000 and organized fraud.

His co-defendant, Yasmany Aguiar-Gonzalez, 39, remains at large.

According to police, the Apple products were stolen on Nov. 28 and Nov. 29, 2025, while the items were supposed to be in the care of Turro-Cabrera, who at the time was a driver for FedEx Freight.

Police said FedEx Freight formally reported the thefts on Dec. 18, 2025, after Apple confirmed shortages totaling $22,507.28 on Nov. 28 and $8,658.20 on Nov. 29.

FedEx Freight confirmed that Turro-Cabrera was fired on Dec. 18, 2025, for “policy violations,” including unexplained extended stops and “timeclock manipulation” that was discovered during an internal review, the arrest report stated.

According to the report, surveillance video from Nov. 28 shows Turro-Cabrera making an unauthorized stop in a Pinecrest alleyway in his assigned FedEx Freight truck before a gray Dodge pickup truck arrived and backed up directly to the rear of the truck “in a manner consistent with a back-to-back cargo transfer.”

Police said the video “strongly suggests” that items were moved from the FedEx Freight trailer into the pickup truck before a white male drove away in the pickup truck.

According to the report, a phone records check revealed that Turro-Cabrera placed a call to Aguiar-Gonzalez at the exact time he arrived in the Pinecrest alleyway.

Police said FedEx Freight personnel reviewed the footage and identified the driver of the pickup truck as Aguiar-Gonzalez, who they said was a former driver of theirs who had also been terminated after working for the company for eight years.

“FedEx Freight does not tolerate illegal activity within our network,” a company spokesperson told Local 10 News in a statement after Turro-Cabrera’s arrest. “The security of our customers’ shipments is a top priority, and we fully cooperate with law enforcement on investigations. This individual is no longer employed by the company.”

Anyone with information about Aguiar-Gonzalez’s whereabouts is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Según un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Medley, Michael Turro-Cabrera, de 43 años y residente de Pembroke Pines, fue arrestado el martes por cargos de hurto mayor de carga menor a $50,000 USD y fraude organizado.

Su coacusado, Yasmany Aguiar-Gonzalez, de 39 años, permanece prófugo.

Según la policía, los productos Apple fueron robados el 28 y 29 de noviembre de 2025, mientras los artículos debían estar bajo el cuidado de Turro-Cabrera, quien en ese momento era conductor de FedEx Freight.

La policía dijo que FedEx Freight reportó formalmente los robos el 18 de diciembre de 2025, después de que Apple confirmó faltantes por un total de $22,507.28 y $8,658.20 el 29 de noviembre.

FedEx Freight confirmó que Turro-Cabrera fue despedido el 18 de diciembre de 2025 por “violaciones de política”, incluyendo paradas prolongadas sin explicación y “manipulación del reloj laboral” que fue descubierta durante una revisión interna, indica el informe de arresto.

Según el informe, un video de vigilancia del 28 de noviembre muestra a Turro-Cabrera realizando una parada no autorizada en un callejón de Pinecrest con su camión asignado de FedEx Freight antes de que una camioneta pickup Dodge gris llegara y retrocediera directamente hasta la parte trasera del camión “de una manera consistente con una transferencia de carga de parte trasera a parte trasera”.

La policía dijo que el video “sugiere fuertemente” que los artículos fueron movidos desde el remolque de FedEx Freight hacia la camioneta pickup antes de que un hombre blanco se marchara conduciendo la pickup.

Según el informe, un análisis de registros telefónicos reveló que Turro-Cabrera realizó una llamada a Aguiar-Gonzalez exactamente en el momento en que llegó al callejón de Pinecrest.

La policía dijo que el personal de FedEx Freight revisó las imágenes e identificó al conductor de la pickup como Aguiar-Gonzalez, quien, según indicaron, era un ex conductor de la compañía que también fue despedido tras trabajar para la empresa durante ocho años.

“FedEx Freight no tolera actividad ilegal dentro de nuestra red”, dijo un portavoz de la compañía a Local 10 News en un comunicado tras el arresto de Turro-Cabrera. “La seguridad de los envíos de nuestros clientes es una prioridad principal, y cooperamos plenamente con las autoridades en las investigaciones. Este individuo ya no trabaja para la compañía”.

Cualquier persona con información sobre el paradero de Aguiar-Gonzalez debe llamar a Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477.

Según la policía de Fort Lauderdale, el choque con fuga fue reportado alrededor de las 6:40 a.m. en la cuadra 2000 de Southeast 17th Street.

La policía dijo que la ciclista fue atropellada por un vehículo de color oscuro en los carriles en dirección este antes de que el conductor huyera de la escena.

La víctima fue trasladada al Broward Health Medical Center, donde murió, confirmaron las autoridades.

Investigadores de Homicidios de Tráfico se encuentran actualmente en la escena y los carriles en dirección este de Southeast 17th Street estarán cerrados durante la investigación, dijo la policía.

Cualquier persona con información sobre el choque o la identidad del conductor debe llamar a la policía de Fort Lauderdale o a Broward Crime Stoppers al 954-493-8477. Los llamantes pueden permanecer anónimos.

The justices, in a 6-3 decision, overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day, first under the Obama administration and then expanded during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Advocates said the tactic created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people settled in unsafe makeshift shelters to await their turn. The Trump administration said it was necessary to deal with an increase of asylum seekers at the border.

The policy isn't in place now, though authorities have imposed other restrictions on asylum seekers.

The administration argued that metering is a critical tool that’s been used by presidents of both parties and should stay available. Federal attorneys say people turned away at the border could come back later, though lines were thousands of people long when the policy was in place before.

The case is one of several immigration suits is considering this term, including Trump’s push to end restrict birthright citizenship and his administration’s effort to strip legal temporary protections for migrants fleeing instability and armed conflict.

Under federal law, migrants who arrive in the U.S. must be able to apply for asylum and be screened for fear of persecution in their home countries.

The Justice Department argued that people stopped by authorities haven’t arrived in the country, so immigration agents don’t have to let them apply.

The court's conservative majority agreed. “A guest does not arrive in a house when he knocks on the front door,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote.

But attorneys for people seeking asylum say the law has long meant anyone arriving at a port of entry should be screened, and blocking arrivals disregards the nation’s ideals.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the bench, saying that the majority’s opinion “regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty.”

In an unusual exchange, Alito voiced a response after she finished speaking. He expressed surprise that she had read her dissent out loud and defended his opinion by pointing out that the policy had been used during two presidential administrations. “I won’t add anything more to that,” Alito said.

Metering was first used under President Barack Obama when large numbers of Haitians appeared at the main crossing to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico. It was expanded to all border crossings from Mexico during Trump’s first term in the White House.

It ended in 2020 when the government introduced greater restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, and President Joe Biden formally rescinded it in 2021.

The same year, a California-based federal judge found that metering violated the asylum seekers rights and the law requiring screening. A divided appeals court panel affirmed the ruling but nearly half of judges on the full San Francisco-based court voted to rehear it, a strong signal that might have caught the attention of the Supreme Court.

U.S. law allows people seeking refuge to apply for asylum once they are on American soil, regardless of whether they came legally. To qualify for asylum, they must show a fear of persecution in their homeland for specific reasons, like race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

People who are eventually granted asylum can’t be deported. They can legally work, bring in immediate family, apply for legal residency and seek citizenship.

___

Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.

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For now, our computer models aren’t particularly bullish on tropical development odds, with Google’s DeepMind’s newest 1,000-member ensemble system showing only about a 10 percent chance of development from off the southeast U.S. to the northern Gulf for the latter part of next week.

Though the odds are low, it’s worth monitoring the trends, as waters are especially warm in the subtropical Atlantic east of Florida – at record to near-record warmth for the time of year – and wind shear will be less of a deterrent than in the main tropical belt where the subtropical jet will be slicing and dicing through would-be storms.

Additionally, if anything were to develop, it would be closer to land and likely steered back in the direction of the U.S. for the July 4^th holiday weekend.

For now, it’s not anything to worry about, but something we’ll want to check back on in the coming days and into next week.

Otherwise, as we’ve discussed in newsletters this week, the Atlantic will stay closed for business, with no development expected through the end of the month.

Por ahora, nuestros modelos informáticos no son particularmente optimistas sobre las probabilidades de desarrollo tropical, ya que el sistema de conjunto más reciente de DeepMind de Google, compuesto por 1000 miembros, muestra solo alrededor de un 10 por ciento de probabilidad de desarrollo desde la costa sureste de EE. UU. hasta el norte del Golfo para la última parte de la próxima semana.

Aunque las probabilidades son bajas, vale la pena monitorear las tendencias, ya que las aguas están especialmente cálidas en el Atlántico subtropical al este de Florida (con temperaturas récord o casi récord para esta época del año) y la cizalladura del viento será un factor disuasorio menor que en el cinturón tropical principal, donde la corriente en chorro subtropical estará cortando y desgarrando las posibles tormentas.

Además, si se desarrollara algún proyecto, estaría más cerca de tierra firme y probablemente se dirigiría de nuevo hacia Estados Unidos para el fin de semana festivo del 4 de ^julio .

Por ahora, no hay nada de qué preocuparse, pero es algo que revisaremos en los próximos días y la semana que viene.

De lo contrario, como ya hemos comentado en los boletines informativos de esta semana, el Atlantic permanecerá cerrado al público y no se prevén novedades hasta finales de mes.

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According to Fort Lauderdale police, the hit-and-run crash was reported at about 6:40 a.m. in the 2000 block of Southeast 17th Street.

Police said the bicyclist was struck by a dark-colored vehicle in the eastbound lanes before the driver fled the scene.

The victim was transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where she died, authorities confirmed.

Traffic Homicide investigators are currently at the scene and the eastbound lanes of Southeast 17th Street will be shut down during the investigation, police said.

Anyone with information about the crash or driver’s identity is asked to call Fort Lauderdale police or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477. Callers may remain anonymous.

JUNE 24: DAY 3

Brazil advanced with a 3-0 victory over Scotland at the Miami Stadium, and Morocco advanced with a 4-2 victory over Haiti.

• Vinícius Júnior scores 2 goals as Brazil beats Scotland 3-0 to reach World Cup knockout stage

• Haitian pride: Lenny Joseph and Wilson Isidor make FIFA World Cup history

JUNE 19: DAY 2

Brazil gets 3 points

• Game analysis: Matheus Cunha scores 2 goals as Brazil eliminates Haiti from World Cup with 3-0 win

Morocco gets 3 points

• Pre-game coverage: Scotland fans have descended on Boston for the World Cup, and bars are struggling to keep up

JUNE 13: DAY 1

Brazil and Morocco each get 1 point

• Game analysis: Brazil rallies for 1-1 draw against Morocco in its World Cup opener behind Vinícius Júnior’s goal
• FIFA game video: Morocco’s Ismael Saibari scores
• FIFA game video: A Vinicius Jr. special!

Scotland gets 3 points after playing against Haiti

• Game analysis: Scotland marks 28-year World Cup absence with 1-0 victory over Haiti in Group C
• FIFA game video: Scotland’s John McGinn scores
• Pre-game story: Haiti’s long-awaited World Cup return comes with formidable challenge

Track the groups

• Group A
• Group B
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Group J
• Group K
• Group L

The high court's 6-3 decision means people can carry guns onto privately owned property like shopping malls and gas stations, unless the owners specifically say guns are banned at their establishments. It comes shortly after the court found that marijuana users can't be completely banned from owning firearms.

It's a win for President Donald Trump's Republican administration, which argued the law violates the Second Amendment. The measure was sometimes referred to as a “vampire rule" because it required people with guns get permission to enter, like vampire lore says bloodsuckers need an invitation to enter a home.

Hawaii argued that the 2023 measure ensured private owners could decide whether they wanted firearms on their property. The state passed the law as thousands more people got legal permission to carry guns in the wake of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that found the Second Amendment gives most people the right to have guns in public.

About four other states have enacted similar laws, though presumptive restrictions for guns on private property open to the public have also been blocked elsewhere.

Hawaii also restricts guns in places like parks, beaches and restaurants that serve alcohol, but those rules weren't before the court. They are being challenged in lower courts, however.

The suit before the Supreme Court was filed by a gun rights group and three people from Maui. A judge originally blocked the measure, but an appeals court allowed it to be enforced. Trump's Republican administration backed the Supreme Court appeal.

It's one of two gun cases on the docket this term. The other is over whether people who regularly use marijuana and other drugs can legally own guns.

They're the latest in a series of gun cases that have come before the Supreme Court in the wake of its 2022 ruling that led to a flood of challenges to firearm restrictions around the country. The justices have since struck down a ban on bump stocks, gun accessories that enable rapid firing, but upheld a federal gun law intended to protect domestic violence victims as well as strict regulations on firearms known as ghost guns, which are nearly impossible to trace.

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

Thapelo Maseko scored in the 63rd minute off a precise cross from Tshepang Moremi and South Africa finished in second place in Group A behind Mexico, which won all three of its group-stage games.

South Africa will take on Canada, the second-place finisher in Group B, in a knockout game Sunday at Inglewood, California.

Maseko had five total shots in the match and leads South Africa with eight shots in the tournament.

When Maseko was asked what he would tell his younger self about his accomplishment, the Mamelodi Sundowns forward said: “The one thing I would say is ‘keep dreaming.’”

South Africa had opened its World Cup with a 2-0 loss to Mexico before using a late goal to earn a 1-1 draw with Czech Republic. It entered its final group-stage needing to defeat South Korea in order to advance. Bafana Bafana had failed to advance from the group stage in 1998, 2002 and as host in 2010.

South Africa head coach Hugo Broos described the faith he had in his team despite the difficult start to the tournament.

“The mentality in this group is amazing,” Broos said. “Everybody is working for everybody. We are not afraid of other teams.”

Sphephelo Sithole, who received a red card in the opening game against Mexico, also earned a start and helped South Africa keep a clean sheet.

“In the first two, three days, it wasn’t easy,” Sithole said. “I needed to pick myself up. I’m very proud of myself because I did.”

Maseko, who plays for South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, missed two big chances early in the match before scoring the winner.

The 22-year-old received the ball from a cross on the right side of the box — cut inside — and struck the ball low with his left foot through a defender’s legs and into the bottom corner.

South Africa’s bench players ran across the sideline to celebrate with Maseko for his first World Cup goal.

When the final whistle was blown, the bench stormed the field and the players embraced each other.

“(The final whistle) for me was a rush of emotions not only because we won the game, but also because it will probably be one of the last games of my career,” the 74-year-old Broos said. “When you can end a career in this way, I think every coach dreams of it.”

South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo raised some eyebrows when he decided not to start Son Heung-min, and instead bring him in as a substitute. He said that he preferred to bring Son onto the field when the South African defenders were lower on energy.

“If I knew the result beforehand, I probably would have made some different choices.” Hong said. “On the world stage like this, the responsibility is ultimately down to the head coach.”

South Korea opened this World Cup with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Czech Republic and lost to Mexico 1-0 in its second game. The Taegeuk Warriors could still advance in the tournament, pending the results of other games this week.

South Korea became the first Asian team to reach the knockout round in 2002, when it finished fourth overall. The Taegeuk Warriors also advanced out of the group stage in 2010 and 2022, both times reaching the round of 16.

___

Maya Koluder-Ramirez is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Mateo Chávez and Julián Quiñones scored in a six-minute span early in the second half, and Mexico beat the Czech Republic 3-0 on Wednesday to complete wins in all three of its World Cup group-stage matches for the first time.

The 22-year-old Chávez, in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 55th minute and Quiñones scored his second goal of the tournament in the 61st. Alvaro Fidalgo added a goal in stoppage time.

“It was something very beautiful, and I’ll take it with me to the grave,” Chávez said of his goal. “I imagined it many times; I dreamed of this.”

Mexico’s previous best group-stage performance was two wins and one draw, done in 1986 and 2002 and both featuring Javier Aguirre, the first as a midfielder and the second as El Tri’s coach. Aguirre is back as coach this year, his third stint leading the national team.

After topping Group A, Mexico will play again at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday in a round-of-32 match against an opponent to be determined.

“Now comes the knockout stage; statistics and data don’t matter. We’re achieving things, but what lies ahead is what counts,” Aguirre said. “Neither the players nor I dwell on what we’ve just done; we’re thinking about what’s next.”

Mexico is undefeated at nine World Cup matches at the massive stadium, which was packed with 80,824 fans on Wednesday. El Tri has only two losses at Azteca, most recently in World Cup qualifying against Honduras on Sept. 6, 2013.

The match Wednesday included nods to Mexico’s past and future. Gilberto Mora, at 17, became the youngest Mexico player to start in a World Cup. And 40-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa entered in the 77th minute, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to appear in six World Cups.

Mora said “it’s like a dream come true after everything I’ve worked for.”

“Now we have tough opponents ahead,” he added. “We’re going to keep working to stay on this path. We want to keep advancing because the Mexican national team can become champion.”

Mexico’s triumph was marred, however, by the return of a homophobic chant by fans that has previously led to fines and other sanctions against its soccer federation. The chant, a one-word slur, was heard near the end of the first half when Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar took a goal kick.

The Czech Republic was eliminated, finishing with one point in three games.

Mexico is unbeaten in 11 games dating to a friendly loss against Panama last November. And Aguirre has made the most of his roster, using 25 of 26 players in the tournament. Chávez was one of five starters Wednesday who didn’t start in the previous win over South Korea.

“Twenty-five of the 26 have played — that is no small detail — nor is it a small detail that everyone celebrates the goals,” Aguirre said.

Ochoa makes history in his likely farewell

Ochoa, who wears No. 13, played the last 13 minutes in regulation, plus stoppage time, in what’s likely to be his last appearance for Mexico. He turns 41 on July 13 and plans to retire from international competition after the World Cup.

“Life — football — had this farewell in store for me, to cap it all off perfectly. For my part, I’ve left it all out there; I gave everything,” Ochoa said. “I leave with nothing left because I poured it all into my teams and the national squad.”

He was a substitute in the 2006 and 2010 tournaments and started for Mexico in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

“I felt Memo had to play (but) for how long? I never knew until I said, ‘This is the moment,’” Aguirre said. “These are coaching decisions, but it was a night for Mexico to honor its legend, Memo.”

Raúl Rangel is the starter this year, stepping in for the injured Luis Ángel Malagón, who helped Mexico win the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup last year. Malagón’s injury opened the door for Ochoa’s return.

Ochoa became the oldest Mexican to play in the World Cup. The previous record holder was Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who was 37 when he played in South Africa in 2014.

After the match, the veteran goalkeeper kissed the goal post before kneeling down and was hugged by the rest of the squad.

“Regarding Memo’s appearance, we don’t know if he’s going to say goodbye or not, but it was a nice tribute for his six World Cups,” added Aguirre. “He is a legend — he is Mexican.” ___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

The case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against the global agrochemical manufacturer Bayer, which acquired Roundup when it bought its original manufacturer Monsanto in 2018.

The decision is a victory for the Trump administration, but one that could be tricky politically since allies in the Make America Healthy Again movement want to rein in pesticide use.

The high court, in a 7-2 ruling, found that the company can’t be sued in state courts because federal regulations have found a cancer link unlikely and do not require a warning label.

The decision “is good for science, farmers, and industries that depend on regulatory clarity for innovation,” Bayer said in a statement. “It should help significantly contain the Roundup litigation after nearly a decade of legal battles.”

Though Bayer said the ruling should result in the dismissal of pending lawsuits containing failure-to-warn allegations, the company said it plans to proceed with a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement intended to resolve many of the remaining claims.

Lawyers for some residents pursuing Roundup litigation criticized the court's decision.

“This Supreme Court ruling wrongly slams the courthouse door on Americans sickened by pesticides," said attorney Christopher Seeger, who is proposed as a claimants’ representative in the settlement. But he said a settlement still would allow some people to receive compensation.

The case before the Supreme Court was filed by Missouri resident John Durnell. He developed a cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after more than 20 years of serving as the neighborhood association’s “spray guy,” using Roundup on parks in his historic St. Louis community.

A jury agreed that the company failed to warn him about possible cancer dangers and awarded him $1.25 million. It’s one of thousands of similar cases, including some multibillion-dollar damage awards.

There’s still fierce debate about cancer and Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the chemical as “probably carcinogenic” in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that it’s not likely to cause cancer in humans when used as directed.

The agency approved a label without a cancer warning, and Bayer argues that it’s required to follow those federal standards — not the state laws that Durnell and others have sued under. The ruling still could allow other suits alleging problems with the way the product was designed, his attorney Ashley Keller has said.

Bayer disputes the cancer claims but previously set aside $16 billion to settle cases, and earlier this year proposed a $7.25 billion class-action settlement. A federal judge recently ruled that the proposed settlement will be heard in a Missouri state court, where many of the lawsuits have been filed. At the same time, the company has tried to persuade states to pass laws shielding it from liability in failure-to-warn lawsuits, and three states have agreed.

About 200,000 Roundup-related claims have been made against Bayer, mostly from home users. It has stopped using glyphosate in Roundup sold in the U.S. residential lawn and garden market.

The company has said it might have to consider pulling glyphosate from U.S. agricultural markets if it keeps getting sued. Agricultural industry group say could have a devastating effect on the food supply.

But pesticides have also created a rift between the Trump administration and members of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s MAHA movement, adding to their frustration with an executive order aimed at boosting glyphosate’s production.

Kennedy himself has said repeatedly that glyphosate causes cancer, even as he says he recognizes the executive order was necessary for food supply and national security reasons.

___

Associated Press writer David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo., contributed to this report.

The Charlotte Hornets agreed to trade Ball, their starting point guard, and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for power forward Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round draft pick, three first-round pick swaps and three future second-round picks, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal, first reported by ESPN, has yet to be approved by the league.

The three first-round pick swaps will be in 2028, 2029 and 2030. The Hornets also get three second-round picks in 2029, 2032 and 2033.

The 24-year-old Ball, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, had three years left on a franchise-record five-year, $203.9 million designated rookie contract.

An All-Star in 2022, Ball has struggled with ankle and foot injuries during his career, but he played in 72 games last season and averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, helping the Hornets win 44 games before being blown out in the play-in tournament by the Orlando Magic.

Ball finished second in the league in 3s made last year with 272, one behind rookie teammate Kon Knueppel.

Ball is considered an exceptional offensive player, but his shortcomings on the defensive end were at times a source of irritation for coach Charles Lee.

Still, Ball's ability to create opportunities for his teammates off the dribble, his exceptional passing and unique knack for getting off 3-pointers — with shots often coming off one foot — via a stepback move, make him one of the league's most dynamic scoring point guards.

But Ball was never able to get the Hornets to the playoffs in his six seasons with the club, with injuries playing a role. Before this season, Ball missed 141 games over the previous three seasons.

This trade is expected to be included as part of the transaction in which Minnesota agreed to send Julius Randle to Brooklyn in a deal that involved the Chicago Bulls, a second person with knowledge of the agreement told the AP. It will create an NBA-record trade exception of nearly $41 million for the Hornets.

The deals cannot be finalized until July 6, when the league moratorium on such moves is lifted.

It’s another blockbuster for the league, which has seen Giannis Antetokounmpo getting traded by Milwaukee to Miami for a package that includes Tyler Herro, a move that followed the Randle deal before the draft.

The Hornets are expected to re-sign unrestricted free agent Coby White to serve as their starting point guard.

White, the all-time leading scorer in North Carolina high school basketball history, averaged 15.6 points and 3 assists per game while shooting 39.1% from 3-point range last season for the Hornets after being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bulls.

Reid, 26, has spent all seven of his NBA seasons with the Timberwolves.

After reaching the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025, the Timberwolves stagnated at times last season and were ousted in six games in the second round of the playoffs by the runner-up San Antonio Spurs.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly has never been shy about aggressive pursuit of roster improvement, from the package of draft picks he sent the Utah Jazz in 2022 for defensive ace Rudy Gobert shortly after taking the job in Minnesota, to the stunning trade of franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks two years ago.

To make this work, the Timberwolves had to give up one of the most popular players in their history in Reid, the 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year who would’ve been in line for a starting spot after the departure of Randle.

The 6-foot-11 Reid, who went undrafted out of LSU in 2019, worked his way into an excellent offensive player with a shooter’s touch from the outside who has the quickness to get to the rim. Playing through a painful shoulder injury this season, Reid appeared in 77 regular-season games while averaging 13.6 points and a career-best 6.2 rebounds per game.

Their five-game loss in 2025 to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder and their defeat by the Spurs last month made clear to the Timberwolves that they’re not yet at the championship level they’ve been chasing since building their roster around 2020 first overall pick Anthony Edwards. Now they’ll have the third pick in that draft to play next to Ball, one of the few remaining pure point guards in a league that has evolved toward more volume scorers serving as the primary initiators of the offense.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch lamented after the season his abrupt decision to make Edwards the starting point guard, a move Finch said last month set the whole team back.

Trusty veteran Mike Conley will be a free agent and is now more of a limited-role player, leaving Minnesota's front office looking outward for ball-handling options. The agreement to bring back Ayo Dosunmu went a long way toward solidifying the backcourt for the long term, but he’s more of a combo guard who can thrive off the ball.

Connelly even hinted at a move like this on Tuesday night after the first round of the draft.

“We have to ensure that we’re creating as many good shots as possible, specifically for Ant, and whether that’s on our present roster or whether it’s looking outside of our team, it’s something that we certainly have to address,” Connelly said.

Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson is expected to address the deal at a Thursday news conference in which the team is scheduled to introduce first-round draft picks Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr.

___

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami and AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Según la Patrulla de Carreteras de Florida, el choque ocurrió alrededor de las 2:30 a.m. en los carriles en dirección norte de South Dixie Highway cerca de Southwest 127th Avenue.

Los agentes dijeron que el conductor del Tesla gris chocó contra la parte trasera del camión, que formaba parte de una caravana de camiones que circulaban lentamente en el área, a aproximadamente 20 mph.

Los conductores de los camiones acababan de terminar de trabajar calle arriba antes de que ocurriera el choque, dijeron las autoridades.

Ambas mujeres, quienes según las autoridades tenían entre finales de los 20 y principios de los 30 años, fueron declaradas muertas en la escena.

“Esa es la esposa de mi hijo – una de esas muchachas”, dijo Constantine Allwood a Local 10 News. “Siento algo por ella porque es muy joven. Se supone que debía vivir su vida.”

Los cuerpos de las víctimas fueron retirados del Tesla poco después de las 7 a.m.

No está claro qué causó que el conductor chocara contra la parte trasera del camión.

La U.S. 1 fue cerrada entre Southwest 240th Street y 232nd Street después de la colisión.

La investigación sobre el choque continúa en curso.

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According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash occurred at about 2:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes of South Dixie Highway near Southwest 127^th Avenue.

Troopers said the driver of the gray Tesla crashed into the back of the truck, which was part of a caravan of trucks driving slowly in the area, at about 20 mph.

The truck drivers had just finished working up the street before the crash occurred, authorities said.

Both women, who authorities said were in their late 20s or early 30s, were pronounced dead at the scene.

“That’s my son’s wife – one of those girls,” Constantine Allwood told Local 10 News. “I feel a way for her because she’s very young. She’s supposed to live out her life.”

The victims’ bodies were removed from the Tesla shortly after 7 a.m.

It’s unclear what caused the driver to crash into the back of the truck.

U.S. 1 was closed between Southwest 240th Street and 232nd Street after the collision.

The investigation into the crash remains ongoing.

Into the weekend, the heat will carry on with just a few thunderstorms each day. The majority of the weekend will be dry. There is not a noticeable bump in rain chances until Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April’s increase and down from 0.7% in March.

The increase was largely driven by more expensive gas, as well as pricier semiconductors and other computer equipment that are in high demand for the AI buildout. Rising prices have caused the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve to keep their key rate unchanged this year, a reversal from January when they had penciled in two cuts. Some economists forecast the central bank could lift rates this year instead.

“Underyling inflation is closer to 3% rather than 2%,” said Mark Vitner, chief economist at Piedmont Crescent Capital. "It does suggest to me that the next Fed move, whenever it comes, is more likely to be a hike than a cut.” The Fed probably won't raise rates until next year, he added.

Oil and gas prices have fallen substantially since Trump agreed to a peace deal with Iran earlier this month, but the conflict lifted gas prices to nearly $4.50 a gallon on average nationwide in May. They have since fallen back to $3.92 as of Thursday, according to AAA, but that's more than 20% above prices at this time last year as the driving season gets underway.

Declining gas prices will likely pull down headline inflation next month, yet measures of underlying inflation remain stubbornly elevated and will be a concern for the Fed. Excluding the volatile energy and food categories, core prices rose 3.4% in May compared with a year earlier, up from 3.3% in April and the largest increase since October 2023. On a monthly basis, they rose 0.3% from April to May, the same as the previous month.

Higher gas prices aren't the only thing worsening inflation. The AI buildout has made computer components more expensive, and Apple announced last week that it would raise prices for its computers and iPads because of the higher costs. Services prices also rose sharply last month, lifted by more expensive restaurant meals, hotel rooms, auto repairs, and health care.

At the same time, consumers appear willing to keep spending and boost the economy. Adjusted for inflation, spending rose 0.3% from April to May. And inflation-adjusted incomes rose for the first time in four months, picking up 0.3%, which could bolster consumer spending in coming months.

A separate report Thursday showed that the economy expanded at a 2.1% annual rate in the first three months of the year, an upgrade from a previous estimate of 1.6%. And the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign that layoffs remain low.

New Fed chair Kevin Warsh last week underscored the central bank’s determination to drive inflation back to its 2% target, but he gave no sign of what steps the Fed might take. Some economists, however, now expect the central bank to increase rates this year. Those expectations upended U.S. markets this week, hammering fast-growing sectors like tech.

Inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% target for more than five years, leaving many Americans more gloomy about the future. Vitner points out that inflation hadn't topped 2.5% for nearly a decade before the pandemic, likely making the inflation spikes since then even harder to accept for most households.

Thursday’s report covers the personal consumption expenditures price index, a lesser-known measure compared to the consumer price index, which was released earlier this month and showed a similarly large increase. The Fed prefers the PCE index because it puts less weight on housing and also reflects changes in how Americans shop when prices rise, such as when consumers buy cheaper off-brand items.

The new inflation data arrives a day after Trump refused to sign housing legislation, approved by Congress, that is intended to spur more construction and lower home prices over time, a response to Americans' concerns about rising costs.

Trump responded to the CPI report earlier this month by saying he “loved the inflation.” He has previously dismissed Democrats’ focus on “affordability” as a “hoax.”

Inflation jumped to 9.1% under former President Joe Biden, but even as it fell back closer to 2% in 2024, voters remained angry about the cumulative rise in the cost of groceries, rent, and other necessities.

The PCE price index was last below 2.5% in April 2025, when Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs. Inflation then climbed steadily to 2.9% just before the Iran war.

The growth in gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — marked a rebound from a sluggish 0.5% in the last three months of 2025 when a 43-day federal government shutdown weighed on the economy. Thursday’s numbers were an upgrade from of Commerce’s previous first-quarter estimate of 1.6% growth.

Business investment surged, probably reflecting an investment boom in artificial intelligence. But consumer spending, which accounts for around 70% of U.S. economic activity, fell sharply from fourth-quarter 2025 and from Commerce’s previous estimate in a sign that consumers may be cutting back in the face of higher gasoline prices caused by the war with Iran.

“It was unsettling to see consumer spending revised even lower,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said in a commentary. "Spending is likely to tick up in (the second quarter), but it’s worth watching carefully... It’s been a tough few months for American consumers, but most have been able to make it through. The question is how much relief is coming” as the U.S. and Iran continue talks toward a resolution of the conflict.

Excluding housing, private investment jumped 10.6%, up from 2.4% in fourth-quarter 2025. In a sign of the AI boom, investment in information-processing equipment jumped at a 39.9% pace as companies scrambled to outfit their data centers. But Michael Reid, head of U.S. economics at RBC Capital Markets, said before Thursday’s report came out that “unfortunately, it’s not a sustainable path.’’ He expects data center investment to lose momentum going forward.

Residential investment, weighed down by high interest rates, dropped 7.8% from January through March, biggest fall since late 2022 and the fifth straight quarterly decline.

The federal government's spending and investment rose at a 9.4% clip in the first quarter after dropping 16.6% in October-December 2025 largely because of the government shutdown.

Imports, which are subtracted from GDP, grew at a slower pace than last estimated from January through March. They still subtracted 1.49 percentage points from first-quarter growth, but that was down from a 2.59 percentage-point hit in the previous estimate and was a major factor in Thursday's upgrade.

The U.S. economy — the world’s biggest — has continued to chug along despite the Iran energy shock. The American job market has proven especially resilient. Employers added an average 188,000 jobs a month from March through May after adding fewer than 10,000 a month in 2025 amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade and immigration policies.

Thursday’s report was the Commerce Department’s third and final estimate of first-quarter GDP growth. The first look at second-quarter economic growth is due July 30.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 20 fell by 12,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Despite concerns that the war in Iran would trip up an already wobbly labor market, hiring has picked up in recent months following a miserable 2025 that saw fewer than 200,000 job gains. For comparison, about 1.5 million jobs were added in 2024.

U.S. employers delivered a surprising 172,000 new jobs in May and the economy is averaging 188,000 job gains in the three months since the Iran war began in late February. That’s the best three months of hiring since early 2024. The unemployment rate remains historically low at 4.3%.

The government issues its June jobs report next week.

Job openings also rose in April as employers posted 7.6 million vacancies, up from 6.9 million in March and the most since May 2024.

The government also reported Thursday that the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a new three-year high in May as gas prices peaked due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s southern border, where one-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes every day.

Consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since April 2023, largely driven by more expensive gas. While energy prices have fallen considerably from their peak during the Middle East conflict, those higher prices put the squeeze on consumers’ budgets for months and may have made businesses more reluctant to hire.

Last week, Iran and the U.S. agreed to a deal to end the war and allow Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and sell its oil without restrictions.

With inflation still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, officials at the U.S. central bank left the benchmark interest rate at its most recent meeting last week.

Lower interest rates can boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to stoke inflation, leading a number of Fed policymakers to say they are actually willing to consider at least one interest rate hike this year. That could potentially help bring inflation down, but higher borrowing costs generally make businesses more reluctant to hire.

The Federal Reserve has signaled that it could raise interest rates at least once before the end of the year. Wall Street sees an 85% chance that the central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate this year, according to date from CME Group.

Optimism over artificial intelligence has also injected a degree of uncertainty about the job market due to the investment required to develop it and because the powerful technology could alter or even replace some jobs.

Among the companies that have cut jobs recently are Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney, Starbucks and Walmart.

Weekly jobless aid applications have stabilized in a range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. economy emerged from the pandemic recession. However, hiring began slowing about two years ago and tapered further in 2025 due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates meant to control inflation.

Thursday's report showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 750 to 224,250.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending June 13 increased by 21,000 to 1.82 million.

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Officials said 38-year-old Precious Bland drowned the baby, claiming she was trying to baptize everyone in the house, on Aug. 23, 2021.

Bland’s 38-year-old husband and 16-year-old daughter were stabbed in the incident and survived.

“God is good. This doesn’t bring back my daughter,” she said Wednesday after the verdict. “I’m thankful. I love my children. Just ready to get my life back together, my husband and my children -- just move forward.”

Authorities discovered the victims at a home located on Northwest 99th Street near 30th Avenue, where they also found Bland suffering from stab wounds determined to be self-inflicted.

Bland’s attorney said she was suffering from a COVID-19 induced psychosis.

“From the first day that I was hired to represent Precious Bland, having done the research, because there’s so much that we don’t know about COVID, and this was one of the first cases in the country to go to trial on COVID-19 to the defense of murder,” said attorney Larry Handfield.

Four other children, all under the age of 11, were in the home at the time of the attack, but they were not harmed.

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The 12-story condominium building collapsed in the early morning hours of June 24, 2021, while many residents were asleep inside. Ninety-eight people lost their lives.

During the Lighting of the Torch ceremony at Veterans Park, a torch was presented as a symbol of hope, resilience and remembrance.

“This torch is more than a light -- it is a promise, a promise that we will forever remember, that we will honor, that we will never allow these lives to be forgotten,” one speaker said.

A firefighter participating in the ceremony echoed that message.

“And let the light shine through all of us,” the firefighter said.

Only three people were rescued alive from the rubble following the collapse. Among them was Devin Gonzalez, who was 16 years old at the time. Her mother also survived.

Gonzalez lost her father in the tragedy.

“The rest of my family, my sister made it out because she wasn’t home that night, but my father was one of the 98 people that passed away, so he did not make it,” Gonzalez said.

Five years later, Gonzalez said the pain remains, but she hopes lessons learned from the collapse will help prevent a similar disaster from happening again.

“Yes, it’s angering and it’s hurtful, but to focus on the future, on things that we can do so that nothing like this ever happens again,” she said.

Among the speakers was Rachel Spiegel, daughter of Judy Spiegel, who died in the collapse.

“Five years since my mother went to sleep in the place that she called home and never came back,” she said.

Raquel Oliveira, the mother of Lorenzo Oliveira and wife of Alfredo Leone, both of whom passed away during the incident, also spoke.

“My son was 5 years old on that day,” she said. “From today on, I’ll have more time without Lorenzo than with him.”

A rescue expert from Israel, whose team specializes in locating people trapped in collapsed structures, said they worked around the clock to help in every way they could.

“We are honored to be able to help,” he said. “It’s a mitzvah to help the other, even if you don’t know the person. We are all humans and it doesn’t matter where we are. We are together to help each other -- one for all and all for one.”

For many first responders who spent weeks searching through the debris, the memories remain vivid.

“When we say we are never going to forget, we are never going to forget,” a firefighter said. “And those who were here — the thousands of first responders and community leaders that were here — we can never forget.”

The annual ceremony served as both a tribute to the 98 lives lost and a reminder of the lasting impact the collapse continues to have on families, survivors and the South Florida community.

Another remembrance ceremony at 88th Street and Collins Avenue in Surfside was held later in the morning.

The tragic anniversary comes after the National Institute of Standards and Technology released a report stating that the deadly destruction of the condominium actually started weeks before it collapsed into a pile of rubble in the middle of the night.

According to the report, two connections between garage columns and the pool deck started to fail around early June 2021. The combination of a structure design that did not meet building codes and alterations made to it over its 40 years meant that the other parts of the pool deck weren’t strong enough to withstand the extra load, leading to the type of slow-motion collapse.

A whistleblower who said she was fired without due process spoke to Local 10 News this week about what happened regarding City Manager Darvin Williams, who was previously fired by the city of Opa-locka for similar complaints.

Kerlyn McHenry said several staff members are working in fear.

She had served as interim director of Public Works for the city of North Miami Beach, where she was known as process-driven, methodical, and, according to a letter of recommendation, “innovative and results-driven” and “highly respected,” which is why she says she was stunned when she was suddenly demoted, then fired, after flagging a series of procurement and accounting concerns for Williams.

“It alluded to capital funds being misappropriated, which is not a true statement at all, and so once I forwarded that to the manager, of course within hours police officers as well as HR was at my door,” she said. “I was pretty scared. I didn’t think that it was warranted.”

Michael Pizzi is McHenry’s attorney who, on Monday, sent the city a notice of their intent to sue.

“A violation of the Florida Whistleblower Statute, abuse of power, and a variety of other violations of federal, state, and local statutes,” said Pizzi. “Right now, the city of North Miami Beach, Ms. McHenry, and other employees are really being terrorized by the new administration.”

Court records show Williams is named a defendant in other suits, including a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a former North Miami Beach employee who claims she was terminated without due process.

“It is a fear zone,” said McHenry. “Everyone’s afraid of Darwin Williams in the city of North Miami Beach.”

Williams hasn’t been with the city very long, formally installed in February.

Before that, he was with the city of Opa-locka.

In early-February, two days before he was formally sworn-in, Opa-locka’s Commissioner Natasha Ervin spoke in front of the North Miami Beach commission.

“After giving Darvin Williams a contract, everything went awry,” said Ervin. “Darvin terminated employees without due process. He even terminated one employee while he was away fulfilling his duty as an Army reservist. After firing Darvin Williams, it was discovered that he opened 17 bank accounts in the city’s name at a financial institution that we don’t do business with.”

In a memo dated on June 17, Williams told the mayor and city commission that in March, he assumed “additional responsibilities of interim chief financial officer.”

In May, Ervin filed a defamation suit against Williams, claiming he was falsely accused of a crime when she moved to hold him accountable. She is also represented by Pizzi.

“If the city of North Miami Beach commissioners had simply done a Google search, they would have known that this is what was going to happen,” said Pizzi.

Local 10 News reached out to Williams for comment but he had not replied as of the time of this story’s publication.

North Miami Beach Mayor Michael Joseph, who was the only “no” vote against hiring Williams, released a statement to Local 10 News.

“The city commission faces a decision to stop Mr. Williams’ disruptive management decisions or remain silent and complicit while we continue to loose good and qualified employees. I was the only No vote against Mr. Williams’ hiring as City Manager because he publicly stated that he did not meet the minimum qualifications for the position. Despite my strong objections, the City Commission decided to allow Mr. Williams to prove himself or prove that my objections were correct and that his previous employer was right to fire him.”

North Miami Beach Mayor Michael Joseph

MCHENRY NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUE:

Claiming wrongful demotion and wrongful termination, the notice states: “Our client contends these actions were not isolated events but were part of a coordinated effort to remove her from employment in retaliation for her protected complaints and whistleblower activity while treating her differently than similarly situated male employees.”

FROM THE FEDERAL LAWSUIT:

“Plaintiff, Marline Monestime, brings this civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 to obtain legal recourse against the Defendants for the deprivation of her constitutionally protected property interest in her continued employment with the City of North Miami Beach without due process, in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

“WHEREFORE Plaintiff, Marline Monestime, demands the entry of a judgment in her favor and against Defendant, City of North Miami Beach, after trial by jury, declaring and determining that it violated her due process rights, reinstating her employment to the position she would have held, with all attendant wages and benefits, awarding her damages, lost past and future wages and employment-related benefits, mental anguish and emotional distress damages, awarding her attorney’s fees, costs, and all interest allowed by law, and such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.”

Trump harangued GOP senators face-to-face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues.

Also, congressional Democrats called for investigations Wednesday into renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as the ongoing drama over the president’s problem-plagued, $16 million rehabilitation project continued to roil the capital.

Heres' the latest:

Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to end legal protections for migrants fleeing violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria, exposing hundreds of thousands more people to potential deportation.

The decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly end temporary protected status, a program that protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

The Trump administration argued judges can’t second-guess immigration officials’ decisions about the protections, which were intended to be temporary.

Immigration attorneys said the countries remain unsafe to return, and the administration ended them in an unlawfully hasty process tinged by racial animus. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats.

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Supreme Court clears way for the Trump administration to revive a restrictive immigration policy

The policy was once used to turn back migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The justices overturned a lower court order blocking the practice that limited the number of people who could apply for asylum each day under the Obama administration and during Trump’s first term.

Advocates said the tactic created a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people settled in unsafe makeshift shelters to await their turn. The Trump administration said it was necessary to deal with an increase of asylum seekers at the border.

The policy isn’t in place now, though authorities have imposed other restrictions on asylum seekers.

The administration argues that metering is a critical tool that’s been used by presidents of both parties and should stay available.

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Trump’s showdown with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy

President Trump was attending a private lunch Wednesday with the Senate GOP when he wondered aloud how anyone could have voted for a war powers resolution a day earlier that seeks to block further U.S. military action against Iran.

Cassidy, one of the four Republicans who backed the measure, was ready with an answer.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, recounted to reporters afterward. “This is supposed to last four weeks. It’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

Things deteriorated from there.

When Cassidy told Trump he would continue voting for war powers resolutions until there’s a congressional briefing on developments in Iran, the senator recalled that Trump “did not particularly care for my comments” and “raised his voice.”

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic,” the person said.

Cassidy acknowledged losing his temper, which he said was “not appropriate.”

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— Steven Sloan and Lisa Mascaro

Oil tankers use new route through Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian threats

Several tankers made their way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday using a new route promoted by a U.N. maritime agency. Iran has threatened vessels using the path, which runs along the coast of Oman.

The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing talks about the interim deal signed last week with the United States.

Traffic through the strait has increased but is still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 a barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.

The two sides are still debating terms of the deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

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Key inflation gauge jumps to 3-year high in latest sign of affordability challenges

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a new three-year high in May as gas prices peaked, a sign rising costs could pose political problems for President Trump as midterm elections near.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that consumer prices rose 4.1% in May from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since April 2023. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.4% last month, matching April’s increase and down from 0.7% in March.

The increase was largely driven by more expensive gas, as well as pricier semiconductors and other computer equipment that are in high demand for the AI buildout. Rising prices have caused the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve to keep their key rate unchanged this year, a reversal from January when they had penciled in two cuts. Some economists forecast the central bank could lift rates this year instead.

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Lawmakers demand answers as turmoil over Reflecting Pool repair continues

Congressional Democrats called for investigations Wednesday into renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as the ongoing drama over the president’s problem-plagued, $16 million rehabilitation project continued to roil the capital.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate demanded answers about the saga that’s been highlighted in the news cycle for weeks, even as the White House has repeatedly blamed — without evidence — unidentified vandals for peeling paint and other problems. Six people have been arrested, President Donald Trump said, without providing details, and a local wildlife nonprofit conducted necropsies on dead ducks found near the Reflecting Pool. The president has said the pool may need to be drained once again for additional repairs.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, challenged the Trump administration over no-bid contracts for work on the Reflecting Pool, saying they were awarded to vendors with previous relationships to Trump.

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Senate Republicans reject war powers resolution after Trump berates them at Capitol meeting

Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote Wednesday to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.

Trump harangued GOP senators face-to-face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.

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In 2018, the music became a musical show.

Now, South Florida gets to experience the Tony Award-winning spectacle.

Much like Morrisette’s album, “Jagged Little Pill, the Musical” takes you on a journey.

Kimberly Doreen Burns plays the lead, Mary Jane Healy -- a role that Burns’ lived experiences helped her connect with.

From the Amatura Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the musical is brought to life by Slow Burn Theater, a local professional actors company that has leaned into diversity and the eclectic when it comes to its productions.

Los equipos de rescate trabajan en las zonas más afectadas para liberar a personas atrapadas bajo los escombros.

Los terremotos de 7,2 y 7,5 grados de magnitud son los más fuertes registrados en Venezuela en más de un siglo y han causado daños en el principal aeropuerto del país y el colapso de decenas de edificios.

Aquí los últimos acontecimientos registrados en Venezuela:

Opositor Edmundo González pide ayuda a la comunidad internacional

El opositor venezolano Edmundo González pidió a la comunidad internacional ayuda humanitaria de emergencia para Venezuela.

“Hago un llamado a los países amigos, a los organismos humanitarios y a los millones de venezolanos que viven fuera de nuestras fronteras. Por favor, acompañemos a nuestro pueblo en estas horas”, dijo González, exiliado en España, en sus redes sociales.

González, candidato presidencial en las elecciones de 2024, afirmó que el país enfrenta la emergencia con un sistema de salud, infraestructura y capacidades de respuesta debilitados tras años de deterioro institucional, y agradeció la labor de rescatistas, personal sanitario y voluntarios. “Lo que debió ser inversión para proteger vidas no lo fue”, afirmó.

Al menos 25 fallecidos en Caracas

En una entrevista con la cadena estatal Venezolana de Televisión, la alcaldesa de Caracas, Carmen Meléndez, afirmó que al menos 25 de los fallecidos se encuentran en la capital.

La funcionaria habló frente a un edificio derrumbado en el barrio de San Bernardino, una zona residencial situada al norte de Caracas, con un casco rojo puesto.

Presidenta de México anuncia que rescatistas y médicos irán a Venezuela

La presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, anunció que un primer equipo de rescatistas militares y personal médico partirán en las próximas horas hacia Venezuela. Añadió que una vez que lleguen y hablen con las autoridades, “determinaremos mañana mismo el personal adicional que se requiera para poder ayudar siempre a los pueblos que lo necesiten”.

Líderes del mundo muestran su pesar y ofrecen su ayuda

El secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Marco Rubio, declaró en la red social X que su país está desplegando “de inmediato equipos de búsqueda y rescate, recursos médicos y ayuda humanitaria" en Venezuela. “Nuestros pensamientos están con todos aquellos que han perdido a seres queridos, con los heridos y con los valientes equipos de rescate que trabajan sin descanso tras la catástrofe”.

El presidente francés, Emmanuel Macron, recurrió a la misma red social para expresar la solidaridad de Francia con el pueblo venezolano y afirmó que un equipo de 85 rescatistas franceses especializados en operaciones de búsqueda y desescombro está siendo desplegado “de inmediato” en Venezuela.

El presidente brasileño, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, dijo que ha dado instrucciones a la Cancillería para que evalúe la situación en Venezuela en coordinación con la embajada brasileña en Caracas y determine “qué medidas de ayuda" podría adoptar Brasil.

Personal de la salud de Cuba coopera en la atención a los damnificados

El presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel envió sus condolencias a Venezuela por los fallecidos en los sismos e indicó que “el personal cubano de la Salud coopera activamente en la atención a los damnificados” en su cuenta de X.

Cuba y Venezuela fueron estrechos aliados políticos e ideológicos durante décadas hasta la intervención en enero de Estados Unidos en el país sudamericano que derivó en la caída del entonces presidente Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela vendía petróleo a la isla y ésta envió miles de médicos y personal de salud cooperante a lo largo de más 20 años.

El programa de salud y cooperación cubano no fue desmantelado completamente con la captura de Maduro.

Antecedentes; otro potente sismo en 1967

El sismo más cercano y con una potencia también mortífera data del 29 de julio de 1967. Tuvo una magnitud de 6,5 causando la muerte a 283 personas y unos 2.000 heridos.

“Pensé que no viviría para ver otro como ese. Recuerdo que estábamos viendo el Zorro”, la clásica serie de Disney, dijo a The Associated Press Carmen Cecilia, una jubilada de 78 años, quien no dio su apellido. “Salimos corriendo, no regresamos (a casa) hasta el día siguiente; pero no me asusté tanto como ahora”.

La jubilada destacó que en 1967 Venezuela era muy distinta. “Ahora todo es más difícil”.

Venezuela, que posee las mayores reservas probadas de petróleo del mundo, acusa una larga crisis social, política y económica que empujó a millones de personas a dejar el país en busca de mejores condiciones de vida.

La Guaira, uno de los estados más perjudicados

Los supervivientes se abrazaban y contemplaban los edificios derrumbados y las grietas abiertas en las calles de La Guaira.

Dayana Delgado, madre de tres hijos, dijo que estaba desesperada porque su hijo de 8 años había desaparecido. “Quiero saber dónde está, si está atrapado o en un refugio”, afirmó.

Delgado se preguntó dónde estaba la maquinaria pesada que habían prometido los funcionarios del gobierno y señaló que los vecinos son quienes excavan entre los escombros.

“Lo he perdido todo, todo. El piso, el coche, la moto, todo", afirmó por su lado Cristian Carreño. “Al menos estamos vivos, gracias a Dios”.

Cerca de allí, los supervivientes estaban sentados en un campo polvoriento, con sus pertenencias metidas en bolsas de plástico.

Colombia ofrece ayuda y dice que no hay colombianos afectados

La Cancillería de Colombia anunció que no tiene reportes de colombianos afectados o que requieran asistencia consular en Venezuela. También señaló en un comunicado que dispuso equipos especializados de búsqueda y rescate que están “listos para su eventual despliegue de acuerdo con las necesidades que determinen las autoridades venezolanas”.

Los sismos de la víspera se sintieron en las regiones del Caribe y del noreste de Colombia y en ciudades de la Amazonía de Brasil. Ambos son países limítrofes con Venezuela.

Vecinos destacan labores de rescate en curso

José Vitriago le dijo a la estatal Venezolana de Televisión que sus vecinos y los equipos de rescate han sido fundamentales para salvar vidas cerca de la parroquia de San Bernardino, en Caracas.

“Fue horrible, horrible”, dijo con la voz entrecortada.

Recordó cómo un grupo de más de una decena de personas que veían un partido de fútbol del Mundial la víspera logró escapar de un edificio en su vecindario justo antes de que se derrumbara.

Vitriago señaló que tenía dos años cuando un terremoto de magnitud 6,6 sacudió Venezuela en 1967 y causó la muerte de cientos de personas. “La casa se quebró,” recordó.

Misión de ONU solicita al gobierno venezolano levantar restricciones sobre redes sociales

La Misión Internacional Independiente de Determinación de los Hechos sobre Venezuela solicitó al gobierno venezolano levantar las restricciones locales a las redes sociales resaltando que resulta fundamental “para la protección de la vida" y la seguridad de la población.

En un comunicado fechado en Ginebra, la misión indicó que se trata de una “medida prioritaria e inmediata” e instó a la estatal Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Conatel) a “restablecer plenamente el acceso a las redes sociales y a todos los medios de comunicación”.

En agosto de 2024, el ahora depuesto presidente Nicolás Maduro, en un intento por suprimir el intercambio de información entre las personas que rechazaban su afirmación de que salió victorioso en los comicios presidenciales de julio de ese año, ordenó el bloqueo de X, antes Twitter, entre otros medios a los que acusaba de prestarse para desacreditar su gobierno.

Mandatarios latinoamericanos ofrecen su ayuda

Varios gobernantes de la región de signo conservador mostraron su solidaridad con Venezuela, sin importar las diferencias ideológicas. El presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, señaló que 300 miembros de equipos de rescate y paramédicos, junto con 50 toneladas de equipamiento, medicamentos y suministros de emergencia, estaban listos para viajar a Caracas.

El presidente argentino Javier Milei también dijo estar dispuesto a brindar ayuda humanitaria en coordinación con organizaciones internacionales, si fuera necesario. En tanto, el presidente chileno José Antonio Kast afirmó que su gobierno está dispuesto a coordinar el envío de ayuda humanitaria y a desplegar equipos de rescate en Venezuela, y lo mismo indicó el presidente de la República Dominicana, Luis Abinader.

Los mandatarios de Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; de Panamá, José Raúl Mulino, y de Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, también ofrecieron su ayuda.

Estados Unidos en contacto con Venezuela

El subsecretario de Estado Christopher Landau afirmó en X que “Estados Unidos se solidariza con el pueblo venezolano tras los devastadores terremotos" y está en contacto con las autoridades para movilizar ayuda. Y terminó su mensaje diciendo en español “¡Fuerza, Venezuela! ¡Estamos con vosotros!”.

Pasar la noche a la intemperie

Cientos de personas amanecieron el jueves en las cercanías de edificios que fueron evacuados.

María Cristina Díaz, una trabajadora de limpieza de 41 años, comentó que no pudo dormir en toda la noche y que se alojó en a la Plaza Candelaria, en el centro de Caracas, porque es uno de los pocos lugares despejados en las cercanías de su casa.

Las ciudades venezolanas carecen de puntos de reunión demarcados donde las personas pueden concentrarse después de un sismo.

“Teníamos miedo que los edificios se nos vinieran encima. Pasamos frío. Mi mamá, mi hija y yo no pegamos un ojo, pero no queríamos pasar la noche solas en casa”, comentó Díaz.

Otros pernoctaron en vehículos aparcados en las calles. Las autoridades han pedido que no regresen a las casas con daños estructurales.

Clases suspendidas

El Ministerio de Educación indicó en un comunicado la noche del miércoles que se han suspendido las actividades escolares en todo el país y que las escuelas serán utilizadas como centros de acopio y refugios para atender a las familias afectadas.

Van Hollen’s endorsement, shared first with The Associated Press on the day early voting begins in Michigan, makes him the first senator to back El-Sayed since Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed him shortly after he launched his campaign last year. It also comes on the heels of big wins for progressive challengers in New York U.S. House races on Tuesday.

The Aug. 4 race in Michigan has increasingly split Democrats along ideological lines, with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer backing U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow drawing support from other prominent senators.

Democrats will need to hold the Michigan seat if they want a shot at winning the majority this year. It opened by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ retirement and former Rep. Mike Rogers has an uncontested path to the Republican nomination.

In an interview with the AP, Van Hollen said he believed El-Sayed was the “strongest” candidate who can win in November, and “the candidate who’s willing to take on the status quo.”

“When I say the status quo, I mean not just the lawless Trump administration, but take on the Democratic establishment that has not fought hard enough for working people," said Van Hollen.

Senate Democrats have split across the field

Schumer last week publicly backed Stevens, a fourth-term congresswoman from suburban Detroit who is seen as the more moderate candidate in the race. She has also been endorsed by other senators from battleground states, including Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and former Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Stevens has also benefited from heavy outside spending, including nearly $8 million this month from United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

McMorrow, a state senator, has tried to carve out her own lane between Stevens and El-Sayed as an anti-establishment candidate with a reform-focused agenda. She has won endorsements from other senators, including Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, while also drawing millions in outside support.

El-Sayed, the former Wayne County health director, has run furthest to the left on issues including Medicare for All and halting all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, making him a favorite of the party’s progressive wing. He has campaigned with popular-yet-controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has millions of followers online but has said things such as that “America deserved 9/11.”

Earlier this month, the United Auto Workers endorsed him, saying its members “want a fighter in Washington, D.C. who isn’t afraid to push forward a strong working-class agenda with moral clarity.”

Van Hollen said he believes El-Sayed is best positioned to compete in a battleground state because he is running on affordability and against what he described as a political system too influenced by wealthy donors and special interests.

“This is not about left versus right. This is about very concentrated economic and political power at the top, and everybody else,” Van Hollen said. “And he’s fighting for everybody else.”

El-Sayed praised Van Hollen after receiving the endorsement, calling it the “culmination of an ongoing conversation” and describing the senator as a “mentor.”

With progressives coming off a string of wins in New York, El-Sayed said the results reflected the same frustrations he has heard from voters across Michigan.

“It’s not surprising to me that candidates who buck that system win,” El-Sayed said. “I really hope that folks in D.C., like Chuck Schumer, decide to pay attention, finally.”

Tensions with Schumer as Democrats debate their future

Asked whether backing El-Sayed amounted to a broader rebuke of Democratic leadership, Van Hollen said the endorsement was “not about personalities” but about backing a candidate who would take on both President Donald Trump and “the establishment Democratic Party” that he said is “too cozy with big money special interests.”

Van Hollen has not called on Schumer to step aside. Asked if he would be interested in leading Democrats in the Senate, Van Hollen told the AP that he has “not thought about doing that.”

But his endorsement lands at a moment of growing friction between Democratic leadership and the party’s left flank over how aggressively to confront Trump and what kind of candidates can win in battleground states.

Those tensions were exacerbated earlier this month in Maine, where Schumer had backed Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic Senate primary before she suspended her campaign and progressive Graham Platner won the nomination.

Van Hollen has also been among the Senate Democrats urging the party to rethink its approach after the 2024 election. He framed his endorsement of El-Sayed at odds with leadership as a “difference of opinion with respect to which candidates will best connect with voters.”

“I think it's pretty clear that Abdul is the candidate who can build a grassroots movement and others are not," said Van Hollen.

The convention’s 2022 annual meeting passed a resolution apologizing to abuse survivors, several of them by name. It authorized reforms that included the creation of a database of credibly accused church workers.

It appeared to mark a reckoning within the SBC in tandem with the wider #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements — and a recognition that clergy sex abuse extended far beyond the much-publicized scandal in the Catholic Church.

But prominent survivors and advocates have largely given up trying to bring about change in the SBC after witnessing what they view as increasingly faltering efforts toward reform.

And now a counternarrative has reached the highest levels of convention leadership. Prominent Southern Baptists are promoting the view that although sexual abuse has occurred in the SBC, it never rose to a “crisis” level.

SBC president says issue of sexual abuse has been ‘weaponized’ and politicized

The SBC’s newly elected president, Florida pastor Willy Rice, has portrayed the 2022 report by consultant Guidepost Solutions as a “snipe hunt.” Rice said some people with political motives “weaponized” the issue against the large, conservative denomination.

Texas megachurch pastor Jack Graham, a former SBC president, similarly denied there was ever a “systemic sexual abuse crisis” in the denomination.

“The whole thing was a reckless hoax which has cost us not only millions of dollars but immeasurable damage to our witness,” Graham recently posted on the social media site X, alluding to costly lawsuits and impact on the SBC's reputation.

For survivors, such words are traumatizing but not surprising.

“For all those who watched us lead the reform, they also watched us get verbally attacked, maligned, bullied & in the end dropped,” survivor Tiffany Thigpen posted on X. She attended the 2022 annual meeting to advocate for reform but has avoided recent meetings.

Rice said churches should provide training on abuse prevention, report “any hint of illegal activity to the appropriate authorities” and care for victims.

The sexual-abuse reform effort “absolutely was weaponized, just like the #MeToo movement in the secular culture was weaponized,” Rice said. He drew a comparison with sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who denied them and characterized them as politically motivated.

Rice maintained that churches, like other youth-serving organizations, have learned much about the issue.

“To the degree that there have ever been times that Baptist churches or Baptist institutions did not handle abuse correctly, that has damaged our witness,” Rice acknowledged in a news conference at the conclusion of the SBC’s annual meeting earlier this month in Orlando, Florida. “We have tried very hard over the last several years to correct that.”

Rejecting the framing of sexual abuse as a crisis, once a marginal view in the SBC, is increasingly mainstream. Rice’s sole opponent for SBC president, Josh Powell, took a similar stance.

Rice was elected at an annual meeting where delegates also advanced a constitutional ban on SBC churches with women pastors, a measure requiring ratification next year.

Survivor says there's no political agenda for those speaking out about abuse

Christa Brown — a survivor of sexual abuse by an SBC pastor and longtime advocate for reforms — said that if anyone was politicizing the abuse issue, it was people involved in SBC power struggles, not the victims.

“For clergy sex abuse survivors, there has never been anything to gain in speaking out. To the contrary, it almost always comes with a heavy personal cost,” she said via email. “There's no political agenda.”

She added: “There is no place within the SBC where someone who was sexually abused by a pastor or church worker can safely report it and get a proper response. I’ve been working within this arena for over two decades, and this reality has not changed.”

The convention’s 2022 annual meeting authorized a database of church workers credibly accused of sexual abuse and the creation of a task force to oversee reforms. The task force was later discontinued without creating the database, due in part to liability concerns.

The issue was turned over to the denomination’s Executive Committee, which instead is referring churches to existing sex-offender databases while focusing on abuse prevention and education.

Brown said sexual abuse committed by clergy is uniquely traumatizing. Abusive faith leaders often manipulate the religious language of spiritual authority and forgiveness to manipulate the trust of a minor.

“Sexual abuse committed by clergy carries unique dynamics (and this is something that most SBC leaders just don’t seem to understand... or don’t want to understand),” she wrote.

Jules Woodson, a survivor who advocated for SBC abuse reforms at past meetings, said on X she has since needed to “step far away as it became apparent the #SBC has never been, & will never be, a safe place for me...A woman.”

2019 report ‘Abuse of Faith’ highlighted allegations of sexual abuse

SBC skeptics of the idea of a systemic abuse crisis often point to the numbers.

A 2019 report, “Abuse of Faith” by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, found that about 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers faced allegations of sexual abuse in the previous two decades, with more than 700 victims. The newspapers drew from publicly available records, such as arrests, lawsuits and confessions.

Skeptics said that for a denomination with more than 40,000 churches and millions of members, those numbers were lamentable but not symptoms of a widespread crisis.

But advocates note abuse often goes unreported, particularly when the perpetrator holds a position of authority and often receives protection from other church leaders.

By comparison, a landmark report on the Catholic Church, conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, benefited from access to internal church documents on cases that hadn’t gone public. It found that more than 4,000 priests were accused of abuse between 1950 and 2002, about 4% of those serving then.

“Given that publicly reported cases (which are based largely on criminal convictions) are the tip of the iceberg, people should be horrified at what the size of that tip reveals about how huge the whole of the SBC’s clergy sex abuse iceberg almost certainly is,” Brown wrote.

The Guidepost report concluded that survivors repeatedly met “resistance, stonewalling and even outright hostility from some” in the denomination’s Executive Committee. Leaders of major churches failed to report abusers to police or their congregations, the report said.

Two of those named in the Guidepost report sued the SBC for defamation; their cases are pending.

Critics also have challenged the report’s characterization of cases involving women, contending these were consensual affairs that were sinful but not abusive. The women themselves described the actions as assaults or abuse in court depositions.

But advocates for survivors say there’s ample evidence of failures at high levels, even beyond Guidepost's criticisms of the Executive Committee. They cite the 2018 firing of influential seminary president Paige Patterson over his handling of rape allegations and the multiple abuse accusations against the late Paul Pressler, once a dominant force in SBC politics.

North Carolina pastor Bruce Frank, who chaired the Sexual Abuse Task Force formed in the wake of the “Abuse of Faith” report, said survivors understandably have given up on denominational reforms.

“We made some difference. It fell short of what a lot of people who suffered through that could reasonably expect,” said Frank, pastor of Biltmore Church, based in Arden, North Carolina.

He favored a database of credibly accused pastors to help prevent predators from moving to unsuspecting congregations.

“The bottom line is, how do you protect the most people in a loosely bonded, decentralized body, in a place that heavily relies on volunteers?” he said.

___

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

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-to-3 decision that the claim by Exxon Mobil against the government of Cuba for confiscating their properties in the early 1960’s can proceed under the Helms-Burton law.

This clearly sets a precedent for the other 5,913 registered American companies to file legal procedures against the Cuban government.

June 22 update: Ramiro Valdes, one of the original Comandantes of the Cuban Revolution, dies

Ramiro Valdes, one of the original Comandantes of the Cuban Revolution, died in Cuba Sunday at the age of 94. He was the founder of the Ministry of the Interior, known for its repressive measures against the Cuban people. Valdes is credited for killing numerous Cubans who opposed the regime from the early days of the revolution. Most recently, he was responsible for training the security police in Venezuela.

June 19 update: Cuba approves 176 new economic measures

The National Assembly of the Cuban government approved 176 new economic measures Thursday to help jumpstart their moribund economy. Similar economic reforms were introduced when Raul Castro took over power from his brother, Fidel, but they failed because the government’s infrastructure could not implement them. Are these measures in time to save Cuba from a total economic disaster? Many economists even inside the island have come out and said that they are a bit too late.

On Thursday, the European Parliament approved a resolution sanctioning Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the leaders of the Cuban economic military conglomerate, GAESA. Finally, it suspended the existing agreement between the EU and Cuba.

June 17 update: Can President Trump afford another conflict?

Now that the U.S. and Iran have reached an agreement to stop the war, can President Donald Trump politically afford another conflict? This time it will be with Cuba -- a nation that will offer little military resistance to the U.S., but can also be a political trap for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s future run for the U.S. presidency.

June 11 update: Rubio announces sanctioning of CUPET:

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday afternoon the sanctioning of Cuba’s oil and gas company, Union Cuba Petroleo (CUPET). This company had been confiscated from American owners at the start of the revolution.

This is a sign that Cuba’s government has not shown any willingness to negotiate with the U.S. This action further chokes the regime who is running out of options as the socio-economic problems get worse each day that passes.

June 10 update: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visits Guantanamo Bay for operational briefings

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on Wednesday to receive updates and operational briefings on the base’s mission, according to the Pentagon.

According to Reuters, Hegseth flew into the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, marking the latest visit by a senior American official to the communist-led island as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to increase pressure on the Cuban government.

His trip comes less than two weeks after General Francis Donovan, the top U.S. military commander for Latin America, visited Guantanamo Bay and held discussions with a senior Cuban military official near the base’s perimeter.

Hegseth is the third high-ranking U.S. official to visit Cuba in recent months, highlighting Washington’s continued focus on the island amid ongoing tensions between the two countries.

June 8 update: What will be brought up during any future negotiations?

One of the issues that will certainly come up during any future negotiations between the U.S. and Cuba will be the 5,913 American companies, as well as Cuban-American properties, that were confiscated by the Cuban Revolution in the early 1960’s.

According to Mauricio Tamargo, former chairman of the Foreign Claims Office in the U.S. Department of Justice, the estimated values of these properties are in the billions.

June 3 update: Raúl Castro turns 95

Raúl Castro, the former president of Cuba, turns 95 years old Wednesday under the shadow of a criminal indictment from the U.S. and an uncertain future for Cuba with the legacy of his brother, Fidel Castro, on his shoulders.

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June 1 update: Looking to the future: Should Cuban Americans invest in Cuba?

A few months ago, Cuba’s Vice Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, who is the grand-nephew of Raúl Castro, invited Cuban Americans in exile to invest in Cuba.

In 2019, the Cuban government amended their constitution to allow foreign investment. However, they did not change their laws to protect the investments.

Therefore, the risks to invest in Cuba remain greater than the opportunities.

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

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Jail records show Joseph Anthony Ciavarella faces charges including DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in connection with the June 11 crash near Stirling Road and University Drive in Davie.

Authorities said the victim, a 55-year-old retired Hollywood police officer, was attempting to make a left turn into a shopping plaza when Ciavarella struck her vehicle.

Investigators determined Ciavarella was intoxicated and driving without headlights at the time of the crash.

Law enforcement agencies have not publicly identified the victim because sources told Local 10 News that her teenage child was in the vehicle and witnessed the crash.

“Obviously it was a tragic loss for all of us when we heard about it,” said Danielly De Andrade, a detective with the Hollywood Police Department. “She was actually my first supervisor, so I was able to work with her for a little bit.”

De Andrade said the retired officer spent about 15 years with the department.

“It’s very hard for us to hear one of our own actually get affected by this, but we see it every day, and we just urge the public to not drink and drive,” she said.

The victim’s husband also works in law enforcement, adding to the impact the loss has had on South Florida’s law enforcement community.

“This is a loss for our community,” De Andrade added. “This is something that hits home, not something you want to hear after they retire.”

Asked what he would remember most about the victim, De Andrade described her as “just a kind person, very kind, family oriented, very experienced.”

Davie police obtained an arrest warrant and took Ciavarella into custody on Friday.

He did not physically appear during court hearing that was scheduled for Monday, according to the Broward State Attorney’s Office.

A Broward County judge ordered Ciavarella to surrender his passport, wear a GPS monitor, remain within the tri-county area, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and undergo random testing twice a month.

The judge also set his bond at $252,000 and ordered him to remain at a rehabilitation hospital while receiving treatment for injuries he suffered in the crash.

The victim’s funeral was scheduled for Thursday.

Critics warn of doomsday scenarios out of a sci-fi thriller, while backers say AI will generate so much new wealth that no one should worry too much about millions of layoffs.

A new bipartisan nonprofit hopes to ensure that America can realize the economic gains promised by AI without its workers suffering.

RAISE US is starting with more than $500 million to deploy on new forms of education and training, putting a focus on partnering with states and major employers rather than the federal government.

Founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, the group aims to pilot programs and incentives to help American workers pivot to new careers in an economy that will increasingly be automated by artificial intelligence.

“We’re talking about a certain level of unemployment that could destabilize our country and our democracy,” Raimondo said in an interview. “If you want to lead the world in AI, you have to take action to make sure our democracy doesn’t crumble.”

The programs will first start in Arkansas, Maryland, Utah and Connecticut

The nonprofit is initially partnering with officials in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah, along with several of America's largest companies and charitable organizations. The group intends to develop policies that connect schools more closely to employers, so that layoffs can be replaced by the potential for new jobs with higher incomes. They also are exploring changes to corporate taxes and other incentives with the goal of keeping people working.

“Good things tend to happen when you convert have-nots into haves,” Holcomb said.

Among the companies serving as anchor partners with RAISE US are Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation and Bank of America. Other employers involved in the project include UPS, General Motors, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, chipmaker AMD, Cisco and IBM.

Raimondo, the former Democratic governor of Rhode Island who played a formative role in setting AI policy as the Biden administration’s commerce secretary, will be the nonprofit’s CEO.

The advisory board includes former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, billionaire investment manager Stephen Schwarzman, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and the economists David Autor, Erik Brynjolfsson and Raj Chetty.

AI has the potential to displace human workers from factories to offices

An April analysis by the Boston Consulting Group estimated that roughly half of U.S. jobs will be reshaped by AI over the next few years. The analysis said that as many as 25 million jobs could be eliminated in the U.S. over the next five years. Goldman Sachs, in March, separately released an estimate that a quarter of U.S. work hours could be automated by AI.

More than just a glorified search engine or a generator of video clips and novelty images, AI could fill roads with driverless trucks, create factories staffed by robots and supplant office workers, lawyers and doctors.

President Donald Trump has expressed little anxiety about the possibility of AI displacing human workers.

Asked on Tuesday ahead of touring a Mack Trucks factory in Pennsylvania if AI could cause truckers to lose their jobs, Trump told a reporter, “Right now, they’re not.”

The president has been banking on the buildout of AI data centers and power plants to drive hiring and overall economic growth. While AI-related investments have helped the economy, manufacturing has shed 68,000 jobs and the trucking transportation sector has cut 28,300 jobs since the start of Trump’s second term, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We have, right now, so many jobs that are going to be available and the biggest problem we have is getting the people,” Trump said. “So we’re really doing spectacular.”

Experts say education systems and labor policies aren't built for an AI economy

AI experts have warned of gaps between the transformations that AI could create and a 20th century social safety net of unemployment insurance and four-year college that seems ill-prepared for the scope, scale and speed of the change.

“AI is now disrupting multiple sectors simultaneously, faster than any institution can respond,” said Vivienne Ming, a neuroscientist who has written the book, “Robot-Proof: When Machines Have all the Answers, Build Better People.”

Ming said that she agrees with an argument by economists that the wealth generated by AI could create demand for more workers that could offset any job losses. But she said the skills that matter in an AI economy go beyond professions such as plumbing or construction and involve curiosity and intellectual flexibility.

“Neither our education system nor our labor policies are building the foundational human capital that AI-era work actually requires,” she said.

Raimondo said the new nonprofit wants to use states as a vehicle for testing ideas that Congress can later embrace as policies, paving the way for the possibility of more profound changes to both the tax code and the educational system.

“I don’t have a lot of hope for bold action by Congress in the next few years on this issue, and I don’t think we can wait a few years,” she said. “I also think there are many examples in history that when the federal government does take action, they will look around at what has been working in states. I feel pretty confident that they will look at the work that we’ve done.”

In new overnight strikes, Zelenskyy said Thursday that Kyiv's forces hit two more Russian oil refineries in Ufa, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the front line, and an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Ukraine.

In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up its aerial campaign against Russian military installations and energy facilities. Its success has caused fuel shortages and disrupted army supply lines, stalling Moscow’s full-scale invasion after more than four years of fighting.

Zelenskyy said in his daily address late Wednesday that Russia is moving more air defenses to the capital as well as to Valdai, a town some 500 kilometers (300 miles) northwest of Moscow and the site of a residence for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said they are also protecting the Kerch Bridge, a vital supply route connecting the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland.

“In the Moscow region alone, they have amassed hundreds of launchers” for air defense missiles, Zelenskyy said. “Nearly 90 launchers have been redeployed to Valdai from other regions of Russia.”

It was not possible to independently verify Zelenskyy's claims, which portrayed the Russian leadership as caring more about protecting itself than other cities and towns in the vast country. Russian officials made no immediate comment.

Ukrainian drones this month have hit Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city and Putin’s hometown. Ukraine is also trying to cut off Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.

The air defense changes, Zelenskyy suggested, would leave other parts of Russia vulnerable to Ukraine’s increasingly sophisticated long-range drones, which can now fly more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles).I

“There are many difficulties (for Russia), all because Putin refuses to end his war and to hear our proposals for a meeting, genuine negotiations, and a dignified peace,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Putin has refused, and a year of U.S.-led peace efforts made no significant headway.

Trump praises Zelenskyy

Western officials and analysts say Ukraine’s prospects have improved after more than four years of a grueling war of attrition as its domestic development and production of cutting-edge drones pin down the bigger Russian army.

Trump, who previously has been critical of Zelenskyy, said Wednesday the Ukrainian leader is “courageous” and “doing pretty well” in the war.

Zelenskyy said he won pledges of sustained foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including Trump, and that promised aid will further help Ukraine’s intensified campaign.

“Our operation, including the one concerning Crimea, has been carefully planned, and the way it is unfolding clearly demonstrates that if Ukraine receives exactly what we discussed with our partners at the G7 — and that depends on our partners’ decisions — we will quickly create conditions in which Russia will be forced to choose peace,” he said.

“We very much hope for a positive response from our partners,” Zelenskyy added. “They know exactly what we are talking about.”

Ukraine is wary of its neighbor Belarus

Belarus, whose factories have played a key role in supporting Moscow’s war effort, appears to have turned off signal repeaters on its soil that Kyiv says were used to help guide Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. Moscow launched its 2022 invasion of its southern neighbor from Belarus.

Zelenskyy demanded last week that Belarus, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, remove the relay equipment. He threatened to take action against the relay stations, presumably with a military strike that could bring the countries into direct conflict.

Ukrainian intelligence has determined that the repeaters are now off, Zelenskyy told journalists.

Even so, Zelenskyy said later Thursday on Telegram that “along our state border, Belarus is completing the construction of road infrastructure and storage facilities for ammunition and fuel, which have no purpose other than military use.”

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said he recently met with Zelenskyy’s representatives and warned them against using force against his country. At a meeting with the governor of the Moscow region, he said Belarus has no intention of entering the war and doesn’t want to fight Ukraine but would “stand alongside Russia.”

Ukrainian military officials on Wednesday ordered a mandatory evacuation for the approximately 1,000 people still in the Chernihiv region bordering Russia and Belarus starting July 1.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Lukashenko is walking a fine line.

“Lukashenko continues to stall and deflect the Kremlin’s intensified attempts to drag Belarus into the war in Ukraine while maintaining relatively neutral rhetoric towards Ukraine,” the institute said.

Ukrainian Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the armed forces, said last week that Ukraine is strengthening defenses on its northern border, including creating new drone units there.

Russia targets Ukraine's civilian gas stations

Russia launched a ballistic missile and 90 long-range drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.

One drone struck a gas station Thursday in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, injuring four people, said regional administration head Oleh Hryhorov, adding that Russian forces have attacked the region's gas stations 13 times in June alone.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 269 Ukrainian drones from late Wednesday until early Thursday.

Several Russian airports temporarily restricted flights overnight during drone attacks.

In other developments, the French navy intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean that is suspected of being part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of aging vessels of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging sanctions, French authorities said.

The Deliver, sailing under the flag of Cameroon, had departed from the Russian port of Primorsk, authorities said.

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

The ban has been widely celebrated by advocates who hope Vermont’s move will prompt similar action in other states to prevent the neurologic disease that robs people of control over their movements and affects about 1 million Americans.

“Vermont took the step to be the leader in this, and that’s significant because it shifts the conversation,” said Dan Feehan, with The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research. “Now, ‘will your state be the last to ban it?’ becomes the question.”

However, for some farmers, the ban could potentially threaten their already slim profit margins. Attempts to prohibit paraquat’s use in other states where the chemical is more heavily used have repeatedly stalled.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the safety of paraquat after saying there’s no clear link between the herbicide and Parkinson’s.

Syngenta, a Swiss chemicals company that has made paraquat for years, announced earlier this year that it would stop global manufacturing or selling of the chemical, but also defended the herbicide’s safety. Other companies continue to sell it.

“Despite decades of investigation and more than 1,200 epidemiological and laboratory studies of paraquat, no scientist or doctor has ever concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific analysis that paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease,” the company said.

Paraquat is used widely in the US but banned in China and Europe

First introduced in the U.S. in 1964, paraquat became a popular weed killer for farmers.

It’s known as an extremely toxic chemical that is fatal if ingested and can cause chronic health problems on contact. Farmworkers are at particular risk, which has led the EPA to require special training for certified applicators of paraquat. The roughly hourlong training requires applicators to pass a 15-question quiz, and must be completed every three years.

It’s commonly used for protecting soybean, cotton and corn crops, but also for apples and grapes, according to the United States Geological Survey. As of 2018, the USGS reported more than 10 million pounds (4.5 million kilograms) of paraquat was used in the U.S., largely concentrated in the South, Midwest and California.

Despite its popularity, dozens of countries have banned the substance. The European Union and the UK banned paraquat in 2007. China banned domestic use of paraquat in 2017, along with Vietnam and Malaysia. Thailand issued a similar ban in 2019.

Health risks and links to Parkinson's

Defenders of using paraquat say the chemical is quickly absorbed by weeds, meaning that if rain falls — even after 30 minutes of application — it won't wash off into the soil. Companies like Syngenta say paraquat becomes immobilized once it touches soil. Yet there's disagreement over its harmful effects, with the Parkinson's community warning that people living near where paraquat is applied have increased risk of getting the disease.

Whether it causes Parkinson’s disease has been heavily debated and studied for years.

Dr. Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist who directs a global health program at Boston College and has campaigned against human exposure to toxic chemicals, said multiple studies have shown that environmental factors, including exposure to pesticides like paraquat, can increase the risk for Parkinson's disease.

The Parkinson’s community considers the Vermont ban a significant victory.

“No matter how you slice and dice it, there’s no safe way to use paraquat,” said Ron McConnell, a Vermonter who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s after getting exposed to a different toxic substance at his work in 2017. “This law that Vermont just passed really is protecting the farmers that use it and the farmworkers that use it.”

The ban goes into effect Nov. 1, but the statute gives farmers using paraquat on fruit-producing orchards, berries and small fruit crops until 2030 to transition away from using the herbicide.

Vermont farmers are bracing for changes

Greg Burtt, owner of a family apple orchard and Republican Vermont lawmaker, considers paraquat a “critical tool” in his operation.

He says he believes the ban will place farmers like him at a competitive disadvantage to growers in other states who can continue using the more budget-friendly paraquat. There are alternative herbicides, but some farmers warn that those could involve chemicals that risk killing the plant if not applied carefully. Mechanical tilling, crop rotation and hand weeding are also options, but come with separate downsides, notably increased labor costs.

“There’s a reason why it’s an industry standard,” said Burtt, who's used paraquat for 20 years.

He's not worried about getting Parkinson's because he interpreted the research on the herbicide to be inconclusive.

“I wanna be the first person to make sure that it’s safe because I don’t wanna die young over farming,” Burtt said. “And so if anybody’s had to wrestle with these questions, it’s me.”

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Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

Now, they're going on public display for the first time after a nonprofit organization paid a whopping sum of more than $7 million for the sketches after they ended up on an auction block following a family dispute over their ownership.

The four 1940s-era sketches titled “So You Want to See the President!” show people from all walks of life waiting to see President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. They depict U.S. senators, members of the military, the press and even a Miss America biding their time in the West Wing reception area, as they wait to be shown to the Oval Office.

The White House Historical Association spared no expense for the sketches to prevent them from being “lost forever,” such as to a private art collection, its president Stewart McLaurin told The Associated Press. The public will be able to see them through June 2027 at the historical association’s “The People’s House” education center near the White House, he said.

“And since they had been seen by the eyes of so many presidents and first ladies and senior White House staff and important visitors from around the world, we wanted the American people to see them," McLaurin said. “So we acquired them.”

The sketches had been put up for sale by a grandson of the White House official who received them as a gift from Rockwell.

Rockwell is famous for his scenes of American life

Rockwell, who became famous for his illustrations of everyday American life that graced covers of the Saturday Evening Post, spent hours at the White House people-watching from a chair in the West Wing lobby, McLaurin said.

But after his sketches were consumed by a fire that destroyed Rockwell's art studio in Vermont, he went back to the White House to collect more material.

“So it's really a combination of his memories from that first visit, the memories of the second visit,” McLaurin said. “And it is an array of these people representing the military and White House staff and members of Congress and the press corps and all kinds of people that literally, to this day, go through that space in the West Wing.”

The first of Rockwell's colorful sketches opens with scenes of the entrance gate, photographers waiting outside the White House entrance on West Executive Avenue and Stephen Early, a former AP journalist who became the third White House press secretary under Roosevelt, in a huddle with a group of journalists. Seated on red leather chairs and reading papers are members of the press and Rockwell, with a pipe in his mouth and legs outstretched.

The next scene shows Miss America — identified as Rosemary LaPlanche, the 1941 titleholder — in a yellow dress and her sash, sitting on a red sofa alongside her publicity man. A kilt-wearing Scottish officer also sits nearby as a Secret Service agent hovers.

U.S. Sens. Tom Connally, D-Texas, and Warren Austin, R-Vt., face each other in conversation as they sit on a red couch in the third sketch while a U.S. Navy “WAVES” officer looks on from a nearby chair. Gens. Joseph W. “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell and Edwin M. “Pa” Watson shake hands while being photographed, and an aide pushing Roosevelt's lunch cart is chased by Fala, the president's dog.

The final sketch shows more uniformed U.S military members huddled in conversation and, finally, an aide opening the door to the Oval Office, where the president is glimpsed.

“It's such a little aquarium of these people and we're like a fly on the wall as to what it was like at that particular period of time,” McLaurin said of the sketches.

They were a gift for Roosevelt's press secretary

Rockwell made the sketches for Early and gave them to him after they appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in November 1943, during World War II, McLaurin said.

Early, who died in 1951, had displayed them on the wall in his West Wing office and then kept them for many years after. In 1978, a family member turned the sketches over to the White House, where they were on display throughout the West Wing for more than four decades, sometimes in a hallway between the press offices that are mere steps from the Oval Office.

The family’s ownership dispute began in 2017 when Thomas Early, one of the press secretary’s sons, saw them on a wall in the White House while watching a television interview with President Donald Trump, according to court records.

William Elam III, a grandson of Stephen Early, said his mother received the drawings as a gift from her father, the press secretary, before he died, and that ownership had later passed to him.

The illustrations had gone to the White House in 1978 under an agreement that required they be returned to Elam upon request. The White House gave back the drawings in 2022.

A federal appeals court settled the dispute in May 2025, upholding a lower-court ruling in favor of Elam, according to court records. Elam put them up for sale.

Association says the sketches are ‘priceless’

Historians at the association have researched the people in the drawings to learn their stories, McLaurin said, and the exhibit will include a digital component that uses modern technology to bring the characters in the sketches to life.

The association is still figuring out what happens to the sketches after the exhibit ends in June 2027. They may be shown in other venues, and may eventually end up back in the White House, McLaurin said.

When the association learned the sketches were for sale, “our board affirmed that this is an acquisition that we should make,” he said.

McLaurin said the privately funded association, which was founded in 1961 by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and receives no taxpayer dollars, had feared the sketches would sell for even more than the $7.25 million it paid for them. That is the most the association has ever paid for a work of art for the vast collection it holds as part of its mission to help the White House collect and display artifacts that represent American history and culture.

“In our view, these are priceless works,” McLaurin said.

La decisión, que se produce en medio de una ola de calor récord en Francia, no llegó a satisfacer las peticiones de las organizaciones climáticas que presentaron la demanda para obligar a la empresa a reducir su producción de petróleo y gas.

El tribunal programó una nueva audiencia para enero de 2027 para considerar la nueva evaluación de TotalEnergies en virtud de una ley de 2017 que exige a las empresas prevenir abusos de derechos humanos y riesgos ambientales. Es la primera vez que la llamada ley del deber de vigilancia corporativa se aplica al cambio climático.

La ley no pretende hacer a las empresas “responsables de los riesgos vinculados al cambio climático, que resultan de toda la actividad humana en el planeta desde la Revolución Industrial”, indicó el tribunal en un comunicado, sino que más bien les pide actuar “de acuerdo con su propia situación”.

Las organizaciones ecologistas Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, ZEA y France Nature Environnement, junto con las autoridades de la ciudad de París, iniciaron el proceso en 2020.

Sostienen que TotalEnergies es uno de los mayores emisores históricos de gases de efecto invernadero y han pedido al tribunal que obligue a la empresa a reducir la producción de petróleo en un 37% y la de gas en un 25% para 2030. La demanda también solicita que se paralicen todos los nuevos proyectos relacionados con los combustibles fósiles.

La decisión del tribunal coincide con una ola brutal de calor en Europa. Las altas temperaturas afectaron también al Reino Unido y España, donde las agencias meteorológicas emitieron alertas rojas —como en Francia— sobre los riesgos del calor extremo para decenas de millones de personas.

La emblemática Torre Eiffel y el museo del Louvre se han visto obligados a restringir los horarios de visita, y los horarios escolares y del transporte se han visto afectados en todo el continente.

El cambio climático causado por el hombre está vinculado a fenómenos meteorológicos cada vez más extremos, y las proyecciones de la agencia climática de Naciones Unidas señalan que es probable que en los próximos cinco años se pulvericen más récords de calor.

Europa es el continente que más rápido se calienta en el mundo, con temperaturas que aumentan al doble de la media global desde la década de 1980, según el Servicio de Cambio Climático Copernicus de la Unión Europea.

Durante los últimos cuatro años, más de 200.000 personas en toda Europa murieron por causas relacionadas con el calor, y la mayoría de esas muertes eran evitables, indicó este mes la oficina para Europa de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS).

La decisión será la última en una serie de fallos en casos sobre cambio climático. El año pasado, el máximo tribunal de la ONU, la Corte Internacional de Justicia, señaló que los países podrían estar infringiendo el derecho internacional si no adoptan medidas para proteger al planeta del cambio climático. En 2024, el Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos dictaminó que las naciones deben proteger mejor a su población de las consecuencias del cambio climático.

En 2019, la Corte Suprema de los Países Bajos emitió la primera gran victoria legal para los activistas climáticos cuando los jueces dictaminaron que la protección frente a los efectos potencialmente devastadores del cambio climático era un derecho humano y que el gobierno tiene el deber de proteger a sus ciudadanos.

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Quell reportó desde La Haya, Países Bajos.

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

The decision, which comes amid a record heat wave in France, fell short of requests from the climate organizations who brought the lawsuit to force the company to reduce its oil and gas production.

The court scheduled a new hearing for January 2027 to consider TotalEnergies’ new assessment under a 2017 law that requires companies to prevent human rights abuses and environmental risks. It is the first time that the so-called corporate duty of vigilance law is being applied to climate change.

The law is not intended to make companies “responsible for the risks linked to climate change, which result from all human activity on the planet since the Industrial Revolution” the court said in a statement, but rather requests them to act “according to their own situation.”

Environmental groups Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, ZEA, France Nature Environnement, together with the city of Paris, launched the proceedings in 2020.

They claim that TotalEnergies is one of the largest historical emitters of greenhouse gas and asked the court to require the company to reduce oil production by 37% and gas production by 25% by 2030. The lawsuit also asked for a halt to all new fossil fuel projects.

The court's decision comes as Europe is in the midst of a brutal heatwave. Punishing temperatures extended to the United Kingdom and Spain, where weather agencies issued red alerts — like France — about the risks of extreme heat for tens of millions of people.

The iconic Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum have been forced to restrict visiting hours and school and transportation schedules have been interrupted across the continent.

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasingly extreme weather, and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years are likely to shatter more heat records.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, and most of those deaths were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month.

The decision is the latest in a series of rulings in climate change cases. Last year, the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice, said countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change. In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.

In 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists when judges ruled that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens.

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Quell reported from The Hague, Netherlands.

The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf to reassure American allies, said Washington was committed to the new route.

Traffic through the strait has increased but is still well below prewar levels. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving.

The two sides are still debating terms of an interim peace deal — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, the U.S. and Iran have 60 days to iron out the details. As talks are held behind closed doors, U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders have seemed to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies.

Meanwhile, a flare-up of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants threatened the wider truce. Lebanon says five people have people been killed by Israeli strikes over the past two days.

More ships are passing through the strait, but far fewer than before the war

Oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early Thursday, passing by Oman's Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore. The route was laid out by Oman and the International Maritime Organization, a U.N. agency.

North of the route is a corridor in the center of the strait where ships had moved through freely before the war, transporting about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas.

Iran said it mined that passage after the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. At least one mine has been sighted there.

Though some ships had been getting out of the strait, with U.S. military support, the U.N. agency's effort is the latest to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship, the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel made it out on Thursday.

Last week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, up from 33 the week before, according to marine data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

According to S&P Global, Wednesday saw 78 transits, the most since the war began, but still below the daily prewar average of 130 or more.

“Opportunistic operators — and there are many of them — emboldened by the lower transit risk, or at least the perceived lower transit risk, have begun chasing the backlog of trapped cargoes,” said Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at Lloyd’s List.

Iran says the new shipping route is ‘unacceptable’

The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard, apparently reacting to the new shipping route and increased traffic, issued a warning Thursday, carried by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.

It said the new route was established without notice or coordination with Iran, calling it “unacceptable and completely dangerous.”

“The only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.”

“Violators will be dealt with,” it added, without elaborating.

There were no immediate reports of any incidents in the strait. On Wednesday, the Guard threatened one tanker over the radio, with a soldier warning, “You are in range of my missiles and maybe (I) fire on you,” according to the private security firm Ambrey.

Rubio says the US will ensure there are no tolls on ships

Rubio met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to assure them that their interests would be protected in any agreement with Iran.

Those countries, including major energy producers reliant on the strait for exports, came under attack by Iran after the start of the war.

“There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” Rubio said at the meeting in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

He later told journalists the U.S. and Gulf allies would ensure there would be no fees charged on ships moving through the strait.

He said the U.S. wanted to make sure the Oman route continued for ships to transit the strait. “If that stops, then we’re going to have a problem,” Rubio said.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani thanked the U.S. for its support, saying that because of the agreement, “today we see a glimmer of hope for our region” but stressed that it was “critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations.”

Lebanon remains a flashpoint

A lull in fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that started Sunday began to show cracks after Israel said it targeted Hezbollah militants.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday that three people were killed by an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has called the recent strikes a ceasefire violation but has not retaliated. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the latest strike, which came as Lebanese and Israeli officials were in Washington discussing a proposed phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

Israel’s military said Thursday that a reservist soldier was killed and another hurt in southern Lebanon.

Over 4,000 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began in March, when the Lebanese militant group fired at Israel. At least 37 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel during the fighting.

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Lee reported from Manama, Bahrain. Associated Press writers David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Los terremotos de magnitud 7,2 y 7,5 del miércoles por la noche, entre los más fuertes que han golpeado Venezuela en más de un siglo, pudieron sentirse en toda la región. El principal aeropuerto del país resultó dañado y fue cerrado, y se evacuaron edificios en lugares tan lejanos como la Amazonía de Brasil, a unos 1.700 kilómetros (1.050 millas) de la capital venezolana, Caracas.

Las transmisiones de televisión del jueves mostraron imágenes de rescatistas usando herramientas eléctricas para abrirse paso entre montones de escombros donde antes había edificios. Residentes aterrorizados de la capital salieron en masa a las calles y, tras los sismos, muchas personas caminaban entre los escombros buscando a los desaparecidos entre edificios colapsados y postes eléctricos caídos.

Imágenes en la televisora estatal mostraron a tres niños, cubiertos de polvo pero con vida, que recibían ayuda para salir de entre los escombros en el estado de La Guaira, que la presidenta encargada, Delcy Rodríguez, describió como una “zona de desastre” y una de las áreas más afectadas por los sismos debido al gran número de edificios colapsados.

Rodríguez, quien dio el balance de muertos más recientes a primera hora del jueves, dijo que las autoridades estaban trasladando equipos de rescate desde otras partes del país hacia La Guaira, que se encuentra en la costa al norte de Caracas. Señaló que los funcionarios intentaban aprovechar al máximo las horas de luz para acelerar los esfuerzos de rescate de personas que se cree que permanecen atrapadas bajo los escombros.

“Hay decenas de edificios colapsados", indicó Rodríguez, que describió "labores muy arduas de rescate para salvar las vidas”.

Un video compartido en internet parecía mostrar a decenas de personas, algunas acostadas en el suelo y otras en camas de hospital, recibiendo atención fuera de un hospital en La Guaira.

Aunque Venezuela se encuentra cerca de múltiples fallas, su posición a caballo entre las placas Sudamericana y del Caribe hace que los terremotos fuertes sean mucho menos comunes que en otras partes de América Latina.

Rodríguez pidió a las empresas que pusieran a disposición equipo pesado de construcción para las operaciones de rescate, y añadió que equipos de búsqueda y rescate certificados por las Naciones Unidas se dirigían a Venezuela para ayudar.

Dos fuertes sismos conmocionan a vecinos de Caracas

Durante los sismos, la gente evacuó edificios que oscilaban en Caracas, muchos visiblemente conmocionados al ver muros derrumbados que dejaban ver los muebles desde la calle. Columnas de polvo se elevaron en dos barrios típicamente concurridos de la capital.

El Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos dijo que el primer terremoto, con una magnitud de 7,2, tuvo su epicentro al oeste de Morón, en la costa caribeña del país, unos 170 kilómetros (105 millas) al oeste de Caracas. El sismo ocurrió a una profundidad de 22 kilómetros (unos 14 millas). Apenas un minuto después , el USGS reportó un segundo terremoto de magnitud 7,5, con una profundidad de 10 kilómetros (unas 6 millas) y un epicentro a 16 kilómetros (10 millas) al suroeste de Morón.

El ministro del Interior, Diosdado Cabello, instó a la gente a permanecer al aire libre, ya que las réplicas podrían dañar aún más las estructuras, y muchas personas permanecieron en las calles durante horas, algunas sentadas en el suelo abrazando a sus mascotas mientras el polvo se acumulaba a su alrededor. En el centro de Caracas, cientos de personas pasaron la noche apiñadas alrededor de parques, estacionamientos y otros espacios abiertos. Las autoridades advirtieron que no regresen a las casas con daños estructurales.

“Teníamos miedo que los edificios se nos vinieran encima”, dijo María Cristina Díaz, una trabajadora de limpieza de 41 años. “ Pasamos frío mi mamá, mi hija y yo. No pegamos un ojo; pero no quería pasar la noche solas en casa después de ese terrible temblor”.

“Terrible, lloramos, gritamos, afortunadamente estamos vivas”, acotó.

Díaz y su familia acudieron a la plaza Candelaria, en el centro de Caracas, porque es uno de los pocos lugares despejados en las cercanías de su casa.

Partes de la capital se quedaron sin electricidad y sin cobertura de celular, y los terremotos dañaron y obligaron a cerrar el Aeropuerto Internacional Simón Bolívar, el principal del país, dijo Rodríguez.

En Caracas se suspendieron los servicios de metro y de gas natural, dijo. Las clases también se cancelarán durante varios días, y el Ministerio de Educación dijo que algunos edificios escolares se usarían como refugios y centros de donación.

En la mañana del jueves, decenas de personas lidiaban con la falta de señal de celular en partes de Venezuela mientras recurrían a las redes sociales para localizar a familiares desaparecidos.

Varios gobiernos ofrecen asistencia

Rodríguez declaró el estado de emergencia en un mensaje a la nación a última hora del miércoles. Dijo que el gobierno estaba creando un fondo de reconstrucción de 200 millones de dólares para hospitales y viviendas dañados por los terremotos, y que había dado instrucciones a los ministros de Economía y Finanzas de que supervisaran la iniciativa.

Las ofertas de ayuda llegaron de países de todo el mundo.

El secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Marco Rubio, dijo que Estados Unidos “despliega de inmediato equipos de búsqueda y rescate, recursos médicos y ayuda humanitaria a Venezuela”.

“Tendremos toda una respuesta del gobierno”, dijo Rubio el jueves en Baréin. “Será grande. Será rápida. Será eficaz”.

Añadió que una de las pistas del aeropuerto internacional de Caracas se había agrietado en los terremotos, lo que complicaba aterrizar allí.

Rodríguez —quien se convirtió en presidenta encargada después de que una operación militar estadounidense capturara a su predecesor, Nicolás Maduro, y lo llevara a Estados Unidos para ser juzgado— agradeció al presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump. Dijo más tarde en una publicación en X que habló con Rubio por teléfono, pero no compartió detalles. También expresó su agradecimiento a los líderes de varias naciones que han enviado mensajes de apoyo y ofrecimientos de ayuda.

Ecuador ordenó la entrega de ayuda humanitaria, y Rodríguez dijo que Qatar, México y El Salvador ya habían enviado personal de rescate.

“Les enviamos toda nuestra solidaridad y nuestras oraciones. Fuerza Venezuela”, escribió en una publicación en X el presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, antes diametralmente opuesto al gobierno de Venezuela.

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García Cano informó desde Bogotá, Colombia. Los periodistas de The Associated Press Clara Preve en Buenos Aires; Astrid Suárez en Bogotá, Colombia; Mauricio Savarese en Sao Paulo; Anna-Catherine Brigida, Megan Janetsky e India Grant en Ciudad de México; Cristina Fuentes-Cantillana en Madrid; y María Teresa Hernandez en Beijing contribuyeron a este reporte.

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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.

And the one-and-done era is far from done.

Those were some of the things that stood out from the two-day NBA draft in Brooklyn, which started with the Washington Wizards taking AJ Dybantsa on Tuesday night with the No. 1 pick and continued with a number of trades in the second round Wednesday night. Among the things that stood out in between:

Spurs vs. Thunder on the court and in the draft

The Thunder had trouble with Victor Wembanyama in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs had trouble when Wembanyama wasn't in the game in the NBA Finals.

Both teams took steps to address those big problems.

Oklahoma City took 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara from Michigan with the No. 12 pick. Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in 2022, struggled badly in the series that ended the Thunder's title reign and the 260-pound Mara, the Big Ten defensive player of the year from Spain, could provide more of the physical presence they need.

“I’m excited to play against him, obviously, to play in the NBA," Mara said about Wembanyama. “But I feel like I’m going to play against him a lot. If it’s not NBA, it’s going to be on the national team.”

The Spurs fell to the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals and Wembanyama at times looked exhausted, perhaps overworked because the Knicks were dominating when backup Luke Kornet was in the game .

Perhaps they can handle Wembanyama's breaks better now after drafting 6-9 Jayden Quaintance from Kentucky and acquiring the rights to Tarris Reed Jr., the rugged big man who powered UConn to the national title game.

Sizing up the small scoring guards

One of the pre-draft debates was who would go first when it came time for teams to start choosing among the smaller scoring guards in the class.

That moment arrived at the No. 6 pick. The Brooklyn Nets went with Mikel Brown Jr. from Louisville, a pick that seemed well received judging by the cheers in their home arena that hosted the draft.

“I think something that we saw with Mike was just how anxious and excited he was at getting out there in the NBA. ‘I got something to prove.’ It’s hard to measure,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “I think that’s something that will translate when you have a chip on your shoulder, you’re an extreme competitor.”

There were arguments for Darius Acuff Jr., and critics of the pick will only grow louder if Acuff looks like a better pro. He went with the next pick to Sacramento.

“I was good wherever I went,” Acuff said. “It wasn’t like a bad reaction on it.”

But there was from those who felt like he had a better body of work in his season at Arkansas.

Both have shown explosive scoring ability. The 6-4 Brown set an ACC freshman record when he scored 45 points in a game, making 10 3-pointers. But a back injury forced him to miss 14 games.

Acuff averaged 23.5 points, third in the nation, and led the SEC in scoring and assists. He was the SEC Tournament MVP after leading Arkansas to the title.

One-and-dones aren't done

The one sure thing in the NBA draft for years was that it would begin with a college freshman. From 2010, when Washington took John Wall, to 2022, when Orlando selected Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick was a player who spent one year in college.

That ended in 2023 when San Antonio took Victor Wembanyama. When Atlanta took fellow Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick in 2024, it was the first time that an international player who did not play at a U.S. college was selected first in consecutive years.

The one-and-dones have regained their place in a big way. The first eight picks were college freshmen, matching the record set last year, as were nine of the top 10 to match another record.

“We don’t know each super personally, but we spent some a good amount of time around each other. So we know each other kind of well,” said Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick by Utah. “We're going to continue to compete. I’m coming for these guys like I’ve been coming for them my whole career.”

The Knicks appear serious about savings

There was some skepticism when owner James Dolan said in an interview with WFAN Radio in New York that he wanted to avoid going into the second apron. After winning a championship for the first time in 53 years, would the Knicks really not spend whatever it took for the best chance to repeat?

Time will tell, but they were cautious with the draft.

The Knicks traded back from their original No. 24 spot and eventually out of the first round entirely. They came into the draft with the No. 31 pick, the first spot in the second round. They traded back from there as well.

First-round picks come with guaranteed salary slots, and high second-round picks are paid well. And the Knicks need to leave themselves as much room as possible if they want to pay key role players such as Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Deuce McBride.

They eventually left the draft with the Nos. 39 and 47 picks, German guard Jack Kayil and Vanderbilt forward Tyler Nickel. If Kayil ends up playing for the champions, he said they will find a player with their type of mentality.

“I think also one of my strengths is that I love winning and I give everything for that, and to come in this organization shows that they also want winners,” Kayil said. “So I think it’s a good fit.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Trump harangued GOP senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” said Cassidy, who lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present this time “to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace,” he said on X. The measure failed 47-50-1 just before midnight on Wednesday, and the Senate then left town for a two-week recess.

It's unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who had called the Republicans “losers" for voting against his war and had called Cassidy a “lunatic” at the lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and a small group of his Senate GOP colleagues called Trump after the vote. Thune told reporters that the president was “pleased with the outcome."

Trump later thanked Thune in a social media post and noted that Cassidy and Paul had switched their votes. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” he wrote.

The war powers measure blocked by the Senate on Wednesday was on a separate track from the nearly identical resolution adopted on Tuesday, which had also been passed by the House. Both votes were largely symbolic, and the measures do not carry the full force of law.

Cassidy had sharp words for Trump

Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his proof-of-citizenship voting bill. But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday’s vote on war powers.

Most Republicans stayed quiet. But Cassidy stood up and defended his vote.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

The two men “went back and forth,” Cassidy said, and he “matched his tone and volume." Cassidy said that he eventually de-escalated, but he did not want to be bullied.

“I am voting for war powers until I get a briefing,” he said afterward.

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who was not authorized to discuss it. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic."

Publicly, Trump said afterward that they had “a really great meeting." But he hinted at the discord.

“We like everyone in the room," Trump told reporters on his way out. "I don’t like a few people, but that’s OK.”

The luncheon capped weeks of friction between Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday's vote was the first time the Senate had adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war. Trump made clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even started, calling off a scheduled signing ceremony on a housing bill that passed both chambers overwhelmingly this week and that GOP lawmakers were touting as an election-year achievement.

Trump reverses on housing bill

Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the president after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media just beforehand that he wouldn't sign the legislation until they send him the SAVE America Act, his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he doesn't know why Trump is holding the housing bill “hostage” for the voting bill that “will never pass in this Congress.”

“It makes no sense to me,” Tillis said as he walked into the luncheon.

Thune said the housing legislation, which aims to lower costs, is “an affordability issue,” and that ”eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”

It's unclear if Trump might veto the legislation or if the late Wednesday night vote will change his outlook. But by rejecting a public bill signing, Republicans worry that Trump is indicating a level of indifference to voters’ affordability concerns heading into November’s midterm elections.

Trump and Senate Republicans have been at odds

Trump's move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.

Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend the Iran war even as they question the strategy and endgame.

Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda — Cassidy and Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Both men have become more critical of Trump since losing reelection.

“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Cornyn said ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the proof-of-citizenship voting bill, even though Thune has repeatedly told him that neither has the votes.

While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn’t want to hear. Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, “it’s just not realistic.”

Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren’t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.

“I think people at some point have to come to grips with that,” Thune said.

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Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% after erasing an early gain of 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 228 points, or 0.4%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.

Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 9.7%. The maker of memory chips for computers reported much stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267% so far this year.

Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late Thursday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years.

The chip company said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 3.1%.

But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that's driving producers higher also means higher prices for customers. Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15% to 20% for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock fell 4.8%.

The broad U.S. stock market also got a lift from easing Treasury yields in the bond market. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, slipped 0.1% to $73.81 and is near its roughly $72 price from just before the war with Iran. It’s come well off its highs above $100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil.

That jump in oil prices earlier this year sent inflation sharply higher, and a report showed that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1% last month from 3.8% in April. But that wasn’t any worse than economists expected, and the hope is that inflation may ease because of the drop-off in oil prices.

That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.36% from 4.41% late Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month.

High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% after its own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix.

Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan’s Nikkei 225 and 0.6% for the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. Nearly 1,000 people were injured and thousands were reported missing across the country, with damage and casualties particularly heavy in the coastal region of La Guaira, which is north of Caracas, the capital.

Buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Caracas, where the country’s main airport was closed after sustaining damages.

Panicked residents of the capital poured into the streets, where many people walked among the debris searching for the missing. Television broadcasts showed rescue workers using power tools to get through piles of rubble where buildings once stood.

In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared stunned at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.

“I lost everything. Everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”

Offers of help poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.

The natural disaster poses a major challenge for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the capture of Maduro. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement she represents.

Rescue teams head to heavily damaged coastal region

Rodríguez, who gave the latest death toll early Thursday, said authorities were shifting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira.

Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodríguez described as a “disaster zone.”

“Dozens of buildings have collapsed there ... and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodríguez said.

Video shared online appeared to show dozens of people, some lying on the ground and others on hospital beds, being treated outside a hospital in La Guaira. While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.

Rodríguez appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, adding that search and rescue teams certified by the United Nations were on their way to help.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles). Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could cause further damage.

Venezuela residents reeling from two strong quakes

During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings, and many were shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street.

In La Guaira, a man wearing only shorts climbed down the face of an apartment building tilted at a dangerous angle as a crowd watched.

Dayana Delgado, mother of three children, said she was desperate because her 8-year-old was missing.

“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said.

Delgado questioned where the heavy machinery that government officials had promised was, pointing out that neighbors were the ones digging through the rubble.

In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night huddled around parks, parking lots and other open spaces. Authorities warned against returning to homes with structural damage.

“We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us,” said María Cristina Díaz, a 41-year-old janitor. “My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn’t sleep a wink; but I didn’t want to spend the night alone at home after that terrible earthquake.”

“It was awful. We cried, we screamed. Thankfully, we’re alive,” she added.

Díaz and her family rushed to Plaza Candelaria in downtown Caracas because it’s one of the few open areas near her home.

Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone coverage, and the earthquakes damaged and closed Simón Bolívar International Airport, the country’s main airport, Rodríguez said.

In Caracas, subway services were suspended and natural gas shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.

On Thursday morning, scores of people in Venezuela and abroad struggled to contact family members. Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for.

The U.N. human rights mission in Venezuela called on the government to lift local restrictions on social media so people can get more timely access to potentially life-saving information. In August 2024, Maduro ordered X blocked in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential elections.

Several governments offered assistance

Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes, and had instructed the economy and finance ministers to oversee the effort.

Countries from across the world from Qatar to Mexico began to send aid to Venezuela. Rodríguez expressed thanks for the messages of support and offers for help.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had spoken to Rodríguez following the quake, said the United States is “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”

“We will have a whole government response,” Rubio said Thursday in Bahrain, noting the were facing logistical obstacles with Caracas’ airport collapsed. “It will be big. It will be fast. It will be effective.”

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Garcia Cano reported from Bogota, Colombia. Associated Press writers Megan Janetsky and Anna-Catherine Brigida in Mexico City, Danica Coto and San Juan, Clara Preve in Buenos Aires; Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia; Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo; Cristina Fuentes in Madrid; and Maria Teresa Hernandez in Beijing contributed to this report.

Annual day of Ashoura commemorations are observed on the 10th day of the month of Muharram in the lunar-based Islamic calendar. In Shiite communities, Ashoura is viewed as a symbol of struggle against injustice and tyranny.

This year, Muharram and Ashoura follow the war in Iran, where the population is overwhelmingly Shiite, and an interim deal to end it. In Lebanon, many Shiites have been marking Muharram after the devastation inflicted during the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“The gathering every year and the reaffirming of collective memory and collective grief allows every year for the story and the message to adapt to its current context,” said Noor Zehra Zaidi, an assistant professor of history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County who focuses on Shiite Islam.

A period of mourning, remembrance and deep resonance

Shiite Ashoura commemorations mark the death of Imam Hussein, who was killed in the Battle of Karbala, in present-day Iraq. He fought against the army of then Caliph Yazid, to whom Hussein had refused to pledge allegiance.

Hussein’s killing is seen as having cemented the schism between Sunnis and Shiites, which stems from the early days of Islam and arguments over Muhammad’s successors as caliph, or leader. The Shiites wanted the caliphate to descend through Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law and Hussein’s father.

To Shiites, who make up the second-largest branch of Islam after the Sunni majority, the killing holds deep religious and historical resonance and plays a key role in shaping identity.

Gatherings, processions and grief rituals

In the U.S., many Shiites of various racial and ethnic backgrounds gather for assemblies where they typically listen to recitations of the Quran, elegies, lamentations and lectures.

"In many communities, emotional lamentation and weeping are considered acts of devotion because they express solidarity with the suffering (of) the Prophet’s household,” Zaidi said.

U.S. communities embody a lot of the diversity of rituals seen across the Shiite world, she said.

“Our community comes to life. It pulsates with a beautiful group unity, where everybody comes together,” said Adam Almaleky in Michigan. “It’s a program of self-development, self-purification, gaining closeness to God through Hussein.”

In Texas, 23-year-old Sakina Ali attends the gatherings, which are also held in other parts of the world, with four generations of her family. “We learn and we mourn,” she said, adding the atmosphere gives her goose bumps.

Around the world, mourning rituals of Muharram and Ashoura can include rhythmic chest-thumping or beating in unison and public processions. Some Shiites self-flagellate and draw their own blood in public mourning practices that are controversial, fervently upheld by some while shunned or opposed by other Shiites.

In Iraq, pilgrims converge on the holy city of Karbala, site of the battle and home to a shrine to Hussein. Large volunteer service stations there feed pilgrims, Zaidi said, adding that distributing food and drink is one of the most universal practices.

“One of the remarkable enduring features of Ashoura commemorations is the way that rituals and communities reflect local cultures, traditions and languages while still remaining centered on Karbala,” she said.

Some donate blood

As part of the Texas team of Who is Hussain, a London-based charity with teams in dozens of cities around the world, Ali has been helping organize a blood drive during this year's Muharram commemorations.

“It’s to save lives. It’s to do good in the name of Hussein,” she said. “Since this is such an emotional time and the community is coming out from everywhere … the impact is much bigger.”

Hussein, she said, "sacrificed his life … for morality and for justice,” adding, “If he did all of that, I can do good in my community as well, following his example.”

These blood drives happen elsewhere in the U.S. and beyond. Mustafa Jafri’s mosque in New Jersey has been organizing them for many years.

“We do it really to honor Imam Hussein and his companions and his family,” said Jafri, a physician and a board director at Masjid-e-Ali. “He gave his blood to stand against injustice and so we resonate and want to give our blood to save lives.”

It’s a practical way, he said, to translate some of Hussein’s values into action and to give back. The drives, he said, often also attract some non-Muslims from the community to donate blood.

Zaidi said the blood drives are a more modern phenomenon in Shiite commemorations.

Many say they draw inspiration and lessons from Hussein’s legacy

Jafri said it’s a time to reflect on how to better oneself and on "tackling injustices that are all throughout the world.”

Almaleky, team leader with Who is Hussain in Michigan, said that from Hussein, “I learn altruism. I learn principle. I learn dedication."

Even following tragedy, he added, “we continue to draw energy as a community, and no matter how difficult this world becomes, it doesn’t compare in the difficulty that the family of Hussein ibn Ali faced and Hussein and his companions faced.”

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

Three men in their late teens were held at gunpoint, battered, pistol-whipped and robbed in Tampa on Feb. 4, and the 23-year-old Arnold was the “primary conspirator,” the Tampa Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.

Arnold surrendered to authorities Wednesday and is slated to appear in Hillsborough County court Thursday afternoon.

The Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office posted on X that prosecutors will charge Arnold with “multiple felony charges which carry a potential sentence of up to life in prison.” Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrest records show he faces four counts of a weapon-related charge and four charges related to kidnapping, harming or terrorizing.

Six other suspects were arrested. Two of them pleaded guilty and the others are being held without bond, prosecutors said.

The Lions declined to comment on Arnold’s arrest Wednesday night. Arnold was a first-round pick in the 2024 draft after playing at the University of Alabama. He comes from Florida.

Arnold denies being involved, according to Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management agency that represents him.

“There is no credible evidence linking Mr. Arnold to these allegations,” White said in a statement. “Instead, the government appears to be relying on testimony from multiple convicted felons who have admitted their own involvement and may have substantial incentives to shift blame in an effort to lessen their sentences.”

Arnold and some friends reported in February that more than $250,000 worth of their property had been stolen from an Airbnb in Largo, police said. Largo is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of Tampa.

Arnold told authorities two teens were behind the robbery but investigators determined this was not the case, police said.

The State Attorney's Office said Arnold orchestrated the kidnapping and robbery, apparently in retaliation, just hours after reporting the burglary.

The teens told police that Arnold's friends lured them to an apartment, held them at gunpoint and hit them, all the while streaming the attack to Arnold. The footballer later arrived at the apartment, and his friends stole some of the teens' belongings, police said

“No one has the right to take the law into their own hands,” State Attorney Suzy Lopez said in a statement. “A dispute over missing property does not justify kidnapping, violence, or retaliation.”

Swanson had a go-ahead RBI triple and four RBIs to cap the monster doubleheader and lead the Cubs to a sweep of the reeling New York Mets with a 10-5 win.

Swanson hit a three-run homer and a grand slam in the Cubs’ 10-3 victory in the opener. The 11 RBIs in a doubleheader are a franchise record, breaking the mark of 10 set by Hall of Famer Ron Santo on July 6, 1970.

The only other player in team history with a nine-RBI doubleheader is also a Hall of Famer — Billy Williams, who did it on Aug. 21, 1968.

“A dream come true, just being able to have your name next to those guys,” Swanson said. “It’s amazing and special.”

The 11 RBIs are tied for the third-most in a doubleheader. Nate Colbert had 13 RBIs for the San Diego Padres on Aug. 1, 1972, a mark equaled by the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark Whiten on Sept. 7, 1993.

“Dansby had an incredible day of baseball offensively, for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s fun to see.”

Swanson also homered Tuesday night and has three homers and 15 RBIs in the first three games of the series, which is slated to conclude Thursday night.

The 15 RBIs are the most ever by a Cubs player in a series of four or fewer games since 1920, when the RBI became an official statistic, and are the most by a Chicago player in a series of any length since Kiki Cuyler, another Hall of Famer, had 15 RBIs in a five-game set in 1932.

The 15 RBIs over the last three games are also the most ever by a shortstop, breaking the mark of 14 RBIs set by Nomar Garciaparra with the Boston Red Sox from May 10-12, 1999. The only other Cubs player with at least 15 RBIs in a three-game span is Sammy Sosa, who had 16 RBIs from Aug. 10-12, 2002.

“I couldn’t tell you a game that I’ve had like this,” Swanson said. “It’s one that you honestly dream about.

“Just very, very grateful.”

The three-game surge snapped a lengthy slump for Swanson, who entered Tuesday hitting .178 with three homers and 14 RBIs in his last 48 games dating back to April 24. Swanson is batting just .202 with a .688 OPS this season — down considerably from his career marks of .251 and .732, respectively, entering 2026.

“You say process, process, process and stick to it, but every player is aware of how they’re producing and helping the team,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “He’s been so consistent and persistent. That doesn’t guarantee results, but man, does it feel good when those come through.”

Yet with 11 homers and 46 RBIs through 80 games, Swanson is more than halfway to his fifth 20-homer season and almost halfway to his career-high of 96 RBIs, set during his final season with the Atlanta Braves in 2022.

“That’s why the game sometimes, like, drives you crazy,” Counsell said. “Because if you probably look at Dansby’s season right now, it’s kind of a normal season for Dansby. Maybe the batting average is a little bit low, but probably all the other numbers are right around where he’s been the last couple years. It’s just been peaks and valleys for him.

“The good times, you’ve got to take advantage of them. And when you have days like that and you’re kind of the primary driver of offense, that’s going to win your team games.”

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

Democratic leaders aren't so sure that's a good thing.

As progressives cheered across the nation, some of the most powerful Democrats in the country, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, downplayed the impact of Mamdani's victories on Tuesday, when the 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor's slate of congressional candidates defeated three establishment favorites — including two incumbents — in primary contests. He had even more victories in state legislative races, where he successfully backed five other candidates.

It was a stunning sweep for Mamdani, just six months into his first term, that will expand his influence in Washington and Albany. The mayor said Wednesday that he hopes to export his policies and politics to other states, while demanding major changes across the Democratic Party.

“Working people are struggling across the country," Mamdani said. He added that he hopes to help “write a new chapter in our party’s history, where working people are back at the heart of that struggle. And I I believe that will be key in not just the midterms coming up in November, but also in the years to come."

The mixed reaction from Democratic leaders as they grappled with the fallout from Mamdani's success exposed the depth of the divide between the party’s progressive and establishment wings, who are at odds over how Democrats should govern — and how to win elections — over the final two years of the Donald Trump presidency.

Indeed, Democrats hope to avoid an all-out intraparty civil war ahead of the November midterms, especially with Republicans fighting amongst themselves over Trump's war in Iran, how to address the affordability crunch and the president's costly efforts to build a massive White House ballroom.

Democrats aren't sure which direction to take

The Mamdani resistance from senior Democrats was not subtle.

“The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. “What’s happening in New York will be really irrelevant by the time of the elections in November.”

Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas, a vice chair of the New Democrat Coalition, was similarly dismissive, saying progressives were playing checkers while moderates were playing chess.

“No one in DSA is trying to win in a red-to-blue seat, or in a tough general election matchup,” Veasey said, referring to democratic socialist candidates.

Democrats' left flank said the party's latest nominees should be welcomed with open arms.

“What I would like to see, and what I think would be actually productive and beneficial, is a congratulations to these people, a commitment to welcome them in, to understanding the perspectives that they bring,” said Rep. Summer Lee, a 38-year-old progressive from Pennsylvania.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who campaigned alongside Mamdani and his allies last week, said New York's results sent a clear message.

“The American people, in New York and increasingly all over the country, are sick and tired of status quo establishment politics,” he said. “I think you’re gonna continue to see it.”

Trump saw an opportunity to stir the pot from the Oval Office, telling reporters that the Democrats were “going radical left” and Mamdani's choices are “really communist.”

He marveled at the defeat of Rep. Dan Goldman, a former top lawyer during Democrats' first impeachment of Trump. Goldman was defeated by Brad Lander, an ally of Mamdani.

“When they go more liberal than Dan Goldman, they’re really into Never Neverland,” he said.

‘Voters are just pissed off’

Mamdani backed three anti-establishment congressional challengers in a political gamble that his own team acknowledged was risky. He won them all.

Goldman, a two-term incumbent, was swiftly defeated by Lander, a former city comptroller.

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, was toppled by Mamdani’s most polarizing pick, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.

Antonio Reynoso, the handpicked successor of U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, lost to another democratic socialist, Assembly Member Claire Valdez.

The entire Mamdani slate promised to “abolish ICE,” condemned Israel's “genocide” in Gaza and vowed to “tax the rich."

“Voters are just pissed off," Lander said in an interview. "They want people who show who they’re fighting for, and really get out and fight for things that matter in the lives of working people.”

Cheering the extent of Mamdani's success, progressive leaders called on the Democratic Party's leadership in Washington — and its next crop of presidential candidates — to adopt meaningful changes in the weeks and months ahead.

Indeed, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a potential presidential candidate, said it would be “silly” for his party not to draw meaningful conclusions from New York's results.

“The voters are clearly telling us they want us to be bolder — bolder in the policies we’re proposing and bolder in the tactics we use to fight authoritarians," he said.

And yet the Mamdani critics within the party were not hard to find.

Jeffries, who is in line to become the next House speaker if Democrats win the House majority this fall, reiterated his opposition to Mamdani’s slate in repeated interviews and media appearances.

“He’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward,” Jeffries, the No. 1 House Democrat jabbed, even as he said they have a good working relationship.

Republicans are paying attention

Giddy House Republican operatives vowed to weaponize Mamdani and his slate to undercut the Democratic brand in competitive midterm elections across the country, while other Republican officials warned their party to pay attention to this pivotal moment in the nation's politics.

“Republicans need to wake up. What we saw last night in New York can only be called one thing: a socialist uprising sweeping the Democrat Party,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio. “If Republicans don’t act now, we will lose this country as we know it.”

Meanwhile, Trump seemed to worry more about Mamdani’s growing national profile than his democratic socialist policies.

“Mayor Mamdani pulled through 3 solid Communists, and has received loud and universal applause from the Fake News Media. Congratulations Mr. Mayor!” the Republican president wrote on social media. “I went 16-0 last night, helping to elect wonderful American Patriots, and the Media doesn’t say a word.”

Meanwhile, Mamdani dismissed broader concerns that his success would undermine the Democratic Party's fight to win control of Congress this fall.

“We’ve heard from Republicans time and again that they’re going to try and make these candidates the face of the Democratic Party. To them, I say that we are ready for that," he said. “For far too long we have been told that it is not possible to fight for working people and win. These candidates have shown that they can.”

And yet some Democrats were clear-eyed about the work that lies ahead to bring the party together as new divisions flared in the wake of Mamdani's success.

“We have to respect the voters. They made their decision,” said Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont.

“The challenge that we have,” he continued, “is to build the different points of view together, all in service of helping people who are struggling to pay their bills to get more economic security. The challenge of unity is enormous. But that’s our challenge.”

___

Brown reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Steven Sloan contributed to this report.

Ashoura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in A.D. 680 Imam Hussein was killed with his family and companions after refusing to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliphate.

The event cemented the schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam and remains a powerful symbol of resistance against oppression and injustice.

The holiest day in the Shiite calendar

This year, Ashoura comes after months of war in Iran and Lebanon, homes to two of the world’s largest Shiite populations. Iran and the U.S. this week launched talks aimed at finalizing a fragile ceasefire agreement.

On the first day of the war, on Feb. 28, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. The 86-year-old Khamenei was not just Iran’s top political leader. He also had a final say on all religious matters and was revered by millions of Shiites worldwide. Ashoura comes just days before his funeral procession.

The war also spilled over into Lebanon, where Iran’s key ally, the Hezbollah militant group, has been battling Israeli troops for months.

Hezbollah entered the fighting days into the war by firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with Tehran. That sparked widespread Israeli aerial bombardment and a ground invasion that decimated large swaths of predominantly Shiite areas in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Ashoura comes as many of the more than one million displaced Lebanese people are trying to return to their villages in southern Lebanon. Cities and towns had held sermons and events in the buildup to the holy day surrounded by buildings reduced to rubble and ruins.

Ashoura is the holiest day in the Shiite calendar, marked by traditional mourning rituals that include chest-beating, elegies and lamentations. It is held on the 10th day of the month of Muharram.

Visitors arrive at Imam Hussein's shrine

In Karbala, the southern Iraqi city holy to Shiite Muslims, security was tightened as visitors arrived. Religious banners flew from the walls of Imam Hussein’s golden-domed shrine and actors played out scenes from the 7th century.

“We see all kinds of people here and they don’t lack food, drinks or services, thanks to God, despite the massive gathering,” Redha Nouri, who traveled from Ahwaz in Iran, said. “There will be more crowds coming tomorrow, but the Iraqi people are here and will serve them.”

Mourners observe the holy day in Iran

In war-stricken Iran, black-clad mourners filled streets, mosques and neighborhood religious halls across Tehran for a public holiday that brought much of the capital to a halt.

Shops were shuttered in many areas as processions of men beating their chests marched past and loudspeakers played elegies. Volunteers handed out tea and dates.

The previous evening mourners had gathering at the shrine of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini south of Tehran in a ceremony attended by President Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials, Iranian state media reported. Khomeini led the 1979 revolution that ushered in Iran’s Islamic republic.

In a social media post laden with an apparent message of resistance to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, Pezeshkian noted how Hussein taught people to stand against oppression, the temptation of power and the pursuit of self-interest.

“We should neither oppress, nor accept oppression, nor remain silent before it,” he wrote.

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Gen. Esmail Ghaani, invoked the “spirit of Ashoura” in warning Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon or face defeat.

The annual ceremonies came as Iran’s leadership continues to draw on Ashoura’s language of sacrifice and resistance at a time of deep political and economic pressure.

The faithful in Lebanon attend sermons and visit graves

Families in the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre who lost relatives fighting with Hezbollah or working as paramedics wept during a sermon on the third day of Muharram. A cleric, who sat between portraits of current Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Kassem, compared the struggles the modern-day leaders faced in the war to that of Hussein and his companions in Karbala.

Banners in red and black bearing Hussein’s name were hung on every street.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, many flocked to the grave of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024.

Security is raised in Pakistan to protect the Shiite minority

Elsewhere, Pakistan deployed thousands of police and paramilitary personnel across the country following intelligence reports warning of possible militant attacks on Shiite Muslims, a minority in the predominantly Sunni country.

Although most Sunnis and Shiites live peacefully alongside one another, militant groups have repeatedly targeted Shiite communities, mosques, and religious gatherings in sectarian attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives.

As members of Pakistan’s Shiite minority prepare to take part in mourning processions, mobile phone service in some areas is expected to be suspended temporarily to help prevent attacks.

“Imam Hussein is a symbol of the highest struggle and sacrifice,” said Saadia Shah, 33, as she entered a congregation hall in the eastern city of Lahore with her two children. “His name gives us the courage to stand up to tyranny, to say what is right and oppose what is wrong.”

___

Associated Press journalists Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Ali Sadiq in Karbala, Iraq, contributed to this report.

The poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in February, highlights the obstacle course that U.S. adults navigate daily as they screen calls, ignore messages or try to puzzle out if that urgent request from their cellphone provider is legitimate.

A separate survey conducted by Gallup and the Stop Scams Alliance that was provided exclusively to the AP found that last year alone, about 1 in 10 U.S. adults said they or someone else from their household was deceived by a scammer into losing money or providing access to a financial account, with nearly half saying they lost more than $500.

That leaves many Americans feeling like they’re constantly at risk of falling for a scam, often without a sense of recourse. In both surveys, few victims said they reported the scam to the federal government or local law enforcement. Many victims didn't report the scam, Gallup found, because they didn't think it would make a difference in getting money back.

“You've got to be pretty sophisticated these days,” said Adam Pratter, 42. He has run into problems on dating apps — and once ended up sending money to a person who claimed they were overseas because of a military deployment and needed money to buy food. He realized it was a scam when the requests didn't stop.

Pratter thinks banks and social media companies have a responsibility to help people who have been scammed, but also believes the government needs to do more.

“If federal regulation wanted to step in and make deals with these companies to get these people their money back, they could,” he said.

For many Americans, scam attempts are constant

Americans are flooded with scam attempts, according to both surveys. More than half, 58%, of U.S. adults in the AP-NORC poll said they receive daily text messages, phone calls, emails, online messages or online advertisements that they suspect are scams, while the Gallup survey found last year that about 4 in 10 experienced attempted scams on a daily basis.

Porschel Smith, 22, gets multiple scam calls every day, and receives even more scam emails. Some of the scams are easy for her to identify. “They mention different types of programs that I know are nonexistent,” she said.

But sometimes she ends up engaging with the scammer before realizing that something is wrong. “Some of them hack your account and pretend as if they're someone that you know,” she said. “But then I get to asking questions and realize they're scams.”

Older people are more likely to say they receive scam attempts daily, according to the AP-NORC poll. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults ages 60 and older say they are contacted by a suspected scammer at least once a day, compared to about 4 in 10 Americans under 30.

Among those who have received suspected scam attempts, the AP-NORC poll found that outreach involving package shipments or banking were among the most common methods. About 4 in 10 people who were contacted by scammers say at least one of the attempts they received over the past few years were through Facebook or Facebook Messenger, while about 2 in 10 said they were on WhatsApp, and a similar share said they were on Instagram.

Around 30% of US adults say they've been scammed personally

The impact of scams is far-reaching. About half, 51%, of U.S. adults know someone personally — such as a friend or family member — who has ever lost money as the result of a scam, the AP-NORC poll found, while about 3 in 10 U.S. adults say they have personally been scammed into giving away money or personal information.

The Gallup survey found that about 1 in 10 U.S. adults said they or a member of their household was scammed out of money in 2025, with 6% saying they had been personally scammed.

About half of people whose household experienced scams last year reported losing between $125 and $2,000, according to Gallup.

About 1 in 10 U.S. adults have been scammed multiple times, Gallup found.

“It's not easy. They know what they're doing," said Towonna Harris, 50. Her son was once contacted by scammers who promised to give him money for tuition if he authorized a nominal credit card charge, which quickly spiraled into a much bigger set of charges.

She's experienced other kinds of scams on a smaller scale, too. “I ordered some stuff. I never got it,” she said. “I thought it was a legitimate company. And then I saw all these reviews saying it was a scam.”

Few scam victims report to law enforcement

Virtually all U.S. adults believe that scams pose a “major” or “minor” threat to individuals in the U.S., but few think the government is doing enough to solve the problem. About 8 in 10 Americans say the government is “definitely” or “probably” doing too little to prevent scams, according to the Gallup survey, including large majorities of Republicans and Democrats.

When people are scammed, both surveys found that victims are much likelier to reach out to financial institutions than the federal government or local law enforcement. About half, 55%, of people who were scammed last year reported to a bank, credit union or other financial institution, the Gallup poll found, but only 18% contacted state or local law enforcement, while 13% reported to either federal law enforcement or the Federal Trade Commission.

Many victims don't make a report because they don't think it will help, or don't know where to go, Gallup found. Among people who were scammed in 2025, 75% said they didn't report because they thought it wouldn't make a difference in getting their money back, while 58% were uncertain where to report.

More broadly, Americans express very low confidence that they'd know how to report a scam to the government if they needed to. According to the AP-NORC poll, most Americans, 55%, say they are “extremely” or “very” confident that if they were scammed, they’d know how to report it to banks or credit card companies, but only about one-quarter are similarly confident that they’d know how to report to federal or state law enforcement.

Only about one-third of U.S. adults said they would know where to make a report if they lost $5,000 in a scam today, Gallup found.

Max Anderson, 23, said that his parents are small business owners who were the victims of a costly and complex scam. “A scammer successfully imitated one of their employees and changed their direct deposit information. This went on for about 3 months. It went to $15,000,” he said.

Eventually, Anderson's father got help from the FBI, he said.

“I do like that the government stepped in with my parents, and I feel like that's the way it should be,” he said. “It's a big enough problem at this point that it falls to the government and companies to do something about it.”

___

Associated Press reporters Mary Rajkumar, Juliet Linderman and Erika Kinetz contributed to this report. Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism student Molly Wallace contributed to this report.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,133 adults was conducted Feb. 19-23 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

The Stop Scams Alliance-Gallup poll of 5,173 adults was conducted Jan. 8-Feb. 18 using a sample drawn from Gallup's probability-based Gallup Panel. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.

Dusty Ray Spencer is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1992 killing of his wife Karen.

According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the next oldest state inmates to be executed were both 72 — Samuel Lee Smithers on Oct. 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women and R. Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting death of a state representative, Charles Schuh Jr.

Nationwide, the oldest person ever to executed in modern times was Walter Leroy Moody Jr., 83, who was put to death in Alabama in 2018 for sending mail bombs during a wave of Southern terror, killing a federal judge and a black civil rights attorney.

If carried out, Spencer's execution would be Florida's ninth to date this year following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.

Another 74-year-old Florida death row inmate, Dennis Sochor, 12 days younger than Spencer, is set to be executed on July 14. He was convicted of killing a woman just hours into 1982 after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party.

Court records show Spencer was arrested after choking and threatening to kill Karen Spencer in December 1991. While in jail, Dusty Ray Spencer called his wife and warned her that when he got out, he was going to finish what he started.

On Jan. 18, 1992, Spencer beat his wife's teenage son with a clothes iron when the boy tried to stop Spencer from attacking his mother, officials said. Then about a week later, the son responded to a commotion outside their home and found Spencer hitting his mother in the head with a brick, according to officials.

Court records show the teen tried to shoot Spencer with a rifle, but the gun misfired. Spencer threatened the teen with a knife, and the boy ran away to get help. When police arrived, they found Karen Spencer dead with several stab wounds to the chest.

Spencer was initially sentenced to death in 1992 after being convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. In 1994, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing after finding that the trial court had mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Spencer was resentenced to death the next year, and subsequent appeals have been denied.

Last week, the state Supreme Court rejected Spencer's appeals. His attorneys had argued that he has health issues such as liver disease that pose a heightened risk of pain and suffering and argued that executing him at his advanced age would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

A final appeal was still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.

All Florida executions are carried out by lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

___

Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.

He clearly didn't listen.

Vinicius has four goals now in this tournament — only Lionel Messi, with five, has more — and the flashy Brazilian got two on Wednesday night in his team's 3-0 win over Scotland.

“Faith that I was going to improve, for the talent that I have … I was sure that at the right moment I would shine again with the Brazilian team shirt,” Vinícius said.

He wasn't wrong and is tied for second with France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race, right behind Messi.

“Nothing is better than going back to the World Cup, to the place where I always dreamed of being,” Vinicius said. “To be able to represent my family, to be able to represent a country as important as Brazil, I believe that there is nothing better.”

He also became the fifth member of an exclusive club of Brazilians to score in all three group stage games, and the first to do so since Ronaldo and Rivaldo both did so in 2002.

“There were always times when I couldn’t show my football,” Vinícius said. “It brings a certain relief."

Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti coached Vinícius at Real Madrid from 2021 to 2025. While guiding Vinícius to global stardom along the way, Ancelotti — who Vinícius calls the best coach in the world — won two Champions Leagues, two La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey in that span.

And while wearing Brazil colors for Ancelotti, Vinícius has been completely reinvigorated. In 39 games for Brazil under previous coaches, Vinícius netted just six goals. In just 13 under Ancelotti, he has scored seven.

“I had no question in my mind of how far or well he’d come to this World Cup,” Ancelotti said. “It makes him happy to play for the national team. He’s doing a brilliant job.”

After his goal against Haiti in Brazil’s second World Cup game, Vinícius joked that he needs to listen to Ancelotti more.

“For sure when we get to the dressing room, he’ll say he knows a lot about football,” he said.

But so does Vinícius. And he promises to get even better.

“I will also evolve and improve in the competition,” he said. “And the hope only increases between us, between our fans and between our family.”

___

Zach Pascuzzi is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

The slur, which literally means male prostitute in Spanish, could be heard at the Azteca stadium toward the end of the first half when Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar took a goal kick.

The chant has cost Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines levied by FIFA. It rose to popularity roughly 25 years ago and is used to intimidate goalkeepers when they take goal kicks.

It went viral in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and was heard again in Russia during the 2018 World Cup and four years later in Qatar. It has persisted despite attempts by the Mexican soccer federation to stop it.

Mexico had already advanced to the knockout phase as Group A winners ahead of the match against the Czech Republic.

___ AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked the state’s attorney general to examine whether the agency’s actions violated New Mexico law, an extraordinary challenge to a federal law enforcement agency at a time when fentanyl remains one of the country’s deadliest public health threats.

The request follows an AP investigation that found DEA agents repeatedly allowed major fentanyl shipments to continue moving through New Mexico between 2023 and 2025 rather than seize them immediately, as agents sought to build cases against higher-ranking traffickers. The governor’s call for a criminal review turns a debate over drug enforcement tactics into a question of whether federal agents themselves crossed legal lines while pursuing larger trafficking organizations.

Current and former DEA agents told AP the strategy amounted to a gamble with public safety in a state ravaged by the fentanyl epidemic and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public from a drug the White House last year designated as a “ weapon of mass destruction.”

“There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway.”

The DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the governor’s statement. The agency has contended it would not be plausible to seize every drug shipment and previously told AP in a statement “the investigative decisions at issue were lawful, reasonable under the circumstances and consistent with Department guidance.”

“Public descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts,” DEA spokesperson Amanda Wozniak wrote in an email.

Alex Uballez, who served as U.S. attorney in New Mexico from May 2022 until February 2025, told AP that drugs went unseized at times due to his office’s limited resources and his belief that prosecuting larger organizations has a bigger impact than intercepting every suspected drug transaction.

It is not clear whether any fatal overdoses in the state can be directly attributed to the DEA strategy. While overdose deaths nationwide fell 14% last year, government data show New Mexico tallied a 21% spike.

“New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business,” the governor wrote in her statement. “I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”

The AP investigation cited three current and former agents and government records, including an internal report of a 2023 delivery of 74,000 pills the DEA surveilled — but did not seize — at a mobile home park in Albuquerque.

DEA whistleblower David Howell, who filed a complaint drawing attention to the unseized fentanyl, spoke Wednesday with congressional staffers. Empower Oversight, a whistleblower advocacy group representing Howell, has asked the Senate Judiciary Committee and Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General to investigate the agent's allegations.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Ohio Republican, called Howell's revelations “a scandal of the highest order” and said in a post on X he plans to find out how many American lives were lost due to the DEA's inaction.

Meanwhile, victims groups also spoke out about DEA's inaction, saying its approach in New Mexico contradicts the agency's prominent “One Pill Can Kill” campaign that warns as little as a few milligrams of fentanyl can cause a fatal overdose.

“Knowing the Justice Department had guidelines to seize the opioids whenever practical — and the fact these were ignored — is truly heartbreaking,” said Michael Glownia, who lost his daughter to fentanyl in 2023 and founded a nonprofit organization to support families suffering similar losses.

__

Mustian reported from Miami.

Record breaking amounts of the ugly, foul-smelling seaweed have been washing up on South Florida shores for months.

Scientists are loudly sounding the alarm over what’s become a growing, stinky, unsightly, dangerous and costly problem.

“This is the new normal,” said Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch research professor Brian Lapointe. “What we’re seeing here is truly a crisis.”

Sargassum is defined as a free-floating algae-like seaweed that drifts across the Atlantic and Carribbean oceans in massive mats, washing ashore in quantities unlike scientists have seen before, and it’s getting worse, already at more than 30 million tons.

“We have three more months of potential growth indicating that we could be seeing another record year this year,” said Lapointe.

Lapointe has tracked the spread of the brown seaweed since the Great Atlantic Sragassum Belt was first recognized in 2011. While sargassum has long been a natural part of the ocean ecosystem, the scale of today’s blooms is unprecedented.

“It stretches from the west coast of Africa across the tropical Atlantic, up through and around the Caribbean into the Gulf and the South Florida region,” he said.

For decades, scientists say sargassum has been fueled by nutrient-rich runoff carried into the Atlantic by major rivers, including the Congo and Niger in Africa, and the Orinoco and Amazon in South America.

“Deforestation in the Amazon, watershed and expansion of agriculture and fertilizer use,” said Lapointe. “All that runoff coming down and feeding Sargassum, particularly as these activities are affected by human activities.”

Rising global temperatures driven by the burning of fossil fuels is also supercharging the problem.

“It’s really a symptom of climate change and warming oceans and pollution building up in the ocean,” said Miami Waterkeeper CEO Rachel Silverstein. “And that together is causing these essentially blooms of algae.”

Using NASA satellite imagery, scientists are giving coastal communities a heads up on massive sargassum mats moving toward shore. Depending on where you are, the impact can vary widely.

Just because you don’t see mountains of sargassum on the beach doesn’t mean it’s gone.

Scientists say once the sargassum begins to break apart, the particles begin to sink below the surface and decompose on the bottom that can turn the water brown, and it can even deplete oxygen levels, increasing the risks for fish kills.

“At that point, it strips the oxygen out of the water and creates dead zones,” said Lapointe.

Just last week, fish kills were reported and documented on the ocean side of Key Largo.

“It really has a negative impact on water quality,” said Silverstein. “It’s coming ashore, it’s rotting, it’s causing increases in bacteria, it increases in nutrient levels that can have downstream impacts.”

As sargassum breaks down, it can add to elevated levels of enterococci, which is the bacteria used to measure fecal contamination in beach water.

High levels can force beaches to close.

“We’re seeing in many cases in South Florida, beach closures due to high levels of fecal indicator bacteria that are responding to the high nutrients,” said Lapointe.

And the costs are mounting, as millions of dollars have been spent on clean up, and millions more lost as tourists choose to stay away.

Because sargassum provides important habitat for marine life, state and federal regulations largely prevent large scale removal of sargassum at sea, leaving communities to deal with it once it reaches the shoreline.

Cities are already spending tens of millions of dollars a year to remove it, dispose of it, or bury it in the sand where it may actually be causing more problems.

As governments search for solutions to manage and repurpose the mounting seaweed, Lapointe says the problem won’t be solved on the beach.

It must be addressed at the source, by curbing nutrient pollution and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions warming our planet and ocean.

“If we do nothing, we’re going to continue to lose our natural resources,” said Lapointe. “The economic impacts are going to get worse as well as will the human health impacts. This is the new normal and like it or not, we’re going to have to adapt to it.”

And as the seaweed keeps coming, state and local officials are working with innovators to try and find scalable solutions to not just clean up the sargassum but to repurpose it and reduce its growing environmental and economic toll.

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Esta es una galería de fotos seleccionada por editores de fotografía de AP.

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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.

Jonathan Rinaldi was arrested outside his home Wednesday and could face up to two years in prison if convicted. The 47-year-old ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a council seat from Queens last year.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not generally protect fraudulent statements, but in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Rinaldi called it a matter of free-speech. He said he would not confirm or deny that he made the posts or generated the images at issue.

“I got arrested for social media posts,” Rinaldi said. “This is an issue that strikes at the heart of our First Amendment freedoms — not just for me, but for everybody.”

Among the false posts he's accused of having made — primarily on Facebook and Instagram — was one claiming an endorsement from the Queens Jewish Alliance. Prosecutors say the post used the authentic logo of the organization as well as a legitimate-looking endorsement sheet.

The complaint says the head of the Queens Jewish Alliance confronted him in a recorded phone call, and Rinaldi responded, “When you are trying to fight against the establishment, I have to use every available tool that’s at my disposal."

In another post, Rinaldi fabricated a New York Post story claiming that then-Council Member Robert Holden, a Democrat, had crossed the aisle to endorse him, the Queens district attorney said.

According to the charges, the fake story was accompanied by a doctored photo that appeared to show Holden shaking his hand — an image that Rinaldi prompted an AI platform to generate: “face swap the man on the left.”

“just change the face the head is ok they are both bald just change the face,” the prompt read, according to the charges.

“In today’s world it is important to hold people accountable for materially misrepresenting facts,” District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release. “As alleged, the defendant used AI to replace factual political support and launched fabricated attacks against his opponent as fact in a deliberate effort to mislead voters ahead of a City Council election.”

The rapid spread of AI has posed myriad problems for lawmakers, as they try to get a handle on increasingly realistic — but fake — images, from deepfake pornography to other types of fraud. Over half of states have regulated the use of AI in elections to protect voters from being misled; many require disclosure, and some have also adopted criminal penalties. Some have exemptions for clear satire.

A New York law adopted in 2024 requires disclosures of deepfakes in campaign materials and allows candidates who are targeted by them to go to court to block their dissemination.

Still, the accessible technology has punctuated U.S. races this year. In a GOP U.S. House primary in Kentucky, for example, an AI-created ad depicted Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie going on a romantic date and then to a hotel room with progressive U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.

The laws Rinaldi is accused of violating — third-degree forgery and possession of forged instruments — predate AI. Under New York law, a person commits third-degree forgery when they falsely make, complete or alter “a written instrument” with the intent to defraud, deceive or injure another. A “written instrument” is defined in part as written or printed matter, including online writings, conveying information “capable of being used to the advantage or disadvantage of some person.”

The district attorney's complaint alleges myriad instances of Rinaldi using AI to generate doctored photos, including some of his Democratic opponent, Lynn Schulman, appearing to wear a shirt that read “Hot Girls for Zohran.” The language of the prompt cited in the complaint suggests the reference to the city's Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, was intended to hurt her support in the largely Jewish neighborhood of Forest Hills, where they were campaigning.

The district attorney said Rinaldi further posted AI-generated videos appearing to show endorsements from a police precinct and an elementary school — public institutions which do not allow political endorsements.

Rinaldi also was on the ballot in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for state Assembly, where he was trounced by incumbent Andrew Hevesi. During the campaign Hevesi accused Rinaldi of fraudulently submitting documents to change his party registration, rendering him ineligible for the primary.

Hevesi subsequently changed his party registration back. Rinaldi told The New York Times he denied having submitted the paperwork.

The All-Star guard has been dealing with a back issue this season and left with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter. She went back to the locker room and didn't return.

Clark appeared to tweak her back in the second quarter when she was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the second quarter. She fell to the ground and was rubbing her back as she stood up. In the first quarter she went back to the tunnel and returned to the bench wearing a wrap around her back.

She finished the game with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes.

The two teams met Monday night and there were six technical fouls called and one ejection. Clark picked up her fifth technical in that game. The team is petitioning the league to have it rescinded. The physical play continued on Wednesday. On one play in the second quarter, Clark fell to the court as she drove and as players went for the loose ball, Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas appeared on video to put her fist into Clark's neck.

No foul was called on the play, but the league could review it for a flagrant foul.

“It was egregious. The fact that it was a no-call … You got to call it," said Fever coach Stephanie White. "You’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that (expletive) still happens? Absolutely unacceptable.”

Clark has been listed on the injury report for most of the season with a back injury after she missed one game because of it. The Fever hadn't given her any injury designation for the game she didn't play and were warned by the league for not doing that.

Clark is currently second in All-Star fan voting that was released Wednesday behind teammate Aliyah Boston.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

For two weeks, teams from 48 countries have been taking turns daily. The FIFA Fan Festival has encouraged passionate patriotic displays.

Related story: Over 65,000 FIFA World Cup fans celebrate love of soccer at Miami Stadium

The tournament’s first phase involves matches within four-team groups. A match’s victory means a team advances with 3 points. David Ferrari said he couldn’t think of a better watch party.

“I’m feeling amazing. Here, it’s amazing. The people with good energy,” Ferrari said.

The Group C teams — Brazil, Haiti, Scotland, and Morocco — were all playing their last group-stage matches at 6 p.m. in Miami and Atlanta. Summer Roberts was cheering for Scotland.

“Honestly, it is boiling hot. I’m dripping with sweat. It’s too hot, I can’t handle it,” Roberts said.

Only two advanced to the tournament’s second phase: The Round of 32, which already included the U.S., Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia.

Related story: Dedicated World Cup fans arrive early to the Miami Stadium

Brazilians arrived with four points to play against Scotland, which had three points, at the Miami Stadium. Brazil advanced with three more points after beating Scotland 3-0.

“It has been nerve-racking. I was expecting a hard game, and it has been,” said Daniella Bianchetti, who was rooting for Brazil. She added, “It’s awesome to feel the energy from the people ... It brings people together. People from different countries, you see, they are celebrating.”

Morocco arrived with four points and advanced with three more points after beating Haiti 4-2 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Related story: How Brazil advanced to Round of 32 after 3-0 victory against Scotland

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 4 p.m. on June 24 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 6 p.m. Scotland vs. Brazil match.

Related story: Ronaldinho says ‘let the magic begin’ after signing with Italian Serie C club Ravenna at age 46

Group C progress

JUNE 19: DAY 2

Brazil gets 3 points

• Game analysis: Matheus Cunha scores 2 goals as Brazil eliminates Haiti from World Cup with 3-0 win

Morocco gets 3 points

• Pre-game coverage: Scotland fans have descended on Boston for the World Cup, and bars are struggling to keep up

JUNE 13: DAY 1

Brazil and Morocco each get 1 point

• Game analysis: Brazil rallies for 1-1 draw against Morocco in its World Cup opener behind Vinícius Júnior’s goal
• FIFA game video: Morocco’s Ismael Saibari scores
• FIFA game video: A Vinicius Jr. special!

Scotland gets 3 points after playing against Haiti

• Game analysis: Scotland marks 28-year World Cup absence with 1-0 victory over Haiti in Group C
• FIFA game video: Scotland’s John McGinn scores
• Pre-game story: Haiti’s long-awaited World Cup return comes with formidable challenge

Tournament’s schedule

June 25: There are six matches: The Group E, Curaçao vs. Ivory Coast, game is at 4 p.m. The Group E, Ecuador vs. Germany, game is at 4 p.m. The Group F, Tunisia vs. Netherlands, game is at 7 p.m. The Group F, Japan vs. Sweden, game is at 7 p.m. The Group D, Turkey vs. U.S., game is at 10 p.m. The Group D, Paraguay vs. Australia, game is at 10 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 26: There are six matcuphes: The Group I, Norway vs. France, game is at 3 p.m. The Group I, Senegal vs. Iraq, game is at 3 p.m. The Group H, Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, game is at 8 p.m. The Group H, Uruguay vs. Spain, game is at 8 p.m. The Group G, New Zealand vs. Belgium, game is at 11 p.m. The Group G, Egypt vs. Iran, game is at 11 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 27: There are six matches: The Group L, Panama vs. England, game is at 5 p.m. The Group L, Croatia vs. Ghana, game is at 5 p.m. The Group K, Colombia vs. Portugal, game is at 7:30 p.m. The Group K, Congo vs. Uzbekistan, game is at 7:30 p.m. The Group J, Algeria vs. Austria, game is at 10 p.m. The Group J, Jordan vs. Argentina, game is at 10 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders at 7:30 p.m. on June 27. Parking is free. Broward County is offering free Express bus transportation from the arena to the Miami Stadium, also known as Hard Rock, in Miami Gardens, to FIFA World Cup ticket holders.

Round of 32 begins

June 28: There is a match at 3 p.m.

Miami watch party: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 29: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 30: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 1: There are three matches at noon, 4 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 2: There are three matches at 3 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 3: There are three matches at 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 9 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Round of 16 begins

July 4: There are two matches at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 5: There are two matches at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens for the last day from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 6: There are two matches at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

July 7: There are two matches at Noon and 4 p.m.

Quarterfinals begin

July 9: There is a quarter-final match at 4 p.m.

July 10: There is a quarter-final match at 3 p.m.

July 11: There are two quarter-final matches at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders at 5 p.m. on July 11. Parking is free.

Semifinals begin

July 14: The fan festival is closed. There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 14 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

July 15: There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 15 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

Finals begin

July 18: The third-place play-off match is at 5 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 18 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 5 p.m. bronze final.

Sunrise ride to stadium: The Amerant Bank Arena has free parking for FIFA World Cup ticket holders who ride Broward County’s free Express bus transportation to the Miami Stadium, also known as Hard Rock, in Miami Gardens.

July 19: The final match is at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 1 p.m. on July 19 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 3 p.m. final.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders for the final on July 19. Parking is free.

Related stories

• Key information for fans attending matches at Miami Stadium
• Security guard accused of stealing FIFA referee uniform from Miami Beach hotel

Track the groups

• Group A
• Group B
• Group C
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Group J
• Group K
• Group L

Diehard supporters of Brazil and Scotland took in every moment of their World Cup matchup.

“It’s been nerve wracking,” said Daniella Bianchetti. “I was expecting a hard game and it has been.”

Bianchetti is one of the tens of thousands who packed Bayfront Park for Wednesday’s Fan Festival.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “It’s awesome to feel the energy from the people.”

The cheers, chants and songs heard during Friday’s festival are a great example of the heartbeat of the World Cup.

“I’m feeling amazing,” said attendee David Ferrari. “Here, it’s amazing. The people with good energy.”

Members of Scotland’s famed Tartan Army did their best to stay cool under the South Florida Sun.

“Honestly, it is boiling hot,” said Summer Roberts. “I’m dripping with sweat. It’s too hot, I can’t handle it.”

Fans traveled thousands of miles to be in South Florida for the World Cup, and now they’re connected through one shared passion.

“It brings people together,” said Bianchetti. “People from different countries, you see they are celebrating.”

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Torrey Holston and Jose Romero were convicted in May of killing the 39-year-old.

In October 2019, Randazzo’s body was found near the Southern Seas Resort in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. His iPhone, sneakers, wallet and keys were taken after he was shot in the back of the head.

Although both men were found guilty of murder, they were not found guilty of possessing a gun or discharging a firearm.

“I think the jury was clear and unanimous on the involvement of both. It perhaps couldn’t find beyond a reasonable doubt who is the actual (gunman),” Judge Michael A. Usan said.

John Whalen was the fire chief in Coral Springs when Randazzo was hired.

He told Local 10 News the weight of losing Randazzo never faded, and he’s constantly thinking of the pain that his family feels.

“Chris was an amazing individual,” said Whalen. “He was larger than life. He would bear hug you.”

Romero’s attorney, Jim Lewis, told Local 10 in May that an appeal is being considered and said trying both men together was a “detriment.”

“We had always asked to be separate. Jose Romero was never alleged to carry a gun in this incident. The co-defendant was, so to some extent, we paid the price,” Lewis said.

Prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty in the case, but both men faced mandatory life sentences.

Like numerous others from his home state of Odisha in eastern India, Pradhan works in a power loom factory that produces polyester cloth in Surat, among the largest hubs for synthetic fabrics in the world. The 35-year-old is among the millions of workers in South Asia who endure appalling living conditions combined with hot, humid, poorly ventilated and incredibly loud factory floors as climate-driven extreme heat is only becoming worse across the region.

“I’m a poor person. I have come to Gujarat from Odisha, which is 2,000 kilometers away (1,242 miles), to work. We are poor people; we have to work to survive," says Pradhan.

As soon as he’s up, Pradhan uses the little free time he has to place a video call to his wife and two kids in Odisha. A few minutes later, after praying in front of a small picture of his god posted in a corner of the tiny room, he walks down a dark, narrow hallway to join others lined up to use the toilets and bathe with a bucket. Two toilets and a few taps and buckets are shared by up to 100 people each day.

Over 200 workers live on two floors that are essentially huge halls divided into plywood cubicles that each house up to 10 people. There is little ventilation apart from a few ceiling fans. Temperatures have already reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) this summer, making both the factories and the workers' housing feel stifling.

A few quick splashes of water later, Pradhan is on his way to the factory where he works, since arriving late might mean a cut in his daily wage.

Poorly cooled factory floors add to workers’ stress

At the factory, Pradhan's work includes placing polyester yarn on power looms, making sure the threads are not broken, checking that the bobbins that hold the yarn are in place and ensuring uniform fabric quality. Pradhan oversees up to 15 machines at a time, moving between them constantly in the deafening noise.

Pradhan says the sweltering heat means he works only in a sleeveless undershirt and shorts. He constantly drinks water and periodically squeezes sweat from his shirt, or else it gets heavy.

All the while, workers must remain vigilant around the fast-moving, heavy machinery.

“Even if we're tired, we have to be careful as sometimes people's fingers have been cut by the machine,” Pradhan says, adding: “If something happens to us, we will have to bear all the costs and we will also lose wages for the days that we can't work."

The noise is constant. Power looms can be as loud as 130 decibels, which is comparable to a firearm discharging nearby or a full-speed train passing a few feet away.

Most factories have little ventilation and only ceiling fans to cool the machines and workers. As temperatures outside soar, the workers whose shifts last as long as 12 hours say they sometimes experience dizziness, headaches and chronic fatigue.

Worker illnesses and even deaths due to heat and dehydration are common, says Siba Malik, a member of a power loom worker’s union in Surat. Reliable statistics can be hard to find, with experts saying that the nationwide toll of heat deaths is likely undercounted due to how death certificates are recorded.

Climate pressures driving internal migration

Most of Surat’s textile workers are migrants, and a large portion come from Odisha’s Ganjam district, among the most vulnerable regions in India to climate-driven disasters. Farming has become unreliable in Ganjam because of cyclones, floods and erratic weather, workers in Surat’s factories said. Water shortages and lack of infrastructure further limit their work options, driving them to move for factory jobs.

A 2023 report by a nonprofit estimates there are as many as 800,000 workers from Ganjam in Surat.

“There is nothing to do in our village,” says Seemanchal Sahu, another factory worker who has been in Surat for over 15 years. “If we had work there, we wouldn’t come here.”

Malik, a former worker, says the workers lack health insurance and other benefits, leaving them leaving them especially vulnerable. If they fall ill or get injured, their income stops immediately. He has been trying to organize workers to seek benefits and other rights as a group.

Malik says workers feel compelled to endure challenging conditions because they need the money. He says workers are typically paid either by how many meters of fabric they produce or a daily wage ranging from about 600 to 750 rupees ($6–8).

Nighttime heat and poor living conditions stifle workers

After finishing his shift around 7 p.m., Pradhan walks back to his room, but there is little relief. Nighttime temperatures in Surat have hovered around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).

Just as Pradhan comes back, some workers are getting ready to head out for the night shift. If the bathrooms are not too crowded, he typically tries to take another quick bucket bath. A dinner of lentils, white rice and vegetables such as eggplant or potato is served around 8:30 p.m. at the canteen below his room. Fish is available once a week.

After eating quickly, Pradhan spends some time with other workers outdoors. Most nights, he sits at one of the tea stalls selling drinks and snacks outside his building, as sitting inside can be hot and stuffy. Eventually, he returns to his cubicle to try and sleep.

“It’s hot in our room also,” said Pradhan. “We are unable to sleep properly. We wake up three or four times at night.”

Despite these conditions, Pradhan can often spend one-fifth of his earnings on rent and food. He manages to send about 6,000 rupees ($63) every month to help with his family's expenses back home.

For Pradhan, who works seven days a week, every day in Surat follows a similar routine. He gets a rare break from the drudgery on holidays such as Diwali or the Odiya New Year when he travels back to Odisha.

In spite of the hardships, Pradhan hopes he can provide a different life for his children. He said he wants them to study and find stable jobs.

“I know how hard this work is,” he said. “I will not send my children to do this.”

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Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123.

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

The featherweight pair — orbiting a star 1,110 light-years away — are the biggest exoplanets found to have less density than cotton candy.

That makes them the lightest known planets of their size, said the University of Oxford's George Dransfield.

“These two planets have densities comparable to a nice blob of shaving foam, fresh from the can,” Dransfield said in an email. She and her team reported their findings Wednesday in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Dransfield suspects these fluffy, wispy worlds are probably white or blue, depending on whether the skies there are cloudy — no shades of cotton-candy pink. The planets are probably mostly hydrogen and helium, although it will take follow-up observations by NASA's Webb Space Telescope to confirm their chemical makeup.

Detected by NASA’s Tess satellite over the past decade, these two especially puffy-puffs orbit a star in the southern constellation Volans, known as the flying fish. The researchers studied the planets' orbits using telescopes on Earth to determine their density, from 1,110 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).

Jupiter, by comparison, is as much as 35 times denser than these two lightweights.

Considered rare in the cosmos, super-puffs are thought to form around the disk of gas and dust around a newborn star where there is more gas than dust. They shed much of the material over time, stripping down even more.

NASA's tally of worlds outside our solar system currently stands at nearly 6,300 confirmed. Fewer than 40 are super-puffs, according to Dransfield.

“Ultimately, by studying exotic systems containing rare planet types, we add further pieces to the puzzle of planet formation and learn more about our place in the cosmos," she said.

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

More than 30 House representatives, both Democratic and Republican, streamed into the reception at the Longworth House Office Building to show their support, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D.-California; Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Ted Lieu, a California Democrat who serves as the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

"I love Taiwan," declared McCaul, as he welcomed Han. “It’s very important to me to say that the United States supports you, Mr. Speaker."

“The support for Taiwan is bipartisan and bicameral — both houses, both parties,” Pelosi said. “It’s about peace. It’s also about commerce in terms of keeping the ships able to travel here.”

Han, who is leading an eight-person parliamentary delegation, arrived in the nation's capital on Tuesday night after a stop in Phoenix, Arizona, where the chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is building new fabs and producing advanced chips crucial to powering the A.I. boom. TSMC is the poster child of Taiwan's importance to the U.S. economy.

The delegation met seven Democratic senators earlier Wednesday, including New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It wasn't clear if Republicans senators also met the visiting lawmakers.

The Democrats called on the Trump administration to move ahead with the $14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan without further delay. “We remain committed to maintaining close and friendly relations with Taiwan, providing Taiwan with arms for self-defense and supporting deterrence against growing coercion from the People’s Republic of China,” they said in a statement.

Taiwan, which Beijing claims to be part of the Chinese territory and vows to seize by force if necessary, is a highly thorny issue in U.S.-China relations. Washington is obligated by a domestic law to provide the island with sufficient hardware to fend off any invasion from the mainland. President Donald Trump, after his May trip to Beijing, has said he would be reviewing the $14 billion arms sales package, which Beijing strongly opposes. Trump also has suggested that the arms sales package could be a bargaining chip. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. policy on Taiwan remains unchanged.

On Wednesday, several U.S. lawmakers showed their support for the arms sales package.

“I'm here today ... to affirm in the strongest terms that Taiwan is not a bargaining chip. It is an island of freedom. And we need to do all we can to preserve it,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D.-Texas. “ I believe we need to make available every weapon that Taiwan needs in its defense as quickly as it becomes possible.”

Lieu criticized the Trump administration for holding up the $14 billion package. “I urge the administration to reverse that and to allow their arms sale to proceed," he said.

Han, who is a member of Taiwan's opposition KMT party, in his speech complimented the U.S. for its achievements in the past 250 years and said the island, like the U.S., cherishes the value of freedom and democracy and that both sides shoulder the responsibilities of safeguarding the democratic system and of maintaining regional stability and peace.

Han touted the robust trade between Taiwan and the U.S. The island of 23 million people has surpassed Germany as the fourth-largest trading partner of the U.S., largely driven by the demand for Taiwan's advanced chips and other tech hardware.

Han also urged the U.S. to help Taiwan gain more international space. No country can have diplomatic ties with both Beijing and Taipei because of China's territorial claim over the island. Only 12 governments, including the Holy See, still recognize Taiwan's statehood. Beijing also has kept Taiwan out of many international organizations, including the World Health Organization.

“On the international stage, Taiwan feels very lonely in its heart," Han said. “I am here asking Taiwan's good friends in Congress ... to help us participate in global activities.”

Han is scheduled to leave on Friday for the inaugural nonstop flight by the Taiwanese carrier EVA Air between Washington Dulles International Airport and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which has also been touted as proof of deepening U.S.-Taiwan ties.

Kevin Singh, 48, faces felony charges for stalking and intimidation, as well as a misdemeanor harassment charge. He was arrested Tuesday, according to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.

Cunningham, a player with the Indiana Fever, told investigators she had been staying at home more and having nightmares because of Singh’s continued messages, according to the affidavit. She was first made aware of Singh’s alleged online conduct in February, she said.

Singh's online behavior escalated that month and his conduct “became increasingly threatening after he was contacted by team security," the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release.

According to an affidavit, Singh allegedly sent numerous messages — including explicit messages — on the social media platform X in April. One of the messages featured the text, “You're literally down the street from me!” After Cunnigham's team sent Singh a cease-and-desist letter on April 30, Singh sent more messages on X, making explicit and threatening comments, according to the affidavit.

In September 2025, Singh hand-delivered a package addressed to “Sophie” at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indiana Fever’s home arena, containing a letter and a Guns N' Roses T-shirt sprayed with men's cologne, according the affidavit.

“The internet has made it easier than ever to target, harass and intimidate others. Threats of violence, whether face-to-face or behind a keyboard, will be taken seriously,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement. “Coming forward is never easy, regardless of a person’s position or public profile. The victim is setting an example by speaking out."

A phone call to a number listed for Singh wasn't answered. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney yet.

Singh is currently on probation in Hendricks County, Indiana, after he pleaded guilty in July 2025 to two felony counts of invasion of privacy, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office said.

The incident comes after Cunningham's teammate, WNBA star Caitlin Clark, was the victim of stalking and harassing by a different man from Texas who was sentenced last year to 2 1/2 years in prison.

The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 and occurred off the eastern coast of Iwate, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake had a depth of about 50 kilometers (30 miles), it said. The U.S. Geological Survey also reported a magnitude of 6.9.

The rattling occurred in the area where strong earthquakes have repeatedly been reported in recent months, including one that triggered a weeklong mega-quake caution advisory in December.

The quake, which struck Japan’s northeastern region during Thursday’s morning rush hour, also mildly shook Tokyo. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages, according to top government spokesperson Minoru Kihara.

Footage on Japan’s NHK public television quoted its journalists from a number of strongly-hit towns, including Sendai and Morioka, saying they felt the shaking for a couple of minutes but have not seen any damages. Footage showed people commuting as usual.

Nuclear power plants and facilities, including Fukushima Daiichi, which was damaged by the 2011 massive quake and tsunami, and a spent fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori, have not reported any abnormalities from Thursday’s shakings, Kihara said.

Japan, which sits on the structure known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone areas.

The event, which will be a family-friendly community celebration, will take place on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sedano’s supermarket located at 14524 SW Eighth St. in Miami.

There will be soccer-themed games, a live radio broadcast, food samples, non-alcoholic drink tastings and lots more.

In addition, attendees will have the chance to two tickets to a World Cup match taking place in Miami.

Other prizes will include soccer jerseys, Sedano’s gift cards and food baskets and other branded items.

U.S. CBP gave Local 10 News a behind-the-scenes look at their quiet efforts to screen the cargo delivered to the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

“Food deliveries, merchandise, staging equipment, anything that is going to get offloaded, that needs to be screened by us,” U.S. CBP Officer Alexander Hernandez said at the stadium.

The U.S. CBP team at the stadium property used a “non-intrusive inspection,” or NII, portal to scan cargo trucks with X-ray and gamma-ray, without physically having to search and unpack.

Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies use deputized dogs, or K-9s, trained to detect explosives as an extra layer of security.

Security is tight, and the perimeter around the stadium is wide. Federal, state, and local law enforcement are working together. They learned from the chaos that erupted at the stadium during a Copa America match between Argentina and Colombia on July 14, 2024.

More coverage

• How Brazil advanced to Round of 32 after 3-0 victory against Scotland
• Over 65,000 Brazilian and Scottish FIFA World Cup fans celebrate love of soccer at Miami Stadium
• About 30,000 FIFA World Cup fans join big Miami Bayfront Park watch party
• Dedicated World Cup fans arrive early to the Miami Stadium

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Samba didn’t silence the Tartan Army’s bagpipes, and the canary yellow jerseys didn’t drown the wool kilts. Nothing killed the joy. Not the expenses, the flights, the security screenings, the lines, nor the ticket checks.

Related story: How Brazil advanced to Round of 32 after 3-0 victory against Scotland

The demand for tickets was high. Entry-level resale prices ranged from $1,600 to $1,855. Tickets later averaged between $3,500 and $5,445. Premium seats reached $25,800.

Before the gates opened at 3 p.m. at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, fans who said they felt lucky to be there had made friendships, shared pictures, stories, and plenty of drinks.

Related story: Dedicated fans arrive early

Related story: A black jaguar oracle in Rio de Janeiro sniffs Brazil to beat Scotland in Group C challenge

After the 6 p.m. Group C matches ended about two hours later, only the two teams in the group with the most points advanced to the tournament’s next stage: The Round of 32.

Brazilians arrived with four points to play against Scotland, which had three points. After a 3-0 victory, Brazil advanced with three more points as the group’s winner.

Morocco arrived with four points and advanced with three more points after beating Haiti 4-2 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Related story: About 30,000 FIFA World Cup fans join big Miami Bayfront Park watch party

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 4 p.m. on June 24 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 6 p.m. Scotland vs. Brazil match.

Related story: Ronaldinho says ‘let the magic begin’ after signing with Italian Serie C club Ravenna at age 46

Group C progress

JUNE 19: DAY 2

Brazil gets 3 points

• Game analysis: Matheus Cunha scores 2 goals as Brazil eliminates Haiti from World Cup with 3-0 win

Morocco gets 3 points

• Pre-game coverage: Scotland fans have descended on Boston for the World Cup, and bars are struggling to keep up

JUNE 13: DAY 1

Brazil and Morocco each get 1 point

• Game analysis: Brazil rallies for 1-1 draw against Morocco in its World Cup opener behind Vinícius Júnior’s goal
• FIFA game video: Morocco’s Ismael Saibari scores
• FIFA game video: A Vinicius Jr. special!

Scotland gets 3 points after playing against Haiti

• Game analysis: Scotland marks 28-year World Cup absence with 1-0 victory over Haiti in Group C
• FIFA game video: Scotland’s John McGinn scores
• Pre-game story: Haiti’s long-awaited World Cup return comes with formidable challenge

Tournament’s schedule

June 25: There are six matches: The Group E, Curaçao vs. Ivory Coast, game is at 4 p.m. The Group E, Ecuador vs. Germany, game is at 4 p.m. The Group F, Tunisia vs. Netherlands, game is at 7 p.m. The Group F, Japan vs. Sweden, game is at 7 p.m. The Group D, Turkey vs. U.S., game is at 10 p.m. The Group D, Paraguay vs. Australia, game is at 10 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 26: There are six matcuphes: The Group I, Norway vs. France, game is at 3 p.m. The Group I, Senegal vs. Iraq, game is at 3 p.m. The Group H, Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, game is at 8 p.m. The Group H, Uruguay vs. Spain, game is at 8 p.m. The Group G, New Zealand vs. Belgium, game is at 11 p.m. The Group G, Egypt vs. Iran, game is at 11 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 27: There are six matches: The Group L, Panama vs. England, game is at 5 p.m. The Group L, Croatia vs. Ghana, game is at 5 p.m. The Group K, Colombia vs. Portugal, game is at 7:30 p.m. The Group K, Congo vs. Uzbekistan, game is at 7:30 p.m. The Group J, Algeria vs. Austria, game is at 10 p.m. The Group J, Jordan vs. Argentina, game is at 10 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders at 7:30 p.m. on June 27. Parking is free. Broward County is offering free Express bus transportation from the arena to the Miami Stadium, also known as Hard Rock, in Miami Gardens, to FIFA World Cup ticket holders.

Round of 32 begins

June 28: There is a match at 3 p.m.

Miami watch party: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 29: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

June 30: There are three matches at 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 1: There are three matches at noon, 4 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 2: There are three matches at 3 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 3: There are three matches at 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from 1 p.m to 9 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

Round of 16 begins

July 4: There are two matches at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens from noon to midnight at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 5: There are two matches at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Miami watch parties: The fan festival opens for the last day from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.

July 6: There are two matches at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

July 7: There are two matches at Noon and 4 p.m.

Quarterfinals begin

July 9: There is a quarter-final match at 4 p.m.

July 10: There is a quarter-final match at 3 p.m.

July 11: There are two quarter-final matches at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders at 5 p.m. on July 11. Parking is free.

Semifinals begin

July 14: The fan festival is closed. There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 14 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

July 15: There is a semi-final match at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 15 at The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the semifinal match.

Finals begin

July 18: The third-place play-off match is at 5 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 3 p.m. on July 18 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 5 p.m. bronze final.

Sunrise ride to stadium: The Amerant Bank Arena has free parking for FIFA World Cup ticket holders who ride Broward County’s free Express bus transportation to the Miami Stadium, also known as Hard Rock, in Miami Gardens.

July 19: The final match is at 3 p.m.

Miami Beach watch party: Doors open at 1 p.m. on July 19 at The Sandbowl, behind The Bandshell, at 7275 Collins Ave., for the 3 p.m. final.

Sunrise watch party: The indoor Amerant Bank Arena is hosting a free watch party for ticket holders for the final on July 19. Parking is free.

Related stories

• Key information for fans attending matches at Miami Stadium
• Security guard accused of stealing FIFA referee uniform from Miami Beach hotel

Track the groups

• Group A
• Group B
• Group C
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Group J
• Group K
• Group L

Vinícius scored two goals — one of them practically into an empty net to open the scoring — and five-time World Cup champion Brazil beat Scotland 3-0 on Wednesday, advancing to the knockout stage as the Group C winner.

Vinícius — who has a goal in all three of Brazil's group matches — scored in the seventh minute and again just before halftime, tying Norway's Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé with of France with four goals, one behind Lionel Messi of Argentina.

Matheus Cunha also scored for the Seleção, who reached the knockout rounds for the 15th consecutive World Cup. Morocco finished second in the group and also advanced, rallying to beat Haiti 4-2.

After a lackluster 1-1 draw against Morocco in its opener, Brazil — facing pressure to win its first World Cup title since 2002 — followed with a 3-0 win over Haiti, and coach Carlo Ancelotti said he saw gradual improvement from his team during the group stage.

“We are working to play the best that we can,” he said. “But the goal is not to play well. We know that playing well is easier to win, but the goal is to win. ... If we win the World Cup, we played well. If we don't win the World Cup, we played really bad.”

Taking advantage of an early Scotland mistake on Wednesday, Vinícius received a pass from 19-year-old striker Rayan and took a quick touch to get by goalkeeper Angus Gunn for an easy finish and a 1-0 lead. He capitalized on another miscue by the Scots later in the first half with a header from close range.

“It’s always important to be scoring goals,” Vinícius said in Portuguese. “It’s important to be playing great matches, and I managed to do that. I was able to perform very well and improve. Throughout my years with the national team, there were times when I couldn’t quite show my true game.”

Neymar entered as a substitute in the 76th, making his debut after a right calf injury sidelined him for Brazil's first two matches. The majority-Brazilian crowd at Hard Rock Stadium began chanting his name midway through the second half as he got off the bench and began doing warmup sprints on the sideline — and fans roared as he trotted onto the pitch.

“I think he deserved the opportunity to play, which is why I gave him the opportunity to play,” Ancelotti said through an interpreter. “I think he did well even though he played for just a few minutes.”

Neymar is Brazil’s career scoring leader with 79 goals in 130 international appearances. The 34-year-old forward appeared in each of the past three World Cups for Brazil, scoring eight goals.

Scotland is playing in its first World Cup since 1998 and has become one of the more interesting teams of the tournament. Its dedicated fans, known as the Tartan Army, brought a party atmosphere to the Boston and Miami areas ahead of their team's matches.

Scotland hasn't advanced past the group stage in nine tries.

“We knew they were a top side,” Scotland’s Nathan Patterson said. “They have massive threats. We were trying to nullify the threats — and obviously giving them easy goals is not what you need.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

From winning the U.S. Women's Open in California to playing in a pair at the Dow Championship in Michigan to brand-building for the sport in New York, the 27-year-old Korda has had little time for retreat.

If this is the price of stardom, well, she's willing to lean into it.

“I feel like in everything that you do in life — if you’re in the finance world, if you’re doing this — the more you put yourself into that position the more comfortable you get,” Korda said on Wednesday at Hazeltine National Golf Club. “I think the biggest change that I told myself I’m going to make is I’m just going to be authentic and be who I am. Either that comes across great or it doesn’t, but I just want to be genuine.”

Korda, whose prize money has passed $5.3 million this year, has won four of the nine tournaments she has entered with only one finish outside of the top 10. She leads the Vare Trophy race for the lowest scoring average on the LPGA by an average of 1.15 strokes over Hyo Joo Kim.

The only women to win the first three majors of a season are Inbee Park in 2013 and Babe Zaharias in 1950, when there were only three on the schedule. Now the final two majors are in Europe: the Evian Championship in France from July 9-12 and the Women’s British Open in England from July 30-Aug. 2.

With the Chevron Championship win in April already on her scorecard, Korda pulled out a one-stroke victory over Charley Hull and Gaby Lopez at the U.S. Women's Open this month. Fulfilling her commitment to playing with partner Olivia Cowan at the Dow Championship the following week required some self-discipline.

“I was very tired. Honestly, I couldn't go to sleep, and every single morning I woke up I didn't want to wake up,” Korda said. “I'm still a little tired from it.”

Then she was whisked away to New York for a whirlwind media tour on behalf of the LPGA, before heading home last week to recharge and refresh.

“It’s fun to be on a different stage in front of different people doing something that helps the game of golf and kind of puts us on a broader stage,” Korda said.

From a cameo on the "Today' show to a visit to the New York Stock Exchange to an appearance at Times Square, Korda relished last week the opportunity to show the lighthearted and self-described “dorky” side of her personality to more mainstream audiences.

“These are the types of things we need our athletes to do in order to have transcendent stars that cut through sports and find their way into culture,” LPGA Tour Commissioner Craig Kessler said. “She did it. She’s doing it.”

The major that was last held at Hazeltine on the suburban prairie southwest of Minneapolis in 2019, has a $13 million purse this year that's the largest in the history of women's golf.

“To see the evolution of where the women’s game was to what it is now, it is quite incredible,” Korda said. “You see that across every sport. You see that in tennis, right now in basketball, too. It is amazing to see the investment in women’s sports, and we are just really grateful for our partners continuously raising the bar.”

Hannah Green returns to Hazeltine in reflection on her 2019 win

Hannah Green, who's currently eighth in the world ranking, got her first tour victory at age 22 with a wire-to-wire win at the Women's PGA Championship when it last visited Hazeltine. That remains her only major title.

“There is definitely shots that I remember. I also remember some of the bad shots as well, which is sometimes not a great thing,” Green said. “But it’s nice to kind of relive those moments in the practice round. I do hit a lot further than I used to do back then.”

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

After winning hearts across social media, supporters had launched an effort urging organizers to allow the beloved bird to attend the match alongside his family. In less than two weeks, Merlín went from waddling through the streets of Mexico City during Mexico's opening victory to visiting the presidential palace. But on Wednesday, his proverbial flight was cut short.

Merlín was granted access to the Azteca Stadium grounds to film a segment with Televisa, one of Latin America’s largest television networks. Under strict security protocols, Merlín traveled comfortably inside a transport crate, accompanied by owner Carla Gómez and her son Cristian, as curious fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the tournament’s most unexpected star. However, he could not remain for the match, as FIFA regulations prohibit animals from entering venues in order to safeguard their well-being.

A FIFA tournament spokesperson confirmed Merlín was permitted to enter the perimeter but not the stadium, and did not offer further comment.

“These last few days have been crazy, we’ll never stop being grateful for what we’ve experienced,” Gómez told The Associated Press. “Everyone is truly amazed by Merlín.”

Since his first appearance, Merlín has grown into a social media phenomenon and an international celebrity. Wearing a green Mexico jersey and proudly accompanying his family as they sell drinks throughout the city, the 2-year-old duck has become a familiar sight in the capital. Along the way, he has participated in interviews, visited television studios, mingled with supporters at the fan fest in Mexico City’s Zócalo, and even paid a visit to Netflix.

“He’s become our unofficial mascot for Mexico and the World Cup,” said Daniel Krauze, a fan outside the stadium who sported a duck hat. “I feel proud to wear Merlín the duck.”

Merlín has also found himself at the center of a trademark dispute, when at least two applications before Gómez's sought the rights to his name for exclusive commercial use. The registration was ultimately granted to Gómez.

Now, following hundreds of requests from fans, the family will finally be able to watch Mexico's national team live. Gómez described the occasion as a “very powerful emotion.”

And although the duck darling will not be cheering from the stands, she is convinced that Mexico’s most famous feathered supporter will still be bringing luck to El Tri: “Merlín is a lucky charm, and I know that, with him, the Mexican national team will win again today.”

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Lawyers for Live Nation told the court on Monday that Trump and the company’s CEO, Michael Rapino, spoke about the antitrust lawsuit in February, but didn’t discuss “substantive terms” of any potential settlement.

They also said that White House lawyers were involved in some of the numerous in-person meetings, videoconferences, telephone calls and written communications between the company and the Justice Department in February and March.

Just days into the March trial, the Justice Department announced a settlement that most states refused to join, saying it did not go far enough to curb the company’s dominance over concert venues and ticketing for live events though Ticketmaster.

The trial continued, and a jury concluded several weeks later that the company was a monopoly that cost concertgoers and sports fans.

The White House declined to comment on Live Nation's disclosure, referring questions to the Justice Department, which didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The revelation comes as the Justice Department has faced criticism that its independence has been threatened by substantial oversight or interference from the White House and the president.

The Justice Department and dozens of states originally teamed up to bring the antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation.

Among other things, the jury in New York found Ticketmaster’s anticompetitive practices led to people in 22 states paying an extra $1.72 per ticket, which the judge could order the companies to pay back.

State attorneys general who sued Live Nation said the verdict could potentially lead to lower ticket prices for music fans.

The federal government's settlement deal included a cap on service fees at some amphitheaters, plus some new ticket-selling options for promoters and venues — potentially allowing, but not requiring, them to open doors to Ticketmaster competitors such as SeatGeek or AXS.

In April, Live Nation said in a statement that the verdict “is not the last word on this matter.”

The Americans have already won Group D to lock up a spot in the knockout stage and will face winless Turkey in Inglewood, California, on Thursday.

Christian Pulisic returned to training after missing a 2-0 win over Australia, but coach Mauricio Pochettino has to decide how much to use his star player in a game that's meaningless in the standings and the knockout stage right around the corner.

There are similar decisions to make with Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson. They're all on yellow cards and would miss the first knockout round game if they picked up a second against Turkey.

The U.S. has won consecutive World Cup matches for the first time since 1930. Its six goals in the first two matches are one short of the team record for a World Cup.

Turkey has yet to score a goal in its first World Cup in 24 years and is already eliminated.

Thursday will be the second day with six matches, including Germany looking to win its third straight game, Ivory Coast aiming to make the knockout stage for the first time and Ecuador needing a win to escape the group stage.

What to watch on June 25

— Curacao vs. Ivory Coast , 4 p.m. EDT in Philadelphia (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Ecuador vs. Germany, 4 p.m. EDT in East Rutherford, New Jersey (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Japan vs. Sweden, 7 p.m. EDT in Arlington, Texas (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Tunisia vs. The Netherlands, 7 p.m. EDT in Kansas City, Missouri (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Paraguay vs. Australia, 10 p.m. EDT in Santa Clara, California (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Turkey vs. United States, 10 p.m. EDT in Inglewood, California (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

Ecuador faces must-win against Germany

Ecuador arrived at the World Cup on a 19-game winning streak.

It could face an early exit if it can't find a way to beat Germany in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Ecuador opened the World Cup with a 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast on Amad Diallo's goal in the 90th minute and played to a scoreless draw against Curacao, the smallest nation in the World Cup.

That leaves Ecuador trailing both Germany and Ivory Coast in Group E with one point and needing to beat the Germans, who have already clinched the group but will be without defender Nico Schlotterbeck for the rest of the World Cup because of an ankle injury.

Ivory Coast on the cusp of knockout stage

Ivory Coast has a chance to make history in its fourth World Cup.

With a win already under their belt, the Elephants can clinch a spot in the knockout round for the first time with a win over Curacao in Philadelphia.

Ivory Coast pulled off a 1-0 win over Ecuador and had a halftime lead over Germany before losing 2-1. Ivory Coast's previous best chance to reach the knockout stage came in Brazil in 2014 when it opened with a win over Japan before losing the next two games.

Curacao still has an outside shot of reaching the knockout round, needing a win and some goal-differential help from Ecuador. Curacao has a goal differential of minus-6, thanks to an opening 7-1 loss to Germany.

Group F winner still up in the air

The Netherlands and Japan will be playing for the top spot in Group F on Thursday night — the Dutch play Tunisia, the Japanese face Sweden — but both teams have said they want no updates on each other as their games are progressing.

“You have to focus on making sure you win the match,” said Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman, whose team has a record World Cup unbeaten streak of 14 matches, excluding penalty shootouts. “We would love to be first in the group and of course the result will have an impact on that, but that’s not the most important thing. Playing this game is the most important thing.”

The Netherlands and Japan both have four points and a plus-four goal differential. Sweden is at three points with its 5-1 loss to Dutch.

To finish first in the group, Sweden has to win and have the Netherlands do no better than a draw.

“It’s literally my first rodeo in terms of a World Cup so it’s going to be new to me,” Sweden coach Graham Potter said. “But yeah, it’s best for us to try to get the positive results and focus on that.”

Paraguay, Australia play for second in Group D

There’s plenty at stake in the final Group D match between Australia and Paraguay.

The Australians will clinch second place in the group and a spot in the knockout round with either a win or draw. Paraguay clinches second place with a win and is almost assured advancement as a third-place team with a draw. The situation will be more tenuous with a loss for either team, with goal differential likely deciding the fate.

The game is a bit of a full-circle moment for Socceroos coach Tony Popovic, who played his final international game as a player against Paraguay in a friendly 20 years ago when he scored his eighth international goal.

“I didn’t score many so I have to remind you of that,” Popovic said. “It was a special way to end my international career. To think that all these years later I’ll be the head coach and we’re up against Paraguay is special. That was a great day and hopefully tomorrow will a special day for Australia against Paraguay once more.”

Australia will be without defender Jacob Italiano and forward Mat Leckie, who are dealing with injuries.

Paraguay will be without midfielder Miguel Almiron, who is suspended after getting a red card for covering his mouth during a confrontation against Turkey. Mauricio will start in his place, coach Gustavo Alfaro said.

More World Cup news

— Switzerland wraps up first place in Group B at the World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Canada

— Bosnia-Herzegovina boosts chances of advancing at World Cup with 3-1 win over Qatar

— Vinícius Júnior scores 2 goals as Brazil beats Scotland 3-0 to win its World Cup group

— Soufiane Rahimi and Gessime Yassine help Morocco rally to beat Haiti 4-2 at the World Cup

— Qatar’s Assim Madibo banned for 5 games after breaking the leg of Canada’s Ismaël Koné at World Cup

— 'Our idol is back': Neymar debuts in this World Cup as a sub for Brazil against Scotland

— Turkey coach Montella says he won’t resign after winless World Cup start, admonishes heckling fans

— Ivory Coast eyes knockout stage of World Cup with striker Elye Wahi expected back amid investigation

— Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha seeks new club after World Cup stardom, doesn’t rule out Brazil move

— Day 14 of the World Cup, in photos

Stats of the day

Switzerland has qualified for the knockout phase for the seventh consecutive time in major tournament football (World Cups and UEFA Euros).

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AP sports writers Dave Skretta, Josh Dubow and Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Lawmakers who were at the meeting told The Wall Street Journal that Trump called the Republican from Louisiana a “Loser” and also targeted Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul over their support of the Iran War Powers Resolution.

A lawmaker who witnessed it described the severity of the shouting match as a “7 out of 10,” and their behavior as “two boys on recess that are yelling at each other over a foul,”according to Fox News. Trump also described Cassidy as a “lunatic,” according to CNN.

Trump “was wondering why people would vote for the War Powers Act. I asked him if that would be a rhetorical question, a real question. He said, ‘Real!’ And so, as we begin to speak, the president didn’t want to hear my question, interrupted me,” Cassidy told reporters. “I didn’t care to be interrupted. I felt like I was trying to get answers for the American people, and I’m not going to be bullied when I’m trying to get answers for the American people, and so it escalated.”

Trump reiterated threats that he was not going to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, if lawmakers didn’t pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE America Act.

“If he chooses to hold up his own agenda because he wants action on the Save Act, that’s, I guess, his call. It is not helpful to him. It’s not helpful to the country, and it’s not moving the needle. If you don’t have the votes, sir, you don’t have the votes,” Murkowski told CNN.

The bipartisan bill to make homeownership more affordable targets corporate landlords by restricting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to rent out.

“We at times have differences of opinion,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune about his relationship with Trump.

Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to fill JD Vance’s vacancy, doesn’t think Trump is going to veto it.

“I am confident the president is going to sign the bill,” Husted said.

Democrats say Trump doesn’t care about affordable housing.

“He just cares about his priorities, and his priority right now is to make it harder for the American people to participate in our democracy,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona.

The Save America Act proposes more regulations on federal elections ahead of the midterms in November, and it also includes a provision that puts limits on transgender athletes.

With Sen. Rick Scott standing by his side, Trump described the meeting as “great” and said he is “very proud of the party” and added that negotiations with Iran were going “very well.”

“I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay,” Trump said. “I think you know who they are.”

Torres contributed to this report from Miami.

“It’s a little bit boring, no?” Pochettino said with a bemused grin. "They’re waiting for the perfect wave, and it never arrives.”

Pochettino is not a man who understands why anybody would want to wait. He would rather make the wave.

His energy and hunger propelled him out of Argentina to a successful playing career in Europe, followed by a swift transition to management at top clubs in England, France and Spain. He has spent his adult life in high-stakes situations, learning to thrive in the constant urgency demanded at soccer's highest levels.

So when this lifelong high-energy striver took over the U.S. team nearly two years ago, he expected to find a roster and a country that shared his desperate hunger for success leading up to their home World Cup.

Pochettino and his coaching team were stunned to learn otherwise.

“We were so naive when we signed our contract,” Pochettino said Tuesday night during a media roundtable in his office. “I think what we find after we sign, we misjudged the situation. It was worse than we really believed.”

Pochettino had never coached a national team before he took over the U.S. While he understood the obstacles inherent in a job featuring limited contact with his players, he didn't anticipate the scope of the rebuild that would be necessary in a program that had enjoyed only erratic success on the international stage.

The Americans had recently been eliminated from the 2024 Copa America in the group stage despite playing on home turf, leading to coach Gregg Berhalter's firing. Pochettino says he inherited a program saturated by complacency that didn't match his urgency.

“When we arrived here, we received a big punch, and we were knocked out for a while," Pochettino said. "Because we were so excited about that. It’s so close, the World Cup. Everyone is going to want to be involved and want to come to the national team, and it was the opposite.”

But after Pochettino understood the full scope of the job he had taken, he went to work on creating the culture he needed to see. He identified the players who would be most important to the Americans' success, and he sold them on giving their all to the project that is finally bearing fruit at this World Cup.

Pochettino's team has opened the tournament with back-to-back victories over Paraguay and Australia by a combined 6-1 score. That's a historic achievement for the U.S., which had never started 2-0 and has won only one knockout-stage match in its entire World Cup history.

The U.S. concludes group play Thursday night against Turkey in Southern California before hosting a round of 32 match in Northern California next week. The tactical savvy they've shown under Pochettino, along with a theoretically manageable draw, clearly indicate the Americans have a golden opportunity to make their most impressive World Cup finish since reaching the semifinals at the inaugural tournament in 1930.

But it took hard work over the past 20 months to make it happen, Pochettino says. The U.S. lost twice in the CONCACAF Nations League in March 2025, but Pochettino saw progress on building the culture and style necessary for the Americans to thrive on a bigger stage.

He persevered in his plans after the U.S. didn't win the Gold Cup without Christian Pulisic in the summer of 2025, and he agrees with his players who have cited the fall of 2025 as a turning point for the American squad.

That stretch included a famously pugnacious friendly with Australia in which Pochettino challenged his players at halftime to raise their level of competitiveness. It also included a team talk last November in which he first used the phrase that has become one of the team's slogans: “Why not us?”

“And then they were ..." Pochettino says while making a shocked face. "'Why not us?' It was like a motto for us to say, ‘We can. If we believe we can, we can do. If we work hard, we can do. If we change our mindset, we can do.’”

“Why not us?” is emblazoned on the back wall of Pochettino's office, along with numerous additional quotes and sayings hand-written on the wall by the coach: “Heart turns effort into belief, and when everything hurts, heart keeps us fighting together," and “When people believe in each other, impossible dreams become possible.”

Pochettino's American chapter has changed him in small ways. He has been surprised by both ends of the American palate, from Chick-Fil-A to Whole Foods grocery stores, and he has developed an appreciation for country and soul music — everyone from Lainey Wilson and Ella Langley to Teddy Swims.

The soccer world doesn't expect Pochettino to stay with the U.S. team forever, and he has already been linked with European club jobs leading up to this tournament. Pochettino says his coaching team hasn't ruled out staying with the U.S. past the World Cup, but those discussions will wait until they see just how far this team can go.

“It’s difficult to describe or know your future,” Pochettino said. “But when you are here, I think it’s difficult now to see yourself living in another place, because for sure, we will miss it if one day we don’t stay here in this country."

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup

El Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos (USGS, por sus siglas en inglés) indicó que los terremotos que se produjeron durante la tarde tuvieron una magnitud de 7,1 —luego actualizada en 7,2— y una magnitud de 7,5 y que se sucedieron con un minuto de diferencia.

En un breve discurso a la nación el miércoles por la noche, la presidenta interina Delcy Rodríguez informó que los sismos causaron daños en varios estados, pero no proporcionó cifras sobre viviendas y edificios dañados, heridos o fallecidos.

Los terremotos dañaron gravemente el principal aeropuerto del país, el Aeropuerto Internacional Simón Bolívar, lo que obligó a su cierre, añadió, y anunció la suspensión de clases durante varios días.

“Instamos a nuestra población a mantener la calma”, dijo Rodríguez. “Instamos a la unidad”.

Rodríguez también solicitó a todos los profesionales de la salud del país que se presentaran en los hospitales para atender a los heridos.

En el estado Falcón, el gobernador Víctor Clark informó que 32 personas habían sido hospitalizadas y 15 permanecían atrapadas cuatro horas después de que los sismos sacudieran el país.

El USGS indicó que el epicentro del primer sismo se situó al oeste de la localidad de Morón, situada en la costa caribeña del país, a unos 168 kilómetros al oeste de Caracas. El terremoto tuvo una profundidad de 13 kilómetros. Un poco más tarde, informó de un terremoto aún más fuerte que tuvo una profundidad de 10 kilómetros y su epicentro se situó a 16 kilómetros al suroeste de Morón.

Vecinos aterrados

Los residentes de la capital venezolana salieron de los edificios que se zarandeaban y permanecieron en el exterior, muchos visiblemente conmocionados al ver muros enteros derrumbados que dejaron muebles a la vista desde la calle. También se observaron columnas de polvo en dos barrios normalmente concurridos de la capital.

"Esto fue aterrador, nunca habíamos vivido un temblor tan fuerte; por suerte nuestro edificio resistió. Espero que no repita no sé si resista otro tan potente”, dijo Jaime García, oficinista de 37 años que acababa de regresar junto a su esposa y dos hijos de un balneario cercano a la capital venezolana, donde acudieron para aprovechar el día festivo.

Fallas en Internet, cortes eléctricos y ruptura de tuberías de agua se registraron en varios sectores de Caracas.

El ministro del Interior, Diosdado Cabello, informó que el sismo se sintió en varios estados y agregó que en el barrio capitalino de Altamira se registraron situaciones “alarmantes” con viviendas y edificios derrumbados. Instó a la población a permanecer al aire libre.

La gente permaneció en las calles durante horas, incluso después de la puesta de sol. Algunos se sentaron en el suelo abrazando a sus mascotas mientras el polvo se acumulaba a su alrededor.

Héctor Ricci, residente en Caracas, dijo que el primer temblor “empezó de forma discreta” y luego “fue creciendo” hasta que al final la gente tuvo que salir de sus casas y reunirse en la calle.

Primeras reacciones

La líder opositora venezolana María Corina Machado, ganadora del Premio Nobel de la Paz 2025, expresó en X sus condolencias. “Mi corazón, mi abrazo infinito y mis oraciones están con cada hogar venezolano en estas horas de angustia”.

Edmundo González, el candidato de la oposición en las elecciones presidenciales de Venezuela de 2024, afirmó en la misma red social que muchos venezolanos seguían sin poder ponerse en contacto con sus familiares ni evaluar la magnitud de los daños tras los terremotos. "La incertidumbre se convierte en otra capa de angustia, y no es la caída de una red: es el bloqueo sistemático y prolongado de información que viven los venezolanos".

Estos terremotos se encuentran entre los más fuertes que han sacudido Venezuela en más de un siglo. El temblor de San Narciso de 1900 tuvo una magnitud de 7,6 y el terremoto de Sucre de 2018 una magnitud de 7,3.

Los temblores se sintieron en la vecina Colombia, especialmente en la región Caribe y en el nororiente del país, sin que se hayan reportado daños ni víctimas. La Dirección General Marítima colombiana aclaró en un comunicado que no hay alerta de tsunami para la costa Caribe de Colombia.

En Brasil fueron evacuados edificios en Manaos, Belém y Macapá, todas ellas ciudades de la Amazonía.

El Centro de Alerta de Tsunamis del Pacífico de Estados Unidos emitió una alerta de tsunami para las Islas Vírgenes. Las autoridades de la República Dominicana también lo hicieron para la isla.

Aunque Venezuela se encuentra cerca de múltiples fallas, su ubicación a caballo entre las placas sudamericana y caribeña hace que los terremotos sean mucho menos frecuentes que en otras partes de América Latina.

Ofrecimiento de ayuda

El presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, indicó en X que su gobierno había ofrecido asistencia a Venezuela a través de su Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Añadió que 300 rescatistas y paramédicos, junto con 50 toneladas de equipos, medicamentos y suministros de emergencia, estaban listos para viajar a Caracas.

El gobierno de Chile expresó su solidaridad con el gobierno y el pueblo venezolano tras el terremoto, y afirmó estar dispuesto a brindar asistencia humanitaria y de búsqueda y rescate si se le solicitara.

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García Cano informó desde Bogotá, Colombia. Anna-Catherine Brigada colaboró desde Ciudad de México, Clara Preve desde Buenos Aires y Jorge Rueda desde Caracas.

Thursday will feature a sun/cloud mix, plus haze as a hint of Saharan dust hangs in the air. There could be a few showers along the east coast during the morning. Afternoon storms that develop will tend to favor inland areas of South Florida. Indeed, it will be another hot, humid day. Temperatures will make a run for the low 90s-- factor in the humidity and it will feel like the triple digits.

The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes roiled the region, with buildings evacuated in cities as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Caracas.

In a brief address to the nation late Wednesday, acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the earthquakes caused damages in several states, but she did not give any figures on the number of homes and buildings affected, or on injuries or fatalities.

The earthquakes damaged the country’s main airport, Simón Bolívar International Airport, severely enough to lead to its closure, she said, adding that classes were being canceled for several days.

“We urge our population to remain calm,” Rodríguez said. “We urge unity.”

Rodríguez also asked all health care professionals in the country to report to hospitals to assist anyone who was injured. The Ministry of Education late Wednesday said some schools would be used as shelters and donation centers.

In the coastal state of Falcon, Gov. Víctor Clark said 32 people had been hospitalized and more than four hours after the earthquake there were still 15 people trapped.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially said the first earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1, later revising that to 7.2. Its epicenter was west of the community of Morón, located along the country’s Caribbean coast, about 168 kilometers (104 miles) west of Caracas. The quake had a depth of 22 kilometers (13.6 miles).

The USGS reported an even larger 7.5-magnitude earthquake just a minute later. The second quake had a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and its epicenter was 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Morón.

The quakes, among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century, struck shortly after 6 p.m. People evacuated swaying buildings in the capital Caracas, many visibly shocked as they saw entire walls that had collapsed, making furniture visible from the street. Dust columns could also be seen in two neighborhoods of the capital, where restaurants and other businesses are typically busy.

‘We all had to leave our houses'

People remained on the streets for hours, even after sunset. Some sat on the ground hugging their pets as dust gathered around them. Collapsed buildings, toppled electric poles and debris blocked streets. Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone signal.

“It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,” Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.

Rodríguez, who declared a state of emergency, said subway and natural gas services in Caracas were canceled. She also urged Venezuelans to report any damages through a government app.

The lack of cellphone signal in parts of Venezuela deepened the distress of many families, particularly those among the more than 7.7 million people who have left the country during its protracted crisis.

Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado, in exile after leaving Venezuela in December, took to X to send prayers and wish strength to Venezuelans.

“May strength, serenity, and solidarity prevail among us in the face of this difficult time,” she said on X.

Impact felt throughout Venezuela

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the quake could be felt in several states. The Altamira neighborhood in Caracas had “alarming situations” with collapsed homes and buildings, he said, suggesting people were injured in the earthquake and asking motorists to give way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles.

“We understand that some people may be desperate, but we are acting according to protocols to activate aid and rescue efforts to help those who need it most,” Cabello said on state television. “Be very careful with children and the elderly; call each other and check that no one has been harmed.”

He also urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could further damage some structures.

“The building really shook from side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong,” Caracas resident Roberto Gamas said. “We were walking and it was tossing us around. Everything in the apartment fell. Well, thank God we were able to get out.”

Expressions of support posted on social media

Reaction poured in swiftly on social media, with offers of help from various governments including the United States, Chile and El Salvador.

“The US stands with the Venezuelan people in the aftermath of this evening's devastating earthquakes,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said on X. “We're in touch with the authorities and mobilizing assistance.”

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, once diametrically opposed to Venezuela’s government, said he had offered aid Wednesday night on a post on X.

“We send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela,” Bukele wrote.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and said he had ordered the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to help respond to the emergency.

“Ecuador will respond with the speed and commitment this moment demands because, despite our enormous differences, humanity must always guide the actions of a leader,” Noboa wrote.

Earthquake impacts the region

Buildings in Manaus, Belem and Macapá in Brazil's Amazon were evacuated, according to reports on TV Globo.

The quakes also were felt in Colombia’s Caribbean and northeast regions, but there were no reports of damages or injuries.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued several tsumani alerts in the wake of the earthquakes that were quickly lifted.

Strong earthquakes are unusual in Venezuela.

While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates make earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.

Along the Pacific coast — in Mexico and Chile, for example — earthquakes are frequent. Those two countries sit along the seismically active tectonic belt known as the Ring of Fire, which is responsible for 90% of earthquakes, according to the USGS.

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Garcia Cano reported from Bogota, Colombia. Associated Press writers Clara Preve in Buenos Aires, Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo and Anna-Catherine Brigida and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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The crash was reported just before 7:30 a.m. in the area of Northwest 122^nd Street and 27^th Avenue, near a school bus transportation center.

Surveillance video obtained by Local 10 News shows the bus driver preparing to turn onto 27th Avenue.

The scooter rider and bus driver both stop. But just as the child on the scooter kicked off, the bus rolled forward, colliding with the scooter.

Detective Samantha Choon, with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, said the scooter struck the side of the school bus.

The boy was seen limping off the roadway as good Samaritan Nelson Ortiz exited the bus to check on him.

“I went across the street, and I see the scooter and the kid lying down by the tree,” Ortiz told Local 10’s Roy Ramos. “I went over there and I asked the kid if he was alright, and he said, ‘Yeah, you need to call somebody.’”

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials told Local 10 that they transported the child to a trauma center after the crash.

“He had a little bruises and rub marks on his face and stuff like that, but I heard that the truck ran over his foot,” said Ortiz.

As the child continues to recover from those injuries, investigators are working to determine who had the right of way at the time of Wednesday’s collision.

According to Miami-Dade County Public Schools, no students were onboard the bus at the time.

A nearby business owner told Local 10 that this isn’t the first time an accident has occurred in front of the transportation center, as a scooter was struck by a bus just a couple months ago.

Just hours after refusing to sign a bipartisan housing bill that Republicans hoped would boost their election-year prospects, the president was attending a private lunch Wednesday with the Senate GOP. Trump wondered aloud how anyone could have voted for a war powers resolution a day earlier that seeks to block further U.S. military action against Iran.

Cassidy, one of the four Republicans who backed the measure, was ready with an answer.

“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what's going on,'” Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, recounted to reporters afterward. “This is supposed to last four weeks. It's lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

Things deteriorated from there.

When Cassidy told Trump he would continue voting for war powers resolutions until there's a congressional briefing on developments in Iran, the senator recalled that Trump “did not particularly care for my comments” and “raised his voice.”

Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic," the person said.

Cassidy acknowledged losing his temper, which he said was “not appropriate.”

“But I again matched his tone and volume," Cassidy said, before recalling that he eventually sat down. “And so I sat down and tried to de-escalate. I guess my point is, though, that the American people need to know more than we're being told.”

Within hours, Cassidy was invited to the White House to receive the briefing he had requested with Vice President JD Vance and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then stood down, returning to the Capitol and casting a late-night vote against a similar war powers resolution. This time, Republicans blocked the measure.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran,” Cassidy posted on X. “I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns.”

A remarkable exchange between a GOP senator and Trump

Still, the back-and-forth was a remarkable exchange between a two-term Republican senator and a president from his own party. It's a departure from the posture many congressional Republicans have adopted during Trump's second term as they mostly avoid criticizing him in public while expressing frustration in private.

And the comments reflected the growing unease among congressional Republicans about the durability of their thin majorities on Capitol Hill in this year's elections, particularly in the turmoil of the Iran war. And it reflected the long-festering enmity between Trump and Cassidy that came to a head this year.

Trump effectively ended Cassidy's political career by backing a Republican rival in Louisiana's Republican primary. Cassidy last month became the first incumbent senator in 14 years to lose a primary, driven largely by his vote to convict Trump in the impeachment trial for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Cassidy said Trump brought up his election defeat as they argued. He described the president's comments as part of “whatever comes to mind as to demean another person.”

Before his losing the primary, Cassidy spent much of his time trying to make amends, largely supporting the president's policies and nominees. He has taken a tougher stance since losing his primary, freed from having to face Republican voters who remain loyal to Trump.

“It does not appear, although I don’t know for sure, that the course of (the Iran war) is going the way that we were told,” Cassidy said. “And so I make no apologies for standing up to the president, if you will, trying to demand that more information be shared with the Senate, and more information be shared with the American people.”

Republicans try to play down the episode

Cassidy's colleagues didn't offer robust support, with Trump in the room, though Cassidy said they didn't have much of a chance.

“The president just kind of talked and talked and talked and talked and talked,” Cassidy said.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on Cassidy’s characterization of the meeting and some Republicans tried to play down the clash.

“Y'all act like no one ever yelled at each other,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, told reporters.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican and former college football coach, described the encounter as “halftime talk” in the aftermath of the senator's defeat.

“Probably needed to be said, end of the day,” he said. “I think they got a lot of — both of them — got a lot off their chests.”

Others noted dryly that the meeting had been advertised as a chance for Trump and the Republicans to get on the same page.

“That was quite a unity message,” said Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger just weeks after Cassidy.

Asked if he was being sarcastic, Cornyn stepped into an elevator and let the doors close.

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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate demanded answers about the saga that's been highlighted in the news cycle for weeks, even as the White House has repeatedly blamed — without evidence — unidentified vandals for peeling paint and other problems. Six people have been arrested, President Donald Trump said, without providing details, and a local wildlife nonprofit conducted necropsies on dead ducks found near the Reflecting Pool. The president has said the pool may need to be drained once again for additional repairs.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, challenged the Trump administration over no-bid contracts for work on the Reflecting Pool, saying they were awarded to vendors with previous relationships to Trump.

National Park Service projects undertaken at Trump’s behest in the Washington area “have been marked by blatant corruption, a shocking lack of transparency, disregard for legal requirements and apparent incompetence,” Blumenthal wrote Wednesday in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Jessica Bowron, the acting Park Service director.

“Rushed no-bid contracts given to unqualified vendors with previous relationships to the president resulted in a reflecting pool more covered with algae than before, with freshly painted chunks of paint peeling from the bottom to float on the pool’s surface,” Blumenthal said.

The nation's capital “will now celebrate America's 250th birthday with an empty reflecting pool, a testament to incompetence and corruption,” he added.

Two contracts for Reflecting Pool repairs

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

Both contractors have ties to Trump entities, said California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

“Donald Trump’s disastrous renovation of our national reflecting pool is his latest failed vanity project,” Garcia said, calling the projects a waste of taxpayer money.

Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation's 250th birthday celebrations, draining its water and directing the bottom to be painted a color he dubbed “American flag blue.” But since the site was restored, its water has been plagued by an algae bloom and pieces of the new coating have appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

Without evidence, Trump has repeatedly blamed the peeling paint on vandalism, including a “350-foot gash” in the liner, as the administration faces a self-imposed deadline to complete the renovation before July 4th. Trump also has said the federal government would release images to substantiate his claim.

Trump said Wednesday that “sick people” had used razors and box cutters to slice portions of the lining. He wasn’t sure if the pool draining would come before or after the July 4 holiday, during which tens of thousands of people will be at the National Mall.

The U.S. Park Police posted surveillance footage Wednesday evening and asked for help “identifying the individual depicted here in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation.” The grainy, 30-second video appears to show a person kneeling down, reaching into the reflecting pool and removing something from the water. Police said it was taken Friday afternoon.

A White House spokeswoman it’s “a shame that Democrats do not think the capital of the greatest nation in the history of the world deserves to be safe and beautiful.”

Trump “generously spearheaded the restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has long been plagued with algae and leaked 16 million gallons of water per year. The president’s efforts to beautify our nation’s capital are supported by Americans across the country and should be praised by both Republicans and Democrats,″ spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.

A spokeswoman for Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, said Wednesday the company uses devices called nanobubblers to infuse ozone into the water to kill algae and bacteria. The process is “functioning perfectly” and the water looked clear and blue Wednesday, after rain muddled it Tuesday, spokeswoman Erin Kramer said.

“The water is clear. What is visible is the sediment on the pool floor, a natural part of the remediation process when the algae dies,” she said. In a lake or river, that sediment is absorbed, but in a pool it needs to be vacuumed, she said.

The company is owned by John Cafaro, a Trump donor who lives near Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club in Florida.

Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which spread blue sealant across the pool’s concrete floor, is owned by Curtis “Eddie” Wood. The company said this week it has identified some areas in the Reflecting Pool that require repairs, adding that the work will done once the pool is drained. It was unclear when that will happen.

What's next for Reflecting Pool remains murky

Amid the calls for investigations, Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado called for Trump to personally reimburse American taxpayers for the pool renovations, which he called “a national embarrassment.”

Americans expect their tax dollars “to fix roads, support schools and protect our public lands,” Hickenlooper wrote in a letter to Trump. “They do not expect to bankroll failed presidential vanity projects. The bill for this fiasco should only belong to you, Mr. President.”

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Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard contributed to this story.