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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, 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.

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.

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.

Another remembrance ceremony at 88th Street and Collins Avenue in Surfside will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday and will be livestreamed at the top of this page.

El edificio residencial de 12 pisos se derrumbó durante la madrugada del 24 de junio de 2021, cuando muchos de sus residentes dormían. En la tragedia murieron 98 personas.

Durante la ceremonia Lighting of the Torch (Encendido de la Antorcha), se presentó una antorcha como símbolo de esperanza, resiliencia y memoria.

“Esta antorcha es más que una luz; es una promesa. Una promesa de que siempre recordaremos, honraremos y nunca permitiremos que estas vidas sean olvidadas”, expresó uno de los oradores.

Un bombero que participó en la ceremonia reforzó ese mensaje.

“Y que esa luz brille a través de todos nosotros”, dijo.

Solo tres personas fueron rescatadas con vida de entre los escombros tras el colapso. Entre ellas estaba Devin Gonzalez, quien tenía 16 años en ese momento. Su madre también sobrevivió.

Gonzalez perdió a su padre en la tragedia.

“El resto de mi familia... mi hermana sobrevivió porque esa noche no estaba en casa, pero mi padre fue una de las 98 personas que fallecieron. Él no logró salir”, relató.

Cinco años después, González aseguró que el dolor continúa, pero espera que las lecciones aprendidas tras el colapso ayuden a evitar que una tragedia similar vuelva a ocurrir.

“Sí, da rabia y duele, pero debemos enfocarnos en el futuro y en las cosas que podemos hacer para que algo así nunca vuelva a suceder”, afirmó.

Un especialista israelí en rescates, cuyo equipo está entrenado para localizar personas atrapadas en estructuras colapsadas, recordó que trabajaron día y noche para ayudar en todo lo posible.

“Es un honor poder ayudar. Es una mitzvá ayudar al prójimo, incluso si no lo conoces. Todos somos seres humanos y no importa dónde estemos. Estamos juntos para ayudarnos unos a otros: uno para todos y todos para uno”, señaló.

Para muchos de los socorristas que pasaron semanas buscando entre los escombros, los recuerdos siguen muy presentes.

“Cuando decimos que nunca vamos a olvidar, es porque nunca vamos a olvidar. Y quienes estuvimos aquí —los miles de socorristas y líderes comunitarios— jamás podremos olvidar”, expresó un bombero.

La ceremonia anual sirvió como homenaje a las 98 vidas perdidas y como recordatorio del profundo impacto que el colapso sigue teniendo en las familias, los sobrevivientes y la comunidad del sur de Florida.

Este aniversario ocurre después de que el Instituto Nacional de Estándares y Tecnología (NIST) publicara un informe en el que concluye que el proceso que llevó al derrumbe comenzó semanas antes del colapso.

Según el informe, dos conexiones entre las columnas del estacionamiento y la plataforma de la piscina comenzaron a fallar a principios de junio de 2021. La combinación de un diseño estructural que no cumplía con los códigos de construcción y las modificaciones realizadas al edificio durante sus 40 años de existencia provocó que otras partes de la plataforma de la piscina no pudieran soportar la carga adicional, lo que derivó en un colapso progresivo.

Otra ceremonia conmemorativa se llevará a cabo este miércoles a las 10:00 a.m. en la intersección de 88th Street y Collins Avenue, en Surfside, y será transmitida en vivo.

El accidente ocurrió en la zona de Northwest 122nd Street y 27th Avenue, cerca de lo que parece ser un centro de transporte de autobuses escolares.

El Departamento de Bomberos y Rescate de Miami-Dade informó a Local 10 que el menor fue trasladado a un centro de traumatología tras el accidente.

Por el momento, las autoridades no han dado a conocer más detalles.

Siga la cobertura de Local 10 News o actualice esta página para conocer las últimas novedades.

The crash was reported just before 6:30 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 about 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, striking the scooter.

The child was seen limping off the roadway as someone exited the bus to check on them.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials told Local 10 that they transported the child to a trauma center after the crash.

According to a nearby business owner, 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.

No other details were immediately released.

Watch Local 10 News or refresh this page for updates.

“Freedom Under Grace: Reflections on the Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me” is scheduled for Sept. 15, according to Image Books, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group.

Released in Italian by the Vatican Publishing House earlier this year, “Freedom from Grace” features homilies, addresses and other works by Robert Prevost, when he was prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013.

“Each chapter is a window into the spiritual depth and vision of the man who would eventually become Pope Leo, with an urgent message of love and service to address the challenges of the world today,” Campbell Wharton, senior vice president and publisher of Penguin Random House Christian, said in a statement Wednesday. “It’s a book for any Catholic, but also any Christian or spiritual seeker looking for guidance and hope for living a life that transforms the world.”

The Vatican Museums on Wednesday announced the start of a five-year, $5.5 million project to clean and restore the Raphael Loggia, a 65-meter (yard) long, 4-meter (yard) wide corridor that is considered one of the highest expressions of Renaissance figurative art.

The windowed second floor corridor, which overlooks the palace’s San Damaso courtyard, is not open to the public. But lucky visitors to the pope or Secretariat of State walk along it en route to their audiences and are treated to biblical scenes, from the Old Testament and New, as well as botanical motifs in painting and stucco.

Pope Leo XIV, who moved back into the Apostolic Palace after Pope Francis famously stayed away, has his private apartments upstairs but walks along the corridor when going to audiences.

Raphael conceived of the decoration between 1517-1519 as one of his last commissions for Pope Leo X, alongside his more well-known and accessible masterpieces that are today highlights of any visit to the Vatican Museums: the recently restored Raphael Rooms and his tapestries.

Located deep within the inner sanctum of the Holy See, the passageway’s 13 arched bays are considered such a spectacular example of figurative painting that they were widely copied, including a full-scale replica at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Until 1813, the Raphael Loggia was open to the elements and suffered damage from rain and exposure, said Paolo Violini, in charge of painting restoration at the Vatican Museums. Even after windows were installed, the artworks suffered further because the windows trapped heat and humidity, leading to a particularly fragile state that requires special care.

Restorers will use hand-held lasers to clean and restore the stucco and wall paintings, using a “dry” cleaning method since the paints are water soluble and would suffer further if cleaned in a more traditional way or using chemical solvents, Violini said.

The restoration, being done in partnership with the World Monuments Fund, is being financed by the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, a New York-based philanthropy.

At a press conference Wednesday, Schwarzman said the foundation’s overall contribution to the project was more than $14 million: $5.5 million for the restoration and the rest used to digitize images of the loggia so the public can appreciate it, to fund a documentary of the renovation and to endow a training program for art restorers at a Swiss university.

Alongside the restoration, the Vatican plans to also replace the arched windows of the loggia to install special glass that filters out the sun's harmful rays.

___

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.

Artificial intelligence and the data centers they require use growing amounts of energy and are water hogs — and AI companies aren't transparent about how much of those resources they use, experts said. So each time you turn to the internet and seek an AI-fueled response, it's gobbling up precious resources.

“AI is going in the opposite direction to decarbonization efforts,” said cognitive computer scientist Sasha Luccioni, co-founder and chief scientific officer of the Sustainable AI Group. “We should be thinking about where we are going towards. If you’re recycling and a vegan but then you’re using ChatGPT to do your multiplication for you, well that’s kind of against the trend.”

“It’s like one other thing among many to think about when you’re like developing these daily habits,” Luccioni said. “It is not too late. You are not obliged to use AI for everything. You can opt out, you can have a say and you can kind of just like think about how you engage with this technology.”

But she also said Big Tech companies are making it hard by “integrating generative AI into everything. ... There's like this bait-and-switch going on. I feel that nowadays you use the same tools that you used to use, but now they're generative AI.”

There are a few ways climate conscious individuals aren’t completely powerless, said several experts in water use, artificial intelligence, data center placement and environmental sustainability.

Use AI less

The advice from experts is simple: Just use AI less often.

“The cleanest form of AI use is no use,” Kaveh Madani, a water scientist and director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health in Canada. “So when you could avoid using AI, don't use it.”

Don't use it for simple things. Don't use it for calculations, directions, store hours, recipes or shopping lists, which are all searches people used to do without AI, but now do it with AI and waste power and water, Luccioni said.

“Yeah, it’s great. You can generate a chocolate chip cookie recipe with Claude, or you can open a damn book. Like, those still exist. You really don’t need Claude,” Luccioni said. “You really don’t need all of these generative AI technologies to do day-to-day tasks. I do agree there are some productivity gains to be had but I think that it’s a pretty small percentage of what people are currently using.”

And when you make a query, make it concise because more information translates into more computing and more energy and water used. No need to be polite. Don't give unnecessary background information, Madani and others said.

Every query means more energy use, experts said.

The power and water cost of a query

Last year, global data centers used 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity, more than all but 10 countries of the world, and it is expected to more than double in the next four years, according to a new report from the United Nations University. By then, it will have moved up in rankings to just behind five countries for power use.

By 2030, just the electricity that data centers use — not including the massive amounts of water needed to cool them — would require nearly 2.5 trillion gallons of water (9.3 trillion liters), which is enough drinking water for the entire world for 1.7 years, said Madani, the study's co-author.

Getting an AI text response is the equivalent to using an efficient light bulb for two and a half minutes, but that's being done 2.5 billion times a day with ChatGPT alone, according to the report and Madani. Using AI to generate a complex video is the equivalent of 42 hours of that light bulb burning and using a gallon of water (4 liters), he said.

Lack of transparency is a problem

Except for a mention in a blogpost and scant information, private AI companies aren't transparent about the energy and water costs of queries, said Luccioni and other experts who have tried to calculate those costs. That reality forces them to just make estimates based on less common open source AI.

“We have no way of knowing and getting a sense of the amount of energy,” said University of Michigan computer science professor Mosharaf Chowdhury, who tracks energy consumption of open source models.

“If there’s no transparency, we have no choice. We’re really not choosing. We are being given whatever is being given to us,” said Ana Pinheiro Privette, a former top sustainability official for Amazon Web Services, who also used to direct the University of Illinois’ water security center and was a data scientist at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “That’s the power. The power is to say ‘I actually want to understand what I’m consuming’.”

Forced into AI use but you can opt out

When you go online, many search engines, including Google, answer via AI and promote it, without users asking for machine learning to kick in. You have to opt out of AI, when you should have to opt in, Luccioni said.

“End users, you and me, we have absolutely no control other than saying ‘OK we don’t want to use any of it' and even then the companies force it onto us,” Chowdhury said.

You can opt out of AI in Google searches by putting “-ai” at the end of your search, Luccioni said. Or you can click on “Web” in search options.

There are search engines that reduce their carbon footprints by planting trees and use less energy in their AI, such as Ecosia, Luccioni said. And search engines DuckDuckGo and Startpage have no-AI options.

Consumers and neighbors have some power

“The big power I think the consumer has is the market message because I’ve seen that when I worked at Amazon,” Privette said. “They listen. They listen if everybody suddenly starts caring about not having a footprint.”

Years ago, when data centers wanted to build in an area, it was no problem. Now that they are multiplying in high population centers and people are speaking up and against them, said Privette. For example, data centers in two Virginia counties near Washington used 2.1 billion gallons (8 billion liters) of water in 2023.

Balaji Tammabattula, chief operating officer of BaRupOn which makes energy-ready data center campuses, said, “the moment you say that you’re building a data center, there’s a backlash. The data center is the new boogeyman.”

So he said companies like his have to listen and when they do, they use less water and energy.

“AI is not going anywhere,” Tammabattula said. “It has to be done. But it has to be with the help of the community, where we're understanding the concerns of the community.”

___

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.

In paperwork filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas in Houston, the camp listed its debt as exceeding $10 million. The camp along the Guadalupe River said it had assets in the range of 100,001 to $500,000.

Families of the victims filed a lawsuit in November saying the camp operators failed to take the necessary steps to protect the girls as life-threatening floodwaters approached on July 4. Camp owner Richard Eastland also died in the flood.

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.

The bankruptcy filing comes weeks after Camp Mystic halted plans to reopen this summer in the face of outrage from victims’ families and lawmakers that the century-old camp intended to welcome girls back while lawsuits and investigations remained ongoing.

Frank Carone, along with his brother and two others, were taken into custody, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

No other details were immediately available. Indictments were expected to be unsealed later Wednesday.

Carone’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, called the indictment “weak” and “based on purely circumstantial evidence that’s not worth the paper upon which it is printed.”

“Today’s indictment is a sad day for our criminal justice system,” Aidala said in a statement. “It epitomizes the government first finding a target and then spending three years and enormous taxpayer resources to find a crime.”

In a separate statement, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, said Carone “dedicated decades of his life to public service, the legal profession, and helping countless individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations throughout New York.”

“This is an ongoing legal matter and my prayers are with his family,” Shapiro's statement said.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will check in face-to-face with Trump on Wednesday, visiting the volatile U.S. leader two weeks before the annual summit of the military alliance at a time when the Pentagon is reviewing the size of the U.S. military footprint in Europe.

The saga over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool took a turn as Trump said Tuesday that six people have been arrested over recent damage. The president’s troubled $14-million-plus rehabilitation project has become a visceral flashpoint over law enforcement, aesthetics and environmental concerns ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

The Latest:

Federal judge bars immigration arrests at US courthouses in a setback for Trump

U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts of San Francisco ordered an end to the arrests, saying in part that the reversal of longstanding policy failed to address the “chilling effect” on attendance at court hearings and resulted from “a complete lack of decision-making.”

“For 80 years, Congress has commanded federal agencies to think before they act,” wrote Pitts, referring to the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act, which demands that an agency at least provide sound reasons for following its chosen course.”

Another federal judge in May also barred arrests at immigration courts, but that order applied only in New York. This decision invalidates the policy nationwide.

James Percival, the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s general counsel, criticized Tuesday's ruling as an exercise in judicial overreach.

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Mamdani’s endorsements prove his power in New York, plus more takeaways

After two of Trump ’s picks for governor lost Republican primaries this month, he ensured it wouldn’t happen again. The president endorsed both GOP candidates in a South Carolina runoff, and one of them inevitably won.

Meanwhile New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proved his endorsement power after boosting three progressives over establishment-backed candidates in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries. All three won, all but ensuring that two self-described democratic socialists will represent their deep blue districts in Congress. The mayor said it was a question of electing “better Democrats” who would “put working people back at the heart of politics.”

The losers in New York’s House primaries included New York Assemblyman Alex Bores, a former Palantir employee who pushed sweeping state-level AI regulation; Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy; and former Republican lawyer George Conway.

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Trump turns America 250 kickoff into a campaign-style rally on the National Mall

The President sees America’s 250th anniversary as a chance to get the country excited again — about Donald Trump.

He’s hosting a rally Wednesday on the National Mall, promising a stealth bomber flyover, military bands, singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame and a speech by who else but Trump.

The president is trying to convince American voters that he’s put the unpopular Iran war in the rearview mirror, with oil prices easing as the Strait of Hormuz reopens amid negotiations with Tehran. The rally kicks off weeks of celebrations about America and its 1776 founding.

After musicians including Young MC and the Commodores canceled, Trump said he’s stepping into the void as “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime.”

He said Wednesday’s event would be “the biggest rally we’ve ever had.”

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Trump says Justice Department will investigate oil companies for price gouging

Trump said on social media that gasoline prices are not matching the decline in oil prices, so he has told the Justice Department “to immediately start looking into this.”

Crude oil prices have eased with the interim deal with Iran, which has enabled more oil tankers to start passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Prices at the pump are averaging $3.93 a gallon, according to AAA. Gasoline costs have fallen over the past month, just not as much as Trump would like.

“In other words, customers are being ‘gouged,’” Trump posted. “I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!

Federal appeals court allows the Trump administration to resume expanded use of speedy deportations

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants throughout the United States, not just near the border.

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out a lower court decision that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s expanded use of expedited removal. The ruling was a big victory for the Republican administration, which views the expansion of so-called expedited removal as a key tool for carrying out its mass deportation policy.

Expedited removal — quick deportation without a chance to appear before a judge — has previously been applied to migrants arriving by sea or caught at or near the border shortly after crossing.

In January, Trump expanded its use to undocumented migrants all over the United States. Immigration agents began whisking migrants away from courthouses where they had gone for immigration proceedings and then removing them from the country within days.

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California intends to sue Trump administration over deal to end offshore wind project

California intends to sue the Trump administration over its deal to end an offshore wind project proposed off the state’s central coast.

State officials said they are combating the administration’s attacks on their offshore wind industry by sending a notice of their intention to sue to the Department of the Interior on Tuesday. Tuesday’s action is focused on the administration buying back the lease for Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind project off California’s central coast.

California has made a major commitment to offshore wind because of its potential to generate vast amounts of clean electricity from strong, consistent winds off its coast. Its strategy calls for the state to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045, enough to power roughly 25 million homes and provide about 13% of the state’s electricity supply.

These energy and climate goals are now in jeopardy, and that’s why California will fight vigorously, said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild.

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Troubled Reflecting Pool faces fresh scrutiny over vandalism claims and duck deaths

The saga over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool took a turn as Trump cited six arrests over recent damage. The president’s troubled $14-million-plus rehabilitation project has become a visceral flashpoint over law enforcement, aesthetics and environmental concerns.

In a social media post, Trump claimed without supporting evidence that vandals had cause a “350-foot gash” in the paint as the administration faces a self-imposed deadline to fix the botched renovation before the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration next week. He repeated that the federal government would release images to substantiate his claim.

Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool ahead of the anniversary, sealing the bottom in a color he dubbed “American flag blue.” But since that effort, its water has been plagued with algae and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off.

Now the Center for Biological Diversity is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate whether the use of pool chemicals to kill the algae bloom violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act after a Mallard duckling carcass was photographed floating in the murky water and two other ducks were found dead nearby.

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NATO’s Trump whisperer heads to the White House to soothe the president ahead of next month’s summit

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will check in face-to-face with Trump on Wednesday, visiting the volatile U.S. leader two weeks before the annual summit of the military alliance at a time when the Pentagon is reviewing the size of the U.S. military footprint in Europe.

Trump has long been critical of NATO, arguing the U.S. carries more than its fair share of military spending. But his grievances have been louder since the Iran war as he fumed over some member countries ignoring his call to help him restart oil trade through the shuttered Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has renewed his threats to leave the 77-year-old military alliance, raising the stakes ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey next month. But Rutte, who has become known as a Trump whisperer for his ability to charm the president, is expected to use Wednesday’s White House meeting to try to appease him.

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Trump heads to Capitol to speak with GOP senators who have grown increasingly frustrated with him

The president is headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with Republican senators who have grown increasingly frustrated with his efforts to divert their agenda.

Trump, who will attend a closed-door Senate GOP luncheon for the first time in more than a year, has pressured senators for months to focus on his proof-of-citizenship voting bill even though it doesn’t have the votes to pass. At the same time, he has blocked them 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 his 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 — Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. Both have become more critical since losing their primaries.

Still, senators said ahead of the meeting that they hope to focus on unity, not disagreements.

▶ Read more

However, when firefighters arrived, they realized the animal was actually a coyote pup.

Firefighters said one neighbor, Brian, jumped into the water when he saw the coyote fall into the lake as others called 911.

Denae Judd, who was kayaking, then helped guide firefighters to the coyote’s location.

“She monitored its location and let the crew know it had crawled up under a dock,” the Cape Coral Fire Department posted on social media. “Firefighters entered the water and were able to extract what turned out to be a coyote pup from the space.”

The little guy was eventually pulled out of the water.

It was taken to a veterinarian to get checked out before being moved to a wildlife rehab center.

The 27-year-old Brooklyn resident decided to support Claire Valdez, who was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, over Antonio Reynoso, another progressive who was the choice of the Democratic establishment, because she had “a clear and more consistent stance.”

Valdez triumphed in her congressional primary, as did two other insurgent candidates endorsed by Mamdani, and Israel was a key issue in each of the races. Now the question for Democrats is how many more voters like Venkatesh are out there as the party charts its path toward the November midterms and the next presidential election.

The war in Gaza, which began during Joe Biden’s presidency and undermined Kamala Harris’ bid to replace him, remains an open wound, and how Democrats attempt to stitch it closed will help define their future. A step in any direction risks alienating pieces of the party's unwieldy coalition at a time when it's trying to unify around the mission of retaking control of Congress.

“The Israel question has become defining,” said Matt Bennett, who leads the centrist Democratic group Third Way and frequently criticizes progressives as jeopardizing outreach to independent voters. He said some in Mamdani’s camp have embraced “a new level of extremism,” warning that “Republicans are very good at weaponizing crazy ideas on the fringe against mainstream candidates.”

Mamdani has no such concerns as he tries to reshape the Democratic Party from the mayor’s office of the country’s largest city. He sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for defending what he calls “a status quo of immorality” in Gaza, and voters who celebrated his slate's victories on Tuesday night chanted “Free Palestine.”

The mayor, meanwhile, argues that New York should shape Democrats’ search for their national identity in the coming years.

“When does the race for 2028 begin?” Mamdani asked last week on a stage with his slate of candidates. “It starts now.”

Israel-Palestine conflict animates Democrats' left flank

Even for a party accustomed to searing debates between progressives and moderates, the schism over Israel has been blistering. Although the U.S. alliance with Israel once had bipartisan support, the ascendancy of Israel's right wing led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strained those ties over the years. Then the war in Gaza shredded them.

Biden was denounced as “Genocide Joe” by pro-Palestinian supporters, who shifted their attention to Harris once she replaced him as the Democratic nominee for president two years ago.

“She was trying to the right thing," said Jamie Harrison, who led the Democratic National Committee at the time. "It was a hard and awkward place to be in.”

Harrison said the war in Gaza helped cost Harris the state of Michigan, which has a sizable Arab American population. However, he doubts that it was a defining national issue then or now.

“It’s one thing to be in New York. But I can tell you that most places, including where I am in South Carolina, it’s not what people are talking about,” he said. “They are concerned about affording gas and groceries and housing.”

Harrison expects Democrats to look for middle ground in the future, which includes “still supporting Israel’s sovereignty” while calling for “reducing U.S. aid to Israel and changing the nature of the relationship.”

One primary victor blasted the ‘hug Bibi’ strategy

Finding middle ground has been difficult so far, as demonstrated by the primary in New York's 10th congressional district.

Brad Lander, the former city comptroller backed by Mamdani, successfully challenged U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the race.

Both candidates are Jewish, and both have criticized the Israeli government. But Lander says the war in Gaza is a genocide, and Goldman does not.

“Our party needs to admit that Joe Biden’s ‘hug Bibi’ strategy was a catastrophic mistake," Lander said in his primary victory speech. He added, “We cannot keep paying for Netanyahu’s wars with our tax dollars. Democratic voters are saying this, loud and clear.”

Ari Rassouli, a voter in the district, said the incumbent's views on Israel were “one of the many reasons that I didn’t like Dan Goldman.”

Describing the war as a genocide, she said “a candidate that is in support of that has no place in our democracy at all.”

While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Lander acknowledged that Israel was among the top issues along with affordability and immigration.

“I like talking to Jewish voters who feel anxiety about the times we live in and say, ‘I have these values, I want to treat everyone like they’re equal and with dignity and created in God’s image. How do we navigate the times we’re in?’” he said.

He added with a smile, “Those are probably the longest conversations at the polls.” ___

Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.

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Once the first connection failed, they said other elements of the pool deck were left to carry their loads, but they were not strong enough to handle them.

“When building structures are designed to required codes and standards, they have margins against failure, meaning they should be able to support much more load than they are expected to bear,” said Judith Mitrani-Reiser with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “In the case of Champlain Towers South, these margins against failure were too narrow from the start.”

NIST investigations are conducted by national construction safety teams, and while the federal research laboratory has produced full investigations into large scale structural failures - to include the Station nightclub fire and World Trade Center attack - what happened in Surfside was a first, even for them, as previous building failures they’ve looked into had obvious causes, such as storms, fires or a terrorist attack.

Glenn Bell with NIST explained some of what their investigation uncovered.

“Severe and widespread deviations from the building’s original structural design from the codes and standards of the day,” he said.

According to a town manager’s 2021 report, the condo’s sister building, Champlain Towers North, was designed “by the same engineering firm and constructed at the same time” which leads to questions of whether it has those same original design and construction flaws.

Allyn Kilshimer, of KCE Structural Engineers, is the structural engineer the town hired to help with its independent investigation into the collapse. He also searched for clues at nearby Champlain Towers North.

“Champlain Towers North asked us to evaluate their building to make sure their building didn’t have issues similar to what we found in Champlain Towers South,” Kilshimer said.

“We did that for about a year and a half, and we found the same, if not more, design flaws and construction deficiencies in the structure of Champlain Towers North than we had found even in Champlain Towers South, so with the ownership of Champlain Towers, the condominium group of Champlain Towers North, which now is called Ocean Waves, we essentially put in a bunch of emergency shoring in a lot of places, and we designed the structural design for the remediation necessary to take care of those problems,” he added.

Kilshimer said working with the building owners, they began the process of remediation.

“We began construction, contractors began construction at that time, contractors we selected from experts all over this country, and we got permits from the town of Surfside,” he said. “It’s been a year and almost two years, and essentially all of the structural deficiencies in construction and design in Champlain Towers North that we found, both from investigating Champlain Towers North and investigating Champlain Towers South, have all been remediated satisfactorily in Champlain Towers North.”

He was also asked if it is safe to live there.

“I’m now 86 years old and I have great-grandchildren. I’d let them live in the building,” he added. “From all the things we have found, the building is structurally sound and not only does it meet most of the codes that exist today, which you don’t have to do, they now meet at a minimum the building structural codes that existing when the buildings were designed.”

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Aventura police arrested Roberto Araujo, 41, of Allapattah, after they said he grabbed a metal bat Sunday and hit the victim in the back of the head.

“The guy came around the whole group with a bat in his hand, a pink bat at that, and hit him,” said Ana Diaz Matthews, the aunt of the victim, who has since been identified as William Rodriguez.

Photos provided to Local 10 News show the injuries sustained to the back of Rodriguez’s head.

“Willie was on the ground,” said Diaz Matthews. “He just swung as if he was hitting a baseball.”

Police said Arajuo fled the scene after striking Williams with the bat, but it was Diaz Matthews who was able to get his license plate number.

“I think he’s an a--hole,” she said. “He deserves to be in jail because he almost killed someone.”

Araujo is facing a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was not listed among Miami-Dade County jail inmates, as of Tuesday afternoon.

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Authorities have identified the victim as Marieange Therancy.

Investigators also confirmed that a young girl was among four others hurt in the fire.

An online fundraiser identified the girl as Neissa Diligence and said her family remains by her side as they face “unimaginable emotional, physical and financial challenges.”

Home surveillance video from a neighboring home shows an explosion, and then the fire and smoke.

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue and deputies with the Broward Sheriff’s Office responded around 5 a.m. Saturday to the home on Southwest Eighth Court and 81st Terrace.

“I heard glass breaking, paramedics going, firefighters’ screams,” one neighbor told Local 10 News.

Residents quickly rushed outside to help.

“The fire was about to explode, so we used our hose to stop the fire to make sure it did not explode,” said neighbor Jean, who did not wish to give her last name.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

It was the official announcement that soccer star Ronaldinho had signed with Ravenna FC by Cipriani, becoming one of the most significant signings in Italy’s recent soccer history.

The exclusive new team kit was unveiled to commemorate this new chapter.

It was approved by Ronaldinho after many interactions.

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

According to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Detective Angel Rodriguez, the shooting was reported shortly before 11 p.m. in the 600 block of Northwest 118^th Street.

He said deputies arrived at the scene and found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound.

A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crew also responded to the scene and transported the victim to a local hospital in stable condition, Rodriguez confirmed.

A Local 10 News crew was in the area Wednesday morning as detectives appeared to be focusing their attention next to a food truck parked behind the McDonald’s.

No other details about the shooting were immediately released by deputies.

McMorrow’s new ad, shared first with The Associated Press, accuses Trump of blocking the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge and suggests he is doing so to benefit a major political donor, building on an anti-corruption message she has sought to make central to her campaign.

The bridge, which spans the Detroit River and connects the Motor City with Windsor, Ontario, was slated for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 12. It was abruptly postponed after officials said the U.S. and Canada were still working to resolve “outstanding issues.”

The dispute gives Democrats a rare opportunity to tie Trump directly to a project with visible economic consequences in a battleground state. For McMorrow, who is trying to gain ground in a three-person primary, it also offers a chance to distinguish herself as the first Democratic candidate to make the controversy a campaign issue. She's running against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed.

The winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024. Rogers has also used the bridge in political messaging, saying that if he's sent to Washington he'll make sure the bridge is opened.

The ad claims Trump is blocking the bridge for billionaire donor

Standing in front of the bridge, McMorrow claims in the ad that it's ready to open but remains closed because “Donald Trump won’t open it.”

“I’m Mallory McMorrow and I have one message for the president: open this damn bridge,” she says.

McMorrow argues that Trump is blocking the bridge because “the billionaire family that owns the other bridge gave him a million bucks."

That claim references the Moroun family, owners of the privately held Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Federal campaign finance records show Matthew Moroun donated $1 million to Trump's super PAC earlier this year.

In February, Trump demanded in a social media post that Canada hand over at least half ownership of the bridge to the U.S. government and accept other unspecified demands, part of his broader clashes with Canada over trade.

Canada financed the bridge’s construction. The project was negotiated by Rick Snyder, the former Republican governor of Michigan, and work has been underway since 2018 and cost close to $4.4 billion.

Named after the late Canadian hockey great Gordie Howe, who spent 25 seasons leading the Detroit Red Wings, the bridge is expected to be another vital economic artery between Canada and the United States.

McMorrow is taking big swings. She may need to

McMorrow is hoping to break through in a race that many in the state see increasingly as a two-candidate contest.

In an interview with AP, McMorrow acknowledged that from the start of the race she's been a “dark horse” candidate. A state senator known for a viral speech in 2022, she faces a congresswoman with large resources in Stevens. El-Sayed, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, has carved out the progressive lane with Sen. Bernie Sanders' backing.

The Gordie Howe digital ad is the second ad in a series, with an initial buy of over $400,000 on TV and digital platforms in the Detroit market. The first ad was a 30-second TV spot released Tuesday.

“Right now in this primary, my two opponents are trying to present a false binary choice,” McMorrow said.

Outside groups have also begun pouring money into the race. A PAC connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has spent nearly $8 million this month boosting Stevens, while Yes Michigan Action Committee, a super PAC supporting McMorrow, has reserved nearly $6 million in advertising, according to AdImpact.

Last week, El-Sayed became the first Democratic candidate in the race to directly spend for an ad.

“We have six weeks. I mean, anything can happen,” said McMorrow. “There are so many people who are just starting to tune into this race.”

For the Flamingo Gardens Camera Club, every walk is a scavenger hunt. The more they look, the more they find.

“You can take pictures of the birds, the animals. The ones in cages, outside of cages. The scenery. You learn something new every day you come here,” said Dalia Latife, President of the Flamingo Gardens Camera Club.

Latife leads a group of photographers who gather each month before the gardens even open to the public. The day begins in the classroom, where members talk technique, review assignments and share photos. Then, cameras in hand, they head into the field.

The club welcomes photographers of every skill level, from newcomers using smartphones to experienced artists whose work has appeared in museums.

“It’s looking through things differently,” said Latife. “Seeing the little things that we miss. You know, everyday we just walk by something. By just stopping and walking- you notice something different.”

That shared perspective is what brings the group together.

Members receive exclusive access to the 60-acre gardens, giving them room to explore winding paths, lush landscapes and a wildlife collection that often feels like a red-carpet event for photographers. Peacocks strut, flamingos pose and curious visitors become subjects themselves.

But the club’s focus extends beyond photography.

Every click sparks conversation. Every snapshot starts a story.

Members swap ideas, offer feedback and learn from one another, often discovering that the most meaningful part of the experience isn’t what ends up on the memory card.

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

Rip currents are one of the coast’s greatest dangers and account for the most beach rescues every year. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association. And more than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

Already this year, there have been at least 21 people killed from rip currents in U.S. waters, according to the National Weather Service.

Here are some things to know about rip currents:

Rip currents can be hard to spot

Rip currents are narrow columns of water flowing rapidly away from the beach. They don't pull swimmers under water, but can carry them out a fair distance from shore.

“A rip current is like a river that pulls out to sea,” said San Diego Lifeguard Marine Safety Lt. Charlie Knight. “So when the waves come into the beach, it needs somewhere to go. And so it takes these little channels out that we call rip currents to put all that water back into the ocean.”

Low spots along the beach, or areas near jetties or piers, are often where rip currents form. They can be connected to stormy weather but also sometimes occur during sunny days. They can be hard to detect because the surface water often appears calm.

The current can flow as fast as 8 feet (3.2 meters) per second, faster than even a strong swimmer can overcome, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It's nearly impossible to fight rip currents

The most frequent advice from beach rescue teams and weather forecasters is to “'flip, float and follow.” Flipping over to float makes it easier to stay calm, conserves energy and keeps the airways open while the swimmer is in the rip current's grip.

It’s nearly impossible to fight the current directly. Many swimmers who get in trouble tire themselves out trying to get back to the beach, lifeguards say.

“People tend to panic when they can’t get into the beach, and that’s when we have problems,” Knight said. “So if you are caught in a rip current, the biggest thing is don’t panic, stay calm, flip over onto your back, float and allow the rip current to take you out.”

Once the rip current dissipates, it might leave the swimmer out in deeper water. Lifeguards recommend raising an arm to signal for help.

Look for flags warning of rip current conditions

Flags with different colors are used to warn beachgoers of various hazards.

Red means a high hazard, yellow means a moderate threat and green means low danger. There's also purple for dangerous sea life, such as jellyfish, and double red when a beach is closed for any reason.

The National Weather Service posts rip current risks on its websites around the coasts and has developed a computer model that can predict when conditions exist that may lead to their formation up to six days in advance for the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Guam.

If possible, it’s best to swim near a lifeguard station.

What to do when swimmer is spotted in a rip current

It can be dangerous to try to rescue someone caught in a rip current, officials say. Often the people trying to perform the rescue can get into trouble themselves.

It's best to find a lifeguard, if there is one, or call 911 if a struggling swimmer is spotted.

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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.

The individual, who has not been identified, returned from a humanitarian mission in one of the virus transmission zones in Congo and was taken into care at a specialized facility in France. The person is in stable condition, the ministry said.

The Congolese health ministry said Wednesday there are 1,094 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 277 confirmed deaths. The Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no vaccines or treatment, has been the worst ever in terms of case numbers in its first month.

Officials admit there could be far more cases they don’t know about and the peak of the outbreak, which was declared May 15, could still lie ahead.

All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon their arrival in France, the health ministry said, adding that their transfer to a hospital was carried out under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination.

“An in-depth epidemiological investigation is underway to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient,” the ministry said, adding that a regional health agency will closely monitor them during a 21-day home isolation.

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According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Devarious Holloway’s girlfriend went to an MDSO station Saturday and said she wanted to report an incident that occurred between her and her boyfriend the previous day.

Deputies said the victim claimed that Holloway, 32, texted her at about 7 p.m. Friday, saying “Come outside. My mom wants to talk to you.”

The victim said she was confused because she knows Holloway’s mother died in 2017, the report stated.

According to the report, the woman then walked toward a parked vehicle outside her home and spotted Holloway standing next to it.

Deputies said Holloway approached the victim and asked, “So we’re done?”

According to the report, the victim walked to her sister’s home that’s located on the same property as hers, believing Holloway would follow her, but she said she quickly realized Holloway had actually entered her own house.

The report states that the victim went inside her home and Holloway threw her cellphone at her, “missing her but striking the door.”

He then grabbed her by the shoulders, pushed her down onto the couch and then punched her in the bottom lip when she tried to stand up, authorities said.

Deputies said Holloway then kicked the victim in the right leg before she ran to her bedroom and locked the door.

According to the report, Holloway began kicking the bedroom door, causing the door frame to break.

He then continued questioning the victim about the status of their relationship as the victim repeatedly asked for her phone back, authorities said.

According to the report, Holloway left the victim’s home, but returned a short time later and continued arguing with her before hitting her in the chest area, causing redness to her chest and causing her chain to break.

Jail records show Holloway faces charges of battery and criminal mischief.

He did not say anything after being released from jail on bond Tuesday evening.

A Local 10 News crew was outside the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center Tuesday as Holloway was released after posting an $1,150 bond.

He was seen leaving the jail wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a mask and glasses.

Local 10 News reporter Jeff Derderian asked Holloway about the charges and whether he struck the alleged victim. Holloway did not respond to either question.

The Miramar Police Department released a statement to Local 10 Tuesday, confirming that Holloway has been “placed on administrative leave” pending the outcome of an internal review.

“The Miramar Police Department was notified by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office of an off-duty incident involving Sergeant Devarious Holloway.

“The Department acknowledges the matter referenced and has initiated a thorough administrative review in accordance with established departmental procedures. Sergeant Holloway has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of that review.

“The Miramar Police Department remains steadfast in its commitment to professionalism, accountability, and ethical conduct, and will address this matter through the appropriate channels.”

Miramar Police Department

The president is hosting a rally Wednesday on the National Mall in Washington. He has said it will be replete with a military flyover by stealth bombers, military bands, singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame and a speech by Trump.

It comes as Trump works to convince Americans ahead of critical November midterm elections that he's put the unpopular Iran war in the rearview mirror, with oil prices easing as the Strait of Hormuz has started to reopen in the wake of an interim deal to end the war with Tehran.

The rally is designed to kick off weeks of celebrations about America and its 1776 founding as part of “The Great American State Fair” on the mall, the national park that stretches from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

But Trump’s appearance onstage was only announced after several musicians — including Young MC, Martina McBride and the Commodores — canceled their concerts because of concerns the event had become politicized. The president stepped into the void as he hyped his own ability to command a crowd.

“I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History,” Trump posted on social media about his plan to be the event’s headliner.

In a video posted Monday night, he said the event would be "the biggest rally we’ve ever had,” and declared: “It’s our music, our playlist. We don’t have a lot of people boring you with songs you don’t want to hear. We have the hottest people.”

Tuesday afternoon, country singer Alexis Wilkins, the longtime girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, posted on X that she would be performing at Wednesday's event.

Trump is pressing the case that he's made America better

Trump has struggled to deliver the presidency that he advertised to voters — causing his approval rating to dwell at a low 37%, according to the most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling.

Democrats say his botched repairs to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and the resulting algae outbreak are a sign that he’s spending taxpayer money on vanity projects instead of the nation's legacy.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said the Trump-affiliated group organizing the 250th anniversary was selling access to special interests and redrafting the nation's founding to the president's liking, based on documents he presented at a congressional hearing earlier this year.

“It should be about bringing us together,” Huffman said. “He's trying to make this 250th celebration all about him.”

Trump’s fondness for showmanship has not been a match for public anxiety about his presidency. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of his economic leadership, with favorability at 40% on immigration and 34% on Iran.

“It’s clear that Trump’s preoccupations in his second term — from Iran to the Washington reflecting pool — are not those of most members of his base, let alone other Americans,” said Daniel Treisman, a politics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “That explains his unusually low approval ratings.”

Trump's rallies can only help him so much without concrete improvements on inflation

Inflation is still higher than what Trump inherited and it has been outpacing wage growth. The budget deficit remains on a path upward that keeps interest rates high. Investments in artificial intelligence are driving growth, but they come with fears of middle-class job losses such that the construction of data centers needed for America’s tech economy have become controversial politically.

Trump has fueled dramas over tariffs, NATO, immigration, ownership of Greenland and his own renovations of iconic buildings and monuments in Washington — generating a flood of controversy that has pushed things the administration sees as accomplishments — such as the capture of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro — off the public radar.

James Snyder, a Harvard University professor, has partnered on research showing that past rallies have helped Trump turn out his supporters to vote, in the short-term. But he noted that Wednesday’s rally comes more than four months before the November midterm elections, and is unlikely to have a politically strategic benefit for Republicans.

“I would not expect that the rally would have any clear effect on the 2026 midterm elections,” Snyder said.

The operation was part of Ukraine’s aerial campaign targeting energy facilities and military industries that has intensified as Kyiv builds bigger and better long-range weapons to ward off Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.

In response, Moscow has ordered the redeployment of some air defense systems from Russian regions to the capital and to Crimea’s Kerch Bridge, a crucial transport link for supplying Russian troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The bridge connects the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland.

“It is important that as many Russians as possible come to understand that it is the Russian leadership’s rejection of diplomacy that is prolonging the war,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused.

Ukraine says the stricken gas plant was one of the world's largest

The overnight attack hit the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, which is part of a complex that also houses the only helium plant in Russia, the General Staff said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. The attack set the complex on fire, it said.

Orenburg, in the southern Urals near Russia's border with Kazakhstan, is more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) behind the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine.

The plant is one of the largest gas complexes in the world, according to the General Staff. It produces helium, used in liquid-fuel rocket engines and guidance systems, and ethane, a key component in producing solid rocket fuel and gunpowder, it added.

Overnight attacks also hit two satellite communication centers used by the Russian military, according to the General Staff.

One was the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow, which it described as Russia's largest ground-based satellite communications complex, and the other was in the Vladimir region east of the capital.

It was not possible to independently verify the General Staff’s report, and Russian officials made no immediate comment.

The General Staff's statement did not say whether the military used drones or missiles in the assault, but drones have recently been used to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Ukraine continues to hammer Crimea

Ukraine has recently focused its drone and missile attacks on Crimea, aiming to cut off the vital Russian-held peninsula, and overnight drone strikes knocked out power in Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city’s Moscow-installed governor, said Wednesday.

Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, sits in a strategic location on the Black Sea. It has naval bases and also provides an important supply line to Moscow's forces inside Ukraine.

Ukraine recently destroyed more than 60,000 tons of Russian ammunition when it hit a Baltic Fleet arsenal near St. Petersburg, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine is trying to disrupt military supply lines in Crimea and strike the peninsula’s power grid at the height of the summer tourist season. Kyiv hopes the campaign will embarrass Putin and increase public pressure on him to end the war, according to Western analysts.

Ukraine’s Security Service said Wednesday it struck two military airfields and destroyed missile systems in Crimea.

Drones kill at least 3 in Russia and 2 in Ukraine

Russian forces shot down 323 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

Two people were killed and two others wounded overnight in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, east of Moscow, regional Gov. Gleb Nikitin said. Also, a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person overnight in Russia’s Belgorod border region, bordering Ukraine, local officials said.

Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, said Russia launched 101 long-range attack drones overnight.

Russian drones attacked the city of Balakliia in northeastern Ukraine, killing a 56-year-old woman, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration. Also, a 57-year-old streetcar driver man died as a result of a Russian guided aerial bomb that hit the outskirts of Sumy, said Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration.

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Elise Morton in London contributed.

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

The Subaru Forester, meanwhile, gained its hybrid powertrain option for 2025 and is better for it, improving this SUV’s fuel economy, performance and refinement. Both SUVs could be appealing if you’re interested in a high-mpg SUV that can help you get out into nature on the weekends. Edmunds’ auto experts tested both to find which one is a better fit for your needs.

Fuel economy and performance

The Cherokee gets an EPA-estimated 37 mpg in combined city/highway driving. The Forester Hybrid gets a bit less at 35 mpg combined. This is a nice boost from gas-only SUVs — the regular Forester gets up to 29 mpg, for example. Other rival hybrid SUVs are capable of even better mpg, though those are often front-wheel-drive versions that get slightly better fuel economy. The Cherokee and Forester Hybrid both come standard with all-wheel drive, with no option for front-wheel drive. On the upside, however, you’ll appreciate the extra traction if you do a lot of driving on slippery roads in the wintertime.

Both SUVs have decent power for daily driving. In Edmunds’ testing, the Cherokee accelerated from zero to 60 mph in 8.7 seconds. The Forester Hybrid needed 8.8 seconds. Edmunds’ drivers did notice that the Cherokee’s hybrid powertrain does a better job of keeping noise and vibration out of the cabin, resulting in a quieter driving experience.

Winner: Jeep Cherokee

Comfort and utility

Edmunds’ editors found that the Forester has a smoother ride over bumps and ruts than the Cherokee. It also has more comfortable front seats that are easier to get in and out of. For long road trips, you’ll probably prefer the Forester. The back seats are pretty similar in these SUVs, though. Both are comfortable for adults and have enough space to install child seats easily.

Edmunds found the Subaru Forester’s boxy cargo area ideal for hauling your stuff, whether it be luggage, groceries or outdoor recreational gear. The Cherokee’s cargo area isn’t quite as roomy, but it is still quite useful.

Winner: Subaru Forester

Technology features

The Subaru Forester Hybrid may have a big portrait-oriented screen, but it’s often frustratingly slow to boot up and respond to your presses on the on-screen buttons. Feature content is good, but again, execution matters. For example, the Forester’s available wireless phone charging pad is made of hard plastic and isn’t grippy enough to keep a phone consistently in place if you take a sudden turn.

A similar situation exists with the Forester’s driver assistance features. The Forester comes with a lot of them, but the way they work isn’t great. For example, the adaptive cruise control can be slow to respond to changes in traffic, and the constant warning beeps to remind you to keep your hands on the steering wheel can get annoying. The Jeep’s driver assist features are more sophisticated and enjoyable to use.

Response time can also be an issue for the Jeep’s 12.3-inch landscape-oriented touchscreen, but the graphics look more modern. We also like that its available wireless phone charger grips onto a phone with tenacity and doesn’t take up much space.

Winner: Jeep Cherokee

On-road and off-road driving

Despite Jeep’s off-roading reputation, the Cherokee has less ground clearance than the Forester, and it lacks the sort of robust all-wheel-drive systems and off-road drive modes found in other Jeep models. A more rugged Cherokee variant, the Trailhawk, will debut for 2027, but for now, the specialized Forester Wilderness trim is the better bet for tackling a dirt road or trail.

Not surprisingly, then, the Cherokee is more at home on pavement. Its handling and steering are merely average, though, and suffers from an overly thick octagonal-like steering wheel that’s awkward to hold. The Subaru is also substantially easier to see out of.

Winner: Subaru Forester

Price and value

The 2026 Jeep Cherokee starts at $36,995, including destination, for its base trim. That’s a bit more than the Forester Hybrid that starts at $36,180 for its starter Premium trim. Broadly, the Forester Hybrid comes with more features for your money as well. For example, the Forester has standard heated front seats and a standard power-adjustable driver’s seat, while on the Cherokee you’ll have to get the next-step-up Laredo to get those features. It’s a similar story at the top of the lineup, where a fully loaded Cherokee will cost you about two grand more than the Forester.

Winner: Forester

Edmunds says

It’s a close call between these two small SUVs. They both get good mpg and can serve you well as a daily driver. Overall, however, Edmunds recommends the Forester Hybrid. Its slight advantages in comfort, utility and value make it the better pick.

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

Al día siguiente de que Francia registrara su día más caluroso, Reino Unido se preparaba para las temperaturas más altas registradas en junio, lo que llevó a la agencia meteorológica, la Met Office, a emitir una alerta “roja por salud ante el calor” para gran parte del centro y el sur de Inglaterra, así como para Gales.

Reino Unido se prepara para superar de nuevo los 40 ºC

La alerta “roja por salud ante el calor” para gran parte del centro y el sur de Inglaterra, así como para Gales, es apenas la segunda advertencia de este tipo emitida por las autoridades británicas. La primera fue en julio de 2022, cuando las temperaturas superaron los 40 grados Celsius (104 grados Fahrenheit) por primera vez. Se prevé que la temperatura se quede por debajo de los 40 grados Celsius el miércoles, pero podría superar ese nivel —no hace mucho considerado inimaginable— el jueves.

“Las alertas rojas se reservan para los eventos más graves y esperamos impactos severos y significativos de esta ola de calor, con efectos en la salud probables para muchos, incluso más allá de quienes normalmente son más vulnerables al calor”, indicó Mark Sidaway, subdirector de pronósticos de la Met Office.

Las autoridades en toda Europa occidental buscan contener los riesgos

Las autoridades en Francia, Italia y España también emitieron advertencias sobre los riesgos del calor extremo para decenas de millones de personas.

Se están batiendo récords en toda Europa, aparentemente cada año, y las autoridades tienen dificultades para adaptar sus sociedades a la realidad del nuevo entorno caluroso. Muchos de los edificios, lugares de trabajo y redes de transporte simplemente no están preparados, ya que el cambio climático causado por el ser humano conduce a fenómenos meteorológicos cada vez más extremos. Las proyecciones de la agencia climática de la ONU dicen que es probable que los próximos cinco años pulvericen más récords de calor.

“Las olas de calor se están volviendo más frecuentes, más largas y más calientes con el cambio climático, como resultado directo de los combustibles fósiles que estamos liberando como sociedad”, dijo Hayley Fowler, profesora del Centre for Climate and Environmental Resilience de la Universidad de Newcastle, en el noreste de Inglaterra. “Podemos esperar tener que hacer frente a más y más de este tipo de eventos en los años venideros”.

Francia ha soportado gran parte del impacto de la actual ola de calor. El martes, el promedio de temperaturas medidas en 30 estaciones meteorológicas fue de 29,8 ºC (85,6 ºF), el más reciente de una serie de máximos nunca antes registrados que se han acumulado en el país más grande de Europa.

Como era de esperar, muchas de las principales atracciones del país, incluida la torre Eiffel y el museo del Louvre en París, han restringido los horarios de visita mientras se alteran los horarios escolares y de transporte.

Algunas escuelas en Inglaterra también cerraron debido al calor y se cancelaron muchos servicios de tren, mientras se instaba a los pasajeros a evitar los desplazamientos no esenciales en las zonas cubiertas por la alerta roja.

Network Rail, que opera la red ferroviaria británica, advirtió de una “disrupción significativa” en toda Inglaterra y Gales, al imponer restricciones de velocidad para minimizar el riesgo de problemas relacionados con el calor, como vías deformadas y tendidos eléctricos combados.

Eurostar, que conecta Reino Unido con Europa continental bajo el Canal de la Mancha, indicó que canceló cuatro trenes previstos entre Londres y París el miércoles y el jueves “debido a las condiciones meteorológicas adversas previstas”.

El Ministerio italiano de Salud emitió alertas rojas para 16 ciudades el miércoles, con grandes urbes como Roma, Milán, Florencia y Turín afectadas. La alerta roja “bollino rosso” señala condiciones de emergencia que pueden afectar no sólo a las personas vulnerables, sino también a adultos sanos.

Las temperaturas podrían alcanzar máximas de 41 ºC (105 ºF) en Florencia y 38 ºC (104 ºF) en Milán, mientras que se prevé que Roma y Nápoles se mantengan por debajo de 36 ºC (96,8 ºF).

Los amantes de la moda en Milán tienen que responder al calor

Italia ha sufrido altas temperaturas durante días. Periodistas de moda sudaron durante los desfiles en la capital de la moda de Milán a principios de esta semana. Muchos amantes de la moda que estaban presentes para ver las propuestas de moda masculina para Primavera-Verano 2027 compraron ventiladores a batería con pulverizadores en quioscos del metro.

Un diseñador, Philipp Plein, tuvo que cambiar su sede apenas cuatro horas antes del desfile debido a una avería del aire acondicionado, mientras que otros proporcionaron ventiladores de mano, pulverizadores e incluso grandes paraguas como protección contra el sol y el calor para los desfiles al aire libre.

Los diseñadores coincidieron en general en que un hombre bien vestido sigue llevando traje. El desafío era cómo sobrevivir al calor. La respuesta fue la ventilación, con camisas dejadas sin abotonar o, en algunos casos, simplemente eliminadas.

Incluso los británicos decidieron que hacía demasiado calor para capas de ropa innecesarias. Hace tanto calor en la tradicional sede de la democracia británica que se permitirá a los periodistas varones que cubren el Parlamento quitarse las chaquetas en la tribuna de prensa de la Cámara de los Comunes el miércoles.

El aviso por calor en Reino Unido sigue vigente hasta el jueves, con temperaturas nocturnas que se mantienen muy por encima del promedio.

“Si creen que ya hace calor, bueno, todavía no han visto nada”, comentó el meteorólogo del Met Office Alex Burkill por la mañana del miércoles.

Inspirándose en las pausas de hidratación del Mundial

Un remedio que se está promoviendo llega a través del Mundial de fútbol, que actualmente se celebra en Estados Unidos, Canadá y México. La Confederación Europea de Sindicatos dijo que los empleadores deberían inspirarse en las pausas de hidratación utilizadas en el Mundial para conceder a todos los trabajadores descansos pagados y ayudar a mantenerlos a salvo durante las olas de calor.

“Los albañiles, los recolectores de fruta o los conductores de autobús necesitan mucho más que tres minutos para recuperarse, pero es un buen ejemplo de cómo el trabajo puede adaptarse a un clima cambiante”, dijo la secretaria general de la CES, Esther Lynch.

“Tomarse un descanso con altas temperaturas es una precaución de sentido común, pero demasiados empleadores se niegan a poner en marcha estas y otras medidas necesarias o incluso a discutirlas con los sindicatos, lo que conduce a un número creciente de muertes evitables en los lugares de trabajo europeos”, añadió.

Empresas de toda Europa están siguiendo ese consejo y adaptándose al nuevo entorno.

En un importante proyecto de construcción que abarca la concurrida circunvalación de París, los trabajadores de la construcción han pasado a horarios de trabajo más tempranos. Los responsables del sitio han introducido horarios escalonados, y la mayoría de los trabajadores ahora comienzan a las 6 de la mañana y terminan alrededor de la 1 de la tarde.

“En cuanto sale el sol, los trabajadores de verdad van a tomarse tiempo para hacer pausas cada hora y refrescarse”, dijo el subdirector del sitio, Travis Demarque.

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Jill Lawless en Londres, Colleen Barry en Milán, Samuel Petrequin y Alexander Turnbull en París y Giada Zampano en Roma contribuyeron.

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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.

Li also said the country’s heavy state subsidies were not the main reason for the rapid rise of its high-tech industries, at a time when Western officials have complained that China’s state support for industries from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles has provided an unfair competitive edge.

China’s No. 2 leader made the remarks in his speech at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, known as the “Summer Davos,” held this week in the northeastern Chinese coastal city of Dalian.

He acknowledged there have been growing global concerns about China’s technological innovations, with some pointing to the term “China Shock 2.0,” as they see the nation's high-tech boom as a threat to many advanced economies.

Instead, that should be seen as “China Opportunity 2.0,” he said.

“From the global development perspective, ‘China Opportunity 2.0’ means there’ll be broader access to advanced technologies and more widely shared benefits,” Li said.

“China’s emerging technologies and products are bringing to the world not shocks, but opportunities,” he added. “Not threats, but empowerment.”

China’s tech advancements and growing exports of EVs, solar panels, chips, batteries, AI and robotics have offered affordable options to global markets, but have also raised criticisms among governments concerned about issues such as oversupply. Some are taking protectionist measures.

Li also dismissed claims that the rise of China’s high-tech sectors was because of massive government subsidies.

U.S. and European policymakers have raised concerns over Chinese state subsidies creating unfairness to their industries, while a June report by the 38-country Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said huge state subsidies, including those in China, can distort global markets and create unfair competitive advantages.

“There are some people who say that Chinese products are competitive mainly because the Chinese government's subsidies,” Li said in his speech. “That’s not true. The Chinese government is not that wealthy.”

China’s large domestic market, which allows the mass and fast deployment of new technologies among its population of 1.4 billion, and huge corporate investments are among the key factors in its robust tech advancements, he said.

Li also name-checked Chinese tech giant Huawei, which has faced Western restrictions, and robotics company Unitree, both of which have risen quickly in size and market share, as examples of China’s innovation success.

Beijing earlier voiced its opposition to an expansion this month of the Pentagon's list of Chinese military-linked companies to Unitree and other tech firms, preventing them from landing U.S. defense contracts. The list also includes Huawei.

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Associated Press video producer Wayne Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.

Mitchell, a 78-year-old veteran in Montana, plans to take a red, white and blue 1954 Chevrolet pickup that he restored and drive it in local parades for the Fourth of July. In honor of the country’s milestone anniversary, he bought a decorative eagle to mount on the back of the truck, accompanied by American flags.

“I’ll be driving my pickup,” he said, referring to his role in the parades. “Usually we freeze a whole bunch of candy, and I have a couple of kids from down the block who get in the back and throw candy out. Everybody loves it.”

Mitchell isn't the only one looking forward to this year's festivities. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults feel “proud” about the country's 250th anniversary, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly 3 in 10 say “excited” describes their emotions. The milestone will be marked with events across the country, and President Donald Trump has planned several for the nation’s capital, including a fair on Washington’s National Mall.

But as the celebrations begin, many Americans also feel indifferent or conflicted about celebrating the country. Other Gallup polling shows that most Americans now feel the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed with how the U.S. has turned out, a substantial increase from 25 years ago.

Most Republicans and older adults feel proud

Most Republicans say that “proud” or “excited” describes how they are feeling about the United States’ 250th anniversary. About 7 in 10 Republicans say pride describes their emotions, compared to about 3 in 10 independents and roughly 2 in 10 Democrats.

Older Americans — those ages 60 and older — are also mostly feeling proud, with about 6 in 10 saying this describes how they feel about the nation’s anniversary.

Mitchell, the Montana veteran, wants the country to be “celebrating it to the maximum.” As a Vietnam War veteran who was drafted into the war, he wants Americans to remember the men and women who have given their lives to protect the freedoms they have today.

“It was a sacrifice,” Mitchell said, referring to his service. “The most important thing about the celebration is understanding that freedom is not free, and it never will be free, so you need to celebrate that.”

About half of Republicans, 54%, say they feel excited about the country’s anniversary.

As the country marks 250 years of independence, most Americans believe the country has succeeded in achieving its founding ideals, according to new Gallup polling. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults say that America has succeeded “a great deal” or “a fair amount” in achieving the ideals for which the country was founded. That view is shared by a majority of Democrats, independents and Republicans — though Republicans are especially likely to say the country has succeeded.

Democrats and young people feel conflicted or indifferent

More Democrats and young people say “conflicted” or “indifferent” describes their feelings about America 250.

About 4 in 10 Democrats and roughly 3 in 10 adults under 30 say “conflicted” describes their feelings “extremely” or “very” well. About 3 in 10 in each case feel “indifferent.”

Laura Davis, a 44-year-old in Chicago who identifies as a progressive liberal, has struggled with what she describes as the “American declarations of grandiosity” this year, including Trump's White House ballroom construction and the repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. She believes that money could be better spent on Americans in need, as well as international aid, and she worries the country's reputation is being damaged by the Trump administration's actions.

“It doesn't mean we can't celebrate the things that do make America a unique and in some ways exceptional place to be,” she said. “But I think it's more nuanced than that, and I hope that doesn't get lost in the celebration.”

About 8 in 10 Americans say the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed with how the country has turned out, according to a new Gallup poll. Only about 2 in 10 say the signers would be pleased. That’s down significantly from 1999 — the first time the question was asked — when 55% believed they would be disappointed and 44% said they would be pleased.

Sydney Crispin, a 39-year-old Democrat in Maine, believes the country's “incredible” foundation is worth celebrating. Still, she is conflicted by what she sees as a decline in people's ability to have respectful discourse, something she believes is at the heart of America's identity. She hopes communities find ways to celebrate the remarkable parts of America this Fourth of July while still reflecting on its areas for improvement.

Celebrating the 250th: Spending time with friends or family tops on list

Just under half, 44%, of U.S. adults plan to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary by spending time with friends or family, according to a recent Gallup-With Honor poll. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say they plan to watch coverage of America 250 events on television or social media.

More than half of adults ages 65 and older plan to celebrate with friends or family, while nearly half plan to watch coverage of the event on television or social media. Adults under 30 are more likely to say they are not planning to celebrate at all.

The Gallup-With Honor poll found about 2 in 10 U.S. adults plan to participate in a neighborhood or community event, while approximately 1 in 10 say they will be attending an official America 250 event.

Lyle Nelson, a 67-year-old in Idaho, said he plans to maintain his tradition of watching the annual Macy’s firework show at home.

Nelson — who agrees with a lot of what Trump has done in office — remarked that even though Trump was disappointed that he did not get reelected in 2020, he might be pleased that he's the one in the White House during this historic event.

“I wonder if he’s thankful that he gets to be president during the 250th anniversary,” Nelson said. “I think he'll be excited for that.”

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The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 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 2.6 percentage points.

The Gallup-With Honor poll of 3,199 adults was conducted May 12-22 using a sample drawn from Gallup's probability-based panel. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. The separate Gallup poll of 1,001 adults was conducted May 1-17 using a sample drawn from Gallup’s probability-based panel. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

Called Lakou Lakay, the name in Haitian creole means “home," and it reflects her family’s deepening roots in their adopted homeland where her granddaughter was born two years ago, automatically making her a Mexican citizen.

Like the United States, Mexico extends citizenship to children born within its borders.

President Donald Trump insists the U.S. is the only nation to do so as he seeks to deny birthright citizenship for children whose parents are living in the country illegally or have temporary legal status.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in soon on the constitutionality of his birthright citizenship order. Trump signed it on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, amid his Republican administration’s broad immigration crackdown.

In April, Trump posted on Truth Social: “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!”

In fact, about three dozen countries, mostly in the Americas, guarantee automatic citizenship to children born on their territory — among them, Canada, Honduras, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and of course, Mexico.

Petit Frere fled Haiti in 2019. She traveled from Brazil and walked through the Panamanian jungle to Mexico chasing the so-called American Dream with the intention of crossing the border and settling with relatives in Florida. But she soon learned that was an illusion, while Mexico opened its doors.

Her restaurant's name symbolizes in her Haitian culture a shared space affording a sense of belonging. On the walls she has framed signs in Spanish, English and Creole that make clear it is more than an eatery offering tasty traditional Haitian dishes, such as fish with plantains, and rice and beans.

“Every dish tells a story, every detail connects cultures,” one sign says. “We aim to promote an authentic cultural exchanges between two peoples with similar historical roots yet where Haitian identity proudly blossoms on Mexican soil.”

In just over five years in Tijuana, Petit Frere has established a thriving business, become fluent in Spanish and is getting a degree in social work.

And she welcomed the first generation Mexican in her family, her granddaughter, Alexca.

There are no figures on how many children born to noncitizens have received Mexican birthright citizenship. Tens of thousands of Haitians are living in Mexico. In 2021, when Mexico saw a significant increase in Haitian migration, at least 10 percent of arriving Haitian women were pregnant, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.

Citizenship and birth

In the U.S., birthright citizenship was enshrined after the Civil War through the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, in part to ensure former slaves would be citizens.

The right was expanded to immigrants' children in the late 1800s when the Supreme Court ruled nearly anyone born in the U.S. — no matter their parents’ legal status — has citizenship.

The practice, many legal historians believe, dates to the 1600s and 1700s, with European rulers encouraging migration to the expanding American colonies. Those colonists, though, wanted any of their children born overseas to retain European citizenship.

So even as the colonial boundaries shifted "you're a citizen as long as you're born within the domain of the king, of the monarch,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University. “But the legal tie between the home country in Europe and the settlers remained strong through the promise of birthright citizenship.”

Dominican Republic removed birthright citizenship

In 2007, the Dominican Electoral Council officially ordered the denial of citizenship to all children born to parents without legal status.

Six years later, a Dominican court applied it retroactively to 1929.

Over a decade later, as many as 130,000 people remained stateless despite passage of a law in 2014 to correct the court decision after it drew strong international condemnation, according to the Center for Migration Studies of New York. The law now impacts the next generation, which remains vulnerable to deportation.

Her growing Mexican family

Petit Frere was born in French Saint Martin, a Caribbean island that does not offer automatic birthright citizenship. She and her mom, who is Haitian, were deported to Haiti when she was 6.

Petit Frere left Haiti seeking a better life. She was dismayed to discover when her teenage daughter left Haiti to be reunited with her in Tijuana three years later, she was nearly five months pregnant. She had been a teen mother herself and had hoped for a different path for her daughter.

But Alexca, a bubbly toddler who giggles and runs about, has conquered her grandmother's heart. Petit Frere said she's grateful her granddaughter was born in Mexico rather than Haiti, where surging gang violence has left more than 1 in 10 homeless.

A Mexican passport would also make travel easier. Traveling with a Haitian passport is considered extremely difficult, with few nations allowing holders to visit visa free.

“As a Mexican citizen, she will have more opportunities,” Petit Frere said.

That's also true for her three nieces who were born in Brazil and made automatic citizens there, she said.

Petit Frere said she and her daughter had permanent residency in Mexico before her granddaughter was born. But other parents in Tijuana's Haitian community did not. Mexico allows the parents of children with birthright citizenship to become permanent residents.

“There are a lot of children in Tijuana who are 6, 7, 8 years old now who are Mexican and their parents who are Haitian did not have legal status but now have become permanent residents because their children were born here," she said.

Petit Frere has started the paperwork to become a Mexican citizen, which would make it easier to expand her business, she said.

Petit Frere also is a community organizer with the Haitian Bridge Alliance, advocating for the Haitian migrant community. She said she hopes to pursue another degree in international migration, possibly through a U.S. university.

“The children of immigrants are proving to be the most outstanding in the world,” she said. Trump's efforts to limit birthright citizenship “could just be out of jealousy."

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Associated Press writer Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Meanwhile Keir Starmer, seeking to secure a legacy before he leaves office, faces the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in Parliament before flying to Berlin to meet European allies for talks on Ukraine and the Middle East.

Starmer announced his plan to resign on Monday and will be out of office within weeks once the governing Labour Party picks a new leader.

Jones, a Starmer ally, had been encouraged to run so that Burnham faces a test of his ideas and policies in front of Labour lawmakers and members. Others argue that a leadership contest will only focus attention on the party’s internal divisions and extend a period of political uncertainty.

Jones told Sky News that running for the leadership is “not something that I’m going to do.”

But he cautioned Burnham against veering too far to the left in economic policy, a concern of some in the business and financial worlds. Burnham is expected to choose a new Treasury chief to replace Starmer appointee Rachel Reeves. Jones said it must be someone “that can reassure the markets, reassure the trade unions and reassure the parliamentary Labour Party, and by extension the public.”

Burnham is expected to make a speech next week outlining some of his economic plans.

Starmer is leaving after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

Burnham, a former Cabinet minister who served since 2017 as mayor of Greater Manchester, won a special election last week for a seat in Parliament with the express aim of challenging Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party and the country.

So far, he faces no challengers. Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who was considered his main rival, says he will back Burnham.

Nominations for the Labour leadership will open on July 9 and close a week later. If Burnham is the only contender, he could be prime minister by July 17. If there is a contest, the winner should be in place by the time Parliament returns from its summer break on Sept. 1.

Starmer told the weekly meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday that he will try to oversee an “orderly transition” to his successor.

He is also keeping up a busy schedule, trying to cement a legacy for his shortened term in office. However, he is not allowed to make new major policy announcements or spending commitments during what remains of his premiership.

Starmer’s trip to Berlin for a meeting of the “E5” – Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the U.K. – for talks on European defense, the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, underscores the role he has played on the world stage. He has appeared more sure-footed in working with allies to support Kyiv and deal with fallout from the Iran war than he has on the home front.

The British government is expected to publish a long-awaited defense investment plan — which sparked the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 — before a NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8 that Starmer is likely to attend.

The Taong Putik, or Mud People, festival is held annually in this village in Asia’s largest Catholic nation as devotees thank the local patron saint for miracles and fulfill vows made in prayer.

Melencio Nenuda, a 39-year-old construction worker, said the mud-covered parishioners frightened him as a child and he used to hide when they passed by. But that changed when when he fell seriously ill in the sixth grade and his mother prayed to St. John the Baptist, vowing that he would join the tradition if he recovered.

“I will continue to go back to this tradition because it gives me a good future,” said Nenuda, adding that his wife and son also participate.

Village residents link the festival to faith and survival

Devotees prepare for the observance before dawn.

Heading into nearby fields around 4 a.m., they search for soft mud and smear it over their bodies before wrapping themselves in dried banana leaves.

Once ready, they walk barefoot to St. John the Baptist Church carrying only cellphones and lighted candles. As they wait for Mass to begin, hymns are sung near a small fire formed by the candle offerings.

Local church leaders say the practice began in the 1800s, when farmers smeared themselves with mud as an expression of humility, and covered themselves with the leaves to conceal their identities due to discrimination against the poor during that time.

According to the Rev. Elmer Villamayor, who led the parish between 2014 and 2021, devotion to St. John the Baptist grew after a group of local men escaped execution during the Japanese occupation in World War II.

Villamayor said residents say the men were spared after a sudden rainstorm interrupted the proceedings, an event many interpreted as divine intervention.

Participants trace their devotion to personal blessings

While no official attendance records are kept, Villamayor estimates that up to 3,000 people take part in the festival.

Rickmar Castilio, 43, has participated for the last two decades. This year, his 11-year-old son Nathan joined him for the first time.

“There are a lot more devotees now,” Castilio said. “Maybe they have experienced miracles or they have seen good things and that is why there is an increasing number of people who believe in St. John.”

His family has its own blessing to be thankful for, Castilio said. After his first child died, he vowed to continue honoring St. John the Baptist through the annual ritual if a future child survived. He has returned every year since his prayers were answered.

“(I bring my child so) that he will get closer to St. John,” Castilio said. “The youth now are starting that path.”

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Hernández reported from Beijing.

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.

Gelof flied out to right as the leadoff hitter in the Athletics’ 3-1 loss to San Francisco. In the second inning, the Giants’ Matt Chapman hit a liner off the left-field wall to bring home Willy Adames and give San Francisco a 2-0 lead.

Chapman tried for a double, but the throw from Tyler Soderstrom in left field to Gelof was in time to nail Chapman. But Chapman inadvertently stepped on Gelof’s right hand as the second baseman was applying the tag with his glove hand.

Gelof quickly left the field in obvious pain — ending his night and his streak.

He was unavailable for comment after the game, but manager Mark Kotsay said X-rays were negative and Gelof did not need stitches.

Gelof’s hitting streak matched the longest in the majors in the past two seasons, joining Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas. It’s also the seventh longest in Athletics franchise history and the second longest since the club moved to California in 1968. Jason Giambi had a 25-game hitting streak in 1997.

Gelof also had his on-base streak of 27 games end, along with a streak of scoring in 13 consecutive games.

The Athletics selected Gelof from the University of Virginia in the second round of the 2021 draft. He had a strong rookie season in 2023, batting .267 with 14 homers in 69 games. He struggled the next two seasons, hitting .211 with 188 strikeouts in 2024 and batting .174 last year, when injuries limited him to 30 games.

Gelof is hitting .282 this season. Before Tuesday’s game, Kotsay said one reason for Gelof’s resurgence was a change in his bat-angle approach to the baseball.

“We’re seeing a player that resembles the guy that came up and really excited us about (his) future,” Kotsay said. “The confidence that he has continues to grow and you see it out there on the baseball field.”

Also on Tuesday, Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, ending a 22-game on-base streak.

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

The U.S. and Iran offered contradictory remarks Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected.

A week after the two countries signed an interim deal aimed at reaching an end of their war, leaders from the U.S. and Iran have repeatedly disagreed in public about what that document actually means.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi on Wednesday acknowledged the “war of words” over Iran’s nuclear program, but the dueling narratives are playing out on a range of issues, including Israel’s war with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and how Tehran will spend billions of dollars once unfrozen.

After the signing of the memorandum of understanding, both sides agreed to a 60-day period to iron out these and other details, work that will take place in private. Until those talks are completed, leaders from both countries will continue to negotiate in public, raising the risks of derailing the shaky ceasefire in the region.

Grossi's remarks were the firmest yet from the United Nations agency, which is viewed as key in determining the status of Iran's nuclear stockpile.

Since Israel launched a 12-day war on Iran in 2025, the IAEA has been blocked by Tehran from visiting enrichment sites where the Islamic Republic is believed to store enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build as many as 10 nuclear weapons, should it choose to rush for the bomb. Iran long has maintained that its program is peaceful, though it is the only country in the world to have uranium enriched up to 60% purity without a weapons program.

Grossi says inspections are ‘going to happen’

“I can understand political statements, they are part of the reality, but the fundamental thing I would like to remind you and draw your attention to is that there has been a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by both presidents,” he told journalists at a news conference at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The accord “says explicitly that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with regards to the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA — in all letters,” he said.

Grossi added: “Obviously, to do that, we will have to inspect. Whether this happens the day after tomorrow or in one week or in 10 days, it’s important, but not essential. This is going to happen.”

Those inspections are key for the deal, which calls for Iran’s stockpile of uranium to be “downblended” from highly enriched levels.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, took his own shot at Grossi after his remarks, saying Tehran didn’t meet with him while in Switzerland.

“These issues will be reviewed and decided only within the framework of a final agreement and as a result of practical action by the other side to end all sanctions and other measures.” Gharibabadi wrote on X.

He added: “You cannot advance the ‘stir up and take over’ policy with media hype.”

IAEA blocked from seeing bombed sites

The IAEA has been allowed to visit other nuclear sites in Iran since the 12-day war in 2025, such as the Bushehr nuclear power plant. But without accessing the enrichment sites, the IAEA says it is unable to verify the status of Iran's stockpile or check the cascades of centrifuges used to enrich uranium. Both Iran and the IAEA say Tehran hasn't been enriching uranium, but nonproliferation experts worry that the Islamic Republic may be moving its stockpile to undeclared areas.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to a deal last week that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium and waives U.S.-backed sanctions on Iranian oil, while giving each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements.

But the uneasy ceasefire already has been tested by Iran saying it closed the strait again over fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. Violence again broke out in Lebanon on Tuesday, but it did not escalate.

Technical-level talks between the U.S. and Iran are expected to resume early next week at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Pakistan has been a key mediator.

Marco Rubio is in the Middle East

Grossi’s remarks came as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled in the Persian Gulf for a three-nation tour, beginning with a closed-door meeting and private working lunch in Abu Dhabi with Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the State Department said Wednesday. A photo later released by the State Department showed Michael Boulos, the husband of President Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany, attended the meeting. Boulous’ father serves as an adviser to Trump and is working on the Sudan war.

Rubio then traveled to Kuwait, where the Trump administration announced the limited reopening of the U.S. Embassy more than three months after it was shuttered at the height of the Iran war.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended a ceremonial flag-raising at the embassy compound in Kuwait City. He will later go to Bahrain.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 0.1% before the opening bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat. Nasdaq futures were up 0.3%.

Some of the companies hit hardest by selling Tuesday took back some of those losses before the market opened.

Chipmaker Micron, which tumbled more than 13% on Tuesday, gained 3.2% overnight. Marvell Technology rose 1.5% in premarket after skidding 9.4% a day earlier.

This week's selling has largely targeted companies that have seen their values surge amid the frenzy over artificial intelligence technology. Their pricey stock values give them more influence over the broader market’s direction.

Outside of the AI selloff, shares of Google parent company Alphabet inched higher overnight after it was announced that it would replace Verizon on the Dow Jones Industrial average Monday. Alphabet will become the fifth Magnificent 7 company to join the index.

Take-Two Interactive jumped 3% after announcing early Wednesday that its Rockstar Games would begin taking pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI, the latest of its blockbuster game series, on Thursday at midnight.

Oil prices fell again, continuing to edge closer to where they were before the Iran war started in late February. More ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz while U.S.-Iran talks on a permanent end to the Iran war continued to make progress.

Still, while vessel crossings in the strait increased in recent days, they remained well below prewar levels, they noted.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell $1.59 to $75.21 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still elevated compared with the approximately $70 per barrel in late February before the war began.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.67 to $71.54 a barrel. It was around $67 a barrel before the war.

Early Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the Justice Department will investigate oil companies for price gouging

Trump said on social media that gasoline prices are not matching the decline in oil prices, so he has told the Justice Department “to immediately start looking into this.”

Crude oil prices have eased with the interim deal with Iran, which has enabled more oil tankers to start passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Prices at the pump are averaging $3.93 a gallon, according to AAA. Gasoline costs have fallen over the past month, just not as much as Trump would like.

“In other words, customers are being ‘gouged,’” Trump posted. “I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”

Investors are awaiting a report due Thursday on May’s personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, the Federal Reserve's preferred measurement of inflation in the U.S.

Bond yields have remained higher as inflation concerns grew amid global energy shocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury settled at 4.48% early Wednesday.

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. That’s compared to 60% a week earlier.

The potential for higher interest rates can stifle future spending and hurt prices for investments.

Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Britain’s FTSE 100 was unchanged, while Germany's DAX fell 1.1% and France's CAC 40 ticked up 0.2%.

In Asia, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index was up 3.3% to 8,471.02, recovering from its 10% decline on Tuesday. Shares of memory chipmaker SK Hynix, one of the country's most valuable stocks, climbed 1%. Samsung Electronics jumped 9.8%, after Tuesday’s 12.3% plummet.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.9% to 69,174.97 after falling 3.6% on Tuesday.

Taiwan’s Taiex, which is also heavily influenced by tech shares, fell 2.2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.3% higher at 23,412.18. The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.1% to 4,110.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 8,808.40.

The big falls in tech shares were an “illustration of rising volatility” in these stocks, said James Reilly, senior markets economist at Capital Economics. “This is particularly true in Korea where domestic retail buyers are taking on an increasing role,” he said.

The pair passed the torch Tuesday night to former aides who won the Democratic primaries to replace them on Capitol Hill, and because both districts are overwhelmingly blue, they are all but certain to win in November and get sworn in to replace their former bosses.

Hoyer and Nadler are the latest lawmakers to successfully anoint their successors after spending decades in Congress. Among 68 members of Congress not seeking reelection this year, at least five have endorsed former staffers to replace them and more than a dozen others have, to varying degrees, worked to smooth the path to Capitol Hill for their favored replacements.

The practice can be controversial, particularly when lawmakers try to strategically time their announcement to give favored insiders the upper hand.

But even at a time when voters give Congress a dismal approval rating, they're often receptive to the recommendation of their own representative.

That was the case for Natasha Greensword, 45, who backed Adrian Boafo in Maryland's Democratic primary on Tuesday in part because he was endorsed by Hoyer, who has represented the area since 1981.

“It was a plus," Greensword said. There was also a racial component that resonated for Greensword, a Jamaican immigrant. “It did help him to have a white man endorsing a Black candidate and saying he’s got our backs,” she said.

Support from a well-known member of Congress can lift a candidate’s stature, which is particularly helpful if they’re not well known and need to stand out in a crowded field. But it can also backfire, particularly in the anti-incumbent environment that influenced so many prominent Democrats’ decision to step aside.

Norma James, 64, said she skipped over Boafo in Maryland’s primary in part because of Hoyer’s endorsement.

“If Steny was endorsing him, he’s not the one you want,” James said.

Retiring legislators can tip the scales

Many departing lawmakers prefer to keep their preferences to themselves when it comes time to hang it up. Others go to great lengths to arrange things how they want.

Most infamously, Democratic Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Illinois earned a formal reprimand from a bipartisan majority of the House for a particularly aggressive strategy to keep his seat in friendly hands.

Garcia announced his retirement plans just after the deadline to file paperwork to run for the seat. By then, his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, was the only candidate who had submitted the needed paperwork. She went on to win the primary for the Chicago-area district with 100% of the vote.

The maneuvering by Chuy Garcia and Patty Garcia, who aren't related, drove a wedge between House Democrats. Chuy Garcia dismissed allegations he was being deceptive, saying he made a last-minute decision not to run because of health and family considerations.

But Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., said Garcia's actions amounted to “election subversion” and introduced the resolution to reprimand him.

Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Steve Daines pulled a similar move in Montana. He quietly coordinated with former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, who filed paperwork to run for the office nearly simultaneously with Daines withdrawing from the race. It all went down minutes before the filing deadline. Alme faced no serious opposition for the party's nomination and won the primary with 76% of the vote.

Daines coordinated his surprise handoff with the White House, and President Donald Trump immediately backed Alme. The last-minute shuffle avoided a potentially damaging Republican primary and caught Democrats flat-footed.

Some lawmakers prefer more subtle endorsements

Other lawmakers have taken a lighter touch to try and sway the direction of their district after they're gone, and not always successfully.

Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., made clear that state Rep. La Shawn Ford was his preferred successor after nearly three decades in Congress, but that wasn't enough to clear the field for him. Ford eked out a narrow win in a crowded primary in March.

In California, Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley made a quick endorsement of Assembly member Jacqui Irwin. She still had a contested primary, but she comfortably won a spot in the general election.

Republican Rep. Ralph Norman had better luck in South Carolina. Nobody challenged his chosen successor, state Sen. Wes Climer, who ran unopposed for the party's nomination.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't recruit a preferred replacement as San Francisco's representative in Congress, and she declined to weigh in on the contentious battle to replace her until the last minute. Days before the primary, she endorsed county Supervisor Connie Chan, helping her make it to the general election in November.

Hoyer and Nadler back former aides

Hoyer, 87, was the longtime No. 2 Democrat in House leadership. Nadler, 79, was the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and is the dean of New York's congressional delegation after 34 years in Congress.

Both decided not to run for reelection this year in the face of a Democratic base hungry to push aside their party's aging leaders in Washington.

Hoyer backed his former campaign manager, Boafo, who is now a Maryland state delegate, in a crowded field of 24 candidates.

“Y’all, I gotta give a special thanks to my mentor, to my friend, Steny Hamilton Hoyer,” Boafo said after winning the Democratic primary Tuesday night.

“Tonight, the Democratic voters of the 5th Congressional District decided that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders," he said. "And it’s with great humility that I accept that responsibility.”

Nadler endorsed state Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a longtime aide to New York Democrats including Nadler, in a feisty primary for the Manhattan House seat.

Lasher hailed his ex-boss in a victory speech, saying Nadler has been a political presence throughout his life.

“When I was born, I was already Assemblyman Nadler’s constituent,” Lasher said, adding that he later “watched as Congressman Nadler led fights long before they were convenient.”

At least three other retiring lawmakers backed former aides to succeed them, including Chuy Garcia.

Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia endorsed his former chief of staff, Rob Adkerson, who lost the primary in a runoff. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., endorsed his district director, Aaron Flint, within hours of announcing his decision not to run for reelection. Flint won a four-person primary earlier this month.

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Cooper reported from Phoenix.

America’s most decorated cross-country skier is part of “Protect Our Winters,” an athlete-driven environmental group that sent a coalition to Washington to meet with lawmakers Tuesday and Wednesday. The group is most concerned with how the Environmental Protection Agency has weakened key climate, water and pollution regulations since President Donald Trump returned to office.

“I don’t want to stick my head in the sand and ignore the world burning,” Diggins said in an interview. “I feel like I have a responsibility to use my voice to advocate for change. And so that’s why it’s so important to me, because I want my great-grandkids to be able to build a snowman and try cross-country skiing someday, and be able go hiking and fishing and camping in the summer, and breathe clean air. I want that for them very badly.”

Diggins retired from professional ski racing this year after earning bronze in the women’s 10‑kilometer interval start at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Many skiers expressed concern during these Olympic Games about climate change and the accelerating melt of the world’s glaciers. A warming world jeopardizes the future of their sport.

Diggins described bringing her medals to Washington as a “beautiful, full circle moment.” She said she'll consider it a success if she has productive conversations that help pave the way for bipartisan efforts to strengthen and bolster the EPA in the future. Republicans currently in control of Congress have generally supported the Trump EPA’s actions.

“We’re trying to advocate for solutions that are going to protect us long term, and training and racing through four Olympics, that was a very long-term thing, you know? It’s not quick, immediate gratification, you work and you work and you work,” Diggins said. “I think it’s a nice reminder of like, it’s OK that we are looking for solutions for the future.”

Coalition includes athletes, scientists, storytellers

It's not the typical lobbying group. Professional ski mountaineer Brody Leven only owns a suit to go to Washington with Protect Our Winters. But, he said, they are the ones who can hopefully bring people together around policy solutions to climate change.

“We’re good at looking at adversity in the face and still moving forward," he said. "And we’re good at knowing something is going to be hard and trying to do it anyways.”

They plan to meet with Democratic and Republican members in both chambers. Olympians Jaelin Kauf, Gus Schumacher, Bea Kim, Julia Kern and Olivia Giaccio are involved, Protect Our Winters said.

During the Trump administration, the EPA has revoked a scientific finding that underpinned the fight against climate change, moved to roll back limits on toxic wastewater from coal-fired power plants and announced other cuts to federal limits on air and water pollution as it promotes fossil fuels. These changes clash with the agency’s historic mission to protect human health and the environment.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said they are “ driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age.” Doing so, he said, will save trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and hidden taxes, which in turn will make the cost of living more affordable and reignite domestic manufacturing.

Environmentalists say the EPA under Zeldin has abandoned its obligation to protect the public from dangerous greenhouse gas pollution at a time when climate change is creating greater risks of extreme weather, including stronger hurricanes, more dangerous floods and more intense wildfires. Legal challenges to a range of EPA rule changes have been filed by states, cities and public health and environmental groups.

Protect Our Winters looks beyond the Trump years

Ben Gubits, vice president of campaigns and advocacy for Protect Our Winters, said they expect the federal government to protect the health of American citizens and the planet. POW has lobbied Congress for about a decade, including several visits in 2021 and 2022 when it advocated for passage of a landmark climate bill. President Joe Biden signed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.

“We are really thinking about a long-term and positive vision for the future, and how do we rebuild these critical institutions beyond the Trump years,” Gubits said.

Stuart Nissenbaum started working at the EPA early in Biden's term and left a year ago. He's part of the coalition, too. Nissenbaum said he thinks being in Washington with Olympians will help bring attention to their message. They are masters of their craft and they wore the U.S. flag while competing, which should resonate with members of Congress, he added.

Nissenbaum said he'll convey to legislators that clean air and clean water is bipartisan, and they should adopt policies grounded in science to protect the environment.

“Clean air and clean water isn’t something that we should take for granted,” he said. “It affects every single person.”

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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.

Experts from the Moesgaard Museum said this week that the sprawling 100,000-square-meter (more than 1 million-square-foot) site features an area for processing flax as well as more than 80 pit houses — semi-buried huts that were used as workshops and dwellings in Viking times.

It's located in Søften, 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Denmark’s second-largest city, Aarhus, on the Jutland peninsula. The site dates back to the late Iron Age and early Viking Age, sometime between A.D. 600 and 950.

Archaeologist Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, who led the 10-month dig, said that “we have a clear focus on textile production, which makes this settlement different from other kinds of settlements of this period.”

“We have spindle whorls, we have weight looms; that tells us about what has been going on in the pit houses,” said Reher-Langberg, adding that archaeologists had also discovered silver coins, glass beads and pottery.

Experts found separate areas for production and crafts, plus a single residential home, which suggests work was overseen by a powerful individual with control over resources and production.

Reher-Langberg said that, over the last three decades, people with metal detectors had unearthed several silver coins in the area. A trial excavation 1½ years ago, before the start of construction work on a new road and industrial area, then piqued archaeologists’ interest.

“We could see in the trenches that it just keeps on going, with these houses and pit houses and textile production features,” Reher-Langberg said.

Moesgaard Museum historian Kasper Andersen said that the discovery at Søften is “another piece in the puzzle” to understanding the local economic, cultural and political structure at the time.

During the Viking era, Aarhus — then known as Aros — functioned as a center for royalty and international trade. And last year, archaeologists discovered another Viking site in Lisbjerg, just 4 kilometers (2½ miles) away, that was likely home to members of the nobility.

Goods and resources were likely brought from the countryside and settlements like Søften, before entering an extensive international trade network, Andersen said.

“When you have a production site of this scale, it cannot be only because of the local area. It needs to be understood as part of a greater network, a much bigger international perspective,” Andersen said.

Reher-Langberg hopes future carbon dating and pollen analysis might answer some lingering questions, for instance about what kind of textile production went on at the site.

During the Viking Age, considered to run from A.D. 793 to 1066, Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raids, colonization, conquest and trade throughout Europe, even reaching North America.

Andersen said that the discovery at Søften shows that Vikings were “not just simple, uncivilized, barbaric hordes, rambling about Europe.”

“To have a place like Søften, you need a very well-organized society with a production line, and you also need a market to have the production,” he said. “The textiles from Søften go into a market that’s much bigger than just the local area.”

Trump, who will attend a closed-door Senate GOP luncheon for the first time in more than a year, has pressured senators for months to focus on his proof-of-citizenship voting bill even though it doesn’t have the votes to pass. At the same time, he has blocked them 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 his 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 — Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. Both men lost their primaries and have since become more critical of the president.

Still, senators said ahead of the meeting that they hope to focus on unity, not disagreements.

“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Tuesday ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”

It was uncertain, though, if Trump’s visit could smooth differences with the Republican majority — or if GOP senators who have been increasingly vocal about their frustration will voice their concerns directly.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said a lot of his complaints with the administration have already been communicated. He said he hopes this meeting will be “conciliatory.”

“That would be a big win for us tomorrow,” Tillis said on Tuesday.

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Adding to the tension is Trump’s increasingly distant relationship with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. 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.”

Trump has been pushing the Senate to eliminate the filibuster and pass the legislation, known as the SAVE America Act, which would create strict new requirements for voters to prove citizenship and show voter ID at the polls. He has also demanded that they add a ban on mail-in ballots to the bill as well as unrelated provisions to block sex reassignment surgeries on some minors and prevent people born as men from playing in women’s sports.

“John is a leader and hopefully he can get the votes,” Trump said Tuesday on a trip to Pennsylvania, putting new pressure on Thune.

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.

“Those are just hard realities,” Thune said. “And I think people at some point have to come to grips with that.“

Thune said he hopes the meeting is about “sitting down as a family” and figuring out their agenda in the remaining time before the election.

Some GOP senators back Trump on SAVE Act

Thune said he found out Trump was coming to the luncheon from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who had extended the invitation without telling him — an unusual move that could signal some frustration within the ranks. Scott, a close Trump ally, leads the Senate Republican lunch every Wednesday.

Scott, who ran against Thune for leader two years ago, said Trump responded "on the spot" to his invitation and said he would come.

“He’s going to be very positive," Scott said. "There's a lot that we can brag about that we’ve accomplished, and he wants to figure out how we can win November and continue to fulfill his agenda.”

On Monday, Scott sent a letter to his Republican colleagues arguing that the Senate should be taking votes every week on some version of the SAVE America Act and other GOP priorities that Democrats oppose.

“We need to show voters that we are listening to them and will fight for their priorities whether any Democrats vote with us or not,” Scott wrote.

Also needling Thune on the bill is Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican who has amassed a large following on X with daily posts about how they should kill the filibuster and pass the bill. Several Republican senators, including Cornyn, confronted Lee at a closed-door lunch last week about his advocacy, which they said is dividing the party and creating unrealistic expectations.

Lee has also echoed Trump’s claims that Republicans can’t win elections unless the bill passes, despite the party's sweeping victories in 2024. Trump has continued to falsely claim that the 2020 election he lost was stolen.

“The push to pass the SAVE America Act is not a ‘fantasy,’” Lee posted over the weekend. “It’s a plan to avoid a nightmare — one that’s coming soon unless we act.”

Thune said Tuesday that it’s Lee’s prerogative to post on social media, but “at the end of the day, I have a different reality. And sometimes the alternative universe that is X doesn’t reflect the facts on the ground.”

Frustration over Iran, intelligence job could also be topics

Trump could be faced with questions about his announcement on social media last week that he was delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to become national intelligence director. Republican leaders had hoped to quickly confirm Clayton and circumvent Trump’s unpopular interim pick Bill Pulte, who has no known experience in the field.

In the same social media post, Trump said he wouldn't sign a renewal of a key surveillance law unless Senate Republicans attach the SAVE America Act. That hardline approach has some support in the House, where a group of 25 Republicans has vowed to oppose all legislation until the voting bill moves forward.

Republicans could also use the luncheon to push Trump on the war in Iran and the agreement with Iran to end it. Most lawmakers still have not been briefed about the deal.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said there are a lot of questions about the Iran agreement, but added that Trump may not be able to talk publicly about the ongoing negotiations.

“We’re there to listen” and to try and ensure that the rest of Trump’s term is successful, Rounds said. But that means “we’ve got to come out with a united team.”

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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

Trump has long been critical of NATO, arguing the U.S. carries more than its fair share of military spending. But his grievances have been louder since the Iran war as he fumed over some member countries ignoring his call to help him restart oil trade through the shuttered Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has renewed his threats to leave the 77-year-old military alliance, raising the stakes ahead of the NATO leaders' summit in Turkey next month. But Rutte, who has become known as a Trump whisperer for his ability to charm the president, is expected to use Wednesday’s White House meeting to try to appease him.

The visit comes after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week lashed out at allies during a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. He announced a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe.

Hegseth echoed some of Trump’s critiques, faulting European allies for not letting the U.S. use bases in Europe to attack Iran. NATO allies were not consulted about the war before the U.S. launched it with Israel on Feb. 28, and some have been openly critical of Trump's strategy.

Trump has claimed NATO allies were not there for the U.S. and suggested leaving the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union. At the heart of their treaty is a mutual defense agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on all. The only time it has been invoked was in 2001, to support the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The Pentagon’s warning that it will reduce its military presence in Europe to focus on threats elsewhere was the latest upheaval for the 32-member alliance since Trump returned to office.

The Republican leader stunned European allies last year when he threatened to annex Greenland, a semiautonomous island that is part of ally Denmark.

A chief part of Rutte’s mission these days is keeping the U.S. in NATO, and he’s proven himself deft in the past at subduing Trump’s frustrations.

Rutte frequently flatters the president, crediting him with getting NATO members to increase their defense spending. Trump last year pressured leaders to agree to invest 5% of their GDP annually on defense by 2035.

On Tuesday evening, Rutte appeared for an interview on Fox News Channel, of which Trump is known to be a dedicated viewer.

Rutte repeatedly praised Trump, emphasizing he is the leader of the NATO alliance and said of his efforts in Iran: “I’m completely behind him on this."

He said that Trump's frustrations over the use of bases in Europe involved a few “isolated cases."

The lengths to which Rutte is willing to praise Trump have at times raised eyebrows, such as when he referred to the president as “daddy” during the alliance’s summit last year.

He then sent him a fawning text message that employed one of Trump’s favorite flourishes, capitalizing random words. “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” Rutte said.

Trump shared the private message on social media for the world to see.

He did it again in January, blasting out another Rutte message that closed with: “Can’t wait to see you. Yours, Mark.”

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Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

The irony that she left her home in China and found a public platform for her LGBTQ+ artistic expression in San Francisco’s Chinatown — the country’s oldest — is not lost on her.

“Here in San Francisco Chinatown, I still continued my journey and met so many like-minded community members and friends,” Chen told The Associated Press through an interpreter. “It kind of actually encouraged me and gave me lots of strength to do what I know is my mission, my calling.”

The OUT Museum opened with a rainbow-ribbon cutting at the end of May — between Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Pride Month. Situated across from the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, the bilingual museum is giving recognition to a demographic that has long felt invisible. It seems like an ideal fit in the progressive city at a time when some cities, states and the federal government are restricting or banning certain LGBTQ+ rights.

To start, the museum is only open on Saturdays and is one room with fewer than a dozen artworks by artists from China and the Chinese diaspora. But there is hope to expand the museum's exhibits and days of operation.

Museum allows Chinese artists to fully tell their stories

While still living in China, Chen launched a Kickstarter for a proposed museum six years ago — more than 2,000 donated on the platform. But she knew it likely wouldn't be built there. In 2022, she came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa as a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. By 2024, Chen gained attention in San Francisco for her role in an exhibition at the Asian Art Museum. That led to a residency with the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.

The organization was “proud to be the incubating space for the OUT Museum prototype,” executive director Jenny Leung said in an email.

The level of support that followed amazed Chen.

“I got so many chances to connect with the local Asian American queer community and even the Chinatown community in general,” she said.

Interest soon followed from longtime collaborators and younger artists who reached out via Instagram. They are represented in the inaugural exhibition, which includes photography, zines and an interactive installation where visitors use thread to trace their self-discovery journey with gender and sexuality.

For Hong Kong-born artist Dixon Ngai, this museum offers an outlet to tell his story as mainstream media typically overlook the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. He contributed a hand-painted, Chinese porcelain wine pot inspired by the Cantonese opera “Di Nü Hua,” or “The Flower Princess.”

Ngai said the OUT Museum, unlike other exhibitions, is very specific to the experience of the Chinese queer community, allowing “more people to see our voice.”

Museum affirms evolving attitudes toward LGBTQ+ presence

Since the museum's opening, Chen has been “one hundred percent moved” by unexpected feedback from one particular demographic: Chinese immigrants, both queer and straight, who have lived in California for decades.

A 60-year-old transgender man who visited shared how he immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s for crucial gender-affirming care. There was also a mother looking to connect with her gay adult son.

“She later emailed me saying that she’s so grateful for all the events the art museum has organized,” Chen said. “Her son came out to her, and she’s very proud of her son and she wants to express gratitude.”

These reactions are proof the museum is elevating the visibility of Chinese, Chinese American and Asian American LGBTQ+ people, said author and activist Helen Zia, a museum advisory board member. It also shows how attitudes have shifted, she said, as it would have been difficult to mount even 20 years ago.

“There were Asian churches who would have demonstrations week after week with thousands of people just condemning same-sex couples,” Zia said, recalling the response from the Chinese community in 2008 when she handed out pro-gay marriage flyers in Oakland's Chinatown. “We got people yelling at us, spitting.”

Later that year, Zia and her wife were among many couples who wed after the California Supreme Court rejected a same-sex marriage ban. Even today, she says the museum's presence sends a needed message.

“See our humanity,” Zia said. “Here's the beautiful art that we create and imagine and contribute to the world.”

LGBTQ+ life in mainland China

versus the US

Being homosexual in China means living under the radar and discriminatory policies. In 2001, the Chinese Psychiatric Association stopped listing homosexuality as a mental disorder. But LGBTQ+ couples still cannot marry or adopt. They are also limited in their right to publicly advocate. When Chen lived in Shanghai, she ran a grassroots center for lesbians. One of the reasons she left was because during the pandemic the government started cracking down on spaces for LGBTQ+ activism.

She likely could not even put on an art show, let alone a museum.

“From 2013 to 2015, that kind of art exhibition by queer artists (could) exist, but only if you don’t explicitly show or tell the audience that your work or yourself identify as queer or LGBTQ,” Chen said. “But not nowadays.”

That Shanghai center is how Zia met Chen a decade ago. Zia was doing research for a book and toured the center.

“She's been just incredibly brave in China, creating a center that attracted a lot of state attention,” Zia said.

A key difference Chen has noticed among American-born Chinese LGBTQ+ people versus those in China is they are more educated about gender and sexual identity and have more access to support.

Under the second Trump administration, LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under threat. President Donald Trump's administration has targeted gender-affirming care and sought to ban transgender people in the military. Some anti-Pride lawmakers recently proposed “Nuclear Family Month.”

San Francisco also recently dealt with shifting LGBTQ+ attitudes after Giants baseball players wrote Bible verses on Pride Night hats.

Nevertheless, the Chinese artists say the social landscape here is a breath of fresh air.

“Here in San Francisco, in California, we enjoy the air of freedom, there is equal human rights, there is security,” Ngai said. “So, we are very proud to be ourselves.”

This Sunday, Chen will proudly walk in her first San Francisco Pride Parade. She will plug the museum while dressed fittingly as a woman warrior from a Cantonese opera.

“I think completing this opening will be a start for me. It’s not the end,” Chen said. “We still have a long way to go.”

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Tang reported from Phoenix.

There's no easy answer. Algorithmic division is certainly a factor in why there isn't an obvious pick this year. Where have the songs like “Despacito” in 2017 or “Old Town Road” in 2019 gone? Last year, some even wondered if Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” — a ballad, not a banger — qualified, a departure from the usual up-tempo, feel-good hits.

Whatever your summer mood or flavor, The Associated Press has found a song to soundtrack the season, collected in a Spotify playlist.

Biggest song of the year and therefore the default song of the summer: “Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley

Ella Langley broke out just last year with the throwback, spoken-word track “You Look Like You Love Me,” featuring Riley Green, but it’s her breakup banger “Choosin’ Texas” that has made her a crossover country star. Not only has it spent more time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 than any other song this year, it also has some of the most distinctive lyrics of the year. “He always loved ‘Amarillo By Morning,’” she sings in a particularly melancholic verse, referencing the George Strait classic. “I should’ve taken that as a warnin’.” Indeed.

Past champion: “Luther,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA (2025)

Song of the summer for when you lose the beef but still have fight left in ya: “Janice STFU,” Drake

For the better part of 2025, Drake mostly made headlines for his feud with Kendrick Lamar. It’s safe to say he lost that war, but he’s clearly not going anywhere; he's still one of the most streamed artists of all time. “Janice STFU” is the undeniable hit off May's “Iceman,” with its familiar Lykke Li interpolation and moody production.

Past champion: “Nokia,” Drake (2025)

Song of the summer that shares a title with a film: “Midnight Sun (Girls Trip),” Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress

It's the title of a 2018 romantic drama starring Bella Thorne and a term used to describe regions around the Arctic Circle. But in 2026, the phrase “Midnight Sun” belongs to Swedish pop star Zara Larsson. It’s the title of her last album and lead single, the inescapable Eurodance-pop “Midnight Sun,” with an elastic vocal performance. Last month, she released “Midnight Sun: Girls Trip,” a collection of remixes featuring everyone from Shakira and Robyn to Kehlani and rapper JT and, of course, PinkPantheress.

Past champion: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Deep Blue Something (1995)

Song of the summer for high-energy It Girls: “DANCE…,” Slayyyter

She’s the “Wor$t Girl in America,” if her cheeky album title is to be believed, but also one of pop’s great new provocateurs. At the album's center is her buzzy electro-pop opus “DANCE…,” perfect for those who’ve been patiently awaiting her mainstream rise — and those who need a good excuse to hit the dance floor.

Past champion: “Bad Girls,” Donna Summer (1979)

Song of the summer for the throwback crowd: “I Just Might,” Bruno Mars

Earlier this year, hitmaker Bruno Mars returned with his first new album in 10 years, anchored by the feel-good, disco-pop-soul single “I Just Might.” The throwback tune is a funky reprieve from slow or boring days — and one that will be heard on wedding dance floors for the foreseeable future.

Past champion: “Red Red Wine,” UB40 (1983)

Song of the summer that arrived at the beginning of the year: “Dracula (Jennie Remix)”, Tame Impala and Jennie

There’s a long tradition of the song of the summer arriving at the top of the year — looking at you, “drivers license” and “Boy’s a Liar PT. 2.” This year, the title goes to Tame Impala’s “Dracula” — particularly the remix with Blackpink’s Jennie. “Run from the sunlight, Dracula,” they harmonize, in a vocal melody inescapable on TikTok and in the real world.

Past champion: “NUEVAYoL,” Bad Bunny (2025)

Song of the summer for those looking for a club classic: “Chévere (premium_remix),” by Aria Vega and Ryan Castro

A club-ready contender for song of the summer should be easy, breezy and amorous. Such is the case of Aria Vega and Ryan Castro's “Chévere (premium_remix),” where reimagined, romantic reggaeton is perfect for a house party or finding the love of your life. Ideally both.

Past champion: “Break My Soul,” Beyoncé (2022)

Song of the summer for people who know the power of a good bridge: “The Cure,” Olivia Rodrigo

In the lead up to her career-best album, “You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” Olivia Rodrigo released “The Cure.” It marked a giant step forward for the young songwriter, with dreamy guitars, orchestral strings and most impactful of all: its explosive bridge.

Past champion: “Hollaback Girl,” Gwen Stefani (2005)

Song of the summer for people who love music, fashion and film in equal measure: “SS26,” Charli xcx

So long, “BRAT.” The contemporary pop landscape’s preeminent party girl is in for a bummer of a summer. “SS26,” one of the first tracks released from Charli xcx’s forthcoming “Music, Fashion, Film,” is shockingly minimalistic, with little more than distorted guitar riffs and production that sounds like a simple Casio keyboard preset. It’s rock music, as she’s promised — but done her own way.

Past champion: “Rhinestone Cowboy,” Glen Campbell (1975)

Song for people who live like it's summer year-round: “E85,” Don Toliver

“On the highway with my significant lover (I love),” the singer-songwriter-rapper Don Toliver declares with ease in the chorus of “E85.” “High octane, more fuel for your consumption.” If there is an image more primed for the hot summer months than rolling down the freeway on a trip with a loved one, we have yet to see it.

Past champion: “Mi Gente,” J Balvin and Willy William (2017)

Song of the summer for seaside dreamers: “Swim,” BTS

The game-changing K-pop boy band BTS returned after a nearly four-year musical hiatus with “ARIRANG.” The comeback was led by “Swim,” a reserved, alt-pop track that brings a kind of intimacy to their stadium-sized output. The “Swim” here is metaphorical — as is the “dive” in its chorus — of having a crush, but the aquatic language works in conjuring dreamy, poolside imagery, too.

Past champion: “Waterfalls,” TLC (1995)

Song of the summer for the yearners: “Raindance,” Dave ft. Tems

British rapper Dave and Nigerian singer Tems team up for the Afroswing single “Raindance,” a sweet, sexy song about wanting to lock things down. “Hold me close, don’t tell me goodnight / Are you down to get me?” the pair dreamily duet on the second verse. “Tell me when you’re ready, I’m ready.”

Past champion: “Nineteen,” Tegan and Sara (2007)

Song of the summer for the sports crowd: “Dai Dai,” Shakira and Burna Boy

This summer is all about soccer, so, of course, we had to include one of the official songs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup: “Dai Dai.” The Colombian superstar Shakira and Afrobeats icon Burna Boy team up on an energetic, undeniably global pop track. It exists at the intersection of all their strengths: Afrobeats and Latin rhythms, separate, complementary verses and a strong chorus about unity.

Past champion: “The Final Countdown,” Europe (1986)

Song of the summer for those ready to stop feuding and enjoy life again: “Horses & Divorces,” Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert

Look, there’s no shortage of great songs from Kacey Musgraves’ latest album, “Middle of Nowhere.” A case could be made to include “Mexico Honey” or “Dry Spell” here, but what about a song with norteño accordions and slide guitar that doubles as a cheeky punchline to a fight? The capital-c country “Horses & Divorces” brings musicians' feud to an end over a shared love of drinking and Willie Nelson. What could be sweeter?

Past champion: “Girl, so confusing,” Charli xcx and Lorde (2024)

Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement provided to The Associated Press. He is the latest in a line of nearly two dozen top military leaders to either retire or depart their jobs early under the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has undertaken an effort to thin the ranks of the military’s top brass with the mantra “less generals, more GIs.”

Donahue's deputy, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, will perform his duties in the meantime, the statement added.

A West Point graduate and a career special operations commander, Donahue commanded Delta Force units in Iraq and Afghanistan before leading the 82nd Airborne division from July 2020 to March 2022.

It was during that period that he oversaw the security at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021. On Aug. 30, 2021, Donahue became the last U.S. soldier to depart the country after nearly 20 years of war sparked by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The moment was documented in an iconic photo taken through night vision goggles that showed the general boarding the last C-17 cargo plane to depart the country.

Hegseth and President Donald Trump had made the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan — an operation that was set in motion by a treaty negotiated with the Taliban by the Trump administration in its first term — a regular political punching bag and the subject of a new Pentagon review.

Last May, Hegseth ordered the new examination of the withdrawal despite there having already been multiple reviews of the operation by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department and Congress, which have involved hundreds of interviews and studies of videos, photographs and other footage and data. It’s unclear what specific new information the new review is seeking.

Donahue’s leadership during the evacuation had nonetheless drawn bipartisan praise. Within the Army, he was widely seen as a top officer who could have led the service or been chosen to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

An Army official who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to talk about sensitive discussions told The Associated Press that Donahue’s departure comes as the Army is discussing downgrading U.S. Army Europe and Africa from four-star to a three-star command.

This move would come amid ongoing criticism from Hegseth about European allies.

Last week, Hegseth told NATO allies he would be conducting a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe that is “designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe.”

“It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors,” he added.

The Pentagon did not immediately comment on the news of Donahue's departure, which was first reported by The Atlantic.

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.

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.

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

The Trump administration's reversal of long-standing policy against arrests at immigration court resulted “not from merely unreasoned decision-making but a complete lack of decision-making,” wrote U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts of San Francisco. Authorities failed to address the “chilling effect” of arrests on whether people attend court hearings.

“For 80 years, Congress has commanded federal agencies to think before they act,” wrote Pitts, referring to the Administrative Procedure Act, a 1946 law that requires federal agencies to justify its actions. That law, he wrote, "does not require an agency to make the choice that a reviewing court might deem preferable. But it demands that an agency at least provide sound reasons for following its chosen course."

The ruling is the second setback for courthouse arrests since May when a federal judge in New York barred them at immigration courts. That order applied only in New York, while the latest decision invalidated the policy nationwide.

James Percival, the U.S. Homeland Security Department's general counsel, criticized the ruling as an exercise in judicial overreach.

“When a judge sentences a defendant, the defendant is taken into custody. If an alien is ordered removed by an immigration judge, the same should happen. A district judge ordering otherwise is naked judicial activism in service of an anti-American, open borders agenda,” Percival wrote online.

After Trump took office, hearings across the country often ended with cases being dismissed by the government, setting the stage for plainclothes agents to make arrests in hallways in coordination with attorneys from the Department of Homeland Security.

Pitts, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, faulted the administration for carrying out the arrests and for holding people in nearby cells for longer than a prescribed 12-hour limit.

Warren Pollock, 25, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Rodney Hinds Jr.

According to police, surveillance video captured Pollock shooting into a car parked at the Shell gas station on the corner of Northwest 183rd Street and Eighth Avenue back on Saturday, October 26 of 2019 just before 1 a.m.

Authorities said new evidence led detectives to Pollock, who was already in custody for an unrelated murder case.

He remains behind bars at the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail on no bond.

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Pino, 55, was acquitted of manslaughter and vessel homicide.

Prosecutors accused Pino, then 52, of being reckless when he lost control of his 29-foot Robalo boat in the early evening hours of Sept. 4, 2022 and slammed it into a channel marker near Boca Chita Key, killing 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez. Two other girls were seriously hurt, including then-17-year-old Katerina “Katy” Puig, who was left permanently disabled.

“While we do not agree with the verdict, we respect the judicial process and the role of the jury,” the Fernandez family said in statement. “This case was always bigger than George Pino. It is about our daughter, Lucy, and a family who loved her and refused to stop fighting for her. Her story has already changed the landscape of boating in Florida, including how we think about safety on the water and how reckless behavior is addressed and enforced. Speed, alcohol, inattention, and disregard for the rules meant to keep everyone safe are among the most dangerous and deadly choices anyone can make on the water.”

The Puig family also expressed their disappointment with the verdict.

“The Puig family is deeply disappointed by today’s verdict, and our hearts hurt for the Fernandez family, who continue to live every day with the unimaginable loss of Lucy,” the Puig family said in a statement. “For nearly four years, our family has lived with the consequences of that tragic day. We see Katy’s injuries every day. We see the challenges she continues to face, the strength she demonstrates in overcoming them, and the impact this tragedy has had on her life and the lives of those who love her. No verdict can change those realities.”

Fernandez and Puig were among a group of teenage girls who were onboard Pino’s boat to celebrate his daughter’s 18^th birthday.

Prosecutors argued in closing arguments Monday that Pino was reckless and that there was no reason for him to crash his boat.

“He was reckless and negligent,” Assistant State Attorney Laura Adams said. “No one but this defendant decided the speed or path or direction of travel. No one and nothing is responsible for the death of Lucy Fernandez except that man.”

They pointed out that while it was not a BUI case, alcohol was part of the story that afternoon.

“He was going full throttle!” Adams argued. “With all these teens on board that had consumed alcohol.”

Pino’s defense team, however, argued the crash was a horrible accident and not the result of negligence.

“It’s not enough that a human failed to do everything they could in a moment in time,” attorney Howard Srebnick said. “It requires a purposeful act of indifference to his passengers.”

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle thanked her prosecutors and said her office accepts the jury’s verdict.

“In a case like this, there are no winners or losers,” Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “Mr. Pino must live with what he did, while the Fernandez and Puig families will grapple with the consequences of his actions.”

The Puig family, in their statement, also thanked the prosecutors for their hard work and said they believed the investigation had been compromised from the beginning.

“We have long believed that this case was compromised from the very beginning by critical investigative failures on the day of the accident,” the Puig family said. “George Pino was not administered a sobriety test, nor was a blood sample obtained. As a result, evidence that should have been available in a fatal boating accident investigation was lost forever. That failure deprived the prosecutors, the jury, and ultimately the public of information that may have helped provide a more complete picture of what occurred.”

A 5-on-5 Soccer Classic was held last month in Katy Puig’s honor, supporting her ongoing recovery while building a community focused on education, advocacy and support for individuals and families impacted by traumatic brain injuries.

The Lucy Fernandez Foundation also released a statement, remembering Fernandez as a person who “touched countless lives and left an impact that continues to be felt by all who knew her.”

“The loss of her life is one that her family, friends and community will carry forever, and no verdict can change that reality or lessen the love people continue to have for her,” the statement continued.

The Pino family, said in a statement, that they were grateful to the jurors for their decision and that they “continue to mourn the loss of Lucy Fernandez every day and to pray for all those who were affected by this maritime mishap.”

Full statements from the Lucy Fernandez Foundation, the Puig family and the Pino family can be read in full below:

The Fernandez Family (Melissa, Andy and Kevin Fernandez):

“We want to thank ASA Laura Adams, Jonathan Borst, and the entire team at the State Attorney’s Office for their countless hours and tireless pursuit of justice in bringing the proper charges for what happened on that tragic day.

“While we do not agree with the verdict, we respect the judicial process and the role of the jury.

“This case was always bigger than George Pino.

“It is about our daughter, Lucy, and a family who loved her and refused to stop fighting for her. Her story has already changed the landscape of boating in Florida, including how we think about safety on the water and how reckless behavior is addressed and enforced. Speed, alcohol, inattention, and disregard for the rules meant to keep everyone safe are among the most dangerous and deadly choices anyone can make on the water.

“The lack of accountability and the blatant efforts to hide the truth do not lessen that loss. They deepen it.

“We remain steadfast in our fight for responsibility, for tougher laws, and for stronger enforcement, in the hope of saving lives.

“Regardless of the outcome of this case, we hope no one walks away believing that the circumstances that led to Lucy’s death were acceptable. This tragedy serves as a powerful reminder that no family should have to bury a child because of someone’s thoughtless and irresponsible choices.

“Lucy’s life mattered. It will go on mattering long after this verdict is forgotten.”

The Lucy Fernandez Foundation:

“While the legal proceedings have concluded, our focus remains where it has always been: on Lucy.

“Throughout this process, Lucy was often discussed as evidence in a case. But to those who knew and loved her, she was so much more. She was a beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin and friend. She was funny, kind, full of life and had her entire future ahead of her.

“Though her life was far too short, Lucy touched countless lives and left an impact that continues to be felt by all who knew her. The loss of her life is one that her family, friends and community will carry forever, and no verdict can change that reality or lessen the love people continue to have for her.

“Throughout the court proceedings, one thing became abundantly clear: far too many people who operate boats do not fully understand the responsibilities, risks and laws associated with being on the water. That reality should concern us all.

“The mission of the Lucy Fernandez Foundation has never been about a courtroom. It’s about honoring Lucy’s life through education, awareness and advocacy, and we remain committed to promoting boating safety, encouraging responsible operation and helping people better understand the responsibilities that come with being on the water. Our goal is simple: to make Lucy’s favorite pastime safer for everyone and to help prevent other families from experiencing a similar tragedy.

“Today, we remember Lucy. We honor her life, the joy and light she brought to others and the legacy she continues to leave behind. We recommit ourselves to the work of making our waterways safer and ensuring that Lucy’s story continues to inspire positive change in our community and beyond.”

The Puig Family:

“The Puig family is deeply disappointed by today’s verdict, and our hearts hurt for the Fernandez family, who continue to live every day with the unimaginable loss of Lucy.

“For nearly four years, our family has lived with the consequences of that tragic day. We see Katy’s injuries every day. We see the challenges she continues to face, the strength she demonstrates in overcoming them, and the impact this tragedy has had on her life and the lives of those who love her. No verdict can change those realities.

“We have long believed that this case was compromised from the very beginning by critical investigative failures on the day of the accident. George Pino was not administered a sobriety test, nor was a blood sample obtained. As a result, evidence that should have been available in a fatal boating accident investigation was lost forever. That failure deprived the prosecutors, the jury, and ultimately the public of information that may have helped provide a more complete picture of what occurred.

“We are grateful to the prosecutors for their dedication, professionalism, and tireless efforts. They did an outstanding job with the facts and evidence they were given, and they pursued this case with integrity and compassion for the victims and their families.

“While we respect our system of justice and the role of the jury, we profoundly disagree with the verdict. Based on the evidence presented, we believe George Pino should have been held accountable for the reckless operation of his vessel. We also believe that many people who are unfamiliar with boating may not fully appreciate the dangers associated with excessive speed on the water or the importance of adhering to established navigational rules that exist to protect lives and prevent exactly this type of tragedy.

“The criminal case may now be over, but its consequences are not. Lucy is still gone. Katy’s injuries remain. Two families continue to carry burdens that neither asked for nor deserved.

“Today, we remember Lucy. We continue to support Katy in her recovery. We pray for both families and for all those whose lives were forever changed on September 4, 2022. And while we are disappointed by today’s outcome, we remain steadfast in our belief that the truth of what happened that day has not changed.”

The Pino Family:

“We are grateful to the jurors for their careful consideration of the evidence and for reaching a just verdict. From the beginning, we have maintained that the events of September 4, 2022, were a tragic accident, not a crime. The testimony presented at trial, including unrebutted accounts from eyewitnesses who saw no signs of impairment, confirmed that Mr. Pino was not under the influence, was not operating the vessel recklessly and that he did everything he could to protect his passengers after the accident.

“We continue to mourn the loss of Lucy Fernandez every day and to pray for all those who were affected by this maritime mishap. Our hearts remain with the families of those involved in the accident, and we hope that today’s verdict allows everyone to continue the long process of healing.”

Kennedy family scion and political novice Jack Schlossberg lost Tuesday to New York state Assembly Member Micah Lasher, in a closely watched and crowded Democratic primary for an open congressional seat in the heart of Manhattan.

Lasher has spent his career in politics, working for officeholders including the man whose seat he hopes to win in November, Democratic longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler. Flanked by another former boss, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and other politicians in New York City's Democratic establishment, Lasher said in his victory speech that he aimed to “revamp and recharge the Democratic Party in Washington" and to show it has "bold new ideas to improve the lives of struggling Americans and then deliver on them."

Lasher is well positioned for November's general election — Democrats make up two-thirds of the district's registered voters.

Before the race was called, Schlossberg had made an early appearance at his evening watch party at a Manhattan concert venue to thank his campaign workers and reiterate his message that Democrats need to put forward more frank, responsive and inspiring candidates "who are willing to speak plainly about the cost of living, about corruption and fearlessly about the Constitution."

“We don’t just need younger candidates. We need different people,” he said, adding, “unless Democrats learn from the signals that are being sent all across the country, we are going to keep on losing.”

About an hour later, deflated “oohs” rippled through the room of largely young supporters as they got news of Lasher's victory.

The campaign was colorful and hotly contested, partly because of Schlossberg's star power as the social-media-savvy grandson of the late President John F. Kennedy, but also because the race became an expensive proxy fight among artificial intelligence interests.

Schlossberg got plenty of attention in the race, as a member of a famous political family who delivered his own “progressive and aggressive” message in dynamic and popular, if sometimes wacky, social media posts.

Supporters “don’t just like me because I’m a Kennedy," Schlossberg told The Associated Press earlier this year. “They like me because of my experience, my ideas, and they trust me because they see what’s going on with their very own eyes.”

But he also faced questions about his limited professional resume and his seriousness as a candidate. The 33-year-old, who holds a joint law and business degree, worked briefly at the State Department’s environmental bureau and has written political opinion pieces for Vogue. He said that family money bought him independence from political fundraising.

Money cascaded into the race as some tech and AI companies lined up against candidate Alex Bores, a former tech company engineer and a state Assembly member who wrote legislation that many in the industry opposed. But some other, more regulation-friendly AI heavyweights counterpunched by trying to help Bores.

Voters in the district were deluged with mailers and ads, particularly about Bores and rival Micah Lasher, a fellow Assembly member and former Nadler aide. Lasher emphasized his long experience working in government for Nadler and others. Bores positioned himself as a fresher face who stood up to powerful interests.

“I didn’t get in this race to make a point about AI, but some of the most powerful people on the planet, a handful of oligarchs hell-bent on preventing any regulation of their industry whatsoever … decided they wanted to make an example out of this race. This was a huge and unprecedented fight, and we did not back down,” Bores said in a concession speech.

Alongside the AI battle, the race featured competing endorsements from Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, the fellow Congress member whom he defeated in a 2022 primary after their once-neighboring districts were largely combined by redrawn maps. This year, Maloney endorsed Bores, while Nadler endorsed Lasher.

Candidate George Conway had his own political connections, though not necessarily ones he embraced — a former Republican, he was married to Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to Republican President Donald Trump before distancing himself from both of them. A veteran attorney, George Conway helped create the anti-Trump organization called The Lincoln Project.

Trump reveled in Conway's defeat, calling him “a Trump Deranged Loser” in a social media post.

Several other candidates also vied for the nomination.

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Associated Press journalist Emily Wang Fujiyama contributed.

Hours later Tuesday, he was criticizing a major league rule that led to his ejection following an unusual play.

Chicago's series opener Monday night against the Mets in New York was postponed because of poor weather and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday at Citi Field.

Counsell and the Cubs also got washed out back home at Wrigley Field on Sunday, when they were supposed to wrap up a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. That game will be made up Aug. 6.

“Look, consecutive rainouts are, they're troublesome for pitching, for sure. And frankly, yesterday's game did not need to be rained out. It didn't rain, and for some reason we didn't play," Counsell said in the dugout late Tuesday afternoon, with a tarp covering the infield on another drizzly day in Queens.

There were a couple of heavy thunderstorms around Citi Field on Monday, in the late afternoon and after 11 p.m. It was a wet day throughout with light showers and mist — but the rain mostly stopped between about 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

First pitch had been scheduled for 7:10 p.m., but the game was called approximately 40 minutes before that. In their news release, the Mets announced the game was “postponed due to weather.”

It was the first time the Cubs had back-to-back games postponed because of weather since April 2018 — and the first time in different cities since early October 1986.

Counsell was asked if he sought any sort of explanation.

“Major League Baseball tells you the game’s canceled, and that’s it. Especially on the road. That’s all you get,” he said.

Shota Imanaga had been scheduled to start Monday for Chicago against Japanese countryman Kodai Senga, but with all the uncertainty during the evening about whether the game would be played, the Cubs ended up having Imanaga throw a bullpen and pushed his turn back to Wednesday.

"Just to give him a chance to touch the mound and be a little more in routine,” Counsell said.

Edward Cabrera started Tuesday night against Senga in the opener of a four-game series, which began following an 11-minute rain delay. Cabrera hurt his left leg in a 9-6 victory and is headed to the injured list.

"You stack a doubleheader, which affects — you’re not going to have enough starters available, so we’re either going to end up with a bullpen game or we’re going to call up (someone) later in the week,” Counsell said before the game.

Getting heated

In the seventh inning, Michael Busch drew a one-out walk for the Cubs that appeared to advance Pete Crow-Armstrong from first base to second.

Crow-Armstrong was running on the full-count pitch, however, and slid headfirst into second as Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez threw down. New York manager Carlos Mendoza challenged the play, and a replay review determined Crow-Armstrong was tagged out when he lost contact with second base at one point.

So even though Busch walked, his teammate was out at second.

“No comment. Pretty confusing stuff,” said Crow-Armstrong, who was ushered away from umpires when he attempted to argue.

Counsell got an explanation from the umps about what Mendoza was challenging. But when the call was overturned, Counsell came back onto the field and argued, waving his hand dismissively.

That's when he got ejected.

“Umpires interpret rules correctly. They don’t get that stuff wrong," Counsell said. "It’s a bad rule. It’s a terrible rule. I mean, I don’t know what else to say. Like, not a good rule.”

New arm in the 'pen

Jayden Murray reported to the Cubs and was added to their bullpen after the right-hander was acquired Saturday from the Houston Astros in a trade for minor league first baseman Cameron Sisneros.

“This is a guy that’s had a lot of success in the minor leagues. He’s pitched really well in the minor leagues. In the big leagues, he’s gotten just a limited opportunity," Counsell said. "We’ve got options, obviously, so there’s going to be some flexibility, but we like his performance right now in the minor leagues and think he’s ready to pitch big league innings.”

Murray made his Cubs debut in the ninth and gave up three runs, including Bo Bichette's homer, before getting the final out.

To open a roster spot, Chicago optioned right-hander Gavin Hollowell to Triple-A Iowa.

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

Now, AJ Dybantsa's arrival represents a potential turning point for a franchise that could really use one.

“He is a special person,” general manager Will Dawkins said. “I can't wait for the city to really embrace him. He's already started his own foundation giving back to people back in Massachusetts, Jamaica, Africa. He really is about where he wants to be.”

The Wizards took Dybantsa with the first overall pick in Tuesday night's NBA draft. The 6-foot-9 freshman averaged 25.5 points at BYU last season. Born in Boston, Dybantsa played at Utah Prep in high school before staying in state for his one year in college. When Washington won the draft lottery, there was speculation the Utah Jazz might try to trade up from No. 2 to take Dybantsa, but ultimately the Wizards kept the pick and selected him.

“I was just super confident. I've been betting on myself for a while now,” Dybantsa said. “Since about ninth grade I've been No. 1, so I didn't really plan on dropping in the draft.”

Dybantsa’s full name is Anicet Francois Dybantsa Jr. He wore flag pins Tuesday for Jamaica and the Republic of Congo, where his mother and father are from. Dybantsa had the commissioner announce him as Anicet in honor of his father.

“We're definitely getting a difference maker on the basketball court. There's no doubt about that,” Dawkins said. “What I would want our fans to know night one is that he is a worker. He is a passionate person who loves basketball and will continue to work and get better."

Dybantsa has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant, his favorite player. That’s fitting, because Durant has been a white whale of sorts for Wizards fans, since he’s from D.C. but hasn’t played there while in college or the pros.

The process of scouting Dybantsa began long before Washington found out it would pick first. He's been on the radar for a while.

“He’s just a competitor,” Dawkins said. “He sees a challenge and he attacks it. I’ve seen that from a very young age to where he is now. He has a humility about him that he knows how good he is, but he wants to keep working so he can reach the highest level.”

The Wizards won an NBA title in 1978, back when they were called the Bullets. But they have not won 50 games since 1979, and that was also the last time they so much as reached the conference finals. In between periods of total futility, they've occasionally had entertaining players and interesting teams. But a true superstar capable of delivering a championship? That's been for other franchises.

Washington blew the top pick in 2001, taking Kwame Brown. The Wizards fared better in 2010 with John Wall at No. 1 overall, and he at least helped them get past the first round of the postseason.

That era eventually ran its course, and not even a brief visit from Russell Westbrook in 2020-21 could make Washington particularly relevant. Recently, the Wizards have embarked on a significant rebuild that yielded a record of 50-196 over the past three seasons.

Washington drafted big man Alex Sarr at No. 2 overall in 2024, and the roster also includes recent first-round picks Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, Will Riley and Cam Whitmore. Even before they won this year's lottery, there were signs the Wizards would be a lot more interesting in 2026-27. They traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis last season, and although Davis didn't play at all for Washington and Young barely did, Dybantsa is joining a team that has some intriguing talent around him.

“Obviously they have a great young core, and the potential is there,” Dybantsa said. “Them adding me, I think I can help them a little bit. Them re-signing Trae Young, them having A.D. and having good vets along with our young core. I think we can do big things.”

___

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

___

1. Washington Wizards — AJ Dybantsa, forward, 6-9, 217, BYU

Scouting report: First-team Associated Press All-American and national scoring leader (25.5) as a sturdy-framed freshman. Pressured defenses by creating his own shot and getting to the line, where he led the country in made free throws (229) and attempts (296). Synergy rated him as “Excellent” as the ballhandler in pick-and-rolls (87th percentile, 27% of possessions) and post-ups (94th, 10.9%). Averaged 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Shot 51%. Scored BYU freshman-record 43 points against Utah. Must improve his 3-point shot (33.1%).

2. Utah Jazz — Darryn Peterson, guard, 6-5, 199, Kansas

Scouting report: Scoring playmaker thrives off the dribble, in halfcourt and in transition. Freshman averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Shot 38.2% on 3-pointers, hitting six 3s in a win at Oklahoma State. Made 82.6% of free throws, logging six games with at least eight attempts. Biggest questions centered on availability. Dealt with a preseason full-body cramping issue requiring hospitalization, then missed 11 games for injury or illness. Frequently had limited minutes for uncertainty with his day-to-day status.

3. Memphis Grizzlies — Cameron Boozer, forward/center, 6-8, 253, Duke

Scouting report: Fifth freshman named AP men’s national player of the year. Averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds. Shot 55.6%, routinely finishing through contact and physical play. Made 39.1% of 3s. Rated “Excellent” by Synergy against man defense (94th percentile), on post-ups (86th) and spot-up shots (95th). Strong passer (4.1 assists) out of double teams or in initiating offense. Son of former Duke and NBA player Carlos Boozer. Lacks explosive athleticism, relying more on strength and positioning than above-the-rim play.

4. Chicago Bulls — Caleb Wilson, forward, 6-9, 211, North Carolina

Scouting report: Second-team AP All-American as a freshman with explosive athleticism, go-go-go motor, 7-foot wingspan and spotlight-embracing personality. Averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds. Thrived at the rim and in transition. Stood out in marquee wins against Kansas and rival Duke. Needs to add strength and hone his 3-point shot (25.9%). Had a national-leading 66 dunks when he suffered a broken left hand in mid-February, then broke his right thumb in practice when on the verge of returning in March.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (from Indiana) — Keaton Wagler, guard, 6-5, 188, Illinois

Scouting report: Freshman four-star recruit became a second-team AP All-American in Illinois’ first Final Four run since 2005. Can play on or off the ball. Averaged 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Shot 39.7% on 3s, hitting nine 3s in a 46-point outburst against Purdue. Rated “Excellent” by Synergy as the pick-and-roll ballhandler and with his jumper in off-the-dribble and catch-and-shoot opportunities. Lacks elite athleticism. Needs to add strength.

6. Brooklyn Nets — Mikel Brown Jr., guard, 6-5, 180, Louisville

Scouting report: Freshman offers scoring punch with combo-guard size. Averaged 18.2 points and 4.7 assists. Erupted for 45 points and 10 3-pointers in a blowout of N.C. State to break the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman scoring record set by 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Needs to add strength. Battled back issues that sidelined him for eight midseason games and then resurfaced to sideline him for the last six.

7. Sacramento Kings — Darius Acuff Jr., guard, 6-2, 186, Arkansas

Scouting report: First-team AP All-American with standout offensive skills. Freshman ranked third nationally in scoring (23.5) and 14th in assists (6.4), leading Razorbacks to first Southeastern Conference Tournament title in 26 years. Had program freshman-record 49 points in a double-overtime loss at Alabama. Thrived as the pick-and-roll ballhandler (rated “Excellent” in the 89th percentile by Synergy) and in isolation (rated “Very good” in the 74th percentile). Defense is a question.

8. Atlanta Hawks (from New Orleans) — Kingston Flemings, guard, 6-3, 183, Houston

Scouting report: Third-team AP All-American as a freshman with potential to be disruptive defensively. Averaged 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists. Pressured opponents in transition or off the bounce. Had program freshman-record 42 points in a loss to Texas Tech. Posted a nearly 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ranked in the top six at combine in lane-agility time, shuttle run and three-quarter-court sprint. Needs to add strength and refine shot mechanics.

9. Dallas Mavericks — Morez Johnson Jr., forward/center, 6-9, 251, Michigan

Scouting report: Versatile and physical presence as a sophomore transfer from Illinois, helping Michigan win its first NCAA title since 1989. Averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks with potential to play forward or a small-ball 5-man. Thrived as a cutter, in post-ups and in finishing at the rim. Ranked ninth at the combine with a better than 7-3 wingspan.

10. Milwaukee Bucks — Brayden Burries, guard, 6-4, 215, Arizona

Scouting report: Freshman combo guard offers potential to impact both ends of the court. Averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists for 36-win Final Four team. Shot 49.1% overall, 39.1% on 3-pointers and 80.5% on free throws. Averaged 1.5 steals, including nine games with at least three. Ranked fourth at the combine in standing vertical leap (35 inches).

11. Golden State Warriors — Yaxel Lendeborg, forward, 6-9, 241, Michigan

Scouting report: First-team AP All-American for NCAA champion. Has a strong frame and better than 7-3 wingspan. Shot 37.2% on 3s at career-high volume compared to 34.9% through two seasons at UAB. Showed toughness by gritting through ankle and knee injuries in the Final Four and title game. Older prospect (23) who spent three years in junior college.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Los Angeles Clippers) — Aday Mara, center, 7-3, 260, Michigan

Scouting report: Junior from Spain projects as a defensive force after helping Michigan win the national title. Averaged 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 23.4 minutes. Ranked sixth nationally in blocks (2.6). Shot 66.8% overall. Led all combine players in standing reach (9-9) while ranking second in wingspan (7-6). Must improve at the line (56.4%).

13. Miami Heat (traded to Milwaukee) — Nate Ament, forward, 6-10, 211, Tennessee

Scouting report: Freshman offers intriguing versatility and athleticism as No. 2 scorer (16.7) for Elite Eight team. Illustrated long-term potential while averaging 22.8 points on 45.2% shooting from Jan. 10 to Feb. 20, including 39.1% on 3s. Must fill out his game with spot-up shots accounting for 18.7% of his possessions, according to Synergy. Needs strength to handle physical play.

14. Charlotte Hornets — Hannes Steinbach, forward/center, 6-10, 248, Washington

Scouting report: German freshman averaged 18.5 points and national-best 11.8 rebounds. Had a 24-rebound game against USC and five other games with at least 15 boards. Also had 10 games with at least six offensive rebounds. Shot 57.7% overall. Showed inside-out potential by hitting 18 3-pointers (34.5%). Averaged 1.2 blocks with better than 7-2 wingspan.

15. Chicago Bulls (from Portland) — Dailyn Swain, guard/forward, 6-7, 211, Texas

Scouting report: Junior transfer from Xavier averaged 17.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Most of his work came as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll scenarios and in transition. Showed active hands by averaging 1.6 steals. Must improve 3-point shooting after shooting 34.4% last year and 29.3% through three seasons.

16. Memphis Grizzlies (from Phoenix via Orlando, traded to Oklahoma City) — Bennett Stirtz, guard, 6-3, 186, Iowa

Scouting report: Senior point guard who climbed from Division II to Drake, then led Iowa to its first Elite Eight since 1987. Averaged 19.8 points, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals. Synergy rated him as “Excellent” as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll scenarios (91st percentile), working in isolation (84th) and finishing at the rim (90th).

17. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Philadelphia, traded to Detroit) — Ebuka Okorie, guard, 6-1, 186, Stanford

Scouting report: Four-star prospect who became a surprise freshman star. Ranked seventh nationally in scoring (23.2). Posted eight 30-point games, including 40 points in a win against Georgia Tech and 36 in a win against North Carolina. Showed the burst to score in transition and the halfcourt despite being undersized.

18. Charlotte Hornets (from Orlando via Phoenix) — Christian Anderson, guard, 6-1, 180, Texas Tech

Scouting report: Third-team AP All-American as a sophomore. Averaged 18.5 points and ranked fifth nationally in assists (7.4). Projects as a scoring playmaker despite being undersized. Shot 40% on 3-pointers over two seasons. Thrived as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll scenarios (93rd percentile in Synergy) and as a spot-up shooter (90th).

19. Toronto Raptors — Allen Graves, forward, 6-8, 226, Santa Clara

Scouting report: West Coast Conference’s freshman and sixth man of the year for program that reached first NCAA Tournament since 1996. Averaged 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 22.6 minutes. Shot 51.2% overall. Showed range (41.3% on 3s) and defensive potential (0.9 blocks, 1.9 steals).

20. San Antonio Spurs (from Atlanta) — Jayden Quaintance, center, 6-9, 253, Kentucky

Scouting report: Physical tools stand out but sophomore’s health is a question. Suffered torn ACL in right knee in February 2025 while playing for Arizona State, then played just four games at Kentucky due to lingering swelling. Ranked fourth at the combine in wingspan (better than 7-5) and has big hands (tied for combine lead with 11-inch width, tied for second with 9.5-inch length).

21. Detroit Pistons (from Minnesota, traded to Memphis) — Karim Lopez, forward, 6-8, 222, New Zealand Breakers (Australia)

Scouting report: Versatile forward with athleticism and a nearly 7-foot wingspan. Native of Mexico. Spent two seasons in Australia’s National Basketball League’s “Next Stars” developmental program that produced lottery picks LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey and Alex Sarr in recent years. Averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds last year. Turned 19 in April.

22. Philadelphia 76ers (from Houston via Oklahoma City) — Labaron Philon Jr., guard, 6-3, 176, Alabama

Scouting report: Third-team AP All-American as a sophomore after averaging 22.0 points and 5.0 assists. Made a leap in shooting efficiency at 50.1% overall (up from 45.2% as a freshman) and 39.9% on 3s (up from 31.5%). Thrived as ballhandler in pick-and-rolls (94th percentile in Synergy) and repeatedly beat man defenses in the halfcourt (90th).

23. Atlanta Hawks (from Cleveland) — Zuby Ejiofor, forward/center, 6-8, 245, St. John’s

Scouting report: Senior offered a physical presence in St. John’s Sweet 16 run, averaging 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Made 18 of 59 3s (30.5%) for some inside-out range. Has defensive potential with high motor, strong frame and 7-2 wingspan allowing him to tussle in the paint and move his feet to handle switches.

24. New York Knicks — Cameron Carr, guard, 6-5, 184, Baylor

Scouting report: Transferred from Tennessee and blossomed as a redshirt sophomore in a lead role with the Bears. Averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Shot 49.4% overall and 37.4% on 3s. Ranked among combine leaders in standing vertical leap (second at 38 inches) and max vertical leap (third at 42.5 inches).

25. Los Angeles Lakers — Sergio De Larrea, guard, 6-6, 205, Valencia Basket (Spain)

Scouting report: A 20-year-old playmaker with size and range. Posted modest numbers (4.2 points, 2.2 assists in 11.2 minutes) in 31 games of top-level EuroLeague competition, but shot 39.6% from 3-point range and had a 1.8 assist-to-turnover margin. Has a 6-9 wingspan and good passing touch.

26. Denver Nuggets — Tarris Reed Jr., center, 6-10, 260, Michigan

Scouting report: Interior force who powered UConn’s NCAA title-game run. Senior had career-high averages of 14.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 blocks. Had 31 points and 27 rebounds in first-round NCAA win against Furman as first player since Houston’s Elvin Hayes (1968) with a 30/25 game in March Madness. Has a better than 7-4 wingspan.

27. Boston Celtics — Chris Cenac Jr., forward/center, 6-11, 240, Houston

Scouting report: Freshman and McDonald’s All-American with rangy skills. Started 36 games and led top-10 team in rebounding (7.9). Hit 30 3-pointers. Settled into a complementary role (9.5 points) and had three or fewer baskets in 18 of 37 games. Didn’t get to the line often (58 attempts in 37 games) and shot poorly when he did (62.1%).

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Detroit, traded to Brooklyn) — Joshua Jefferson, forward, 6-8, 246, Iowa State

Scouting report: Second-team AP All-American. Senior playmaker with a strong frame and size. Averaged 16.4 points and 7.4 rebounds. Passing is a standout skill (4.8 assists) with his ability to initiate offense. Had four games with at least 10 assists. Posted a nearly 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

29. Cleveland Cavaliers (from San Antonio via Atlanta) — Alex Karaban, forward, 6-7, 225, UConn

Scouting report: Tested and versatile redshirt senior with range (career 37.4% on 3s) and 6-11 wingspan. Held career averages of 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks. UConn won two NCAA titles and played for a third with him as a full-time starter.

30. Dallas Mavericks (from Oklahoma City via Washington and Philadelphia) — Koa Peat, forward, 6-7, 245, Arizona

Scouting report: Sturdy-framed freshman who averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists for Final Four team. Scored primarily in transition, on post-ups or as the roller in pick-and-rolls. Made seven 3s with a jumper rated as “Below Average” (27th percentile) by Synergy. Tied for fifth at the combine in standing vertical leap (34.5 inches).

___

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

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, said Anthropic had teamed up with U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct tests using the company's Mythos model. It had identified certain vulnerabilities within hours, but that does not mean the model was able to exploit them within that time, the official said.

The official said the testing was done through an Anthropic initiative called Project Glasswing, which brought together tech giants and other companies in hopes of securing the world’s critical software from “severe” fallout that the Mythos model could pose to public safety, national security and the economy.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia had briefly mentioned the testing during a June 11 hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Warner had said, “This tool broke into almost all of our classified systems, not in weeks but in hours.” He attributed the information to the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, who is Gen. Joshua Rudd.

The NSA declined to comment on the matter in an email. An Anthropic spokesman also declined to comment.

Despite the recent cooperation between Anthropic and U.S. agencies to test for vulnerabilities, tensions between the California company and the Trump administration have been growing. Anthropic has raised concerns over how the U.S. military would use its AI, while the administration has restricted the use of some of Anthropic’s models.

The administration issued a directive earlier this month requiring Anthropic to prevent foreign nationals from using its latest artificial intelligence models, known as Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Anthropic released Fable widely earlier this month. That model is a limited version of the more advanced Mythos, to which the company has tightly limited access due to cybersecurity fears.

The directive came 10 days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release. Participation by AI developers would be voluntary, the order said.

Anthropic said it disabled the models for all of its customers to comply with the administration's directive. The AI giant said it did not believe the steps taken by the government were warranted by the concern it flagged about a potential security issue.

A group of cybersecurity executives has also asked the Trump administration to lift its directive, saying the move could help U.S. adversaries more than it hurts them. More than 100 cybersecurity experts and leaders from companies including Adobe and Nvidia told the government in a letter that Anthropic’s Mythos models are “quite good” at finding flaws in software and weaponizing exploits — but they are ”not uniquely good at these tasks."

Many of the letter’s signatories said they regularly use other foundation and open-source models for security audits and training. The letter said it is dangerous to take away the best cyber defense capabilities “without a good reason” when America’s adversaries are rapidly advancing.

Miller was arrested June 6 in eastern Idaho, according to court records, and pleaded not guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia the following week.

Miller said in a post on Instagram that he was pulled over after accelerating to pass a vehicle on the highway. His friend had a small amount of cannabis and a cannabis pipe, which Miller said he didn't know about.

“We fully cooperated with the officer,” he said. "I am hopeful the misdemeanor charges will be dropped once the facts are reviewed.”

The court documents don't include any details about the circumstances surrounding Miller's arrest. But in a probable cause statement, Fremont County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Hurt wrote that he found Miller with a white dispensary bag containing 4.1 grams of the psychedelic mushrooms.

Idaho has some of the strictest drug laws in the nation. But Colorado and Oregon have both legalized the use of psilocybin for therapeutic treatments, and the substance has become increasingly popular with some health advocates who believe that microdosing it or using it in therapeutic settings can help ease anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies to speed up research and loosen restrictions on psychedelics, and in response the FDA said it would offer ultra-fast review to three psychedelic drugs being developed to treat mental health conditions.

The 48-year-old Miller took a gambler’s approach to ski racing. His high-risk, high-reward style resulted in six Olympic medals, including gold in the super-combined at the 2010 Vancouver Games, and numerous crashes.

His last major race was at the 2015 world championships in Beaver Creek, Colorado, when a bad wipeout knocked him out of the super-G. He cut a gate too close and hooked his left arm, sending him spiraling out of control. His skis popped off, and he began to somersault down the slope before righting himself. He slowly got up and waited for someone to bring him his skis. Once he clicked back into the skis, he went down the slope and waved to the fans. Miller later underwent surgery to fix a torn right hamstring tendon caused when his ski sliced him.

Miller won 33 World Cup races and a pair of World Cup overall titles. He also captured four gold medals at world championships.

___ Associated Press journalists Pat Graham and Jake Seiner contributed.

The 358-32 vote sends the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law Wednesday at the Capitol. The Senate passed the legislation 85-5 on Monday.

The legislation would reduce federal regulations, streamline environmental reviews, speed up the construction process and curb the influence of corporate landlords by limiting their ability to purchase single-family homes. It represents one of the most sweeping efforts in decades to increase the supply of housing and bring down prices, as voter frustration runs high about the cost of living.

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who helped negotiate the bill, said the median age of a first-time homebuyer is now 40 and rents have soared some 47% since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our country must do better and today we will," she said.

Dozens of bills were combined to create the final package after months of negotiations, creating a rare moment of bipartisanship in a congressional session that has been plagued by bitter standoffs.

House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, an Arkansas Republican who worked with Waters and the Senate on the bill, said it is the first time in years that Congress has come together to make “measurable, accountable changes” to the nation's housing laws.

The bill will “help build more homes to meet that growing demand and keep the American dream within reach,” he said.

The bill expands financing and protects renters

The legislation on its way to Trump would expand financing, encourage the development of “innovative housing” like modular homes, require new renter protections and enhance programs that aim to end homelessness.

It would also offer funding to local governments that build more housing, including Community Development Block Grant money to places exceeding the median rate of homebuilding. It would provide new dollars for communities to turn abandoned infrastructure into housing, and it offers a framework for communities that want to reform outdated zoning regulations, which often limit larger housing developments.

ln addition, the bill would raise limits on the number of public housing units that can receive financing for renovations and codify a recovery program to help expedite funds to communities rebuilding after disaster.

The legislation does not include a Senate provision that would have required investors to sell newly constructed homes within seven years.

Housing costs are a concern for both parties

Republicans and Democrats have embraced the bill as a way to show they are addressing the nation’s affordability crisis, driven in part by rising home prices due to a shortage of affordable housing. The U.S. housing market has been in a slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes have been hovering close to a 4-million annual pace going back to 2023 — well short of the 5.2-million annual pace that’s historically been the norm. Sales slowed last year to a 30-year low and have remained sluggish so far this year, declining in January and February versus a year earlier.

The Economic Report of the President in April found a shortage of 10 million homes, while a report this month from the Joint Center For Housing Studies at Harvard University found sales of existing homes were at three-decade lows and inventories were rising due to high home buying costs. “Cost burdens for both renters and owners continue to climb, while assistance remains profoundly underfunded,” the report said.

While the median U.S. monthly rent has been declining for nearly three years, it was still 17.2% higher in May than it was before the pandemic, according to data from Realtor.com.

The legislation drew widespread support in the housing community, both from organizations representing landlords and large property owners as well as groups that advocate for tenants and low-income renters.

It also brought together Republicans and Democrats, many of whom noted the unusual level of bipartisanship ahead of the vote.

“In this polarized and angry Congress, we are actually getting something done," said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn.

——

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

A moon rose overhead, stars were visible above the runway, and beneath them came the wave: a barrel built tall enough to swallow the show.

It rose from a sandy outdoor set, spraying mist into the heat and giving the evening’s surf fantasy a practical appeal.

The front row had its own stars. Jeremy Allen White, Charles Melton, Future, Missy Elliott, Lola Young, Coco Jones, Quavo, Victor Wembanyama, Jackson Wang, BamBam and Finn Bennett were among the guests.

Out of the wave walked Williams’ surfer — sun-bleached, salt-worn and tailored for somewhere between shore and city.

For Louis Vuitton’s spring-summer 2027 men’s collection, surfing supplied the wardrobe: wetsuit textures, patched outerwear, weathered denim, beaded bombers, logoed surfboards and tailoring loosened by travel.

Since arriving at Vuitton, Williams has returned often to the dandy: elegant but easy, polished but relaxed.

This season, he sent him to the beach — or at least to the kind of beach reached after the boardroom, with luggage and cashmere in tow.

A silver camper, reimagined as a glass-walled habitat and parked among dunes, framed the Vuitton man on familiar house terrain: travel. Vuitton began with trunks, after all.

Hang 10, tailored

The clothes worked best when the surf references were handled lightly.

Technical wetsuits met tailoring fabrics, including functional diving pieces marked with Vuitton’s Monogram.

Weathered jackets looked already lived in.

Hoodies came sun-faded and salt-softened, with gilded LV drawstrings.

Denim and coats had shibori-like indigo effects. Bomber jackets were weighted with dense ropes of beadwork.

Williams’ trompe l’oeil effects also returned, with surfaces made to mimic other surfaces and casual pieces revealing more handwork up close.

Several pieces leaned into the after-surf wardrobe: robe-like coats, soft jackets and easy layers with the comfort of a towel thrown over cold shoulders.

The new flat-soled skate shoe brought the collection back to Williams’ older world: skateboarding, Billionaire Boys Club, Ice Cream and Nigo.

That gave the surf theme a sharper edge, and an obvious commercial engine.

Surf’s up, spectacle down

Williams’ Vuitton has always known how to stage an event. His debut turned the Pont Neuf into a gold Damier runway.

Other shows have brought games, houses, orchestras, choirs and front rows built for the camera.

Tuesday had plenty of production: a cinematic prelude with surfers Mikey February and Julian Wilson, a soundtrack featuring Quavo, Williams and Angélique Kidjo, and live performances by L’Orchestre du Pont Neuf and the Voices of Fire choir.

But the set did not overwhelm the clothes. The wave was huge. The collection held its own.

Vuitton said it would support Coral Gardeners, with plans to help out-plant 1,000 corals and restore 250 square meters of reef habitat in French Polynesia in 2026.

Williams took his bow as the wave still towered behind him.

This time, the clothes were not swept away.

El portavoz indicó que la agencia comenzó a evacuar la instalación durante el fin de semana “por abundancia de precaución” debido a los incendios de maleza que arden alrededor del centro de detención, ubicado en 18201 SW 12th St. en el oeste de Miami-Dade.

“ICE prioriza la salud y la seguridad de quienes están bajo nuestra custodia”, dijo un portavoz de ICE en un comunicado. “Durante el fin de semana, por abundancia de precaución, el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos comenzó a evacuar el Centro de Procesamiento de Krome debido a incendios de maleza que arden alrededor del centro de detención”.

La agencia señaló que los detenidos han sido trasladados a otras instalaciones de ICE tanto dentro de Florida como fuera del estado.

También indicó que sus agentes están entrenados para emergencias como incendios forestales y que la evacuación se ha llevado a cabo de manera ordenada y sin incidentes reportados.

“ICE continuará trabajando con el Servicio Forestal de Florida para monitorear de cerca cualquier situación que pueda surgir”, continúa el comunicado.

El Servicio Forestal de Florida dijo que las cuadrillas han estado trabajando las 24 horas desde que comenzaron los incendios, operando bajo un mando unificado con Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

El mayor de los dos incendios, llamado “Quarry 2” y ubicado al este de Krome Avenue, ha quemado 19,018 acres y está contenido en un 97%. El incendio Well Fire, cerca de Northwest 122nd Avenue, ha quemado 2,809 acres y está contenido en un 85%, según datos de la mañana del martes.

Para el martes en la tarde, algo de lluvia se desplazó por la zona, proporcionando cierto alivio en medio de condiciones calurosas y secas.

Para algunos negocios cercanos, el humo y las llamas trajeron unos días preocupantes.

Sonia Gonzalez, gerente de The Pit en Southwest Eighth Street, dijo que el incendio se acercó peligrosamente el viernes por la noche.

“Fue realmente, realmente malo. El humo estaba completamente — y todo estaba cubierto hasta aquí”, dijo Gonzalez.

Agregó que posteriormente las autoridades les ordenaron evacuar.

“El inspector de bomberos llegó y dijo que todos afuera. Nos dieron 15 minutos para evacuar”, dijo Gonzalez.

Rescate de Incendios de Miami-Dade continúa instando a los residentes a monitorear la calidad del aire, ya que el humo de los incendios impactó partes del condado. En un momento, los niveles de calidad del aire alcanzaron niveles “insalubres para ciertos grupos”.

La evacuación ha generado preguntas debido a que tres instalaciones están ubicadas muy cerca entre sí en la zona:

• El Instituto Correccional Everglades, una prisión administrada por el estado que no fue evacuada
• El Centro de Detención de Krome, la instalación de ICE que fue evacuada
• Una antigua instalación de justicia juvenil que actualmente está abandonada

Local 10 News ha solicitado a funcionarios estatales una aclaración sobre por qué el Instituto Correccional Everglades permaneció en operación mientras el Centro de Detención de Krome fue evacuado, pero aún no ha recibido respuesta.

Residentes y visitantes de Miami-Dade pueden seguir las últimas condiciones de incendios forestales y actualizaciones de contención a través del visor público de incendios forestales del Servicio Forestal de Florida haciendo clic aquí.

Yvonne “Missy” Woods entered guilty pleas to committing a cybercrime, perjury, attempting to influence a public servant and forgery. Dozens of other counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Woods was set to stand trial later this year. Instead, she'll face between 8 and 16 years in prison when she's sentenced in September.

Woods and her attorneys declined to talk to reporters after Tuesday's hearing.

Authorities accused Woods, who resigned in 2023 after a decades-long career, of altering data to conceal tampering, deleting data that showed she failed to troubleshoot issues within the testing process and not thoroughly documenting tests performed in case records.

The investigation into Woods’ misconduct began in September 2023 after an intern at the bureau discovered missing information in a case that Woods handled in 2018. According to an arrest affidavit, Woods allegedly told investigators at one point that she had changed data to complete cases more quickly.

Problems with the scientist’s work were found in cases involving homicide, sexual assault, robbery and other crimes, according to a law enforcement affidavit. Prosecutors were forced to review hundreds of cases.

At least one murder conviction was overturned as a result of Woods’ misconduct. Michael Clark was released from prison in 2025 after his lawyers argued that DNA evidence in the case was mishandled by Woods, but prosecutors are seeking to retry him.

In at least two cases, both homicides, the defendants received lesser sentences under plea deals than they could have faced if they went to trial because prosecutors were afraid Woods’ involvement could lead to acquittals.

Convictions in other cases also are being challenged in courts across Colorado.

State officials have said that the response to Woods’ actions could end up costing more than $11 million.

The state investigation bureau in a statement issued Tuesday described Woods' actions as intentional criminal fraud and said it didn't reflect the bureau's practices.

“This moment is not about moving on, for CBI it’s about moving forward,” said Armando Saldate, bureau director. “Today’s guilty plea is an important moment of accountability.”

The bureau said it has been making changes and is committed to following best practices used nationwide in forensic science.

Pino, de 55 años, fue absuelto de homicidio involuntario y homicidio náutico.

Los fiscales acusaron a Pino, entonces de 52 años, de actuar de manera imprudente cuando perdió el control de su embarcación Robalo de 29 pies durante las primeras horas de la noche del 4 de septiembre de 2022 y se estrelló contra una baliza del canal cerca de Boca Chita Key, lo que causó la muerte de Lucy Fernandez, de 17 años. Otras dos adolescentes resultaron gravemente heridas, entre ellas Katerina “Katy” Puig, quien entonces también tenía 17 años y quedó con una discapacidad permanente.

“Aunque no estamos de acuerdo con el veredicto, respetamos el proceso judicial y el papel del jurado”, dijo la familia Fernandez en un comunicado. “Este caso siempre fue más grande que George Pino. Se trata de nuestra hija, Lucy, y de una familia que la amó y se negó a dejar de luchar por ella. Su historia ya ha cambiado el panorama de la navegación en Florida, incluida la manera en que pensamos sobre la seguridad en el agua y cómo se abordan y sancionan las conductas imprudentes. La velocidad, el alcohol, la falta de atención y el desprecio por las normas destinadas a mantener a todos seguros están entre las decisiones más peligrosas y mortales que alguien puede tomar en el agua”.

La familia Puig también expresó su decepción por el veredicto.

“La familia Puig está profundamente decepcionada por el veredicto de hoy y nuestros corazones sufren por la familia Fernandez, que continúa viviendo cada día con la pérdida inimaginable de Lucy”, dijo la familia Puig en un comunicado. “Durante casi cuatro años, nuestra familia ha vivido con las consecuencias de aquel trágico día. Vemos las lesiones de Katy todos los días. Vemos los desafíos que continúa enfrentando, la fortaleza que demuestra para superarlos y el impacto que esta tragedia ha tenido en su vida y en la vida de quienes la aman. Ningún veredicto puede cambiar esa realidad”.

Fernandez y Puig estaban entre un grupo de adolescentes que viajaban a bordo de la embarcación de Pino para celebrar el cumpleaños número 18 de su hija.

Los fiscales sostuvieron en sus argumentos finales el lunes que Pino actuó de manera imprudente y que no había ninguna razón para que estrellara su embarcación.

“Fue imprudente y negligente”, dijo la fiscal adjunta Laura Adams. “Nadie, excepto este acusado, decidió la velocidad, la ruta o la dirección de navegación. Nadie ni nada es responsable de la muerte de Lucy Fernandez, excepto ese hombre”.

También señalaron que, aunque no se trataba de un caso de navegación bajo la influencia del alcohol, el consumo de alcohol formó parte de lo ocurrido esa tarde.

“¡Iba a toda velocidad!”, argumentó Adams. “¡Con todos estos adolescentes a bordo que habían consumido alcohol!”.

Sin embargo, el equipo de defensa de Pino sostuvo que el choque fue un terrible accidente y no el resultado de negligencia.

“No basta con que un ser humano no haya hecho todo lo que podía en un momento determinado”, dijo el abogado Howard Srebnick. “Se requiere un acto deliberado de indiferencia hacia sus pasajeros”.

La fiscal estatal de Miami-Dade, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, agradeció a sus fiscales y dijo que su oficina acepta el veredicto del jurado.

“En un caso como este, no hay ganadores ni perdedores”, dijo Fernandez Rundle en un comunicado. “El señor Pino debe vivir con lo que hizo, mientras que las familias Fernandez y Puig tendrán que lidiar con las consecuencias de sus acciones”.

En su comunicado, la familia Puig agradeció a los fiscales por su trabajo y dijo que cree que la investigación estuvo comprometida desde el principio.

“Durante mucho tiempo hemos creído que este caso estuvo comprometido desde el principio por fallas críticas en la investigación el día del accidente”, dijo la familia Puig. “A George Pino no se le practicó una prueba de sobriedad ni se le tomó una muestra de sangre. Como resultado, se perdió para siempre evidencia que debió estar disponible en una investigación de un accidente marítimo fatal. Esa falla privó a los fiscales, al jurado y, en última instancia, al público de información que podría haber ayudado a ofrecer un panorama más completo de lo ocurrido”.

El mes pasado también se realizó un torneo de fútbol 5 contra 5 en honor a Katy Puig para apoyar su recuperación continua y fortalecer una comunidad enfocada en la educación, la defensa y el apoyo a las personas y familias afectadas por lesiones cerebrales traumáticas.

La Fundación Lucy Fernandez también emitió un comunicado en el que recordó a Fernandez como una persona que “tocó innumerables vidas y dejó una huella que continúa sintiéndose entre todos los que la conocieron”.

“La pérdida de su vida es algo que su familia, sus amigos y su comunidad llevarán para siempre, y ningún veredicto puede cambiar esa realidad ni disminuir el amor que la gente sigue sintiendo por ella”, continúa el comunicado.

La familia Pino dijo en un comunicado que está agradecida con los miembros del jurado por su decisión y que “continúa lamentando cada día la pérdida de Lucy Fernandez y orando por todos los afectados por este accidente marítimo”.

Los comunicados completos de la Fundación Lucy Fernandez, la familia Puig y la familia Pino pueden leerse íntegramente a continuación:

Familia Fernandez (Melissa, Andy y Kevin Fernandez):

“Queremos agradecer a la fiscal estatal adjunta Laura Adams, Jonathan Borst y a todo el equipo de la Oficina del Fiscal Estatal por sus incontables horas y su incansable búsqueda de justicia al presentar los cargos apropiados por lo que ocurrió ese día trágico.

“Aunque no estamos de acuerdo con el veredicto, respetamos el proceso judicial y el papel del jurado.

“Este caso siempre fue más grande que George Pino.

“Se trata de nuestra hija, Lucy, y de una familia que la amaba y se negó a dejar de luchar por ella. Su historia ya ha cambiado el panorama de la navegación en Florida, incluyendo cómo pensamos sobre la seguridad en el agua y cómo se abordan y aplican las conductas imprudentes. La velocidad, el alcohol, la falta de atención y el desprecio por las reglas destinadas a mantener a todos a salvo están entre las decisiones más peligrosas y mortales que cualquiera puede tomar en el agua.

“La falta de responsabilidad y los esfuerzos evidentes por ocultar la verdad no disminuyen esa pérdida. La profundizan.

“Nos mantenemos firmes en nuestra lucha por la responsabilidad, por leyes más estrictas y por una aplicación más fuerte, con la esperanza de salvar vidas.

“Independientemente del resultado de este caso, esperamos que nadie se vaya creyendo que las circunstancias que llevaron a la muerte de Lucy fueron aceptables. Esta tragedia sirve como un recordatorio poderoso de que ninguna familia debería tener que enterrar a un hijo debido a las decisiones descuidadas e irresponsables de alguien.

“La vida de Lucy importó. Seguirá importando mucho después de que este veredicto sea olvidado”.

Fundación Lucy Fernandez:

“Aunque los procedimientos legales han concluido, nuestro enfoque sigue siendo el mismo desde el principio: Lucy.

“A lo largo de este proceso, Lucy fue mencionada con frecuencia como evidencia en un caso. Pero para quienes la conocieron y la amaron, era mucho más. Era una hija, hermana, nieta, prima y amiga querida. Era divertida, amable, llena de vida y tenía todo su futuro por delante.

“Aunque su vida fue demasiado corta, Lucy tocó innumerables vidas y dejó un impacto que continúa siendo sentido por todos los que la conocieron. La pérdida de su vida es una que su familia, amigos y comunidad llevarán para siempre, y ningún veredicto puede cambiar esa realidad ni disminuir el amor que la gente sigue teniendo por ella.

“A lo largo del proceso judicial, una cosa quedó claramente establecida: demasiadas personas que operan embarcaciones no comprenden completamente las responsabilidades, riesgos y leyes asociadas con estar en el agua. Esa realidad debería preocuparnos a todos.

“La misión de la Fundación Lucy Fernandez nunca ha sido un tribunal. Se trata de honrar la vida de Lucy mediante educación, conciencia y defensa, y seguimos comprometidos con promover la seguridad en la navegación, fomentar la operación responsable y ayudar a las personas a comprender mejor las responsabilidades que conlleva estar en el agua. Nuestro objetivo es simple: hacer que el pasatiempo favorito de Lucy sea más seguro para todos y ayudar a prevenir que otras familias enfrenten una tragedia similar.

“Hoy recordamos a Lucy. Honramos su vida, la alegría y luz que dio a otros y el legado que continúa dejando. Reafirmamos nuestro compromiso con el trabajo de hacer más seguras nuestras vías navegables y de asegurar que la historia de Lucy siga inspirando un cambio positivo en nuestra comunidad y más allá”.

Familia Puig:

“La familia Puig está profundamente decepcionada con el veredicto de hoy, y nuestros corazones duelen por la familia Fernandez, que continúa viviendo cada día con la pérdida inimaginable de Lucy.

“Durante casi cuatro años, nuestra familia ha vivido con las consecuencias de ese día trágico. Vemos las lesiones de Katy todos los días. Vemos los desafíos que continúa enfrentando, la fuerza que demuestra al superarlos y el impacto que esta tragedia ha tenido en su vida y en las vidas de quienes la aman. Ningún veredicto puede cambiar esas realidades.

“Hemos creído durante mucho tiempo que este caso estuvo comprometido desde el inicio por fallas críticas en la investigación el día del accidente. A George Pino no se le realizó una prueba de sobriedad ni se obtuvo una muestra de sangre. Como resultado, se perdió para siempre evidencia que debería haber estado disponible en una investigación de un accidente marítimo fatal. Esa falla privó a los fiscales, al jurado y, en última instancia, al público de información que podría haber ayudado a proporcionar una imagen más completa de lo ocurrido.

“Estamos agradecidos con los fiscales por su dedicación, profesionalismo y esfuerzo incansable. Hicieron un trabajo sobresaliente con los hechos y la evidencia que se les proporcionó, y llevaron este caso con integridad y compasión por las víctimas y sus familias.

“Aunque respetamos nuestro sistema de justicia y el papel del jurado, discrepamos profundamente con el veredicto. Basados en la evidencia presentada, creemos que George Pino debió ser responsabilizado por la operación imprudente de su embarcación. También creemos que muchas personas que no están familiarizadas con la navegación pueden no comprender completamente los peligros asociados con el exceso de velocidad en el agua o la importancia de cumplir las reglas de navegación establecidas que existen para proteger vidas y prevenir exactamente este tipo de tragedia.

“El caso penal puede haber terminado, pero sus consecuencias no. Lucy sigue ausente. Las lesiones de Katy continúan. Dos familias siguen cargando con pesos que no pidieron ni merecieron.

“Hoy recordamos a Lucy. Seguimos apoyando la recuperación de Katy. Oramos por ambas familias y por todos aquellos cuyas vidas cambiaron para siempre el 4 de septiembre de 2022. Y aunque estamos decepcionados con el resultado de hoy, mantenemos nuestra firme convicción de que la verdad de lo ocurrido ese día no ha cambiado”.

Familia Pino:

“Agradecemos a los jurados por su cuidadosa consideración de la evidencia y por alcanzar un veredicto justo. Desde el principio, hemos mantenido que los hechos del 4 de septiembre de 2022 fueron un accidente trágico, no un delito. El testimonio presentado en el juicio, incluyendo relatos no refutados de testigos presenciales que no vieron signos de deterioro, confirmó que el señor Pino no estaba bajo la influencia, no operaba la embarcación de manera imprudente y que hizo todo lo posible por proteger a sus pasajeros después del accidente.

“Seguimos lamentando la pérdida de Lucy Fernandez todos los días y rezando por todos los que fueron afectados por este accidente marítimo. Nuestros corazones siguen con las familias de los involucrados en el accidente, y esperamos que este veredicto permita a todos continuar el largo proceso de sanación”.

The vaccine was found to be about 55% effective against COVID-19-associated hospitalizations, and reduced COVID-19-related trips to emergency departments and urgent care clinics by 50%, according to the study published Tuesday by JAMA Network Open.

The findings are not particularly surprising: Researchers have repeatedly found that COVID-19 vaccines work. But the paper drew public attention after Trump administration political appointees decided not to run it in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publication.

They argued that the study's design was too vulnerable to false assumptions that could produce flawed results. But many public health researchers maintain it's a reliable design that's been used for decades and offers the best way to understand how well a vaccine is working currently.

“It is critical that we continue to characterize and publish estimates of vaccine effectiveness in populations with changing immunity against evolving viral strains,” wrote Natalie Dean, an Emory University biostatistics expert, in a commentary that accompanied the study's publication Tuesday.

The research originally was scheduled to be published this spring in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC's flagship publication. It had been cleared by the agency's Office of Science but was flagged by acting agency Director Jay Bhattacharya, said Althea Grant-Lenzy, the CDC's chief science officer, in a recent interview.

His decision did not mean the paper would never be published, she said, but rather that the authors had to take time to address his concerns. The authors had the freedom to take the study instead to outside journals, she added.

The study approach, called “test-negative design,” looks at people who were admitted to hospitals or visited emergency rooms with respiratory illnesses. The researchers checked whether patients were vaccinated and then calculated the odds of a positive COVID-19 test among vaccinated patients vs. those who were unvaccinated.

Papers using that methodology have been published — after review by experts in the field — in a number of esteemed journals, including Pediatrics and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Bhattacharya has argued the methodology relies too heavily on assumptions and could produce results that were skewed by factors such as prior infections and how different groups of patients behave.

Proponents of the study design say the methodology is built to address differences related to who seeks care, and prior infection shouldn’t be much of an issue because so many Americans have already been infected by the coronavirus. They say no study design is perfect but that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials haven’t proposed a realistic alternative for getting real-time estimates of how well vaccines are working.

Earlier this month, the CDC held a forum to discuss the pros and cons of such studies. A panel of speakers at the front of a CDC auditorium included Dean and two others who mostly focused on the methodology's strengths.

But the panel also included one critic: Martin Kulldorff, a Swedish-born biostatistician who — along with Bhattacharya — was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last year appointed Kulldorff as head of a federal vaccine advisory committee before the biostatistician stepped down to become chief science officer at the HHS planning and evaluation office.

Kulldorff argued that studies with that design can — but shouldn't — include people with different diseases. He also questioned why longer-term studies weren't used to evaluate COVID-19 vaccines.

“We were in a pandemic! That's why!” one person called from the audience.

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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.

Rubio arrived in Abu Dhabi late Tuesday following a two-day flurry of diplomatic activity between the U.S. and Iran in Switzerland led by Vice President JD Vance that resulted in what Vance says is a significant agreement to end all hostilities in the region, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide sanctions relief with negotiations on its nuclear program to be concluded in 60 days.

In the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain — all nations that Iran hit with missiles and drones in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli airstrikes — Rubio will be holding meetings starting Wednesday with leaders who, in some cases, have taken a harder line on Iran recently than has the Trump administration.

In brief comments to reporters on his arrival, Rubio said he would explain the benefits of the agreement to the skeptical Gulf states if it is implemented. He said that a proposed $300 billion investment fund for Iran would not become a reality unless “its leadership makes a decision that they want to be a country instead of a revolutionary movement that exports terror.”

Another complaint is that the agreement does not cover Iran’s missile program, its support for proxies and pushes off the nuclear question until later.

Rubio argued, however, that the memorandum of understanding signed last week calls for the “complete end of hostilities and conflicts in the region,” which he said will require Iran to halt its funding of proxies like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

“You can’t have the end of hostilities and conflicts in a region as long as Iranian proxies are launching missiles and drones from Iraq, and are participating in terrorism, like Hamas did, and like Hezbollah did,” Rubio said. “So, I do think it’s covered by the MOU, and it is an issue that will be gotten to at the appropriate time in these negotiations.”

The Emiratis, in particular, have been at the forefront of calls for tough action notably to ensure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. There have been conflicting accounts of what the Memorandum of Understanding signed last week will mean for the strait, which the rest of the world wants open free of charge for all shipping.

The U.S. has been firm on that point, but the Iranians are moving ahead with a scheme that could charge service fees for passage that many believe would amount to a toll. Rubio said under no circumstances would the U.S. accept that.

“It’s an international waterway,” he said. “No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That’s existing international law. That’s the way it is.”

“I don’t think we have anybody to convince around here in that regard. I think all the countries in this region would agree with us,” he said.

Según un informe de arresto de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade (MDSO), la novia de Devarious Holloway acudió a una estación de la MDSO el sábado para denunciar un incidente ocurrido el día anterior entre ella y su novio.

Los agentes indicaron que la víctima afirmó que Holloway le envió un mensaje de texto alrededor de las 7 p.m. del viernes diciendo: “Sal afuera. Mi mamá quiere hablar contigo”.

La víctima dijo que se sintió confundida porque sabía que la madre de Holloway había fallecido en 2017, según el informe.

De acuerdo con el informe, la mujer caminó hacia un vehículo estacionado frente a su casa y vio a Holloway de pie junto al automóvil.

Los agentes indicaron que Holloway se acercó a la víctima y le preguntó: “¿Entonces ya terminamos?”.

Según el informe, la víctima caminó hacia la casa de su hermana, ubicada en la misma propiedad, creyendo que Holloway la seguiría, pero dijo que rápidamente se dio cuenta de que él había entrado a su propia vivienda.

El informe señala que la víctima entró a su casa y Holloway le lanzó el teléfono celular, “sin golpearla, pero impactando la puerta”.

Luego la sujetó por los hombros, la empujó sobre un sofá y le dio un puñetazo en el labio inferior cuando ella intentó levantarse, informaron las autoridades.

Los agentes dijeron que Holloway después pateó a la víctima en la pierna derecha antes de que ella corriera a su habitación y cerrara la puerta con llave.

Según el informe, Holloway comenzó a patear la puerta del dormitorio, lo que provocó que el marco se rompiera.

Después continuó preguntándole a la víctima sobre el estado de su relación mientras ella le pedía repetidamente que le devolviera su teléfono, informaron las autoridades.

De acuerdo con el informe, Holloway salió de la vivienda, pero regresó poco después y continuó discutiendo con la víctima antes de golpearla en el pecho, provocándole enrojecimiento y rompiendo la cadena que llevaba puesta.

Holloway enfrenta cargos de agresión y daños a la propiedad.

Un equipo de Local 10 News estaba en la escena cuando Holloway fue liberado del Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center tras pagar una fianza de $1,150 USD.

Fue visto saliendo de la cárcel con una sudadera con capucha gris, una mascarilla y gafas.

El reportero de Local 10 News Jeff Derderian le preguntó a Holloway sobre los cargos y si golpeó a la presunta víctima. Holloway no respondió a ninguna de las dos preguntas.

El Departamento de Policía de Miramar emitió un comunicado a Local 10 el martes en el que confirmó que Holloway ha sido “puesto en licencia administrativa” mientras se desarrolla una investigación interna.

El Departamento de Policía de Miramar fue notificado por la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade de un incidente fuera de servicio que involucra al sargento Devarious Holloway.

El Departamento reconoce el asunto mencionado y ha iniciado una revisión administrativa exhaustiva de acuerdo con los procedimientos departamentales establecidos. El sargento Holloway ha sido puesto en licencia administrativa a la espera del resultado de esa revisión.

El Departamento de Policía de Miramar se mantiene firme en su compromiso con el profesionalismo, la rendición de cuentas y la conducta ética, y abordará este asunto a través de los canales correspondientes.

Departamento de Policía de Miramar

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The spokesperson stated that the agency began evacuating the facility over the weekend “out of an abundance of caution” because of brush fires burning around detention center, located at 18201 SW 12th St. in west Miami-Dade.

“ICE takes the health and safety of those in our custody as our top priority,” an ICE spokesman said in a statement. “Over the weekend, out of an abundance of caution, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started evacuating the Krome Service Processing Center due to brush fires burning around the detention center.”

The agency said detainees have been transferred to other ICE facilities both within Florida and outside the state.

They also stated that their officers are trained for emergencies such as wildfires and that the evacuation has been carried out in an orderly manner with no reported incidents.

“ICE will continue to work with the Florida Forest Service to closely monitor any situation as it may arise,” the statement continued.

The Florida Forest Service said crews have been working around the clock since the fires started, working under a unified command with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

A Florida Forest Service spokesperson told Local 10 News that the larger of the two fires, known as the Quarry 2 Fire, east of Krome Avenue, has burned 19,018 acres and is now 97% contained. The Well Fire, near Northwest 122nd Avenue, has burned 2,814 acres and is 85% contained. The Corrections Fire has burned 363 acres and is 75% contained as of Tuesday evening.

By Tuesday afternoon, some rain moved through the area, providing some relief amid hot and dry conditions.

For some nearby businesses, the smoke and flames brought some frightening few days.

Sonia Gonzalez, a manager at The Pit on Southwest Eighth Street, said the fire came dangerously close Friday night.

“It was really, really bad. The smoke was completely — and everything was engulfed all the way up to here,” Gonzalez said.

She said crews later ordered them to evacuate.

“The fire marshal came out and he said everybody out. They gave us 15 minutes to evacuate,” Gonzalez said.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue continues encouraging residents to monitor air quality as smoke from the fires impacted parts of the county. At one point, air quality levels reached “unhealthy for certain groups.”

The evacuation has raised questions because three facilities are located in close proximity to one another in the area:

• Everglades Correctional Institution, a state-run prison that was not evacuated
• Krome Detention Center, the ICE detention facility that was evacuated
• A former juvenile justice facility that is currently abandoned

Local 10 News has reached out to state officials for clarification on why Everglades Correctional Institution remained operational while the Krome Detention Center was evacuated, but has not yet received a response.

Miami-Dade residents and visitors can track the latest wildfire conditions and containment updates through the Florida Forest Service’s public wildfire viewer by clicking here.

Wednesday will feature a sun/cloud mix with a touch of haze. Scattered, afternoon thunderstorms will be possible. Temperatures are forecast to reach the low 90s-- factor in the humidity and it will feel like the triple digits.

The deal was announced on Tuesday by Pitts' agency, Athletes First, in a social media post. The agency said it is the largest three-year deal for a tight end in NFL history.

The agreement with Pitts comes three weeks after the team signed wide receiver Drake London to a four-year, $141 million deal.

Pitts, 25, was the No. 8 overall pick by the Falcons in the 2021 NFL draft. He set a career high with 88 catches for 928 yards and five touchdowns last season. He ranked second among tight ends in receptions and receiving yards.

Pitts’ contract, which includes $36 million in guaranteed salary, was first reported by ESPN. The Falcons have not announced the deal, but still celebrated by posting a video of Pitts on social media.

Pitts' big season included a three-touchdown game in Atlanta's 29-28 win at Tampa Bay on Dec. 11. That win came with Kirk Cousins at quarterback. The Falcons will enter training camp with Tua Tagovailoa expected to compete with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job at quarterback.

Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski says Penix, recovering from knee surgery, is on schedule in his recovery. Penix had not been cleared for team drills in the recent minicamp but was impressive in seven-on-seven drills.

The Falcons signed Tagovailoa, the former Miami Dolphins starter, to a one-year deal in March after releasing Cousins with a post-June 1 designation.

The Falcons used a franchise tag of $15.045 million on Pitts, but now the tight end will play under the new deal in the 2026 season. The $18 million average of Pitts' contract places him third on the list of the NFL's highest paid tight ends, behind San Francisco's George Kittle ($19.1 million) and Arizona's Trey McBride ($19 million).

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Las autoridades han identificado a la víctima como Marieange Therancy.

Los investigadores también confirmaron que una niña pequeña también resultó herida en el incendio.

Una recaudación de fondos en línea la identificó como Neissa Diligence y dijo que su familia permanece a su lado mientras enfrentan “desafíos inimaginables, emocionales, físicos y financieros”.

Un video de vigilancia doméstica de una vivienda vecina muestra una explosión, y luego el incendio y el humo.

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue y agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward respondieron alrededor de las 5 a.m. del sábado a la vivienda en Southwest Eighth Court y 81st Terrace.

“Escuché vidrios rompiéndose, paramédicos llegando, bomberos, gritos”, dijo un vecino a Local 10 News.

Los residentes salieron rápidamente a ayudar.

“El incendio estaba a punto de explotar, así que usamos nuestra manguera para detener el fuego y asegurarnos de que no explotara”, dijo el vecino Jean, quien no quiso dar su apellido.

This time, Queiroz’s team earned a point that could end up being enough for a spot in the round of 32.

England dominated possession on Tuesday but came up empty on several late scoring opportunities in a rain-filled 0-0 draw.

“Our plan was to block and frustrate them from the first minute,” Queiroz said. “We did it.”

Four years ago at the World Cup in Qatar, Queiroz was coaching Iran when his team faced England and lost 6-2.

England, which has not lost to an African country at the World Cup in nine meetings, outshot Ghana 19-1 but failed capitalize on multiple chances in the closing minutes.

“Frustrated a little bit with how they defended, how they set up,” England midfielder Jude Bellingham said. “They got exactly out of the game what they played for. Couldn’t quite break them down, even with all corners, all the possession, all the shots on goal from distance.”

Both teams won their opening matches at this year's tournament, with Ghana beating Panama 1-0 and England defeating Croatia 4-2. Now both still have work to do in Group L before securing a spot in the knockout round at the first 48-team World Cup.

England ended up losing to France in the quarterfinals at the 2022 tournament. Ghana hasn’t made it to the knockout round since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

But with the expanded tournament this year, the best eight third-place teams will advance, giving both teams a good chance heading into their final group matches.

England will next play Panama on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Ghana will take on Croatia at the same time in Philadelphia.

The Three Lions had a chance to take the lead in the 86th minute when Nico O’Reilly’s header hit the crossbar. Harry Kane gathered the rebound but couldn’t get enough on it with his left foot and shot high.

Ghana’s best chance came in the 78th when Abdul Fatawu outfought England midfielder Eberechi Eze for the ball and raced down the sideline. He fed the ball to Prince Adu, but he was challenged from behind by Ezri Konsa before he could get off a shot. Adu wanted a penalty but didn’t get it.

“It was a clear penalty, if not a red card,” Queiroz said. “We have no doubts about that.”

England coach Thomas Tuchel said they were a bit surprised with how Ghana was aligned, defending in a 4-5-1 formation. He called Ghana's efforts one of the most physical that he's seen in the tournament.

“They defended with a lot of determination. A lot of discipline,” Tuchel said.

Tuchel added he doesn’t believe England was too dependent on Kane, the striker who won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“He was not involved as much as we would like to, but it was so narrow,” Tuchel said. “It was difficult to find space. The little moments that he had were just so unlucky.”

In the first half, England had 60% of the possession but only five attempts on goal, with Kane missing inside the box just before the end of the half.

Ghana picked up the pace in the second half, getting a chance in the 50th when Marvin Senaya got a touch in the box, but couldn’t quite get much behind a header as it was blocked by the England defense.

Ghana goalkeeper Benjamin Asare earned a clean sheet in his first World Cup start.

“I think we did our best to get the best possible result that we were hoping for,” Ghana midfielder Kwasi Sibo said. “It’s just the plan of the coach and we did follow the coach.”

(corrects previous story which said Ghana plays Panama)

___

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

Una vez que falló la primera conexión, dijeron que otros elementos de la terraza de la piscina quedaron encargados de soportar sus cargas, pero no eran lo suficientemente fuertes para soportarlas.

“Cuando las estructuras de los edificios se diseñan de acuerdo con los códigos y estándares requeridos, tienen márgenes contra la falla, lo que significa que deberían poder soportar mucha más carga de la que se espera que soporten”, dijo Judith Mitrani-Reiser del Instituto Nacional de Estándares y Tecnología (NIST). “En el caso de Champlain Towers South, estos márgenes contra la falla eran demasiado estrechos desde el inicio”.

Las investigaciones del NIST son realizadas por equipos nacionales de seguridad en la construcción, y aunque el laboratorio federal de investigación ha producido investigaciones completas sobre fallas estructurales de gran escala —incluido el incendio del club nocturno Station y el ataque al World Trade Center— lo ocurrido en Surfside fue una primera vez incluso para ellos, ya que fallas de edificios previas que han estudiado tenían causas evidentes, como tormentas, incendios o un ataque terrorista.

Glenn Bell del NIST explicó parte de lo que su investigación descubrió.

“Desviaciones severas y generalizadas del diseño estructural original del edificio respecto a los códigos y estándares de la época”, dijo.

Según un informe del administrador municipal de 2021, el edificio hermano del condominio, Champlain Towers North, fue diseñado “por la misma firma de ingeniería y construido al mismo tiempo”, lo que genera preguntas sobre si tiene las mismas fallas originales de diseño y construcción.

Allyn Kil-Shimer, de KCE Structural Engineers, es el ingeniero estructural contratado por la ciudad para ayudar con su investigación independiente sobre el colapso. También buscó pistas en el cercano Champlain Towers North.

“Champlain Towers North nos pidió que evaluáramos su edificio para asegurarnos de que no tuviera problemas similares a los que encontramos en Champlain Towers South”, dijo Kil-Shimer.

“Lo hicimos durante aproximadamente un año y medio, y encontramos los mismos, si no más, defectos de diseño y deficiencias de construcción en la estructura de Champlain Towers North que los que habíamos encontrado incluso en Champlain Towers South, así que con la propiedad de Champlain Towers, el grupo de condominios de Champlain Towers North, que ahora se llama Ocean Waves, esencialmente instalamos una serie de apuntalamientos de emergencia en muchos lugares, y diseñamos el diseño estructural para la remediación necesaria para atender esos problemas”, añadió.

Kil-Shimer dijo que, trabajando con los propietarios del edificio, comenzaron el proceso de remediación.

“Comenzamos la construcción, los contratistas iniciaron la construcción en ese momento, contratistas que seleccionamos de expertos de todo el país, y obtuvimos permisos de la ciudad de Surfside”, dijo. “Ha pasado un año y casi dos años, y esencialmente todas las deficiencias estructurales de construcción y diseño en Champlain Towers North que encontramos, tanto al investigar Champlain Towers North como al investigar Champlain Towers South, han sido remediadas satisfactoriamente en Champlain Towers North”.

También se le preguntó si es seguro vivir allí.

“En esencia, ahora tengo 86 años y tengo bisnietos, yo los dejaría vivir en el edificio”, añadió. “Por todo lo que hemos encontrado, el edificio es estructuralmente sólido y no solo cumple con la mayoría de los códigos que existen hoy, lo cual no es obligatorio, ahora cumple como mínimo con los códigos estructurales de construcción que existían cuando los edificios fueron diseñados”.

La policía de Aventura arrestó a Roberto Araujo, de 41 años, de Allapattah, después de que, según dijeron, tomó un bate de metal y golpeó a la víctima en la parte posterior de la cabeza.

“El hombre rodeó a todo el grupo con un bate en la mano, un bate rosado además, y lo golpeó”, dijo Ana Diaz Matthews, la tía de la víctima, quien ha sido identificada como William Rodriguez.

Fotos proporcionadas a Local 10 News muestran las lesiones sufridas en la parte posterior de la cabeza de Rodriguez.

“Willie estaba en el suelo”, dijo Diaz Matthews. “Él simplemente lo golpeó como si estuviera bateando una pelota de béisbol”.

El incidente ocurrió el domingo, que también fue el Día del Padre.

La policía dijo que Araujo huyó de la escena después de golpear a Rodriguez con el bate, pero fue Diaz Matthews quien logró obtener el número de la placa del vehículo.

“Creo que él es un imbécil”, dijo ella. “Se merece estar en la cárcel porque casi mata a alguien”.

Araujo se enfrenta a un cargo de agresión agravada con arma mortal. A fecha de martes por la tarde, no figuraba entre los reclusos de la cárcel del condado de Miami-Dade.

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Traffic Homicide Detectives with the Hollywood Police Department said officers responded to the area of State Road 7 and Fletcher Street around 10:23 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2025, after a crash involving a pedestrian.

Investigators said they found the victim lying in the roadway with life-threatening injuries. The victim, who has not been identified, was taken by Hollywood Fire Rescue medics to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he later died.

According to detectives, an investigation spanning multiple jurisdictions determined Kelvin Larmont Taylor, 50, was driving southbound on State Road 7 when he allegedly struck the victim.

Authorities said Taylor did not stop, provide aid or notify law enforcement after the crash. Investigators said he fled the scene, leaving the victim in the roadway.

Detectives said they used physical evidence, digital evidence, surveillance video and forensic findings to identify Taylor as the driver involved.

Jail records show Taylor was arrested on Thursday and faces one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving death.

As of Tuesday, he was being held at the Joseph V. Conte Facility in Pompano Beach, where his bond was set at $125,000.

Detectives de la Unidad de Homicidios de Tránsito del Departamento de Policía de Hollywood informaron que los agentes respondieron al área de State Road 7 y Fletcher Street alrededor de las 10:23 p.m. del 16 de noviembre de 2025 tras un accidente que involucró a un peatón.

Los investigadores dijeron que encontraron a la víctima tendida sobre la vía con lesiones que ponían en peligro su vida. La víctima, cuya identidad no ha sido revelada, fue trasladada por paramédicos de Hollywood Fire Rescue al Memorial Regional Hospital, donde posteriormente murió.

Según los detectives, una investigación que abarcó múltiples jurisdicciones determinó que Kelvin Larmont Taylor, de 50 años, conducía hacia el sur por State Road 7 cuando presuntamente atropelló a la víctima.

Las autoridades dijeron que Taylor no se detuvo, no prestó ayuda ni notificó a las autoridades después del accidente. Los investigadores indicaron que huyó del lugar, dejando a la víctima sobre la vía.

Los detectives informaron que utilizaron evidencia física, evidencia digital, videos de vigilancia y hallazgos forenses para identificar a Taylor como el conductor involucrado.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que Taylor fue arrestado el jueves y enfrenta un cargo de abandonar la escena de un accidente con resultado de muerte.

Hasta el martes, permanecía detenido en el centro de detención Joseph V. Conte, en Pompano Beach, con una fianza fijada en $125,000 USD.

The main national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, said all trains were being held at stations because of a nationwide problem with the GSM-R digital communication system, which is used for internal communication on the railway network.

Deutsche Bahn said in a statement at midnight, 1 1/2 hours after it first announced the problem, that the cause had been identified, but didn't specify what it was. It said that technicians “are working intensively on a solution.”

It didn’t specify how long that might take or say how many trains or passengers were affected.

The Bild newspaper quoted Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla as saying that “we are now trying to get the trains into stations so that travelers can disembark.”

The company said it would give taxi and hotel vouchers to passengers and, where possible, make available trains at stations for travelers to sit in. It apologized for the situation.

GSM-R, short for Global System for Mobile Communications–Railway, offers voice and data services needed to operate railways, including communication between train drivers and control centers.

According to the European Union Agency for Railways, it has been introduced across Europe since 2000 as a common standard for railway operations.

The German railway system has on rare occasions in the past halted all or most trains, but because of storms rather than for technical reasons.

En un almacén en West Kendall el martes, la noticia ya se sentía real para los jóvenes jugadores de la 305 Sports Basketball Academy, donde la emoción por un posible súper equipo del Heat se desbordó en la cancha.

El programa durante todo el año se enfoca en desarrollar habilidades, confianza y comunidad para jóvenes atletas de los condados de Miami-Dade y Broward.

“Los ayudamos a construir confianza y a salir y básicamente hacer amigos y es algo especial”, dijo Lazaro Arcacha, propietario de la 305 Sports Basketball Academy.

Para muchos de los niños, el supuesto acuerdo —que uniría a Antetokounmpo, ampliamente conocido como el “Greek Freak”, con Bam Adebayo en Miami— se convirtió de inmediato en sueños de campeonato.

“Estoy como muy emocionado porque ahora realmente tenemos la oportunidad de ganar el campeonato nacional”, dijo un fan. “Tienen dos dúos dinámicos: Giannis en la pintura y Bam Adebayo”.

Luego se puso a prueba a algunos de los estudiantes sobre su conocimiento del dos veces MVP, incluyendo de dónde es.

Después de ver el apellido completo de 13 letras —Antetokounmpo— un fan se preguntó en voz alta: “¿Cabe siquiera en la camiseta?”

Otros aficionados del Heat dijeron que Antetokounmpo “vale la pena al 100%”.

“El Greek Freak... Si yo formara parte del grupo propietario del equipo, estaría dispuesto a entregar cualquier cosa por el Greek Freak”, dijo un aficionado del Heat a Sanela Sabovic, de Local 10.

Para el fan del Heat Dylan Wood, la emoción ya estaba creciendo incluso antes de que saliera la noticia.

“Estuve despierto hasta la medianoche viendo ESPN porque sé que había muchos traspasos ocurriendo. Eso es realmente emocionante”, dijo Wood. “El Heat se enorgullece de tener jugadores de gran nombre”.

Al ser preguntado sobre despertarse y ver la noticia, añadió: “Fue bueno. Fue bueno. Muchos mensajes. Se siente bien saber que no nos estamos rindiendo. Creo que vale la pena por Giannis. Creo que el Heat ha estado en una especie de etapa de reconstrucción durante los últimos años. Creo que es momento de dar un gran golpe, y eso es exactamente lo que hicieron. Es un paso en la dirección correcta”.

Según los informes, el acuerdo enviará a Antetokounmpo y Bobby Portis al Miami desde los Milwaukee Bucks a cambio de Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware y Kasparas Jakucionis, junto con múltiples selecciones futuras del draft.

Los Bucks también recibirían un intercambio de primera ronda en 2030, selecciones de primera ronda en 2031 y 2033, y una selección de segunda ronda en 2033, según una persona familiarizada con el acuerdo que habló bajo condición de anonimato porque el traspaso aún no había recibido la aprobación de la liga.

Antetokounmpo, dos veces MVP de la NBA, 10 veces All-Star y campeón de la NBA en 2021, ha pasado toda su carrera en Milwaukee y sigue siendo una de las fuerzas más dominantes de la liga, incluso después de una temporada limitada por lesiones en la que promedió 27,6 puntos por partido.

El supuesto movimiento sigue a días de especulación sobre la disposición de Milwaukee a considerar ofertas de intercambio de múltiples equipos, incluyendo Miami y Boston.

Por ahora, los aficionados en Miami ya están imaginando lo que viene después.

Y no olvides, puedes ver los partidos del Miami Heat en Local 10 la próxima temporada, ya que WPLG Local 10 y el Heat anunciaron un nuevo acuerdo ampliado de derechos de medios, haciendo de Local 10 el hogar del baloncesto del HEAT en todo el sur de Florida. Haz click aquíÍ para más información sobre cómo verlo.

But the Iranians deny it. And in the absence of more details, sanctions experts are flummoxed over exactly how billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets would make their way to the American heartland from the escrow accounts where they’ve been locked for years by U.S. sanctions.

A tentative agreement reached last week would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas once passed, and allow Iran to start selling its oil freely again during a 60-day period when the two countries will continue negotiating key issues. The memorandum of understanding also promised to unfreeze Iranian assets.

Trump’s deal has come under fire for failing to address the reasons the president cited for going to war with Iran on Feb. 28, including curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, its missile program and its support for militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Lashing back at critics Tuesday on his Truth Social media platform, Trump said U.S. farmers would get a payday: The U.S. Treasury Department, he wrote, would release the Iranian assets “into escrow, controlled by the U.S.A., and will be used for the purchase of food and medical supplies, exclusively from the United States, including Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans from our great American farmers. These are things that are desperately needed by Iran.’’

Vance, who spoke about the proposal after high-level talks in Switzerland, and Trump say that any frozen funds and assets held outside of Iran will be used to buy U.S. crops.

But the Iranians deny that's part of the deal. A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said any agricultural purchases would be based on “prices and quality,’’ not terms dictated by Washington.

“It is interesting that the philosophy and goal of the war, which was the destruction of the Iranian civilization and the collapse of Iran, has become enriching American farmers,” Baghaei said.

Iran’s ambassador in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, rejected Vance’s contention that the U.S. and Qatar would dictate how Iran uses unfrozen funds. “Iran is the only country who decides what to do with those assets,” he told reporters.

A U.S. official dismissed the contradiction, asserting that Iranian leaders were speaking to their domestic audience. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Joseph Glauber, a research fellow emeritus at the International Food Policy Research Institute, said Iran was unlikely to abandon its other trade partners on food.

Iran’s major suppliers include Brazil, India, Turkey, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Argentina, he said. Trump’s demand to buy from the U.S. would “create some hard feelings with some of our competitors.”

Under previous sanctions, the U.S. has required that money foreign countries spend on imports from Iran — such as South Korean purchases of oil and Iraqi purchases of Iranian electricity — be locked in escrow accounts and typically released only if the Treasury approves and if the proceeds go toward “non-sanctionable’’ items such as food and medicine.

On Monday, the U.S. Treasury approved the sale of Iranian oil, petrochemicals and petroleum products through Aug. 21. It did not mention any escrow accounts.

Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who coordinated efforts to put diplomatic pressure on Iran in the first Trump administration, said in a post on X that he would welcome “a clarification that Iran is actually restricted to only buying U.S. agricultural products.”

Richard Nephew, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, said it’s unclear what the new U.S.-Iran agreement actually means for releasing restricted Iranian assets.

Could the U.S. require that the assets be used to buy American farm products?

“Well, we can try!’’ Nephew, who helped design Iran sanctions in the Obama and Biden administrations, said by email. “All you really need to do is to tell a foreign bank that they can move the money but only to a U.S. bank to buy soybeans or whatever."

Banks do not have to comply, he said. If they refuse, the U.S. could sanction them as well.

But it's rare for the U.S. to conduct itself that way, he added, “in part because we don’t usually like to give the impression that we treat national security issues as a cash grab.”

___

Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.

“We basically have passed the point of doing real fundamental LLM research," Castricato said. “Now it’s just applications.”

The researcher quit his studies at Brown University and started a new company, called Overworld. Its ambition is in its name: AI that can understand and navigate a world, not just words.

There's still plenty of money to be made from AI chatbots — investors are counting on it as they commit trillions of dollars to leading developers like Anthropic and OpenAI. But a growing number of AI entrepreneurs are dedicating themselves to what they see as the next frontier: “world models” that teach AI systems, and sometimes robots, how to react in a physical environment.

They include some of the field's most prominent scientists, such as “Godmother of AI” Fei-Fei Li, who describes the concept of a world model as “one of the most important and most overloaded terms in AI today."

Scientists are applying AI in new dimensions with ‘world models’

At the heart of world model research is the idea that AI can't be truly intelligent if it can only read a book. It also needs to read the room.

“Where language models learn the statistical structure of text, world models learn the statistical structure of space and time: how light falls on a surface, how a garden looks from an angle no camera has captured, how objects respond to force and follow the laws of physics,” wrote Li, founder of the San Francisco startup World Labs, in an essay published this month.

Another proponent is AI pioneer Yann LeCun, who quit his job as Meta's chief AI scientist last year to start Paris-based Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs.

“World model is quickly becoming a buzzword,” LeCun said on a recent “Unsupervised Learning” podcast. He said he views it as something that enables an AI agent "to predict the consequences of its own actions."

There are multiple ways of defining world models, often based on the technologies someone hopes to build with it — be it robots or a more interactive video game.

Robots can't learn much from AI models trained on books

Training on all of humanity's books, news articles and visual media, as AI language models have done, has led to AI assistants that are changing the nature of office-based work and some creative fields. But some proponents see limitations in generative AI models that work by repeatedly predicting the next word or pixel to produce new dialogue, images or lines of code.

Chatbots can't pick up a coffee mug, notes Martin Hebert, dean of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.

“There’s all the geometry of the world, the dynamic of how I move my hand, the physical interaction of the contact with the cup,” Hebert said. “This is much more complex than just predicting the next word in a sentence.”

For scientists like Hebert, who has spent more than four decades researching robotics, the most useful application for world models is as a faster and cheaper path to “physical AI" — another tech industry buzzword.

“Some people may have different definitions, but physical and embodied AI are kind of the evolution of what we used to call robotics,” Hebert said in an interview. Some of the AI advances that have made chatbots so useful can also be applied to building AI with a broad enough awareness of its environment to work like a robot’s brain, he said.

“In your body and spinal cord you have a very general model of how to balance, how to walk around, and you can adapt to your knee hurting in the morning, so you now walk a little differently," he said. "You don’t need to think about that. You have a general model somewhere in your nervous system and brain that allows your body to adapt very quickly.”

Simulated worlds are drawing interest from investors

Smarter robots aren't the only end game for world models. Castricato started Overworld last year and the tiny Rhode Island-based startup is now building video game worlds where a scene, say, of a spooky forest, can adapt as a virtual character moves through it and interacts with the objects in it.

“There’s no other world model where you can just walk through doors or where you can interact with a detailed environment like this,” he said in an interview. “We optimize for interaction above anything else.”

While the near-term applications aren't as readily apparent as AI coding tools, world model makers are attracting interest from venture capitalists like Steve Jang, co-founder and managing partner at Kindred Ventures.

The firm is investing in Overworld and other world model-focused companies, including Causal Labs, which is building AI models for weather prediction, and Extropic, which is building specialized computer chips suited to world models.

“I think that the future is many different types of models with many different philosophies and architectures," Jang said. "I don’t think that it’ll be one large, dense model to rule them all.”

In her recent essay, Li sought to create a “taxonomy of world models” to help sort out the confusion about the competing visions.

“A video model that produces gorgeous but physically impossible flames, a language model improvising a playable game, and a physics engine that faithfully simulates combustion all go by the same name,” she wrote.

She divided world models into three categories. The most commercially viable today are “renderers” that prioritize the visual fidelity of the virtual worlds they create but can't be trusted to teach robots much.

Then, there are “simulators” that create virtual training grounds that faithfully represent the physical structure of a world; and “planners” that try to predict what an AI agent or robot should do in an unstructured world.

“A robot that can plan is a robot that can work, and the entire industry is racing to be the one that gets there first,” she wrote.

Also known as Caramelo, candy in English, Chávez is arguably as well-known in Mexico as the members of the national team.

He says the game last Thursday in Guadalajara was his 543rd match watching “El Tri,” which he has followed around the world since Mexico last hosted the World Cup in 1986.

Now at his 11the World Cup, Chávez is flanked by his 21-year-old son, also called Héctor Chávez, and known as Caramelo Jr. Both wear oversized sombreros with their nicknames written in all caps, making them hard to miss at stadiums.

“Mexico has one of the best fan bases in the world, one that travels the most to matches, and one of the most colorful ones in the world, with tradition, identity and pride,” the 64-year-old Chávez told The Associated Press. “I’m very fortunate to be here, with my son by my side in his fifth World Cup, to keep supporting the national team with everything we’ve got.”

Chávez has become a familiar sight in every stadium where the team plays in Mexico and around the world, including friendlies. He said the first national team match he attended was on Feb. 19, 1986, when Mexico faced the Soviet Union in the country’s capital. His first World Cup match was that same year, on June 3 against Belgium.

Despite being at another World Cup at home, Chávez said he struggled to make it to the games this time.

“This has been the most expensive World Cup in history, some of my friends who usually accompany me couldn’t come,” he said. “I had to break the piggy bank, and we are here with the support of our family, because without this support it wouldn’t be possible. The truth is that we’ve worked hard to be here, but finally we made it and we will keep following the national team to the end.”

Caramelo is popular but also has his critics

Despite his popularity, Chávez is not universally loved in Mexico. Critics say he’s getting too much attention and question whether he’s promoting himself or the national team. He’s annoyed some fans by throwing his hat onto the field, including at the game between Colombia and Uzbekistan in Mexico City last week.

“Well, they say that if they are criticizing you, it's because you are doing something good. We try not to pay too much attention to it. We preferer to hold on to the great support that the fans have shown us in person,” the younger Héctor Chávez said.

Many teams have superfans who attract headlines at World Cups. Spain had Manuel Cáceres, known as “Manolo el del bombo” or “Manolo the bass drummer,” who followed the Spanish national team since the 1982 World Cup. He died last year. Brazil’s Clóvis Acosta Fernandes, known as the “Gaúcho Da Copa,” died in 2015.

Congo has Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, who gained fame during the Africa Cup of Nations for posing as a statue of Congo’s assassinated independence hero Patrice Lumumba. He missed the team’s first game at this year’s World Cup but was expected to make it to Tuesday’s match against Colombia.

Chávez worried that die-hard fans are being priced out of the World Cup, affecting the atmosphere in stadiums.

“I miss the hardcore fans who follow their teams, who chant and cheer during the whole 90 minutes. Did you notice that they couldn’t even get the wave to work again?" he said after Mexico's match against South Korea on June 18. “And why is that? It’s because we don’t have these fans. And why don’t we have these fans? It’s because they can’t afford these expensive tickets.”

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup

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At a warehouse in West Kendall on Tuesday, the news already felt real to young players at the 305 Sports Basketball Academy, where the excitement around a potential Heat superteam spilled onto the court.

The year-round program focuses on building skills, confidence and community for young athletes across Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

“We help them build confidence and come out and basically you know make friends and it’s something special,” said Lazaro Arcacha, owner of 305 Sports Basketball Academy.

For many of the kids, the reported deal — which would pair Antetokounmpo, widely known as the “Greek Freak,” with Bam Adebayo in Miami — immediately turned into championship dreams.

“I’m just like so hyped because now we actually have the chance to win the national championship,” one fan said. “They’ve got two dynamic duos Giannis in the paint, and they got Bam Adebayo.”

Some of the students were then quizzed on their knowledge of the two-time MVP, including where he is from.

After seeing the full 13-letter surname — Antetokounmpo — one fan wondered aloud: “Does it even fit on the jersey?”

Other Heat fans said Antetokounmpo “is 100 percent worth it.”

“The Greek Freak -- If I was working in the ownership, I’d be willing to give up anything for a Greek,” a Heat fan told Local 10’s Sanela Sabovic.

For Heat fan Dylan Wood, the excitement was already building before the news even broke.

“I was up at midnight still watching ESPN because I know there were a lot of trades going on. That’s really exciting,” Wood said. “The Heat kind of pride themselves on having a big-name player.”

When asked about waking up and seeing the news, he added: “It was good. It was good. A lot of messages. It feels good to know we’re not giving up. I do think it’s worth Giannis. I think the Heat have been in a little bit of a rebuilding stage for the past couple years. I think it’s time to make a big splash, and that’s exactly what they did. It’s a step in the right direction.”

According to reports, the deal will send Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis, along with multiple future draft picks.

The Bucks also would receive a 2030 first-round pick swap, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, and a 2033 second-round pick, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet received league approval.

Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP, 10-time All-Star and 2021 NBA champion, has spent his entire career in Milwaukee and remains one of the league’s most dominant forces, even after an injury-shortened season in which he averaged 27.6 points per game.

The reported move follows days of speculation about Milwaukee’s willingness to entertain trade offers from multiple teams, including Miami and Boston.

For now, fans in Miami are already imagining what comes next.

And don’t forget, you can watch Miami Heat games on Local 10 next season as WPLG Local 10 and the Heat announced a newly expanded media rights agreement, making Local 10 the home of HEAT basketball across South Florida! CLICK HERE for more information on how to watch!

Heat fans can also call 786-777-4375 for more information on how to purchase tickets for the 2026-2027 season.

Two of the biggest stars of the World Cup are setting records with history-making goals in a sizzling start that has even the most casual soccer fans in the U.S. taking notice.

Messi has five goals in Argentina's first two matches, setting the record for career World Cup goals with 18. Mbappé has scored four times for France, moving into a tie for second with 16 goals.

“Leo always scores,” Mbappé said. “He’ll always score. If I want to look at what Leo’s doing, I’ll have to do even more.”

They are not alone in hitting the back of the net. Norway's Erling Haaland already has four in his country's first two games at the World Cup since 1998. And Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo broke out with two goals against Uzbekistan on Tuesday to raise his career World Cup total to 10.

But Messi and Mbappé are the maestros making this World Cup their personal symphony. It's one they've been writing since the 2022 final in Qatar, when Messi scored twice and Mbappé three times before Argentina finally won on penalty kicks in a title game for the ages.

There should be plenty of music still to come from both. Argentina and France have already clinched spots in the elimination rounds, and both are among the favorites to win the tournament.

Messi is defying age in a young man's game

Messi has scored most of his World Cup goals at an age when most top scorers would be well past their prime.

He has 12 World Cup goals since he turned 35, and he will turn 39 on Wednesday, three days before Argentina plays its final group-stage match — against Jordan.

Messi, the former Barcelona icon who now plays for Inter Miami of Major League Soccer, still possesses exquisite touch and passing in traffic, and energy and stamina that carry him through an entire match.

His second goal against Austria came late. Messi passed to teammate Julián Álvarez, whose shot was blocked. Messi chased the rebound and slid the shot through two defenders to seal a 2-0 victory.

“We knew that he is on a level of his own, and Lionel Messi showed us today that he’s one of the best, and he is the best,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said.

Mbappé chasing Messi with every goal

At 27, Mbappé is in his physical prime with the speed and power to chase Messi's record, not just in this tournament but likely for years to come.

He was just 19 when he led France to the 2018 World Cup title in Russia. With his goal against Croatia, he joined Pelé as the only teenagers to score in a World Cup final.

Mbappé scored four goals in the in the 2018 tournament and has been on a charge ever since. The Real Madrid forward's speed haunts defenders and his power shooting with with both feet can overwhelm a goalkeeper.

He was the Golden Boot winner as the top scorer with eight goals in 2022. His 16 career World Cup goals match Miroslav Klose of Germany, one ahead of Brazil great Ronaldo.

Mbappé scores at a much higher rate than Messi. His 16 goals have come in 16 matches since 2018. Messi has played in 28 matches across six tournaments dating to 2006.

“I’ve always scored goals in the World Cup, so it’s not something I’m thinking about or that I’m worried about," Mbappé said.

Haaland making his mark in World Cup debut

Norway's 6-foot-5 striker could be the biggest threat to Messi and Mbappé as the World Cup's top goal scorer if Norway can stay in the tournament long enough.

The 25-year-old Manchester City star has been one of the top strikers in Europe for several years and scored two goals in each of Norway's two victories.

Norway will meet Mbappé and France on the pitch Friday. Both teams have already advanced to the next round, and the winner of the match wins the group.

“We’re through (to the next round), which is incredible,” Haaland said. “So I couldn’t care too much about that game now. They (France) are probably going to win against us, they’re probably going to win the whole tournament.”

Norway coach Stale Solbakken says Haaland is the player who can push the team deep into the tournament.

“He is is the best striker,” Solbakken said. “He's not playing for France or Argentina. He scores for Norway.”

Mbappé disagreed. Only he didn't point at himself.

“It's clear," Mbappé said. “(Messi) is the best in the world.”

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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

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Jail records show Christopher Michael Veit faces charges including kidnapping, interference with child custody and four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor after Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies said they found a 16-year-old girl inside a closed clothes dryer at his Key Largo home Sunday.

According to an arrest report, deputies responded to Veit’s home in the 800 block of Miramar Drive after a girl called 911 and reported she was being “held hostage,” telling dispatchers to “please hurry” and saying Veit had initially taken her phone away.

When deputies arrived, Veit allegedly told them there was no female at his home and said he did not know what they were talking about, according to investigators.

Deputies, however, confirmed the 911 call had originated from the property.

According to the report, Veit eventually allowed deputies into the home, where they discovered the girl inside a laundry dryer with the door closed.

When deputies asked Veit why he had denied the girl’s presence, investigators wrote that he looked down at the ground and did not respond, the report states.

The victim, who is from out-of-county, told deputies that she “had been sexually assaulted and needed help,” the report states.

Authorities said she was taken to Baptist Health Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, where she consented to a sexual assault examination, according to the report.

Investigators said the girl’s mother told deputies she did not know her daughter was in Monroe County and had not given permission for her to be with Veit.

During an interview, the victim told investigators she met Veit through an online dating website when she was 14 years old, the report states.

Investigators said the victim claimed that she and Veit met in person shortly afterward, had sex, and continued a relationship that remained secret after she allegedly told him her age.

Deputies said the victim told investigators that Veit later became her “sugar daddy” and paid her $600. She claimed their relationship continued for approximately two years, the report states.

According to the report, the girl traveled to Key Largo multiple times and had been staying at Veit’s home in the days leading up to Sunday’s incident.

Investigators said she told them Veit purchased a Brightline train ticket for her to travel from Central Florida to South Florida before picking her up and driving her to his home.

They said the victim told deputies she wanted to return home Sunday, but Veit took her phone and prevented her from contacting anyone for help. According to the report, she said he climbed on top of her, used his weight to keep her from moving and took both her phone and bag.

She further alleged that Veit threatened to “do what I did before,” which she interpreted as a reference to prior incidents in which he allegedly slapped her repeatedly and held a pillow over her face, according to investigators.

The report states that when Veit went outside, the victim used his phone to call 911 before deleting the call from the device’s log.

After patrol vehicles arrived, the girl told investigators that Veit confronted her and asked whether she had called police. She said he then ordered her to “get in the dryer,” and she complied because she was “afraid of him,” deputies said.

According to the report, the victim told investigators that Veit had previously discussed using the dryer to hide her if law enforcement ever came to the house.

Investigators said they executed a search warrant at the home and collected evidence that corroborated portions of the victim’s account including her iPhone, bed sheets, and two bags belonging to the victim on the chair.

Authorities said detectives also found “several sheets of counterfeit currency” and notified the U.S. Secret Service.

MCSO spokesperson Adam Linhardt said the victim was placed under the care of a family member. He said MCSO also notified the Florida Department of Children and Families.

As of Tuesday, Veit was being held in MCSO’s Key West jail facility, where his bond was listed at $650,000.

“The case remains ongoing and more charges may be pending,” Linhardt said.

Los registros penitenciarios indican que Christopher Michael Veit, se enfrenta a cargos que incluyen secuestro, interferencia en la custodia de menores y cuatro cargos de actividad sexual ilícita con una menor, después de que los agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff del condado de Monroe afirmaran haber encontrado el domingo a una joven de 16 años dentro de una secadora cerrada en su domicilio de Key Largo.

Según el informe de detención, los agentes acudieron al domicilio de Veit, situado en el número 800 de Miramar Drive, después de que una joven llamara al 911 y denunciara que la tenían «secuestrada», pidiendo a los operadores que «por favor se dieran prisa» y explicando que Veit le había quitado el teléfono al principio.

Cuando llegaron los agentes, Veit supuestamente les dijo que no había ninguna mujer en su casa y que no sabía de qué estaban hablando, según los investigadores.

Sin embargo, los agentes confirmaron que la llamada al 911 se había realizado desde esa propiedad.

Según el informe, Veit finalmente dejó entrar a los agentes en la vivienda, donde descubrieron a la joven dentro de una secadora con la puerta cerrada.

Cuando los agentes le preguntaron a Veit por qué había negado la presencia de la joven, los investigadores anotaron que este bajó la mirada al suelo y no respondió, según indica el informe.

La víctima, que no es del condado, contó a los agentes que «había sido agredida sexualmente.

A giant tribute to Messi

A 26-meter-tall (85-foot) figure of Messi made of 70 tons of steel and iron towers over the outskirts of Cutral Co, a remote southern town in Patagonia. The player is kneeling, with the World Cup trophy he won in 2022 between his legs and one arm raised, as if greeting motorists traveling along Route 22.

Even the strong Patagonian wind cannot topple this tribute, inaugurated on June 16 during Argentina’s World Cup debut, when the team once again dazzled under Messi, who sealed the victory over Algeria after scoring three goals.

Local authorities and the sculptor who designed it say it is the largest monument ever dedicated to the team captain, who turns 39 on Wednesday.

“He is Argentina’s natural ambassador. For me, it was very important, not only as an artist but as an Argentine,” Aldo Beroisa, 61, told The Associated Press.

The sculptor has designed giant dinosaurs and monuments to his country’s independence heroes in Cutral Co, an oil-producing town that has never attracted nearly as much attention as other Patagonian communities surrounded by picturesque lakes and mountains.

Now, the town is filling up with admirers who want to see the statue of the soccer player who has scored 18 goals since making his World Cup debut in 2006. He achieved the record as the tournament’s top scorer this week, after netting both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria.

The statue, which took 18 months to complete, depicts Messi falling to his knees on the grass at Lusail Stadium in Qatar during the 2022 World Cup final after Gonzalo Montiel sealed Argentina’s 4-2 shootout victory over France and crowned the country world champion.

The statue also depicts the captain clutching Argentina’s jersey with one hand and pointing to the sky with his index finger, as he often does when he scores a goal, in tribute to his late grandmother.

A mural made by fans

There are many murals of Messi around the world. However, the one painted in the Buenos Aires suburb of Berazategui stands out: The player’s smiling face is surrounded by the names of hundreds of his admirers.

The mural, which is about six meters wide and 5.5 meters high (20 by 18 feet), caught Messi's attention.

“Crazy ... thank you very much to all of you, to the people who supported it, who came by, and who keep coming by,” Messi said in a video sent to the creators.

Creator Leonel García, 32, is gracious when he talks about the making of the mural.

“This is a mural that I didn’t make by myself. Beyond the fact that I painted it, it was made by more than 1,300 people,” said García, recalling those who traveled to Berazategui from different towns to write down their names in the mural.

The mural was painted in 18 days. García collaborated with Federico Merodo, the owner of the parking lot where the wall that served as the canvas was built.

The hyperrealistic portrait posed a huge challenge, given that it depicts one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. The image is inspired by a gesture Messi made during a friendly match after Argentina’s triumph in Qatar, when he appeared relaxed and seemed to be enjoying the game.

“Messi brings joy to the country. The times we’re living through in Argentina may not be very good for some people, but Messi unites everyone ... and the mural does that too, because people from everywhere come together here, from every social class and every political sector,” García said.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

May is making the jump to the NBA less than three months after leading Michigan to its first NCAA championship since 1989. He had a 64-13 record in two years with the Wolverines, including a 34-3 season that ended with a 69-63 victory over UConn in the national title game.

The Mavericks made their choice to replace Jason Kidd official on the same day they could select the next young player who would be part of building around 2025 No. 1 pick and reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, who turns 20 in December.

Dallas also has the final pick of the first round at No. 30 and the 48th choice in the second round, which will be held Wednesday.

“Dusty has won at every stage of his career because of his ability to build,” said new president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, who let Kidd go about two weeks after getting hired by the Mavericks. “He develops players, creates accountability and brings people together around a shared standard of excellence. His work ethic is extraordinary, and his teams consistently reflect his values.”

May's title with Michigan came three years after he led Florida Atlantic to its only Final Four appearance. The Wolverines won the Big Ten Tournament in his first season after he inherited a team that went 8-24 under Juwan Howard. It was the school’s lowest win total since going 7-20 in 1981-82.

The 49-year-old May’s record in his last four college seasons was 124-26, an .827 winning percentage that was third best in all of major college men’s basketball over that span behind Houston’s Kelvin Sampson (.861) and Duke’s Jon Scheyer (.832). His overall college record is 190-82.

May spent 21 years in the college ranks after the Indiana native first served as a student manager for the Hoosiers and coach Bob Knight while he was in school there from 1996-2000. Florida, UAB and Murray State were among his stops as an assistant before debuting as a head coach with Florida Atlantic in 2018-19.

“This is one of the most respected franchises in professional sports, with passionate fans, a talented roster, and a clear commitment to building a championship organization,” May said.

Moving on from Kidd was the last part of putting the ill-fated Luka Doncic trade behind the Dallas franchise for good.

Nico Harrison, the engineer of the trade that brought the oft-injured Anthony Davis from the Los Angeles Lakers, was fired in November after the team started slowly in 2025-26. The Mavericks ended up missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season since reaching the NBA Finals and losing to Boston in five games.

Doncic and Kyrie Irving were the key players in that deep playoff run in 2024, two years after Doncic also reached the Western Conference finals with a mostly different supporting cast.

Irving remains on the roster amid lingering questions about his future after missing all of last season. Irving tore the ACL in his left knee in March of last year, a month after the Doncic trade.

“Dusty represents the type of leader we want guiding this franchise,” Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont said. “He has demonstrated throughout his career that success is built through preparation, character, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.”

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

The federal government, which was sued by Michigan and a Detroit suburb, informed a judge Monday that a warehouse purchased in Romulus will be sold. Plans also are unraveling in Social Circle, Georgia, and the El Paso suburb of Socorro, local officials said.

The three cities are among 11 where the federal government spent a combined $1.074 billion on warehouses.

The New York Times first reported last week that federal immigration officials now plan to get rid of seven of the 11 warehouses — either giving them to other federal agencies or selling them outright.

DHS didn't confirm the reports but said in a statement that it is "moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners.”

Pushback to warehouse purchases was immediate

“Wildly foolhardy" is how Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official under the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations described the plans to convert the buildings into immigrant detention.

One issue was that Noem’s purchases were largely carried out of public view and angered communities that were caught by surprise. Some only learned about ICE’s ambitions after the agency bought or leased space for detainees.

After Noem was fired, her replacement, Markwayne Mullin, quickly paused the purchase of new warehouses.

Objections came from Republicans and Democrats alike

Some were opposed on moral grounds to ICE’s presence in their neighborhoods, while others questioned whether the facilities would be a drain on local resources, such as sewer and water systems.

Seven federal lawsuits were filed, and regulatory roadblocks created hassles elsewhere.

Meanwhile, questions about how much DHS paid for some warehouses triggered an internal audit. The agency shelled out double what the New Jersey warehouse was valued at in tax records and nearly five times more than the assessed value of the Social Circle warehouse.

Trickler-McNulty, the former ICE official, said ICE does have a few facilities that it owns that it inherited from its predecessor agency, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, but generally ICE has contracted out its detention needs.

“Facilities over 2,000 people just break down. It’s very hard to run a very big facility, to keep it staffed, to keep all of it moving,” she said.

Former head of plumbing business takes over for Noem

Mullin, who took over and expanded his family’s plumbing business before representing Oklahoma in the U.S House and Senate, acknowledged there had been issues at his confirmation hearing.

He noted that most municipalities don’t have the capacity in their infrastructure for waste and water.

Indeed the water issues were such a challenge that a federal lawsuit filed over the Salt Lake City warehouse, the costliest purchased at $145.4 million, said ICE officials told the mayor that they might need to truck water and sewage from the facility as an “interim solution.”

Plans begin to unravel

The New York Times story, which cited internal documents that the newspaper obtained, said the Salt Lake City warehouse is among those that federal immigration officials plans to hand off or sell. Also on the list is the Romulus warehouse, as well as one in New Jersey and two each in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said it would have been an “abomination" if the 249,000-square-foot Romulus warehouse was transformed into immigrant detention, as was planned when it was purchased for $34.7 million,

“The ICE warehouse proposal was every bit as ill-conceived as it was cruel and unnecessary, and I am relieved that this chapter is coming to a close,” Nessel, a Democrat, said.

Social Circle, Georgia, announced last week in a statement that it has received notification from U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican, that the Department of Homeland Security is no longer pursuing an ICE detention facility there.

Meanwhile, acting ICE Director David Venturella told officials in the El Paso area during a visit there earlier this month that the agency has changed its plans for three warehouses it purchased in nearby Socorro for $122 million, said Rep. Veronica Escobar, who was present for the visit.

Escobar, a Democrat who represents El Paso, said during a news conference that ICE no longer plans to detain up to 8,500 immigrants in the facilities as originally envisioned, and instead will convert the property into an ICE campus, she said. The site will include an unspecified smaller number of detainees but also ICE offices and training space, she said.

Frustrations persist as communities seek details

However, many of the communities remained frustrated, as they struggled to get information about possible sales.

In Pennsylvania, state and local officials said Tuesday that they hadn’t received any new information from DHS about two warehouses bought earlier this year by the department. Both are being held up by the state’s denial of permits over concerns that drinking water and sewer service are inadequate to handle thousands of inhabitants.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, whose district includes both warehouses, said he met Friday with DHS personnel, but that the agency hadn’t made a decision whether to use them as detention centers or sell them.

In Georgia, the city manager in Oakwood, said Tuesday he is talking to his state congressional delegation, trying to confirm rumors that a warehouse there will be sold. “I have not heard anything yet,” B.R. White said.

Work appears to continue on other warehouses

In Maryland, where a judge extended a stoppage on transforming a sprawling warehouse into a processing facility for immigrants, ICE is currently collecting public comments about the environmental impacts of the facility. And an announcement earlier this month disclosed more details on plans for the facility, including six secure recreation yards.

Patrick Dattilio, the founder of Hagerstown Rapid Response, which formed in opposition to housing ICE detainees in the warehouse, said there has been little communication outside of the lawsuit. But he remains committed to keeping it from opening.

“It’s a big warehouse," Dattilio said. “It’s not meant for people.”

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Associated Press writers Marc Levy and Ed White contributed to this report.

The story — originally a 1965 novel that was made into a cult, dystopian 1979 film — follows a street gang called the Warriors as they make their way from the Bronx to their home turf of Coney Island in Brooklyn while being hunted by rivals gangs and cops. It will be the first full musical from Miranda since “Hamilton.”

The musical of “Warriors” is expected to begin previews next March and open next April at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. “Warriors” will be directed by Jenny Koons with a book by Miranda and Davis. No casting was announced.

“Musicalizing such a vibrant world for the concept album has been a thrill, and now we’re coming out to play on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne. We can’t wait,” Miranda and Davis said in a statement Tuesday.

Miranda and Davis released their album in 2024, keeping the bones of the story but making strategic changes in genders, like making the Warriors all women. The album had an astonishing list of artists playing various parts: Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Billy Porter, Ghostface Killah, RZA, Marc Anthony, Colman Domingo, Cam’ron, Shenseea and Joshua Henry, among them.

The album included the sounds of salsa, ska, agro-rock, boy band, pop, old-school rap and even K-pop. Spanish and Korean mixes with the English. It has the song “We Got You,” a seductive R&B tune delivered by a male gang wearing cardigans, and “Quiet Girls,” a feminist anthem.

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The Panthers acquired the 26-year-old on Sunday in a deal that included multiple draft picks, including two first-round selections, bringing one of the NHL’s top power forwards to the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

Speaking alongside Panthers general manager Bill Zito at Baptist Health IcePlex, Brady Tkachuk said he is excited to join an organization focused solely on winning.

“I think everybody is just knowing it’s just by committee and just talking with Bill, everybody’s a part of the puzzle and everybody, their sole focus is winning and that’s something that I’m just excited to join into,” he said.

Brady Tkachuk spent the first eight seasons of his NHL career with Ottawa, serving as the Senators’ captain. Last season, he recorded 22 goals and 37 assists in 60 games and extended his streak of consecutive 50-point seasons to five.

Zito called Brady Tkachuk “the perfect piece to our puzzle,” adding that the Panthers’ culture is also a perfect fit for the veteran forward’s style of play.

For Brady Tkachuk, the move also carries significant family meaning as he prepares to play alongside his younger brother for the first time in the NHL.

“I guess that became a reality a couple of days ago and it’s still, I don’t think it’s hit the both of us and the fact that we’re going to be together every single day,” he said. “I know we’ve talked about, you know, little routines we’re going to have in the morning about, I know we like to get to the rink, both of us really early, so breakfast, coffee, and hanging out in the morning before guys get there.”

“At the end of the day I know it’s exciting, but I think it’s just for me the excitement to be a part of this whole entire group,” he added.

Tkachuk will wear No. 8 with Florida, a tribute to his father, Keith Tkachuk, who wore the number during his time with the Atlanta Thrashers and was recently elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the star-studded Class of 2026.

He previously wore No. 7 in Ottawa but said he was not going to ask Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to switch numbers.

The jersey was already available for purchase Tuesday at the team store, with fans quickly picking up merchandise featuring the newest member of the Panthers.

Los Panthers adquirieron al jugador de 26 años el domingo en un acuerdo que incluyó múltiples selecciones del draft, entre ellas dos de primera ronda, para incorporar a uno de los mejores delanteros de poder de la NHL al equipo bicampeón defensor de la Stanley Cup.

Durante una conferencia de prensa junto al gerente general de los Panthers, Bill Zito, en el Baptist Health IcePlex, Brady Tkachuk dijo que está entusiasmado por unirse a una organización enfocada únicamente en ganar.

“Creo que todos entienden que esto es un esfuerzo colectivo y, al hablar con Bill, queda claro que todos son parte del rompecabezas y que el único objetivo de todos es ganar. Eso es algo de lo que estoy muy emocionado de formar parte”, dijo.

Brady Tkachuk pasó las primeras ocho temporadas de su carrera en la NHL con Ottawa, donde fue capitán de los Senators. La temporada pasada registró 22 goles y 37 asistencias en 60 partidos y extendió a cinco su racha consecutiva de temporadas con al menos 50 puntos.

Zito calificó a Brady Tkachuk como “la pieza perfecta para nuestro rompecabezas” y agregó que la cultura de los Panthers también encaja perfectamente con el estilo de juego del veterano delantero.

Para Brady Tkachuk, el cambio también tiene un importante significado familiar, ya que se prepara para jugar junto a su hermano menor por primera vez en la NHL.

“Supongo que eso se hizo realidad hace un par de días y todavía no creo que ninguno de los dos lo haya asimilado por completo, el hecho de que vamos a estar juntos todos los días”, dijo. “Sé que hemos hablado de pequeñas rutinas que tendremos por la mañana. A ambos nos gusta llegar muy temprano a la pista, así que desayunar, tomar café y pasar el rato por la mañana antes de que lleguen los demás”.

“Al final del día sé que es emocionante, pero para mí la mayor emoción es formar parte de todo este grupo”, agregó.

Tkachuk usará el número 8 con Florida, como homenaje a su padre, Keith Tkachuk, quien utilizó ese número durante su etapa con los Atlanta Thrashers y recientemente fue elegido para el Salón de la Fama del Hockey como parte de la Clase 2026.

Anteriormente usó el número 7 en Ottawa, pero dijo que no le pediría al defensa de los Panthers Dmitry Kulikov que cambiara de número.

La camiseta ya estaba disponible para la venta el martes en la tienda oficial del equipo, donde los aficionados comenzaron rápidamente a comprar artículos con el nombre del nuevo integrante de los Panthers.

Senators said Tuesday that they hope the closed-door meeting will focus on unity, not disagreement. Yet it comes at a time when Trump appears to have lost interest in much of their agenda ahead of the midterm elections, pushing his proof-of-citizenship voting bill instead even though it doesn’t have the votes to pass.

In the last month, Trump has abruptly blocked Senate Republicans 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 his 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 — Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. Both men lost their primaries and have since become more critical of the president.

“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Cornyn said Tuesday ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”

It was uncertain, though, if Trump’s visit would smooth differences with the Republican majority — or if GOP senators who have been increasingly vocal about their frustration will voice their concerns directly.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said a lot of his complaints with the administration have already been communicated. He said he hopes the meeting will be “conciliatory.”

“That would be a big win for us tomorrow,” Tillis said.

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Adding to the tension is Trump’s increasingly distant relationship with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. 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.”

Trump has been pushing the Senate for months to eliminate the filibuster and pass the legislation, known as the SAVE America Act, which would create strict new requirements for voters to prove citizenship and show voter ID at the polls. He has also demanded that they add a ban on mail-in ballots to the bill as well as unrelated provisions to block sex reassignment surgeries on some minors and prevent people born as men from playing in women’s sports.

“John is a leader and hopefully he can get the votes,” Trump said Tuesday on a trip to Pennsylvania.

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.

“Those are just hard realities,” Thune said. “And I think people at some point have to come to grips with that.“

Thune said he hopes the meeting is about “sitting down as a family” and “celebrating time left before the election."

Some GOP senators back Trump on SAVE Act

Thune said he found out Trump was coming to the luncheon from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who had extended the invitation without telling him — an unusual move that could signal some frustration within the ranks. Scott, a close Trump ally, leads the Senate Republican lunch every Wednesday.

Scott, who ran against Thune for leader two years ago, said Trump responded "on the spot" to his invitation and said he would come.

“He’s going to be very positive," Scott said. "There's a lot that we can brag about that we’ve accomplished, and he wants to figure out how we can win November and continue to fulfill his agenda.”

On Monday, Scott sent a letter to his Republican colleagues arguing that the Senate should be taking votes every week on some version of the SAVE America Act and other GOP priorities that Democrats oppose.

“We need to show voters that we are listening to them and will fight for their priorities whether any Democrats vote with us or not,” Scott wrote.

Also needling Thune on the bill is Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican who has amassed a large following on X with daily posts about how they should kill the filibuster and pass the bill. Several Republican senators, including Cornyn, confronted Lee at a closed-door lunch last week about his advocacy.

Lee has also echoed Trump’s claims that Republicans can’t win elections unless the bill passes, despite the party's sweeping victories in 2024.

“The push to pass the SAVE America Act is not a ‘fantasy,’” Lee posted over the weekend. “It’s a plan to avoid a nightmare — one that’s coming soon unless we act.”

Thune said Tuesday that it’s Lee’s prerogative to post, but “at the end of the day, I have a different reality. And sometimes the alternative universe that is X doesn’t reflect the facts on the ground.”

Frustration over Iran, intelligence job could also be topics

Trump could be faced with questions about his announcement on social media last week that he was delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to become national intelligence director. Republican leaders had hoped to quickly confirm Clayton and circumvent Trump’s unpopular interim pick Bill Pulte, who has no known experience in the field.

In the same social media post, Trump said he wouldn't sign a renewal of a key surveillance law unless Senate Republicans attach the SAVE America Act. That hardline approach has some support in the House, where a group of 25 Republicans has vowed to oppose all legislation until the voting bill moves forward.

Republicans could also use the luncheon to push Trump on the war in Iran and the agreement with Iran to end it. Most lawmakers still have not been briefed about the deal.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said there are a lot of questions about the Iran agreement, but added that Trump may not be able to talk publicly about the ongoing negotiations.

“We’re there to listen” and to try and ensure that the rest of Trump’s term is successful, Rounds said. But that means “we’ve got to come out with a united team.”

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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

State officials said they are combating the administration's attacks on their offshore wind industry by sending a notice of their intention to sue to the Department of the Interior on Tuesday. Tuesday’s action is focused on the administration buying back the lease for Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind project off California’s central coast.

California has made a major commitment to offshore wind because of its potential to generate vast amounts of clean electricity from strong, consistent winds off its coast. Its strategy calls for the state to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045, enough to power roughly 25 million homes and provide about 13% of the state’s electricity supply.

These energy and climate goals are now in jeopardy, and that's why California will fight vigorously, said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. He called the administration's strategy of buying back offshore wind leases “a strategic mistake of colossal proportions" that is especially stunning at a time when fossil fuel prices have been spiking due to the Iran war.

“Countries that thrive around the world are those that lean into innovation, into the energy sources of the future,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “And so to turn away from this, and turn back the clock, and really engage in what I consider to be a war on innovation, is really ill-considered. And I think it’s a decision that’s not just bad for California, it’s bad for the nation.”

Trump administration favors fossil fuels over wind

President Donald Trump has said he’s boosting fossil fuels to unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy, and he frequently talks about his hatred of wind power. The Interior Department started buying back offshore wind leases after federal courts thwarted Trump’s efforts to stop offshore wind development through executive action.

In exchange for reimbursements of lease fees, companies are investing in fossil fuel projects and geothermal energy. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said last week that “under President Trump, companies are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs.”

A total of five federal leases off California's coastline have been awarded to energy developers. Two are being canceled through deals with the Interior Department: Golden State Wind and another floating project off California’s central coast by Chicago-based Invenergy. The state says it also issued an administrative investigative subpoena on Tuesday to Invenergy, which accepted a $765 million deal last week to terminate its offshore wind leases.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that the state won’t stand idly by as the Trump administration “illegally strikes deals to kill offshore wind projects and replace them with more windfalls for his fossil fuel friends.”

Eight offshore wind projects have been stopped so far

The total amount spent on these agreements is nearly $2.6 billion. Under the first deal announced in March, French company TotalEnergies is getting nearly $1 billion — essentially a refund of its two offshore wind leases — if it invests the money in fossil fuels instead. Those leases were off the coasts of North Carolina and New York. New York is leading a lawsuit challenging the TotalEnergies agreement and Democrats in Congress are investigating it.

Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind agreed in April to end their leases. Bluepoint Wind was an offshore wind farm in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York.

Golden State Wind is a joint venture by Ocean Winds and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Under its agreement, Golden State Wind can recover about $120 million in lease fees after the same amount is invested in oil and gas assets, infrastructure or projects along the Gulf Coast, Interior said. Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, said in April that the deal provided “clarity” for the company and its investors.

Hochschild and Bonta say that Interior illegally reallocated federal taxpayer dollars to pay Golden State Wind to abandon its offshore wind energy lease and invest an equal amount in out-of-state fossil fuel projects, which will do nothing to support California’s energy economy.

They also say California has invested more than $100 million over the past decade to ready its ports, transmission systems and industries to support offshore wind generation, and those investments may be lost if the Trump administration successfully halts offshore wind development.

California plans to sue in 60 days if the situation isn't rectified.

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El presidente Rodrigo Paz dijo el martes a la prensa local que “el bloqueo ha sido derrotado” y aseguró que continuará dialogando con todas las organizaciones como “parte del reencuentro entre todos los bolivianos”.

En el cuarto día del estado de excepción declarado por Paz para frenar los bloqueos —los cuales paralizaron a La Paz y otras ciudades en uno de los conflictos más largos que provocaron desabastecimiento de alimentos, gasolina y oxígenos medicinal —, los precios de los alimentos comenzaban a volver a la normalidad, según constató The Associated Press durante un recorrido. Unos treinta huevos, que se vendían en 65 y 70 bolivianos (10 dólares) durante el largo bloqueo, se conseguían el martes en 30 y 35 bolivianos (5 dólares).

Después de varias semanas de no poder hacerlo, algunos productores también llegaron hasta un barrio popular para vender directamente desde sus camiones a la población.

Martha Troche, de 51 años, llegó junto con su esposo a La Paz en su camión desde la región productora de Santa Cruz tras estar varados dos semanas en los bloqueos.

“Íbamos a perder toda la producción de huevos, ahora vamos a venderlos para llevar a mi esposo al médico”, dijo Troche a la AP. Explicó que a raíz de la falta de agua su esposo sufre de temblores y teme que se deba a algún problema en los riñones.

Elsa Callisaya, una mujer aymara de 61 años, aseguró que después de un mes comprará un pollo para preparar un plato típico de La Paz y reunir a sus cinco hijos. “Antes era muy caro, a mí no me alcanzaba”, agregó.

Mientras tanto, la Administradora Boliviana de Carreteras realizaba la limpieza de las vías a nivel nacional, incluyendo las del centro del país, donde se mantuvieron los cortes de ruta hasta el lunes. El expresidente Evo Morales (2006-2019) llamó la víspera a sus seguidores a paus ar las protestas en esa y otras zonas.

El presidente Paz afirmó que el estado de excepción se mantendrá pese a que el país vuelve poco a poco a la normalidad. “Bolivia se tiene que ordenar porque no se puede volver a repetir lo que ocurrió estos últimos 50 días”, agregó.

Los estudiantes de La Paz y su vecina ciudad de El Alto volvieron a las aulas el martes después de más de un mes de pasar clases virtuales. Aunque aún hay filas de autos en las gasolineras en busca de carburante, la petrolera estatal aseguró que se agiliza el abastecimiento.

Desde inicios de mayo tres sectores sindicales comandaron las protestas: la Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), que firmó un acuerdo con el gobierno el viernes; el sindicato campesino-indígena Túpac Katari, que lideró los bloqueos en La Paz y ordenó el repliegue tras el estado de excepción y los seguidores de Morales que dejaron las protestas a pedido del exgobernante.

Las pérdidas totales por los bloqueos superan los 2.500 millones de dólares, según estimaciones del sector empresarial.

The midterm elections in November will determine control of both chambers of Congress and will also see the election of dozens of governors and other state and local offices. Before then, voters must choose nominees for each of these offices, making their picks in primary elections throughout the spring and summer in all 50 states.

New York: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reshaping the city’s congressional delegation through a series of successful endorsements in Democratic primaries in districts 10, 13 and 7.

Maryland: All eight of the state’s congressional districts held contested primaries. In a state that typically leans left (only one district is led by a Republican), the primaries often determine the general election winners. Gov. Wes Moore secured the Democratic nomination for a second term.

South Carolina: State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the Republican nomination for governor after President Donald Trump, who initially endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette for the job, said on Friday that either contender would be a good pick.

Utah: Voters cast ballots to nominate congressional candidates using a new map that created a Democratic-friendly district in Salt Lake City. Ben McAdams, a former Utah congressman who has sought to shed his reputation as a moderate, won the Democratic primary in that redrawn district.

Here's the latest:

Avila Chevalier says her victory vanquishes ‘the politics of the past’

Darializa Avila Chevalier, the first-time candidate who ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat in a Democratic primary, portrayed him as unresponsive to constituents’ calls and out of touch with such key issues as housing affordability in the district in upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx.

“Today we make it clear — the politics of the past ends today,” the democratic socialist said at her victory party, adding that “the era of taking a check and cashing a check and calling it representation is over.”

“No longer will we accept a politics that throws scraps at us and acts as if we should be grateful for them,” she said.

Mamdani’s picks sweep New York City’s congressional primaries

All three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries, knocking off incumbents Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th District and Adriano Espaillat in the 13th District and winning the Democratic nomination for the open seat in the 7th District.

Opposing views over Israel were at the center of the clash between incumbents and their Mamdani-backed challengers. Brad Landers, who ran against Mamdani in the 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, criticized AIPAC’s support of Goldman and promised to sponsor legislation that would put restrictions on military aid to Israel.

McAdams supporter says his campaign gave her hope

Donna Gunn says it’s “beautiful” to see former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams win and to have an opportunity to send a fierce ally for LGBTQ+ rights back to Washington.

The longtime Special Olympics volunteer says she has been deterred from engaging in politics ever since Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election. But McAdams’ victory in the Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District has given her hope, Gunn says.

“We are so happy and so lucky to get Ben, who’s going to stand up to that bully in the White House,” she said.

Democratic US Rep. April McClain Delaney advances in Maryland primary to defend her seat

McClain Delaney won her Democratic primary, fending off competitors in what became one of the state’s most expensive races.

Among her challengers was David Trone, the wealthy founder of Total Wine & More, who previously held the seat before stepping aside to make an unsuccessful Senate run in 2024. Trone lent some $25 million of his own money to his campaign.

McClain Delaney represents the 6th District, which stretches from the westernmost part of the state to the Washington suburbs.

She loaned her campaign more than $7 million.

Boafo gives a special thanks to Hoyer, his former boss

“Y’all, I gotta give a special thanks to my mentor, to my friend, Steny Hamilton Hoyer,” Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo said after winning the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 5th District, which Hoyer has represented for decades.

“He’s been our Danish knight in shining armor, our rock,” Boafo said.

“Tonight, the Democratic voters of the 5th Congressional District decided that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders. And it’s with great humility that I accept that responsibility.”

Valdez says democratic socialist victories in New York send a message

Speaking to supporters in Brooklyn after her Democratic primary victory, Claire Valdez said they hadn’t just won an election.

“We have declared that this movement is durable, that it is growing, and that it will not stop” until working people are not just offered a seat at the table, but “run the table.”

Valdez said that back when she was bagging groceries for work, “I couldn’t dream of running for office — I could barely dream of a day off.”

Utah Democrat says progressives will keep organizing after defeat

State Sen. Nate Blouin says the progressive movement “still has a long way to go” after former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams prevailed in the Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District. McAdams was considered a more moderate candidate than Blouin and the other two Democrats in the race, former Meta and TikTok employee Liban Mohamed and tax attorney Michael Farrell.

“This isn’t the end,” Blouin said in a statement. “It’s the beginning of a new era of organizing in Utah, one focused on progressive values that strengthen our communities instead of billionaire donors and special interests.”

A spokesperson for Blouin declined to immediately answer when asked by text if the lawmaker will get behind McAdams’ campaign.

Trump relishes in downfall of Democratic foes in New York primaries

The president delighted in the defeat of two of his Democratic foes in Tuesday’s congressional primaries in New York.

He slammed Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel for Trump’s first impeachment, after Goldman lost his primary for a seat in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

“Weak and pathetic Congressman Dan Goldman just lost, BIG! I guess people didn’t like him illegally targeting President TRUMP,” the president wrote on his social media platform. “In any event, this jerk is finally GONE!”

And he took aim at George Conway, who lost his bid to succeed outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler in a crowded race in Manhattan, calling Conway a “Trump Deranged Loser at the highest level.”

McAdams reminds supporters he voted to impeach Trump

Democratic primary winner Ben McAdams in Utah’s 1st Congressional District outlined his previous work in Congress to expand healthcare, invest in public lands and secure protections for LGBTQ+ communities.

But McAdams told supporters that his defining vote was to impeach Donald Trump, which was met with loud applause.

“I would do it again,” he said. “Character matters, courage matters and right now talk is cheap. Utahans deserve someone who has already shown the courage to stand up and speak with conviction when the pressure is real.”

Mamdani speaks in Brooklyn

The mayor celebrated all three of the candidates he endorsed winning their primaries on Tuesday.

“A year ago, it was not the end of a political movement,” he said. “It was the beginning!”

The crowd chanted “DSA! DSA!” after Mamdani took the stage, the initials for the Democratic Socialists of America.

“The old politics that got us to this crisis is not the politics that is going to get us out of this crisis,” Mamdani said.

Defeated Democrat says party will unite behind McAdams in Utah

Candidate Michael Farrell says he’s looking forward to working with Democratic primary winner Ben McAdams in Utah’s 1st Congressional District.

Farrell, a tax attorney, added that he isn’t worried about whether party members would rally behind McAdams following the highly competitive primary.

“Given the results, clearly folks are supportive of Ben pushing forward, so I don’t see an issue with that,” Farrell said.

Lasher hails the congressman — and ex-boss — he aims to succeed

After winning the Democratic nomination for retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat in the heart of Manhattan, state Assemblymember Micah Lasher said Nadler has been a political presence throughout his life.

“When I was born, I was already Assemblyman Nadler’s constituent,” Lasher said, adding that he later “watched as Congressman Nadler led fights long before they were convenient.”

Lasher, who has also worked for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, says he wants to “revamp and recharge the Democratic Party” and to “show that Democrats in Congress shave bold new ideas to improve the lives of struggling Americans and then deliver on them.”

McAdams thanks supporters

Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams credited his supporters at his election party following what appeared to be a decisive victory in a crowded Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District.

“Thank you, Utah Democrats, thank you from the bottom of my heart,” McAdams said. “Tonight this victory belongs to every volunteer who showed up on a hot June afternoon and knocked door after door.”

He also asked for their continued support for the November general election: “You ran hard. You ran with conviction, and this party and this state are better for it. The energy and the passion your campaigns brought to this race is exactly what we need headed into November.”

McAdams voters cheer his victory

Supporters of former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams broke out in cheers as word of his victory spread at the Democrat’s election watch party in Salt Lake City.

People moved toward a podium surrounded by orange, blue and white balloons, where McAdams was getting ready to speak.

He prevailed in a highly competitive Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District and enters the general election as the favorite in the newly drawn district.

Espaillat concedes New York’s 13th District Democratic primary

“Tonight wasn’t our night but I love you anyway,” he told supporters.

The New York congressman was up against Avila Chevalier, backed by Mamdani.

“When i came to this nation as a young immigrant boy, I could have never imagined that I would be a member of Congress,” Espaillat said. “That is the privilege of my life, to serve you the community, and I will continue to love and serve this community in the best way that I can.”

Mamdani-backed community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier defeats Rep. Adriano Espaillat

Avila Chevalier scored an upset in the Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District.

The race pitted the community organizer backed by the city’s democratic socialist mayor against a five-term congressman.

Espaillat was the first person who had been an undocumented immigrant elected to Congress.

Avila Chevalier is currently a doctoral student at the City University of New York. Her victory underscores the influence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political movement as he builds allies in Washington.

Trump-backed US Rep. Celeste Maloy wins GOP primary for redrawn House seat in Utah

Maloy defeated former state lawmaker Phil Lyman, who embraced false claims of fraud following the 2020 presidential election.

The district, spanning most of southern and eastern Utah, emerged last fall from a legal battle over the state’s previous congressional map, dramatically altering its makeup. The shakeup left Maloy vulnerable to a primary challenge.

Under the new map, Democrats are expected to pick up one of Utah’s four Republican-held House seats in the Salt Lake City area this fall.

Maloy will face off against Democratic nominee Kent Udell, an engineer, in the November general election. The GOP candidate is heavily favored to win in the deep-red district.

Alex Bores concedes in Democratic primary for Manhattan-based House seat after candidacy dominated by AI

The New York Assembly member lost the Democratic primary in the state’s 12th Congressional District to Micah Lasher, who previously worked as an aide for the seat’s current holder, Rep. Jerry Nadler.

“I didn’t get in this race to make a point about AI,” he said, but said “some of the most powerful people on the planet” lined up against him.

“They set out to make people afraid of them,” Bores said. “Instead, they learned just how ready the people are to push back.”

Anthony Constantino wins GOP primary for an upstate New York district after Trump endorsement

The brash, Trump-backed MAGA disciple who owns a custom sticker business in upstate New York defeated state Assembly Member Robert Smullen in the Republican primary to replace outgoing Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Constantino, who drew national attention after he put a massive “Vote For Trump” sign on the roof of his company’s building, is expected to cruise to victory this fall in the heavily Republican district, which stretches across most of New York’s northern tip.

Smullen had heavy support from the state’s Republican Party but it was not enough to overcome the president’s still-strong hold over voters.

Stefanik late last year said she would not seek reelection to the House and that she was suspending her campaign for governor to spend more time with her family.

Goldman concedes to Lander in Democratic primary for New York’s 10th District

US Rep. Dan Goldman said it was a privilege to serve in Washington, adding that there was a silver lining to his loss to Mamdani-backed Brad Lander.

“I can’t wait to be a much more present father,” he said. Goldman has five children.

Former US Rep. Ben McAdams wins Democratic primary for redrawn House district in Utah

Ben McAdams, a former Utah congressman who has sought to shed his reputation as a moderate, has won the Democratic primary in a redrawn U.S. House district that Democrats are strongly favored to win this fall.

McAdams defeated several candidates to his political left, including a state senator and a former employee of TikTok and Meta who had insisted McAdams is too conservative to represent a deep blue district.

The seat in the Salt Lake City area is among the few anticipated Democratic pickups following a national redistricting fight started by Trump to try to help Republicans maintain their majority in the U.S. House.

The 1st Congressional District race could be crucial for Democrats, who need to gain only a few House seats in November to take control of the narrowly divided chamber.

McAdams is strongly favored to defeat Republican Riley Owen, an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve who was chosen during the state GOP’s spring convention.

Republican Dan Cox will again face Democrat Wes Moore in Maryland governor’s race

Cox beat a crowded field of competitors to clinch the Republican nomination.

The 51-year-old ultraconservative former member of the state House of Delegates unsuccessfully ran against Moore four years ago.

Cox has promoted Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being stolen and organized buses to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.

He has pledged to slash taxes and beef up housing affordability programs if elected.

Nate Blouin not getting his hopes up in Utah House race

The Democratic state senator said just before polls closed that he was feeling calm, “because I think I know what’s going to happen.”

Blouin, a progressive Democrat, said he thinks the progressive vote will be divided, and former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, a moderate, will prevail.

Blouin had urged another progressive candidate, Liban Mohamed, to drop out of the Democratic primary for Utah’s 1st Congressional District.

Polls have closed in Utah

In-person election day voting concluded in Utah at 8 p.m. local time, which is 10 p.m. EDT. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.

In the 2024 state primary, The Associated Press first reported results at 10:03 p.m. EDT, or three minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 2:07 a.m. EDT with about 74% of total votes counted. The tally surpassed 90% of the vote counted by June 27 at 6:32 p.m. EDT, two days after election day.

Micah Lasher wins the Democratic nomination for a Manhattan-based US House seat

Lasher is running to replace his former boss Rep. Jerry Nadler.

Lasher has worked as an aide for a wide range of New York political figures like Nadler, Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He won a bruising primary battle for one of the richest and most Democratic House seats in the country. The large field included Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg and former GOP lawyer George Conway.

Schlossberg calls for ‘different people’ in fight against corruption

Jack Schlossberg took the stage in Manhattan after polls closed in New York’s Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District.

The grandson of President John F. Kennedy was the first of the candidates in the race to speak, but neither conceded nor suggested he had won. Instead, he repeated his message of a need for the Democratic Party to put forward more vigorous candidates.

“No matter what, if we win tonight, or if we don’t, we’re still in the midst of a corruption crisis,” he said. “We need to do things differently. We don’t just need younger candidates. We need different people, people who are willing to speak plainly about the cost of living, about corruption and fearlessly about the Constitution.”

Army veteran Cait Conley wins Democratic House primary in key New York swing district

Conley will face Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the general election for New York’s 17th District.

Lawler, a two-term congressman, is considered one of the nation’s most vulnerable Republicans. Democrat Kamala Harris carried the Hudson Valley swing district in the last presidential race.

Conley earned the backing of national groups, including the American Federation of Teachers, VoteVets and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

The 40-year-old Democrat topped a field that featured Beth Davidson, a county legislator who raised questions about Conley’s ties to companies involved with Trump’s immigration crackdown. Conley denied any connection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Conley emphasized her military background, having deployed six times as an Army officer to combat zones including Iraq and Afghanistan. She later served in the Biden administration as the director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council.

Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo wins Democratic primary in race to succeed Rep. Steny Hoyer

In choosing Boafo over nearly two dozen competitors, voters in the 5th District opted for a continuation of Hoyer’s pragmatic style of politics rather than a more progressive, antiestablishment approach promised by some other candidates.

Boafo, 32, is endorsed by Hoyer — his former boss — along with Gov. Wes Moore and other prominent Democrats. He also secured donations from tech firms and the cryptocurrency industry. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC also spent more than $1 million backing him.

Boafo worked as a field director and campaign manager for Hoyer before becoming a lobbyist and state delegate.

Mamdani-backed candidate Claire Valdez wins Democratic primary in New York’s 7th District

New York state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, a democratic socialist, defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso with the backing of Mamdani and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Both endorsed Valdez in hopes of giving the progressive left a greater foothold over the Democratic establishment in New York’s congressional delegation.

The primary victory also leaves Valdez in strong position for November in the heavily Democratic district that covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens. It also marked a stinging setback for Reynoso, who had the endorsement of the district’s retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

Lots of voters in Salt Lake City despite wildfire smoke

Voters in the state’s most populous city were turning out in large numbers even as smoke from wildfires burning across Utah turned the skies hazy and produced some of the worst air quality on the planet.

Some voters at the Salt Lake County Government Center said they had been waiting for close to an hour as polls got busier later in the day. Some walked briskly to their vehicles after casting ballots, while others pulled up to drop boxes to avoid the lines and hazy air.

Seven large fires were burning across Utah, including a blaze that started over the weekend in the dry, grassy foothills just outside Salt Lake City. It had the 12th-worst air quality of any city globally on Tuesday, according to IQAir’s live ranking.

Previous story below:

A man accused of pulling a gun on two people delivering his Uber Eats order is out of the Broward County jail.

Devon Germano was seen making a quick exit Thursday after posting bond.

He’s charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

According to arrest documents, the incident happened April 18 in the 2000 block of Northeast Ninth Avenue in Wilton Manors.

Two people were making the delivery -- a driver and a passenger.

While dropping off the food, the driver told investigators he received a notification that the order had been canceled and asked the passenger to bring the food back so it could be returned to the restaurant, per Uber Eats policy.

As they were picking up the order, Germano, 30, allegedly opened the door and shouted that they were stealing his food.

According to documents, the driver told Germano the order had been canceled. Investigators say Germano then walked over to a white Tesla and said, “I got something for you,” before pulling out a gun and pointing it at the female passenger.

She told investigators that, fearing for her life, she put the food on the ground and got into the vehicle.

Investigators later obtained a search warrant for the Tesla and say they found a loaded Glock, 9MM magazine.

Both victims told investigators Germano “intentionally threatened their lives by his actions.”

In court, a judge set his bond at $15,000 and ordered that he have no contact with the victims, along with no firearms or ammunition.

Authorities later determined Germano’s order had not been canceled. However, the next order the driver was scheduled to deliver had been.

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out a lower court decision that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s expanded use of expedited removal. The ruling was a big victory for the Republican administration, which views the expansion of so-called expedited removal as a key tool for carrying out its mass deportation policy.

Expedited removal — quick deportation without a chance to appear before a judge — has previously been applied to migrants arriving by sea or caught at or near the border shortly after crossing.

In January, Trump expanded its use to undocumented migrants all over the United States. Immigration agents began whisking migrants away from courthouses where they had gone for immigration proceedings and then removing them from the country within days.

“The Trump administration’s push for fast-track deportations will subject people to an unfair and error-prone system,” Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement.

Balakrishnan represented plaintiffs in arguments before the appellate panel and said its ruling “undermines the fundamental principle that people receive due process when the government seeks to deport them.”

DC Circuit Judge Justin R. Walker, one of the judges on the panel, said the plaintiffs had not shown the expanded use of expedited removal violated due process rights. Immigrants received notice of removal proceedings and were given a chance to respond, he wrote in his opinion.

Walker and the second judge in the majority, Neomi Rao, were appointed by Trump. The third judge on the panel was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Walker said there was no requirement that the administration inform immigrants that they can avoid expedited removal if they can show they have been in the United States for more than two years.

"The constitutional requirement is notice of the action the government is taking and the grounds for it, plus an opportunity to respond," he wrote, adding that the plaintiffs' “contrary reasoning would require immigration officers to provide what amounts to legal advice.”

Walker and Rao vacated an order by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb that put the expanded use of expedited removal on hold. Cobb, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, ruled in August that the administration had not developed procedures to ensure migrants were not wrongly deported under the expedited process.

The plaintiffs had put forward “substantial evidence" that the expedited removal process, on the contrary, carried a high risk of error when applied more broadly, Cobb said. The ruling cited examples of people who had lived in the U.S. for far longer than two years but were still ordered to be removed in expedited proceedings.

In his opinion, Walker acknowledged evidence of such errors, but said they resulted from “individual officers’ failure to follow the law — not defects in the written directives under review or the procedures they incorporate.”

The Trump administration has argued that its expansion of expedited removal includes protections to prevent arbitrary removal. In a court filing in October, Justice Department attorneys said Cobb's ruling was an “egregious error” that was depriving the administration of an “essential tool to combat the unprecedented surge of illegal immigration over the past few years” and efficiently deport potentially millions of people.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher last week dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit against Maryland that sought access to the state’s voter records.

Gallagher, appointed by Republican President Donald Trump during his first term, wrote that she “joins every court to have addressed this issue" in concluding that the unredacted voter registration file "is not a record or paper that a state must produce to the United States.”

With the dismissal Thursday in Maryland, the number of states where the Justice Department has lost similar cases comes to nine. The department has sued to force release of detailed state voter data — which includes dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

In addition to Maryland, judges have rejected those attempts in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. In Georgia, a judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit because it had been filed in the wrong city, prompting the government to refile elsewhere.

In the Maryland case, the Justice Department tried to cite an opinion written by its own legal counsel's office that it had the right to the state voter records under federal civil rights law, but Gallagher was not persuaded.

“The Court will not interpret the (Civil Rights Act) contrary to its text simply because an office of the party advancing that interpretation has adopted it,” she wrote.

In explaining their push for the records, federal officials have said that they need the voter data to ensure that states are complying with federal election laws related to maintaining voter registration lists, even though states already have detailed processes to do that. In the case out of Rhode Island, a Justice Department attorney acknowledged that the department was seeking unredacted voter roll information so it could be shared with the Department of Homeland Security to check citizenship status.

On Monday, a federal judge found that the Homeland Security program to check citizenship, referred to as SAVE, violated federal privacy laws and was wrongly identifying eligible voters as noncitizens. She ruled that the system could no longer be used.

Democratic and some Republican officials have objected to the Justice Department requests for detailed voter data and said such a demand violates state and federal privacy laws.

But at least 13 states have either provided or promised to provide their voter registration lists to the department, according to the Brennan Center for Justice and Associated Press reporting: Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Bettman said the Board of Governors executive committee endorsed a term sheet agreed to with the Friedkins over the next six months. The total investment required between an expansion fee and the cost to build a new arena in one of those cities would amount to $3.5 billion, according to Bettman, who said discussions over the past two years largely revolved around Houston before Austin joined the conversation.

“That’s part of the process is to determine what would be best, both for the league and for Dan Friedkin and family,” Bettman said. "Both cities will require a new arena. It may be more feasible in one place than the other. And as we dig a little deeper and do the due diligence, we’ll figure out which makes the most sense.”

Friedkin is chairman and CEO of the Friedkin Group with a net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes. The Houston-based consortium has investments in the automotive industry, entertainment, hospitality and sports, including stakes in European soccer clubs Everton and AS Roma.

No board vote was taken. That would only come if the sides involved move forward with an agreement.

While there is no guarantee the NHL adds a 33rd team, the move is a first step toward becoming the largest professional sports league in North America, surpassing the NFL. Bettman has said officials were listening to expressions of interest from prospective owners in places like Houston and Atlanta but until now not yet engaged in a formal path toward expansion.

“There was an update on Atlanta, there was an update on Arizona and there was an update on South Texas," Bettman said. "But neither Arizona nor Atlanta are quite as far along in the process as the Friedkin opportunities.”

Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson, who is on the executive committee, called it an important decision and said, “It’s just an exploration at this stage.”

In a statement released through Pursuit Sports, the Friedkin family said it had reached an agreement with the NHL for exclusive rights to a franchise in South Texas with a focus on Houston and Austin. It said it would be methodical in assessing the best option.

“Each city brings unique attributes that would make a new team a huge success — both have the infrastructure, passionate fan bases and economic strength needed to support a championship-caliber franchise for years to come," the family said. “We have wanted for some time to bring an NHL team to Texas, and we are excited that the process has now begun."

The league last expanded to 32 teams with the Seattle Kraken beginning play in 2021 after the Vegas Golden Knights started in the 2017-18 season. Before that, there had been 30 teams since 2000, when Columbus and Minnesota entered.

The recent success stories, combined with booming franchise values across sports, spurred talk of expansion in hockey circles, especially because expansion fees could exceed $1 billion. Seattle paid $650 million and Las Vegas $500 million.

From Florida to Texas to California and places in between, the NHL has enjoyed strong popularity across the Sun Belt and non-traditional hockey markets over the past four decades. Teams were added in South Florida and Tampa in Florida, San Jose and Anaheim in California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Las Vegas, while relocations put teams in Dallas, Raleigh, North Carolina, Denver and elsewhere.

Teams in those places have won the Stanley Cup the past seven years in a row and 13 times dating to Colorado's championship run in 1995-96.

Board approves Penguins sale

Bettman said the board had approved the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins from Fenway Sports Group to the Hoffmann family. The deal, reached a year ago, is worth $1.7 billion to $1.75 billion.

“It’s nice that the Hoffmanns got a good deal, and it’s nice that Fenway in five years doubled its investment,” Bettman said. "I still think it’s low, but that’s OK.”

In a statement released by the team, incoming NHL governor Geoff Hoffmann called it a defining moment for his family.

“The Penguins represent everything Hoffmann Family of Companies stands for: community, excellence and long-term thinking,” Hoffman said. "We look forward to building on the team’s success by providing support and resources to both (general manager) Kyle Dubas and the hockey operations team, as well as the established leadership group on the business side. We’re proud to represent this storied franchise and are eager to become an active, invested part of the Pittsburgh community.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

The Division I Cabinet unanimously approved the change from the longstanding tenet of college sports that gave athletes five years to complete four seasons of competition with their eligibility clock starting at the time of enrollment, regardless of age.

The move will all but eliminate waivers or redshirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, maternity leave or active-duty military service. No longer will extensions be considered for athletes who are injured.

“While previous NCAA rules have served college sports well for a long time, we heard also loud and clear from NCAA members and student-athletes that eligibility rules should be easier to understand,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said.

The NCAA believes the age-based model will make rules easier to administer and help make roster management more predictable for coaches.

“I think this new rule is one of the most sensible things the NCAA has ever done, and it will absolutely eliminate the type of eligibility litigation that’s predominated lately,” said attorney Tom Mars, who represented Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss in his successful quest for an additional year of eligibility in a case that went to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Mars added, “Let me put it in bottom-line language: There’s no way somebody could file an eligibility case based on a medical waiver now with the new rule. Can’t be done. You can file it, I guess, but it will be immediately dismissed.”

The rules, which will become official when the Cabinet adjourns its meetings on Wednesday, are set to take effect this fall. Division I includes more than 350 schools, some 200,000 athletes and, with football and basketball leading the way, is by far the most lucrative of the three in the NCAA.

The five-in-five language also is included in Senate legislation intended to address numerous concerns across college sports and comes after a wave of lawsuits from athletes seeking to extend their college careers and ability to earn money through revenue sharing and name, image and likeness deals. Still to be seen is whether the new rules will withstand legal scrutiny alongside the existing challenges.

Heisman Trophy runner-up and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia remains the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging an NCAA rule counting seasons spent at junior colleges against players’ Division I eligibility time. That case is slated for trial in February.

“I wouldn’t say that the rule change itself will slow lawsuits down,” said Sam Ehrlich, a Boise State assistant professor of legal studies in business and management who tracks litigation against the NCAA.

Ehrlich said athletes very well could continue to petition courts for extended eligibility based on antitrust arguments, but appellate courts recently have delivered wins for the NCAA by overturning preliminary injunctions in several cases.

The new eligibility model will affect all athletes who enroll in 2027-28. Currently enrolled athletes with eligibility after the 2025-26 academic year, and those who are incoming freshmen this fall, can apply the age-based model or continue under previous eligibility rules. It would be advantageous this year for some incoming freshman hockey players to use the traditional model if they are coming from the junior ranks and are 20, as is common in the sport.

For schools with current athletes who may be eligible for hardship waivers or extensions of eligibility under current rules, the D-I Cabinet indicated the deadline to submit requests to the NCAA is July 31. After that date, waivers would no longer be available.

Ryan Downton, the attorney for Pavia in his case against the NCAA that won him a sixth year of eligibility last season, said he was happy to see athletes allowed five seasons of competition. But he said it was likely that high school class of 2022 athletes who are now cut off from further competition will go to court.

“These athletes are still within their five-year eligibility window and spent their entire college careers competing against fifth- and sixth-year players due to the COVID waiver,” Downton wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "We hope the courts will correct the unfairness of the NCAA’s ruling and allow class of 2022 players to play their fifth season in 2026-27.”

Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association, wrote in a text to the AP that he had not seen the final language that was adopted but that the rule's “general structure that has been discussed is within reason.”

“But it's important for athletes to have an opportunity to seek hardship waivers,” he wrote.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Entre los asistentes estuvo su compañero de armas y expresidente Raúl Castro.

Las cenizas de Valdés —quien llegó a ser jefe de la seguridad del Estado y del Ministerio del Interior— serán depositadas en el mausoleo que guarda las de Ernesto “Che” Guevara en Santa Clara.

La urna se ubicó en la sala de entrada del Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas, frente a la Plaza de la Revolución, junto a una foto del dirigente y coronas de flores. Una fila de varias cuadras de a dos o tres personas fue pasando pausadamente por delante. El gobierno decretó el duelo oficial.

“Me corresponde (rendir homenaje) como miembro de las Fuerzas Armadas... como cubana. Muchas son las gracias que tengo que darle por lo que hizo por esta revolución”, dijo a The Associated Press la teniente coronel Yorsana Victores, de 47 años.

Valdés llegó a ser el tercer hombre más importante de Cuba en la década pasada tanto por sus cargos en el gobierno como por su puesto en la dirección del Partido Comunista. Tenía 94 años al momento de su deceso.

Homenajes en su honor se desarrollaron también en muchas de las cabeceras provinciales de la isla, mostraron medios de prensa locales.

“La revolución de Ramiro (Valdés) es la que le dio la dignidad al pueblo cubano y no nos queda de otra que acompañarlo hasta el último momento como él lo hizo con el pueblo de Cuba”, dijo Lenger Hernández, un trabajador estatal de 48 años que hizo la larga cola para rendirle tributo.

Nacido el 28 de abril de 1932 en la occidental ciudad de Artemisa —cerca de La Habana--, Valdés tenía 21 años cuando fue reclutado por los hermanos Fidel y Raúl Castro para el asalto al Cuartel Moncada, que aunque resultó fallido se convirtió en el inicio del proceso revolucionario y la caída del dictador Fulgencio Batista.

Pocas veces aparecía en público y nunca hablaba con la prensa.

Valdés fue una figura clave en los primeros años del gobierno de Fidel Castro, pero en 1986 se alejó del poder.

En 2003 fue reincorporado al Consejo de Estado de Cuba, el órgano ejecutivo gobernante de la isla, y en 2006 Raúl Castro lo seleccionó para que dirigiera el Ministerio de Informática y las Comunicaciones. En 2009 fue designado vicepresidente del Consejo de Ministros Comunicaciones. Mantuvo el cargo de ministro hasta 2011 y de vicepresidente del consejo hasta 2019.

Proponents of artificial intelligence see it as the next great revolution for the global economy. The revolution won't come cheap. Just four companies — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft — plan to spend up to $720 billion this year, primarily on AI data centers.

This week, investors are looking at the huge sums being spent and questioning whether AI can produce the profits and productivity necessary to make all the investment worth it. Critics have been talking about the possibility of a bubble in AI investment. On Monday, Amazon and Alphabet fell about 5%.

On Tuesday, several companies that make the chips needed for the data center buildup — Nvidia, Micron Technology, Broadcom and Lam Research — led the market lower.

At first, Microsoft, Alphabet and other so-called hyperscalers turned to cash on hand to fund the AI expansion. But they're increasingly relying on the markets to raise cash.

AI buildout needs cash

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said earlier this month that it’s raising $80 billion in cash to help pay for its investments by selling shares of its stock. Overall, Alphabet is planning to spend as much as $190 billion this year — more than all the stock of The Walt Disney Co. is worth, and Alphabet is forecasting its spending on investments next year will “significantly increase.”

In March, Amazon sold $54 billion of bonds in the U.S. and Europe as it plans to spend around $200 billion this year on AI investments.

Elon Musk's rocket maker SpaceX was on a three-day skid heading into Tuesday. It regained some lost ground, but ended trading slightly below the closing price on its first day of trading on June 12. Musk acknowledges that SpaceX will have to spend heavily to fulfill its plans of sending AI data centers into space, and the company has announced that part of an upcoming bond offering will fund its AI buildout.

High-priced chip companies

Chip companies have benefitted as the demand for memory chips and processing power for AI data centers and other projects has led to a supply shortage and a surge in prices. Investors have bid up the share prices of these companies now in anticipation of big profits down the road. By one measure, which compares a company's stock price to its earnings per share, these companies might look expensive.

Marvell Technologies lost money for five straight years before turning a profit of $2.7 billion in the fiscal year ended in January, thanks to gains in its data center business. The stock has more than tripled so far this year and its price-to-earnings ratio has gone from about 30 at the start of 2026 to near 100.

Some data storage companies have seen even more eye-popping gains. Sandisk shares have soared more than 700% year to date and its P/E ratio stands at 68. Whether Sandisk shares are overvalued will depend on whether it meets Wall Street’s lofty expectations for the next 12 months -- earnings per share of $188.05 per share compared with $29.16 per share for the 12 months ended March 31. When the current stock price is compared to the forecast, the price-to-earnings ratio falls to around 11.

The current price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 is around 25.

On Tuesday, investors unloaded at least some of their holdings in these stocks. Sandisk sank 13.6%, while Marvell lost 9.4%.

The sell-off also took a bite out of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, that invest heavily in tech stocks. The Invesco QQQ Trust Series ETF was down 3.3%, while iShares Semiconductor ETF slumped 7.9%.

Pocketing some gains

While some investors may have doubts that companies going full throttle on AI infrastructure spending will ultimately be able to generate profits to justify their investment, it's likely some of the selling this week may be investors pausing to pocket some of their gains after the stock market’s recent string of all-time highs.

“With no clear catalyst driving the move lower, we believe today’s pullback likely reflects profit-taking following a strong rally from the March lows,” said Brock Weimer, an investments strategy analyst at Edward Jones.

Big Tech gains have powered major stock indexes on record-setting runs this year. Within the S&P 500, the tech sector alone is up nearly 27% just over the last three months and roughly 17% for the year. In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi has nearly doubled so far in 2026.

Heavy selling on Tuesday triggered a halt in trading in the Kospi, which set the stage for the wave of tech stock selling when trading opened in U.S. markets, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a research note Tuesday.

Overall AI enterprise demand in Asia is “showing no cracks in the armor, which continue to make us very bullish on owning the tech AI winners over the coming year,” he added.

Still, tech companies’ race to invest in the expansion of AI infrastructure could ultimately be sowing the seeds of future oversupply, according to Philip Straehl, chief investment officer at Morningstar Wealth.

“Periods of elevated capital investment have historically not translated into strong outcomes for investors, leaving us cautious on the outlook,” Straehl wrote in a report last week.

He expects that the rapid expansion of AI computing power will weigh on pricing, hurting companies’ returns and eventually result in a pullback in investing. Semiconductor companies are “particularly exposed to this dynamic,” Straehl wrote.

The team will still be required to leave after Friday's match in Seattle, a department spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Iran Football Federation confirmed that the team will leave its base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, on Wednesday for Seattle.

“This was planned on our end,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press. “We were going to look at how the first two movements went, and if they went smoothly, we would extend the extra day in light of the longer travel time.”

The policy change was first reported by NBC News and comes as officials from both countries negotiate over how to end the war in Iran.

Iran's squad has complained about the travel restrictions levied on the team, and the challenges it has faced since the outbreak of war. Iran originally sought to move its group stage matches to Mexico, with whom it has diplomatic ties. The team’s base camp was relocated from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana. Several team officials and members of the support staff have been barred from traveling into the U.S. with the team.

For the first two matches, in Los Angeles, the team was not permitted to travel until the day before, which Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei repeatedly said put the team at a disadvantage. The team had less than 24 hours on the ground before its noon match Sunday. “Right now we need recovery more than anything,” Ghalenoei said through a translator after the 0-0 draw against Belgium. “The conditions have been extremely hard for us.”

It's not uncommon for teams to travel a day before the match, and it's in line with FIFA regulations, which state that “each team shall travel from its team base camp to the match venue one day before matchday (MD‑1) and in exceptional cases on MD‑2, and shall return to their team base camp after the match (on MD/MD+1).”

But Iran had asked for more time to acclimate to host cities and recover after matches, especially for the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) trip to Seattle. The team has scheduled a Thursday training at the University of Washington.

“We don’t ask for much. We just ask for the same procedure as for all the other 47 teams,” Iran national team player Alireza Jahanbakhsh said Sunday. “Hopefully we can bring everyone who is involved and help us with us.”

The Iran team has also said it experienced difficulties entering and exiting the U.S. each time it made the 127-mile (204-kilometer) flight between Tijuana and Los Angeles. The typically short trip took five hours the day before its first match against New Zealand, team captain Mehdi Taremi said.

Hours before Sunday's match against Belgium, U.S. Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told Fox News the Iranians had “tried to get somebody in yesterday” who had direct ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. In a statement, the soccer federation vociferously pushed back, calling the claim “an outright and undeniable lie.”

It's unclear whether Iran's upcoming opponent, Egypt, will also be allowed to arrive in Seattle two days early. After its 3-1 victory against New Zealand in Vancouver Sunday, Egypt asked to fly directly to Seattle. FIFA denied that request, citing a lack of security resources to accommodate the last-minute demand. Egypt returned to its base camp in Spokane, Washington, a 45-minute flight from Seattle.

Egypt's national team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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AP Sports Writer John Marshall contributed reporting. AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

The votes in the state House and Senate came after lawmakers limited a provision that requires a hand recount of ballots in certain races. Leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature said their plan to delay action on the vote-counting equipment had the support of the governor, Republican Brian Kemp.

Kemp had called lawmakers into a special session in part to address a July 1 deadline that was set to ban the QR codes used for the official vote count. Legislators passed a law two years ago that set that deadline, but then failed to find a replacement for tabulating votes.

Some voting rights activists had urged lawmakers to delay any changes to the QR code system, warning that there wasn't enough time before the midterm elections to ensure they didn't cause confusion at polling sites. Georgia is a political swing state where voters will decide nationally prominent races for U.S. Senate and governor in the fall.

State lawmakers last week appeared to have reached a deal on a bill to postpone the deadline for banning the QR code tabulation, but Senate Republicans over the weekend inserted an amendment that required a full hand recount of the top two races on the ballot. That change drew strong opposition from Democrats.

The revised bill that passed Tuesday would limit hand recounts to eight races for statewide office, including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state. But the hand counts would take place only for the top two contests on a ballot and only if the margin of victory is within a half percentage point. U.S. Senate and House races would not be subject to the hand counts.

To qualify, the race would have to appear as the first or second contest on a ballot.

Democrats objected to any hand recount provision. Research has shown that hand-counting is more prone to error, costlier and likely to delay results. Yet it has gained traction with Republican lawmakers in some states as President Donald Trump repeats false claims about a stolen 2020 election.

Georgia already has established election procedures that include audits and provisions for recounts in certain circumstances, Democratic state Rep. Debra Bazemore said.

“The question before us is not whether we support election integrity. Of course we do,” she said. “The question is whether the bill actually improves election integrity or whether it creates a new opportunity to cast doubt on legitimate election results. I believe it does the latter.”

Rep. Victor Anderson, a Republican who helped lead a House study committee on elections that held public hearings around the state last year, said the bill is the “culmination of a lot of work.”

He cautioned that if no bill is passed to address the QR code deadline, all votes may have to be hand counted in the coming midterm election.

“This bill is not the ultimate solution,” he said. “This bill solves an immediate conflict we have and lays out a path to achieve the most election integrity, the most accuracy, the most transparency that we can have going forward when we implement the next uniform voting system in Georgia.”

The state's current system uses a QR code printed on ballots to tally the votes. It has drawn the ire of Trump, who claimed without evidence that voting machines in Georgia deleted or switched votes in the 2020 election. Trump narrowly lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden that year.

Georgia voting machines have been the subject of conspiracy theories, which manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems fought vigorously in court. But election integrity advocates also have raised concerns about the machines, arguing that they are vulnerable to hacking and that voters cannot be sure their selections are accurately reflected because people can’t read QR codes.

Dominion was bought by another company last year and is now known as Liberty Vote.

The NFL informed the 22-year-old quarterback on Tuesday that it will not hold a supplemental draft this year, and encouraged him to focus on preparing for possible entry into the league through the regular draft next year.

The league told Sorsby of its decision in a letter that was obtained by The Associated Press.

Sorsby had applied for the supplemental draft after a legal battle with the NCAA, which had declared him ineligible for making thousands of bets on sporting events worth at least $90,000 during his college career. Those included at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the games in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.

The NFL hasn't held a supplemental draft since 2023 and had no plans to do so this year before Sorsby's petition. No player has been selected in the supplemental draft since 2019.

“Your Petition — filed three business days before the deadline, without any supporting information or documentation, and only after abandoning your recent litigation efforts to avoid NCAA sanctions — does not provide a basis for the League to alter those plans," NFL attorney Lawrence P. Ferazani Jr. said in his letter to Sorsby and the 32 NFL teams. "The issues presented by your Petition are too significant, and too closely tied to the League’s core integrity interests, to permit meaningful review within the timeline presented.”

Eligibility for either the regular draft or supplemental draft is required for entry into the NFL, per the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its union. A player who is not selected in the draft could then enter the league as a free agent.

“No player shall be eligible to be employed by an NFL Club until he has been eligible for selection in an NFL Draft,” the CBA states in Article 6.

Sorsby is considered a potential Day 2 pick — second or third round — in next year's draft. Teams will have to be convinced he's overcome his gambling problems.

The NFL's letter pointed out that Sorsby's petition didn't address reports that he may have violated state law nor did it “demonstrate accountability for your conduct or indicate whether, or how, you would adhere to the League’s rules and policies governing the integrity of competition."

It concluded: “We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL Annual Draft.”

The submission deadline for the rarely used supplemental draft was Monday. Sorsby had planned to work out for NFL teams on July 10.

Sorsby, after transferring earlier this year from Cincinnati to Texas Tech, was banished from competition by the NCAA for the gambling activity.

After spending a month in a residential treatment program for a diagnosed addiction that led to thousands of bets, Sorsby sued the NCAA and gained a court-ordered reinstatement that prompted nationwide backlash toward Texas Tech. The controversy led Sorsby to enter this special draft session.

“The sole reasons identified in your Petition for seeking entry into the Supplemental Draft are that you have been ‘declared ineligible’ by the NCAA, have ‘exhausted all of (your) avenues to continue in the NCAA,’ and ‘want to now play in the NFL,’” Ferazani wrote. "The Petition provides no information regarding the basis for, or timing of, the NCAA’s decision. Public sources, however, indicate that in May 2026 the NCAA issued a determination declaring you permanently ineligible from participation in college athletics, based on a sustained pattern of improper gambling activity during your collegiate career at three different universities.”

A person with knowledge of the union's thinking told the AP that the NFL Players Association “has not made any determination on if, how or whether there are legal grounds to act on” the league's decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it is a legal matter.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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Last hurricane season, AI models not only proved they could compete with the gold-standard corrected consensus models – the guidance human forecasters rely on most that blend the best physics-based forecast models and correct for their biases in real-time – but beat them, even besting the National Hurricane Center’s official forecast across nearly every forecast period.

It was impressive, though not altogether surprising, for an AI-designed hurricane model to be competitive in forecasting hurricane track, but it was downright incredible to see an AI forecast model top the National Hurricane Center’s official intensity forecast last season, as Google’s DeepMind did across most forecast periods.

While hurricane track forecasting has made tremendous strides over the past 30 years, intensity forecasting has often stagnated.

Over the past 15 years, however, slow progress has been made in reducing forecast error for hurricane intensity and detecting rapidly intensifying hurricanes in advance.

These improvements have been largely attributed to ultra-high-resolution, storm-following hurricane models – like NOAA’s HAFS and HWRF predecessor – that better capture the fine inner-core details and complicated interaction between the air and ocean that meteorologists argue are necessary to accurately forecast hurricane intensity.

The remarkable feat of DeepMind and its stellar intensity forecasts last hurricane season was that it didn’t have all the fine details of our traditional high-resolution, physics-based hurricane models.

It simply takes a snapshot of the current state of the atmosphere as assessed by the European Centre’s high-resolution global weather prediction system (known as the Integrated Forecasting System or IFS) – the only thing it presumably knows about the state of the atmosphere – and then makes a forecast drawing only from data its trained on, which includes historical weather data back to 1940 (from the European Centre’s fifth generation atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate or ERA5) and global unified hurricane track data (from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship or IBTrACS).

That’s it.

The beauty is in AI’s simplicity, and AI forecasts are made in a fraction of the time and with immensely less computing power than what’s required of conventional physics-based weather models, models that harness some of the most powerful and expensive supercomputers in the world.

Once the AI model is trained, it can make a forecast in minutes using a standard laptop, whereas traditional physics-based models take hours to produce a full forecast on banks of expansive, mainframe supercomputers stored in large server rooms around the country.

So, unlike what we think about with other types of AI-related tasks, which often require massive, energy-hungry AI data centers and industrial-sized water draws for continuous cooling, AI weather models actually have the potential to streamline and make more cost-efficient weather forecasting. In fact, NOAA estimates the AI-version of its global forecast model uses a mere 0.3% of computing resources compared to its physics-based version.

If AI weather models can prove as accurate or more than traditional weather forecast models, as Google DeepMind is doing in the hurricane world, we’re looking at significantly cheaper and faster forecasts in the future.

Machine learning versus other types of AI

Artificial intelligence or AI is an umbrella term used for many different types of new technology nowadays. It’s important to distinguish which subset of AI new weather models are harnessing, however, compared to the type of AI technology most accessible to the public through AI chatbots.

The new AI weather models are not large language models or LLMs that simply mimic human speech patterns or text. They’re also not generative AI that produce images or videos based on user prompts. These are the most accessible and familiar types of AI found on platforms like Open AI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Anthropic Claude.

Instead, AI weather models are a type of deep, machine learning-based subset of AI that use complex neural networks to effectively mimic how the human brain processes information. This makes these models behave similarly to how a human might forecast weather, relying on pattern-recognition based on their understanding of historical weather. But in the case of AI, the models are trained on petabytes of data going back a century or longer, more data than most of us could holistically comprehend in routine forecasts.

These advanced machine learning-based weather models are a far cry from the AI “slop” we often see floating around the dark corners of social media and the internet.

Not all AI weather models are created equal

For the time being, Google DeepMind has the hurricane forecast model market cornered. While DeepMind ran circles around all other models in 2025, the same can’t be said about other AI newcomers.

For example, the European Centre which runs the famed Euro model – the world’s leading physics-based global weather model – also has an AI-based version which ran last hurricane season.

While it performed exceptionally well for hurricane track forecasts – better than the conventional physics-based Euro – it was a total flop for hurricane intensity forecasts, basically showing no skill whatsoever.

A large reason for the AI-based Euro model’s poor intensity forecast performance is its reliance on coarse reanalysis training data from ERA5 that works to minimize error and more often than not weakens hurricanes too quickly, resulting in a large low intensity bias.

Google DeepMind bypasses this issue by incorporating historical hurricane intensities in its training dataset so maximum winds act like extra grid points in the model.

Presumably, other AI models will eventually catch up to Google’s DeepMind approach, but when it comes to intensity forecasting, DeepMind is the AI champion.

What’s new with AI models for the 2026 hurricane season?

Google has several new features and improvements to DeepMind available this hurricane season. Perhaps the biggest change is that DeepMind’s now offers up to 1,000 ensemble members compared to the 50-ensemble member max last hurricane season.

It’s unclear yet where the larger ensembles might help, but the thinking is it’ll help to better detect outlier events (low probability events that could also pose high-risk impacts).

Also, with the addition of 1,000-member ensembles, Google and NOAA are experimenting with incorporating them in wind speed probability forecasts that currently use a 1,000-member Monte Carlo-based model to simulate storm scenarios.

It’s also possible the larger set of ensembles will improve detection of hurricane rapid intensification, which Google DeepMind’s 50-member ensemble helped with at longer lead times last season.

It’s also worth noting that the folks at Google updated their AI hurricane tracker last September, which seemed to improve DeepMind’s forecasts leading up to Hurricane Melissa last October.

As I wrote about toward the end of last hurricane season, the American GFS had an especially bad year for hurricane forecasts, its worst performance in over two decades. Much of that error can be attributed to its especially poor forecasts for Hurricane Melissa, the most impactful hurricane last season, which the GFS inaccurately showed recurving too quickly before reaching Jamaica.

NOAA is planning to release an update to its GFS model (from version 16 to version 17) in October, which the agency says shows improvements in tropical cyclone track forecasting.

Additionally, the AI version of the American GFS ensemble system (known as AI-GEFS) has shown considerable promise in improving hurricane forecasts versus the conventional physics-based GFS, which NHC will be evaluating this hurricane season.

Is the writing on the wall for conventional models and human forecasters?

Although the new era of hurricane forecasting will increasingly look to AI models for speed, efficiency, and accuracy, don’t expect conventional physics-based models to be going away anytime soon.

Those models are what’s training the AI models, so the two will continue to work hand-in-glove, even if AI forecasts outpace their physics-based counterparts.

And as far as the human side of forecasting, understanding model biases, detecting quick changes in hurricane strength or organization, harvesting and quality controlling data in real-time used to train and improve AI models, designing products and decision-support tools around AI, and messaging the complexities of the forecast will keep humans vital to future forecasts even and especially with the addition of AI.