Miami-Dade County Judge Marisa Tinkler-Mendez excused the juror, a cancer survivor who said he was still recovering from surgery, after reviewing a series of questions he submitted about the trial and his well-being.

The dismissal came as jurors continued hearing testimony in the penalty phase of Sierra’s case.

Sierra, 42, confessed to killing his estranged wife, Gladys Machado, 29, in 2012, along with her two daughters, 6-year-old Julia Padrino and 3-year-old Daniela Padrino.

Prosecutor challenges defense expert on Sierra’s brain injuries

During cross-examination Wednesday, prosecutor Lara Penn questioned defense expert Dr. Erin D. Bigler about whether Sierra’s actions during the killings demonstrated planning, organization and decision-making abilities.

Bigler, an expert in interpreting brain imaging records, previously testified about the impact of a brain injury Sierra reportedly suffered in a childhood car accident.

The defense expert discussed how damage to areas of Sierra’s brain could have affected his executive functioning, which involves decision-making, planning and behavioral control.

Penn challenged that explanation by walking Bigler through details of the 2012 killings.

She questioned whether Sierra demonstrated planning when he took the victims to a second location at knifepoint and separated the children from their mother.

Penn described how Sierra locked the children in a separate room before turning his attention to Machado.

She asked Bigler whether those actions showed organization and planning.

“Totally inappropriate, but yes,” Bigler responded.

Penn then questioned the expert about Sierra tying up Machado and torturing her to obtain the passcode to her phone.

“Yes,” Bigler answered when asked whether those actions required thought and planning.

Bigler emphasized that she was not defending Sierra’s actions.

“These are atrocious, horrible behaviors,” Bigler said, adding that Sierra had damage to the social-emotional part of his brain.

She described Sierra’s behavior as “out of control.”

Penn also questioned Bigler about whether Sierra’s actions were goal-oriented, including tying up Machado, separating the children and holding a knife to her throat to obtain her phone’s passcode.

“Yes, he is carrying out these behaviors,” Bigler responded.

When Penn pressed her about whether the actions required thought, judgment and planning, Bigler described the behavior as “completely inappropriate” and “deviant.”

Expert questioned about details of killings

Penn continued challenging Bigler’s testimony by focusing on Sierra’s physical abilities and actions during the crimes.

She asked whether Sierra would have needed control of his motor skills to carve a smiley face into Machado’s chin.

“Well that is horrible, and yes, yes, his motor skills would have to be intact to be able do that,” Bigler testified.

The prosecutor also questioned Bigler about Sierra’s actions after the killings, including his efforts to cover his tracks.

Penn asked whether formulating a plan to conceal a crime required executive functioning, one of the abilities Bigler said could be affected by Sierra’s brain injury.

“It does,” Bigler acknowledged.

However, the expert maintained that Sierra could have been making decisions with an impaired executive system.

Bigler explained that a person with such damage might engage in behavior that appears organized but is driven by faulty decision-making.

‘I’m not trying to justify that behavior’

One of the exchanges focused on the killing of one of the children.

Penn asked Bigler whether placing a plastic bag over a child’s face for four minutes before the child died could be considered goal-oriented, planned behavior.

“That is just horrible, absolutely horrible,” Bigler responded.

Bigler stressed that her testimony was intended to explain the possible effects of brain damage, not excuse Sierra’s actions.

“I am not trying to justify behavior in any way, shape or form,” Bigler said.

She explained that damage to certain areas of the brain could contribute to aggressive, emotional or immediate reactions.

“It is absolutely horrible and I am not trying to justify that behavior, I am just trying to explain what may be going on in his brain,” she said.

Penn then challenged Bigler’s ability to assess Sierra’s mental processes, pointing out that she had not personally interviewed him.

“Well, none of us knows what is going on in anybody’s brain,” Bigler responded.

Juror dismissed after describing emotional and physical toll, submitting unusual questions

Earlier Wednesday, Tinkler-Mendez dismissed a juror who had submitted an extensive list of questions about the proceedings, jury deliberations and what jurors might be permitted to do after the trial.

The judge described the questions as unprecedented in her experience, including in capital cases.

Among the juror’s questions was whether he could bring reference materials, including a Bible and a copy of the U.S. Constitution, into the jury deliberation room.

Tinkler-Mendez explained that jurors could not bring outside materials into the jury room.

The juror told the judge he had never been inside a courtroom before and was still learning how the legal process worked.

He also asked whether jurors could establish a foundation after the trial to help victims of domestic violence or create a GoFundMe account to support the education of a family member of the victims.

The juror explained that he had previously created an educational foundation and wondered whether it could be used to help others.

“Again, it is forward thinking. We have created a group here, a bond here, and at the end of the day, there are no winners in this trial, so maybe we can make some good out of it,” he said.

The juror also questioned the length and expense of the proceedings, including the taxpayer-funded costs of attorneys and expert witnesses.

He described the process as lengthy and potentially inefficient, explaining that he came from the private sector.

The juror told the court that the trial was affecting his sleep, health and professional life.

“Restless mind, two, three in the morning, can’t sleep, so I am thinking what the future holds after this case,” he said.

He explained that the proceedings were taking an emotional toll on him and his family, adding that his spouse had experienced migraines in recent days.

The juror, a cancer survivor recovering from surgery, also expressed concern about how continued jury service could affect his health.

He said he had taken approximately 60 pages of notes during the trial.

Tinkler-Mendez told the juror that she had carefully reviewed his questions and was concerned about his well-being, particularly his lack of sleep.

“I think it would be in your best interest to discharge you at this time,” the judge told him.

She emphasized that her primary concern was his health rather than his continued participation in the proceedings.

Judge thanks juror for service

Despite his dismissal, the juror expressed appreciation for the experience and the opportunity to participate in the judicial process.

He said he had gained knowledge from the proceedings and admired how attorneys on both sides presented their cases.

He also expressed hope that the jury would ultimately make the right decision.

The juror asked whether his dismissal would affect the proceedings, noting his understanding that 12 jurors were needed.

The trial has alternate jurors available, although it was not immediately clear whether the dismissed juror was serving as an alternate.

Tinkler-Mendez thanked him for his service and presented him with a certificate of appreciation.

The juror, who appeared grateful for the gesture, mentioned that he had previously made similar certificates for people who donated to causes he supported.

The penalty phase proceedings are continuing.

It’s been a tumultuous journey but coming to Atlanta this season has been the perfect move for the three-time All-Star, who's accomplishments this year have quieted many of her critics. Leading the Dream to the franchise's first title would silence the rest of them. That quest beings Saturday when the best-of-seven series against the Golden State Valkyries opens in California.

Reese is the first player from the heralded 2024 draft class that saw Caitlin Clark go No. 1 to reach the finals as a starter. The 6-foot-3 Reese went seventh in that draft to the Chicago Sky and has used that to fuel her to become one of the top players in the league — winning the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award this season.

“I think it was important for me to go through what I went through,” Reese said of falling to seventh in the draft. “Being able to build character, going through adversity drove character and I was able to learn from a lot of things, being able to continue to be great, but also learning to know that I can be better.”

Her first two seasons ended early, not just by missing the playoffs, but also because of injuries. She had wrist surgery at the end of her rookie year and had a back issue last year. Despite leading the WNBA in rebounding each of her first three seasons, averaging a double-double every year, critics questioned her offensive efficiency.

Online keyboard warriors came up with the phrase “mebounds" to call attention to Reese grabbing her own misses. Reese, who has her own custom Barbie doll, turned that into a positive. She created a business initiative and donated some of the proceeds to her foundation to combat cyber bullying.

“One thing that always set Angel apart as a rookie was her tenacity, her desire," NBC analyst Cheryl Miller said. "I think she’s one of those players who feels like the more you tell her who she’s not and try to set limits, she’s going to break those feelings every time.”

Reese has already matched Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson, those WNBA icons also reached the finals in their third season in the league. Reese will try to follow Stewart and win the title in her first try.

Reese the missing piece for the Dream

Reese didn't make the playoffs in her first two years in the league when she played with Chicago. Atlanta general manager Dan Padover said the night his team lost to Clark and the Indiana Fever in the playoffs last season that he decided he needed to acquire Reese. She was the missing piece that the franchise needed to get back to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013. So he did just that, trading for Reese.

“Coming to Atlanta, obviously the goal for me was just to get them past the first round, because I wanted that for them," Reese said. “I watched them last year when they played how they came up short, and we saw the film from the beginning of the season."

Reese said that coach Karl Smesko still played those clips from when they lost in the first round. She didn’t make the postseason in her two years in Chicago. She just wanted to get a chance to play in the playoffs and after helping Atlanta knock off Washington and New York, she has the Dream in the championship round.

“I think the expectations for me have risen beyond what I expected,” she said. “Obviously I didn’t know we were going to be going to the finals, but obviously now the expectation is being in the finals every single year. Being here with the Dream, it just makes it a lot of fun. They pour into you, the organization is great, so I really love it.”

Reese has drawn high praise from Golden State coach Natalie Nakase, who worked with her at the World Cup.

“Yeah, she’s an ultimate, ultra competitor,” Nakase said. “To me, when we were at USA, you heard her voice constantly. So when she didn’t start, you heard her. She was constantly cheering her teammates on when they needed to. She constantly called them out when we needed energy."

Nakase said Reese's competitive edge is a huge reason Atlanta is in the finals, and she knows Reese "is not going to let any possession slip.”

Winning titles not new for Reese

Reese is no stranger to winning championships. She helped LSU win the NCAA title her junior year, beating Clark and Iowa in the title game that had over 18 million people watch on television. She also was on the U.S. national team that won a fifth straight World Cup last month.

“All of them are just like win or go home situations for me," Reese said of her college experience. "That’s kind of the mindset how it’s always been. Every game I’m treating it like it’s win or go home, and making sure I put my body out there every single night and give it my all, every little detail.

“We always talk about the value of one, that’s Karl’s big emphasis.” Reese said. "The value of one, the value of one, one rebound, one box out, one shot, one free throw, making sure I am perfecting and doing everything right. That’s kind of been the mindset for me.”

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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley and freelance writer Alan Cole in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

The shooting happened around 7:30 a.m. near the intersection of Northwest 109th Street and South River Drive in the town of Medley.

According to police, the incident stemmed from two people getting into an argument at a business called Metro Express, which led to one of them shooting the other.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials said crews responded to the area and transported one person by helicopter to a nearby trauma center. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office later confirmed that the victim had died at the hospital.

Deputies said the shooter was also hospitalized due to “personal medical reasons.”

Charges are pending.

The identities of the suspect and victim have not yet been released. The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.

The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case exploring the extent to which companies from an array of sectors are obligated to protect the privacy of customers’ video-viewing data. A ruling could resolve a lower-court split over how a consumer qualifies for the law's protections.

Consumer advocates say the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 was broadly written to adapt to inevitable advances in technology and safeguard consumers' personal information.

Critics of the law view it as a relic that plaintiffs' lawyers are trying to exploit in a way that Congress could not have anticipated before the internet revolutionized commerce. They are urging the justices to reject an interpretation of the law that deprives companies of a vital source of revenue from targeted online advertising.

The current case was brought by a customer who subscribed to Paramount Global's online newsletter to view videos on its website 247Sports.com. Michael Salazar claims Paramount violated the law by disclosing his video-watching history to Facebook without his consent, allowing companies to use his personal information to create and display targeted advertising.

Justice Elena Kagan, who said the language of the statute is “relatively clear," stressed that it is easy for companies to obtain consent from customers to use their digital data.

“Going forward, you have two very simple solutions," Kagan told Paramount lawyer Paul Clement. “One is to get consent. Easy enough. People do it every day. And the other is to stop selling people's private information. Take your pick.”

“Yeah, or put everything behind a paywall. That would be great,” Clement responded sarcastically.

“Not the same thing,” Kagan said.

“Well, I think that's one way that people would try to deal with this,” Clement said.

Congress passed the law a year after a video store clerk provided a Washington City Paper reporter with a list of 146 movies rented by Bork, a federal appeals court judge at the time of his nomination by Republican President Ronald Reagan. The reporter's publication of “The Bork Tapes," on the eve of Bork's hearings in 1987 that ended with the Senate rejecting the nominee, fueled bipartisan outrage and led to the law's enactment.

Paramount's lawyers say lower courts have overwhelmingly rejected other attempts to expand the law’s reach, with district court judges dismissing most cases.

“And why do you think that is?” Justice Samuel Alito asked Salazar’s lawyer, Joshua Hammack. “Why do you think these smart lower court judges have rejected the kind of very literal interpretation of the statutory language that you’re presenting to us today?”

“I think there is, unfortunately, some reluctance to believe that Congress actually meant what it said in the context of this statute,” Hammack responded. “It wrote a broad law that is very protective of personally identifiable information.”

Paramount argues that Salazar does not meet the definition of a “consumer” under the law to qualify for its protections.

Rulings in two appeals courts defined a consumer, under this law, as anybody who purchases, rents or subscribes to any good or service from a videotape service provider. Two other appeals courts adopted a narrower definition of consumer limited to goods and services with audiovisual content.

Only the Supreme Court "can resolve the split and bring uniformity to this important area of federal law,” Salazar’s lawyers wrote.

Paramount says Salazar has no basis to broaden the scope of the law. The company says the law merely prohibits video rental stores from disclosing customers' rental histories without consent.

“Salazar seeks to transmogrify it into a prohibition against targeted advertising on the Internet,” Paramount attorneys wrote.

Paramount says 247Sports is a sports news website that posts video clips with articles and photos free of charge.

“That is a completely different business from renting video cassette tapes. The VPPA does not address it,” company lawyers wrote.

That includes on the mountain, where the three-time Olympic champion will prioritize training in giant slalom and super-G over her signature slalom event. It also extends to the microphone, with her plan to be even more free-flowing in interviews on her podcast, "What’s the Point.”

Just a way to feed her curiosity as she enters her 16th season on the World Cup circuit and second hosting her show. In her eyes, a speedy race and a seamless podcast have a common thread — cadence.

“When I’m skiing my best, it feels like a dance,” Shiffrin wrote in an email to The Associated Press as her 12-episode podcast kicked off Wednesday and featured media personality/fellow podcaster Kylie Kelce. "The turns link together and I stop thinking about them. A great episode has a similar rhythm. One question flows into the next, I might go ‘off script’ — it just feels natural and not forced. Then afterward the guest says something like, ‘That was such a fun conversation, let’s talk again soon.’ That’s my version of seeing green (signifying the fastest time) at the finish.”

From now until March, Shiffrin will feature episodes in which she interviews top names from around the sports world, including figure skater Ilia Malinin, rugby player Ilona Maher, tennis great Iga Swiatek and sportscaster Mike Tirico. The theme is what drives them toward success.

It’s a question she's pondered, too.

The six-time overall World Cup champion will focus her attention more on the GS and super-G this season. Sure, she will still compete in slalom, her top event. But she wanted to branch out after a season in which she won nine of 10 World Cup slalom events, along with capturing gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

A little bit of a scary decision, “because the safe choice was obvious,” the 31-year-old from Colorado said.

“I was coming off a successful slalom season, and if you only look at results, staying focused on slalom made the most sense,” she added. “But after 16 years on the World Cup, I felt a real curiosity pulling me toward GS and super-G, and I’ve learned to trust that feeling. Making peace with it came from being clear with myself about why I was doing it. It’s not about caring less or working less. It’s about recovering better, training with more intention, and racing slalom when I’m prepared for it. Slalom isn’t going anywhere.”

Shiffrin and her fellow racers push out of the start gate on Oct. 24 with a giant slalom competition in Soelden, Austria. Shiffrin said her first slalom race will be in Killington, Vermont, over Thanksgiving weekend.

“I’m keeping the door open,” Shiffrin said of her racing plans. "We’re calling this the exploration season, and I think that framing is what let me exhale.”

As for podcasting, she’s finding her groove. Last season, her guests included her fiancé, Norwegian ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, and gymnast Simone Biles, winner of seven Olympic gold medals.

“I learned that listening is a skill you train, just like skiing,” said Shiffrin, whose podcast launched in October 2025 in partnership with financial group Stifel. “In Season 1, I’d sometimes be so focused on getting to my next question that I’d miss the best thing a guest said. ... So in Year 2 I’m prepping less of a script and more of a direction. I also learned that I don’t need to be the expert in the room.”

Her plans going forward — and leading into the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps — remain fluid, in racing and podcasting.

“Whether I’m in the start gate, in the crowd cheering on former competitors and teammates, or even hosting live episodes of 'What’s the Point,’ I’ll tackle it with the same passion and curiosity I bring today," Shiffrin said. "What I can promise is that as long as I’m skiing, it’ll be because I want to, not because I feel I have to.”

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See AP’s full Alpine skiing coverage here

Según el Departamento de Policía de Miami, el martes los investigadores supieron de un video perturbador del perro que circulaba en internet.

La policía dijo que los testigos encontraron al perro bajo el agua, atado a dos bloques de concreto. Eso dio pie a una investigación sobre las circunstancias del hallazgo.

Los detectives trabajan ahora para identificar al responsable.

Persona interrogada y arrestada por cargos no relacionados

En un comunicado publicado en Instagram, la policía de Miami informó que los investigadores contactaron a una persona que podría ser el dueño del perro.

Sin embargo, las autoridades dijeron que no han podido confirmar si esa persona es la dueña del animal.

Según la policía, los investigadores interrogaron a esa persona y luego la arrestaron por cargos no relacionados con el caso.

Las autoridades no han revelado su identidad ni han dado detalles sobre esos cargos.

La investigación continúa

La agente Kiara Delva, portavoz de la policía de Miami, confirmó que los detectives siguen varias pistas. Buscan determinar por qué el perro terminó en el agua e identificar al responsable.

La investigación continúa.

Wendy Louis, de 40 años y residente del noreste de Miami-Dade, fue detenido después de que agentes del Distrito Intracoastal de la Oficina del Sheriff fueran a su casa a comprobar el bienestar de los niños.

Según el informe de arresto, los niños les habían contado a sus familiares que pasaban días sin comer. También dijeron que solo les permitían tomar agua de la ducha y que no los dejaban usar el baño.

Cuando los agentes hablaron con los niños, ambos describieron condiciones de vida similares, según el informe.

Según los investigadores, los niños contaron que pasaban días sin comer porque su padre creía que el gobierno le estaba poniendo “cosas” a la comida.

Los niños también les dijeron a los agentes que Louis los mantenía encerrados en sus cuartos durante días y no los dejaba salir.

Según el informe, los obligaba a usar un balde como inodoro y no les permitía bañarse todos los días.

Los niños también contaron que no iban a la escuela desde agosto del año pasado, cuando su padre los sacó, según las autoridades.

Según el informe de arresto, los niños tampoco recibían educación en casa.

Los agentes describieron a ambos niños como extremadamente pequeños y delgados para su edad, con el pelo descuidado y enmarañado.

El informe no especificó la edad de los niños.

Los investigadores determinaron que Louis no les dio a los niños “el cuidado, la supervisión y los servicios necesarios” para mantener su “salud física y mental”.

Según el informe, Louis se negó a ser entrevistado por los investigadores.

Fue arrestado y trasladado al Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Allí fue procesado por dos cargos de negligencia infantil sin lesiones corporales graves.

Hasta la tarde del miércoles, seguía en la cárcel. Según los registros en línea, su fianza figuraba como “por determinar”.

Según los registros, al momento de su arresto Louis también tenía una orden de arresto judicial vigente por agresión en un caso de violencia doméstica y por resistirse a un agente sin violencia.

Lawyer Abbe Lowell also said in a letter Tuesday that Cook would not be able to participate in a hearing Nov. 5 because she “will be executing her official duties as Governor at financial and monetary policy meetings in Europe."

The earliest that Cook could appear before a “committee of inquiry" that the White House set up last Friday would be after the Fed's policy meeting Dec. 8-9, the letter said. The letter was sent to William Scharf, a counsel to President Donald Trump.

Lowell's comments are the latest turn in the Trump administration's extended efforts to fire Cook from her position as one of seven members of the Fed's board of governors. Trump has accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud in 2021, before she joined the board, a claim she has denied. No criminal charges have been filed.

No president has fired a Fed governor before, a reflection of the Fed's traditional independence from politics. Yet Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that the central bank lower its key interest rate, has taken numerous steps that economists say have threatened that independence. The Justice Department earlier this year sought to investigate then-Chair Jerome Powell over brief testimony he had given about an extensive building renovation, though a judge threw out subpoenas in the case and it was later dropped.

Cook was appointed by former President Joe Biden and is the first Black woman on the Fed’s board.

Trump first tried to fire Cook in August 2025, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year she could remain in her position while litigation continued. The court also suggested, in a footnote to the ruling, that Trump could try again to fire her if the administration provided her adequate notice and an opportunity to respond. The committee of inquiry announced by the White House last Friday is an effort to meet those conditions.

Under the law governing the Fed, the president can only fire a Fed governor “for cause,” but the Supreme Court didn't address whether Cook's actions met that standard. The committee of inquiry will ultimately recommend whether there is cause to fire Cook, a White House memo last week said.

Lowell also said in the Tuesday letter that “we have significant concerns regarding the objectivity and fitness of the committee for its assigned purpose.”

One of its three members, Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to Trump, has already said the president has “cause” to fire Cook, the letter noted. The other two members — Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Andrea Rich — are also Trump appointees.

“A hearing with demonstrably biased members, unspecified additional allegations, and an unclear schedule for the disclosure of any additional evidence – with no explanation for why it was not previously produced – is not a process that respects the appearance or history of independence,” Lowell's letter said.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry hailed the opening as a “diplomatic milestone,” while Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called it “a day of celebration for Israel-Colombia relations, and for Jerusalem, our capital.”

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1957 and have maintained particularly close security ties. Colombia uses Israeli-made rifles and fighter-bombers as part of its military arsenal.

But in 2024, then-President Gustavo Petro severed ties with Israel, accusing it of genocide over its military operations in the Gaza Strip, which he compared to Nazi concentration camps. Israel rejected the allegations and condemned Colombia’s decision.

After breaking ties, Petro announced plans to open an embassy in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, but the diplomatic mission never opened.

Restoring relations with Israel became a priority for de la Espriella’s government after he took office with the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“This embassy is a visible expression of our determination to restore dialogue, strengthen mutual trust and build an agenda that delivers tangible benefits to our citizens,” Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula said.

In early October, Colombia appointed Tania Gilinski Bacal as its ambassador to Israel and tasked her with strengthening trade ties and cooperation on security, intelligence, cybersecurity and information sharing.

Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017, making the U.S. the first country to do so.

Since then, nine foreign governments have followed suit, including several Latin American countries. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as the capital of a future state, while Israel considers the entire city to be its capital. The final status of Jerusalem is one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the competing claims to east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important religious sites, have repeatedly erupted into violence.

Most countries maintain embassies in Tel Aviv, saying the final status of Jerusalem should be settled in negotiations.

Fusco was removed from Tuesday’s meeting after repeatedly speaking out in support of a district administrator whose firing was approved during the meeting.

School board members and Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Howard Hepburn said Fusco was disrupting the proceedings and warned her multiple times before ordering her removal.

“We’re taking swift action today legally,” Fusco told reporters on Wednesday.

Fusco said the board violated her rights by not allowing her union time to speak and by failing to answer questions she called out during the meeting.

“From everything I read, they violated due process,” she said. “That’s why I was in that building yesterday, I want no mistake.”

The dispute centers on the firing of Jennifer Andreu, who served as the district’s executive director of operations, procurement and warehousing services from October 2023 to early 2026.

The Broward Office of the Inspector General says it found that Andreu mismanaged a district contract involving about 80,000 laptops and misled the school board, according to the findings described by the district.

Fusco questioned the investigation and said she did not trust its conclusions.

“I don’t believe what they found because I don’t know who the superintendent and the other little powers that be, brought them the people to be interviewed,” she said. “We don’t know all the details because it’s an outside agency and Broward County Public Schools has their own internal policy on how to investigate. Why wasn’t it done with us?”

Fusco also rejected the suggestion that the legal dispute could distract from a school funding referendum voters will decide in November.

She said Broward voters understand the measure would benefit educators and students.

Broward County Public Schools Chief of Staff John J. Sullivan released the following statement to Local 10 News in regard to Fusco’s removal from the board meeting:

“Broward County Public Schools welcomes public participation, differing viewpoints, and respectful debate at School Board meetings. However, the School Board outlines rules of participation for all participants to ensure decorum to efficiently address the important business of serving our students, teachers, and families,” he wrote. “The individual removed from yesterday’s meeting was given multiple warnings for repeatedly disrupting the proceedings. The decision was based on conduct, not viewpoint.”

Wendy Louis, 40, of northeast Miami-Dade, was taken into custody after deputies from the sheriff’s Intracoastal District responded to his home to conduct a welfare check on the children.

According to the arrest report, the children had been telling family members that they were not being fed for days, were only allowed to drink water from the shower and were not permitted to use the restroom.

When deputies spoke with the children, both described similar living conditions, the report stated.

Investigators said the children reported going days without food because their father believed the government was putting “stuff” in it.

The children also told deputies that Louis kept them confined to their rooms for days at a time and would not allow them to leave.

According to the report, they were forced to use a bucket as a toilet and were not permitted to shower daily.

The children also told investigators that they had not attended school since August of last year, when their father withdrew them, authorities said.

According to the arrest report, the children were not receiving homeschooling instruction.

Deputies described both children as extremely small and thin for their ages, with unkempt and matted hair.

The report did not specify the children’s ages.

Investigators determined that Louis had failed to provide the “care, supervision and services necessary” to maintain the children’s “physical and mental health.”

According to the report, Louis refused to be interviewed by investigators.

He was arrested and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he was booked on two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he remained jailed with a bond listed in online jail records as “to be set.”

According to records, Louis also had an active bench warrant at the time of his arrest for charges of battery/domestic violence and resisting an officer without violence.

Raez, a hematologist and oncologist specializing in lung cancers, is the medical director and chief scientific officer at the Memorial Cancer Institute in Pembroke Pines.

“Lung cancer is still a very lethal condition ... 70% of the patients are not going to survive ... and the 30% that we cure are the ones that we found early, that are small and we can take them out, and maybe do some extra treatment,” said Raez, who is not involved in the pope’s care and has been caring for cancer patients for more than 20 years.

Pope Leo XIV decided to go public on Sunday about the nodule on his lung. The Vatican and his doctors reported that he underwent a 90-minute video-assisted minimally invasive chest surgery on Tuesday to remove the cancerous mass from his right lung.

“The reason why lung cancer is so lethal ... you don’t get symptoms until the end, when you are already having pain in your rib cage, or you are having pain in your bones,” said Raez, who is the president of the Florida Society of Clinical Oncology.

The pontiff remained hospitalized without post-op complications on Wednesday at the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, according to the Vatican and the hospital’s doctors.

Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal physician, and Dr. Stefano Margaritora, his thoracic surgeon, reported, “The Holy Father underwent respiratory physiotherapy and has begun walking in his room. He resumed his regular diet and had breakfast and lunch. Recovery is proceeding as planned.”

The Vatican hasn’t announced the cancelation of the pope’s trip from Nov. 6 to Nov. 17 to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, where he served for more than two decades.

High altitudes and airplane cabin pressures could potentially present shortness of breath, fatigue, or serious cardiopulmonary strain, and risk a collapsed lung.

Raez is waiting for the pope’s doctors and the Vatican to release information about more test results.

Related reports

• Pope Leo is eating and recovering after cancer surgery, his doctors say
• Who’s in charge when the pope is unconscious and unable to govern? The pope
• Pope Leo XIV diagnosed with lung cancer after surgery to remove part of right lung

Deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said they booked Johnay Monique Barnett of Roswell, Georgia, into the county jail on Tuesday.

According to deputies, it was in December of 2025 when the victims were contacted by someone who claimed to work for the Seminole County jail.

Deputies said that person told the couple their son had been arrested, and they needed to pay $6,500 for an ankle monitor so he could be released.

They said after the victims paid the money through Zelle, they were contacted again and told that an additional $9,000 was needed in order for their son to be released.

At that point, the victims contacted MCSO to report what happened.

Authorities said the investigation required the assistance of several law enforcement agencies in Georgia, including the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the Atlanta Police Department, and the Alpharetta Police Department.

Through investigative means, that also involved several banking institutions, security footage and past police body camera footage from similar investigations. Authorities said they built a case that led to MCSO obtaining an arrest warrant for Barnett.

Deputies said she was arrested and subsequently transferred to Monroe County on one count of larceny. Her bond was set at $30,000.

According to the organization Cuba Decide, in the month of September, there were 911 human rights violations in Cuba that range from arrests for simply protesting in the streets to posting comments on social media criticizing the Cuban government. 75% arrested were men and 25% women.

For example, in the capital city of Havana, 413 people were arrested. In Camagüey, 121 people were detained and in Villa Clara, 62. There were 284 cases of threats reported that were allegedly made against Cubans by the government as well.

During the month of September, there were also 138 cases reported of human rights violations against individuals for practicing their religious freedoms.

Anything that can threaten the political control and power of the Cuban government will continue to be castigated in an attempt to maintain control of the population.

Cuban laws have two interpretations. One for those in power and one for the Cuban people.

Oct. 13: With or without a U.S. intervention, can Cuba survive?

The socio-economic conditions continue to worsen in Cuba and the Cuban government has no answers for improving them. Even with the 176 economic reforms they introduced months ago, they have been very slow to implement them.

The only answers the Cuban government has is to increase their propaganda of blaming the U.S. for all their problems, which the Cuban people on the island no longer believe.

Without foreign investment, it will be very difficult for them to survive. In addition, their infrastructure continues to collapse from their electrical plants, water system, food supply, and lack of safe buildings for people to live in.

As the midterm elections get closer in the U.S., I don’t see us taking any action against Cuba. Their only hope is that Raul Castro dies in the months to come and that someone within their inner circle of power becomes a true political reformer that can begin to transform their totalitarian system.

Oct. 8: Social Challenges Facing Cuba

In 2014, I wrote a book with that title.

Today, the social challenges facing Cuba are even greater.

When we speak of creating a democratic government in Cuba’s future, there are three variables that must be taken into consideration.

1) The history of the country

2) The culture of the country

3) The personal experiences of the population

That is why it’s very difficult to apply a transition of another country to Cuba or any other country that has lived under a totalitarian regime for so long.

Today, Cuba’s population is about 8.3 million. Many have left seeking a better future. Some factors that are often forgotten is the fact that about 60% of the island is Black or Mulato, while in exile, that percentage is about 5%. Today, Cuba has the lowest birth rate in all of Latin America and, at the same time, one of the oldest population in Latin America.

As we have seen from recent statistics, about 1 million Cubans left last year, seeking a better life. I suspect if and when there is a change in Cuba’s regime, the young generation will not stay on the island to help rebuild their country. They will go elsewhere, seeking better opportunities.

The last challenge is how to change people’s minds to support a democracy when it has been years, even before the Revolution of 1959, that there was a democracy in Cuba.

The ideology of the Cuban Revolution is gone. However, there is a lack of any clear ideology that Cubans believe in, which makes it more difficult when trying to develop a civil society in the future that can support a democratic government.

Oct. 6: Cuba prepares for possible U.S. intervention as talks stall

Cuba’s Chargé d’Affaires in Washington, D.C., Lianys Torres Rivera, gave an interview to Reuters and said that, given the lack of progress in conversations with the U.S., the Cuban military has begun preparations for a possible U.S. intervention.

Cuba fully understands that, if such an intervention were to come, it would not be an invasion as many expect, but rather an aerial drone and missile attack. According to military experts and sources at the Pentagon, such an attack could take less than forty-eight hours to neutralize Cuba’s military.

The U.S. military has also incorporated preparations and contingency plans to deal with Cuban drones if any were launched against the U.S. mainland. My own personal belief is that Cuba would first target the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, which is located very close to one of Cuba’s main military installations near Santiago de Cuba.

Oct. 5: Cuba will not negotiate regime change with U.S.

Over the weekend, Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, made it very clear that Cuba will not negotiate regime change with the U.S. In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Cuban government that if they don’t change their regime, the consequences would be worse.

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This leaves the U.S. with limited options moving forward. 1) Wait until Raul Castro dies and see what happens. 2) Strengthen the opposition inside the island. 3)Take military action against the island nation.

None of these options lead to a clear and quick path to a quick change in their system of government. A military invasion of Cuba by the U.S. could lead to a prolonged stay on the island until some form of government can be established from within the island and with the support from the Cuban exile community. However, there are some in the exile opposition that consider themselves possible leaders in a free Cuba, which could further complicate things.

Lastly, the extended war with Iran and the mid-term election results in the U.S. could also complicate what the U.S. does with Cuba.

Oct. 2: Who is driving U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba?

In the last several months, we have witnessed Secretary of State Marco Rubio continuing to sanction top officials of the Cuban government and their organizations, trying to force them to change or come to the table and negotiate with the U.S.

On the other hand, we just learned that the White House authorized a sale of 3.2 million barrels of oil to Cuba supposedly going to Cuba’s private sector. Are you kidding?

When dealing with Venezuela and Cuba, Trump has clearly shown that making money is more important than regime change in these two countries.

Oct. 1: Robberies and delinquencies increase in Cuba

According to Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez (14yMedio), this past Monday a bank was robbed in Lawton, Cuba in the middle of a major power failure.

The robbers got away with the money that was to be paid the next day to people who had retired. At the same time, many solar panels that have been installed around Cuba to help with the growing electrical shortages are being stolen at night by robbers.

The Cuban government is concerned that as socio-economic conditions continue to get worse on the island nation, these practices will increase. So far, no one has been caught.

According to the Miami Police Department, investigators became aware of a disturbing video circulating online Tuesday that showed the dog.

Police said witnesses found the dog underwater, secured to two cinder blocks, prompting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the discovery.

“It was the worst thing I have seen in my life because, I started thinking about it, and the worst part about it is that they tied the dog with its own leash and they zip-tied it to the cinder blocks,” Ryan Young, the boater who found the sunken dog, said. “It was a very purposeful-looking thing.”

Detectives are now working to identify the person or people responsible.

Person questioned, arrested on unrelated charges

In a statement posted on Instagram, Miami police said investigators had made contact with someone who might be the dog’s owner.

However, authorities said they have not been able to confirm whether that individual owns the animal.

The person was questioned by investigators and subsequently arrested on unrelated charges, police said.

Authorities have not released the individual’s identity or provided details about those charges.

Investigation remains ongoing

Miami police spokesperson Officer Kiara Delva confirmed that detectives are actively pursuing leads to determine what led to the dog being found in the water and identify whoever is responsible.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Major League Baseball moved the start time up five hours in order for the series to remain on schedule. The game will still be broadcast on TBS and other TNT Sports platforms.

The best-of-seven series is even at 1-1 after the Rays' 3-1 victory Tuesday night. Cleveland took the series opener 7-3 on Monday.

Tampa Bay will send right-hander Griffin Jax to the mound. Jax (8-10, 3.52 ERA) struck out four and gave up one run in two innings of relief against the New York Yankees in the Division Series.

Cleveland is expected to go with Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.76 ERA), who led the American League in strikeouts. The right-hander started Games 2 and 5 against the White Sox and tossed an inning in relief in Game 4. He had 24 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits.

Friday’s game still has a start time of 6 p.m. and Saturday’s first pitch is slated for 8 p.m.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The Lauderhill Police Department identified the victims as Adianna McCray and Yehudah St. Dic.

Police said they responded at approximately 11:07 p.m. Thursday to the 2000 block of Northwest 43rd Terrace after receiving a report of a shooting.

Upon arrival, officers said they found McRay and St. Dic suffering from gunshot wounds.

Investigators said one victim was pronounced dead at the scene by Lauderhill Fire Rescue medics, while the other was transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where that victim later died.

The motive remains unknown, and investigators have not identified any suspects at this time, according to police.

Detectives from the department’s Criminal Investigations Division and crime scene investigators responded to the scene.

Authorities said the investigation remains “active and ongoing.”

Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477. A reward of up to $5,000 is available for information that leads to an arrest.

It happened in the area of Jog Road, between Woolbright Road and Grand Isle Drive.

According to deputies with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, the shooting stemmed from an incident that occurred in Lake Worth the night before when the suspect, who has since been identified as 51-year-old Gregory Dobkins of West Palm Beach, ordered a pizza.

“He says to the pizza guy, ‘I only got $100. Do you have change for that?’ When the guy took out the change, that’s when he grabbed him and they wrestled for the money. He took it away from him,” said PBSO Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. “It’s called a strong-armed robbery.”

Thanks to the delivery driver, authorities were provided with a description of the suspect’s vehicle and license plate number, and deputies were able to track him down on Tuesday.

“They attempted a traffic stop and that’s when the guy took off,” said Bradshaw. “It went down I-95 and FHP got involved.”

A police chase ensued, with Dobkins eventually crashing his pickup truck along a fence on Jog Road, leading to a standoff with first responders while he held an unknown object in his hand.

Bradshaw said deputies attempted to use non-lethal tactics to bring Dobkins into custody, but they did not work and ultimately, he was fatally shot.

“During this whole time, he was yelling at the officers, ‘You’re gonna have to kill me,’” said Bradshaw. “But they did try less-than-lethal (measures) three times, but it had no effect on him at all.”

After the shooting, Dobkins received live-saving measures from the deputies at the scene until fire rescue crews arrived, deputies said.

They said he did not have a weapon concealed under the shirt or towel that was in his hand.

According to authorities, Dobkins had a lengthy criminal history that included carjacking, assault, drug possession and sales, kidnapping, trespassing, disorderly conduct and hit-and-run with severe damage.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office and PBSO’s violent crimes division are all investigating the incident.

A letter sent Tuesday to Secretary of State Shirley Weber from Trent McCotter, the acting deputy U.S. attorney general, says the department has provided officials in Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive with a list of names the federal government believes are likely noncitizens who were sent ballots to participate in the Nov. 3 election.

California mails ballots to all registered voters.

The letter obtained by The Associated Press gives the state 48 hours to determine whether any citizens are included on the list. For individuals whose citizenship cannot be independently verified, the state is to instruct local election officials to segregate their mail-in ballots until their status can be determined, and to not provide a ballot to anyone who has not yet received it. The letters warns that legal action may follow if the state does not meet the 48-hour deadline to review the list.

“If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief,” the letter states.

A separate, similar letter was sent to the registrar's office in Los Angeles County, which the U.S. attorney's office had investigated during the state's June primary.

Neither the California secretary of state nor the Los Angeles County registrar immediately responded to requests seeking comment.

The Trump administration has made the hunt for noncitizen voters a priority this year, even though the problem is exceptionally rare. The Justice Department has charged about 90 people for various types of election misconduct so far this year, including 50 who are alleged to have voted as noncitizens. There were more than 227 million registered voters in the United States during the 2024 presidential election.

In July, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters to California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, alleging that as many as 250,000 noncitizens were registered in those states. Election officials there were skeptical of the claim, including Weber, the California secretary of state.

“I have serious doubts about the reliability of your data and accuracy of your claims, since my office has not shared our statewide voter registration list with DHS or any other federal agency or official,” Weber said in response.

That same month, the Republican administration claimed Nevada had 1,500 noncitizen voters on its voter rolls. But after the federal government identified them to the state, the number of actual registered noncitizens turned out to be zero.

As part of its project to find noncitizens on the voter rolls, the Justice Department has been seeking detailed voter information — including dates of birth, addresses, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — from the states. Some Republican-led states have turned over the information, which has been run through a U.S. Department of Homeland Security database that has been criticized as inaccurately flagging U.S. citizens.

The Justice Department has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia for that information, but so far has lost those cases in court. California is among the states that successfully sued, in part by arguing that turning over the data would violate state privacy laws.

Santa Cruz County Clerk Tricia Webber, who is president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, said she had not seen the letters but said the 48-hour deadline to vet voters flagged by the federal government was “completely unreasonable.”

She said when there is a report of an ineligible voter incorrectly on the rolls, her office does due diligence to investigate. That involves looking at the voter’s registration history, identifying whether that person had voted before and, most importantly, reaching out to the voter, she said.

“It would take more than 48 hours to even begin to get the full picture,” Webber said. She also questioned how the federal government came up with a list of alleged noncitizen voters since it doesn’t have access to the state's detailed voter information.

Webber added that throughout the course of her decades-long career working for local election agencies, she has “never seen anything that would make me believe that our voter records are filled with fraudulent voters.”

The visits come as the Republican president works to bolster his party in Nov. 3 elections that will determine control of Congress, and they follow stops earlier this week in Ohio and Alaska.

In Bullhead City, Arizona, Trump will be rallying support for Rep. Andy Biggs, who is seeking to defeat incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Afterward, Trump is set to travel to Western Montana's 1st District to try to boost Aaron Flint, a former aide to retiring Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who served as Interior secretary in Trump's first-term Cabinet.

Trump has kept up a brisk pace of hour-plus-long rallies — new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia called it a “midterm blitz” — in his effort to stem expected Republican losses and fight a historical trend in which the president's party typically loses seats in elections halfway through their term in the White House.

Arizona stands out as the lone swing state among the president's recent stops, though the airport rally will be in an area of the state known as a Republican stronghold. His other visits so far in October have taken him into traditionally solid Republican territory — Alabama, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas — as he weathers low approval ratings, rising costs and the Iran war.

With under three weeks left in the campaign, the Western swing comes as Trump's party has begun retreating from a handful of battleground U.S. House races and Democrats aim to raise money for candidates who seemed like long shots earlier this year.

The shifting money in the final weeks of midterm campaigns reflects an increasingly defensive posture by Republicans, who have already trimmed their expectations in U.S. Senate races, and new aggression from Democrats, who are trying to capitalize on Trump’s low public approval.

Trump twice won Arizona, in 2016 and 2024, but lost the state in 2020. Montana's 1st District is slightly less Republican overall than the state, which voted for Trump by double digits in each of his three presidential campaigns.

Biggs, of Arizona, has been a stalwart ally of the president and assisted Trump's attempt to block certification by the House of Trump's 2020 election defeat. A one-time head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, he's represented a safe GOP seat since winning election in 2016.

He faces Hobbs, who narrowly defeated Republican Kari Lake in the governor's race four years ago in a state that has increasingly elected Democrats to statewide office.

In Montana, Flint won the president's and Zinke's endorsement during the June primary. An Army veteran and talk-radio host, Flint assails progressive Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as part of his campaign.

Flint's opponent is Sam Forstag, a Democratic labor union leader and Forest Service smokejumper, a specialized firefighter who gets to fires by aircraft and parachute.

___

Catalini reported from Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

Michael Delgado confessed to firing a handgun as two teens were fighting on Sept. 1st, at the Atlantico at Aquabella apartment complex at West 35th Way and 111th Place, according to a police officer’s report.

A victim reported that he was in a fist fight when Delgado, who was born in Cucuta and lives in Hialeah, fired into the air and at him while he ran away, according to a police officer’s arrest report.

“I am going to kill you,” Delgado shouted at the victim, while running after him and firing in his direction, according to the police report.

The victim reported that he could hear the bullets “passing” near his head and body, according to police.

Another victim accused Delgado of pointing a gun “directly toward” his face and firing in his direction, so he threw himself “to the ground,” and fled with friends in a black Chevy Tahoe, according to police.

No one was injured.

Police officers detained Delgado and another teen for questioning on Sept. 2, and Delgado confessed to “possessing” and firing a gun into the air, according to the arrest report.

Police officers arrested Delgado and the other teen at 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 2 and took them to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Miami-Dade County, records show.

Miami-Dade corrections booked Delgado on Tuesday, and he was at the Metrowest Detention Center on Wednesday, according to inmate records.

Miami-Dade prosecutors filed four charges against Delgado in adult criminal court on Tuesday, and a judge ordered his pre-trial detention on Wednesday, according to court records.

Delgado faced two felonies: Second-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon and throwing a deadly missile. He also faced two misdemeanors: Possession of a firearm by a minor and discharging a firearm in public.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Carmen R. Cabarga was set to preside over the case. The court set Delgado’s arraignment at 9 a.m. on Oct. 19.

Related report: 2 teens arrested following shooting at Hialeah residential complex, police say

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

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved bemotrizinol — sometimes called BEMT — in June. The first sunscreens containing it are now hitting U.S. store shelves, including formulas from Neutrogena and other manufacturers.

Dermatologists say the chemical fills an important market gap by offering broad protection, like the most well-established sunscreen ingredients, but without their cosmetic downsides, including white streaking.

BEMT has decades of safety data behind it, including studies showing it has minimal absorption into the skin. That’s been a concern with some older sun-blocking chemicals.

“It’s not a brand-new ingredient that you’re going to be the first person to try,” said Dr. Jennifer Stein, a dermatologist at NYU Langone Health.

Here’s what to know:

New ingredient offers broad protection without streaks

To be effective, sunscreens must protect against both forms of ultraviolet light that can damage the skin — UVB rays, which cause most sunburn, and UVA rays that pose the greatest risk of skin cancer and wrinkles.

Sunscreens that block both forms are labeled “broad spectrum protection.” Those that don’t must carry an FDA warning label.

BEMT is the first chemical-based sunscreen in the U.S. that offers this dual protection. Previously, manufacturers had to mix multiple ingredients to protect against both UVA and UVB light.

“This ingredient provides a solution for what is currently a big gap with respect to providing strong UVA protection,” said David Andrews, chief science officer of the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that advocates for higher sunscreen standards.

A different class of sunscreens, using minerals such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, has long been shown to offer strong protection against both forms of ultraviolet light. These mineral-based formulas work by physically blocking harmful rays from the skin.

But some people — particularly those with darker complexions — tend to avoid them because they cause white streaking and discoloration. In other cases, people don’t like their texture or consistency.

“Those are good sunscreens,” Stein said. “But for people who aren’t so inclined to use them — maybe they don’t like how it feels on their skin — this is a nice option.”

There's less skin penetration with the new formula

The fact that chemical-based sunscreens are absorbed into the skin means they have to be carefully studied to make sure they aren't building up in the body at unsafe levels.

Last month, the FDA revoked approval of an older chemical ingredient, oxybenzone, after determining it was “absorbed through the skin to a greater extent than previously understood.”

That’s not a problem with BEMT.

“It’s a molecule that’s too big to really penetrate through the skin and get absorbed into the bloodstream,” Stein said. “The older chemical sunscreens had small molecules.”

As part of its safety review, the FDA reviewed studies of BEMT in more than 500 patients conducted by Dutch manufacturer DSM Nutritional Products. Levels of the chemical absorbed into the skin were nearly undetectable, the studies found.

Agency reviewers said research in people who used the sunscreen daily for up to three weeks showed that BEMT “did not cause irritation” or allergic reactions. As a result, the FDA designated the ingredient as “generally recognized as safe and effective,” alongside the older mineral ingredients zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

More than a dozen other ingredients are currently used in U.S. sunscreens, but the FDA has said they will require additional evidence to support their safety and effectiveness. The FDA review is part of an ongoing effort to overhaul U.S. sunscreen ingredients that kicked off in 2019.

More evidence is needed about the impact on coral reefs

Scientists have shown that some sunscreen ingredients can trigger bleaching and damage coral reefs. That's led to bans on two chemical ingredients — oxybenzone, the ingredient recently targeted by the FDA, and octinoxate — in Hawaii and parts of Florida. It's estimated about 25% of the sunscreen people apply to their skin washes off while swimming or wading in the ocean.

The U.S. government doesn't classify the environmental impact of sunscreens, and marketing claims like “reef safe” or “reef friendly” have no standard definition or requirements. The European Union's environmental agency has found “limited evidence of environmental toxicity” with BEMT, but longer-term research is needed.

Mineral ingredients like zinc oxide are generally considered safer for the environment, although some experts recommend staying away from so-called nano formulations. Those products are made with tiny particles that are more likely to be inhaled or absorbed by marine organisms.

Older chemicals were often unstable

Experts say BEMT has one other key advantage, in that it doesn’t quickly break down in the sun. That’s been a particular issue for avobenzone, the only other chemical-based ingredient that filters UVA light.

“Avobenzone has been known to be particularly unstable on its own, and a lot of work and reformulation efforts have gone into trying to find ways to stabilize it,” said Andrews. “BEMT is significantly more stable.”

As with all sunscreens, dermatologists say it’s important to reapply every few hours — more frequently if you’re swimming or sweating a lot.

Also, people shouldn’t rely on sunscreen alone when spending time outside, Stein said. Taking breaks in the shade, wearing a hat and sun-protective clothing are all important protections.

“Sunscreen is just one part of an overall sun-protection plan,” Stein said. “Clothing is even better.”

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The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and 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.

Co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos announced the job cuts in a memo to employees Wednesday. They said the company's product, tech, legal and human resources teams would be the most impacted.

"Decisions like these are never easy, and we don’t take them lightly," Peters and Sarandos wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press. They maintained business was strong — but that Netflix needed to be “disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources" as it invests in future growth and “high impact areas to improve our service.”

Beyond the memo from its chief executives, Netflix declined to comment further about Wednesday's cuts.

Between membership signups and price increases, Netflix’s profit has grown this year. In its second financial quarter, the company earned $3.4 billion and racked up revenue of $12.56 billion — up 9% and 13%, respectively, from the same period last year.

Still, Netflix’s forecast for the third quarter fell below Wall Street's expectations. The company plans to report those earnings next week.

Competition in the streaming space is growing more crowded overall. Netflix continues to be a dominant player (accounting for 19% of the market per the latest data from streaming guide JustWatch), but rivals like Amazon's Prime Video and Disney+ are close behind.

HBO Max and Paramount+ are also now under the same roof — Skydance — after Paramount's $81 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery closed last week. The new Hollywood giant plans to unify its streaming products “into a single service over time.” Netflix initially inked a deal to buy Warner's studio and streaming business late last year, but walked away from that offer back in February.

At the end of 2025, per regulatory filings, Netflix had about 16,000 full-time employees worldwide. The layoffs announced Wednesday mark the biggest round of cuts the California-based company has rolled out in years.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday's news of the layoffs.

“Entendemos que esta recuperación va a tomar varias semanas más de lo previsto. Por lo tanto, entendemos que podría haber algún cambio en el calendario de su visita”, dijo Fujimori durante una actividad pública en Lima.

La presidenta peruana señaló que millones de peruanos rezan por la recuperación del pontífice. “Esperamos que su recuperación sea pronta, inminente y que su visita se pueda realizar, pero entenderemos también el caso contrario", añadió. "Acá lo importante es que su Santidad recupere su salud”.

Hasta ahora el Vaticano no ha anunciado ningún cambio en el itinerario del pontífice por Uruguay, Argentina y Perú del 6 al 17 de noviembre.

El papa, de 71 años, fue sometido el martes a una cirugía en la que se le extirpó una masa cancerosa de un pulmón. Expertos dijeron que se necesitan más pruebas para saber si la enfermedad se propagó y si se necesita más tratamiento, pero los resultados de esas pruebas aún no están disponibles.

En Perú, donde el pontífice nacido en Estados Unidos pasó dos décadas como sacerdote y obispo, decenas de personas asistieron a diversos templos católicos la noche del martes para rezar por la recuperación de León XIV.

Cerca de un templo donde se venera al Señor de los Milagros, cuya imagen acompañará a Robert Prevost durante una misa programada durante su visita a Perú, Teresa Ramírez le deseó “la mayor suerte del mundo al peruano más querido”, tras enterarse del diagnóstico postoperatorio.

Ramírez, de 73 años, llevaba tres rosas de colores amarillo, blanco y rojo en una de sus manos mientras rezaba en las afueras del monasterio Las Nazarenas en el centro de Lima. “Para venir al Perú hay tiempo todavía, que se haga la santa voluntad del padre celestial”, indicó.

También en un asilo de la congregación Hermanitas de los Ancianos Desamparados, en el puerto de El Callao, rezó Mayela Medina, una de sus 60 residentes. El papa tiene previsto visitar ese centro en su viaje a Perú.

“Se me llenan los ojos de lágrimas porque yo también estuve grave y atravesé días oscuros y noches largas cuando me costaba respirar”, dijo la mujer a The Associated Press.

Medina —que sufrió una pleuritis y neumonía— pasó más de dos meses en el área de cuidados intensivos de un hospital de Lima. “Ruego con toda mi alma ante Dios que no se sienta abandonado”, dijo la mujer de 52 años.

John Douglas Osborne committed sex acts on a 23-year-old incapacitated and intoxicated woman while Mace's ex-fiance Patrick Bryant and Eric Bernard Bowman watched, according to sworn statements by agents from the State Law Enforcement Division, which brought the charges.

The men talked about who would assault the woman beforehand, took photos and recorded the assault, which was also seen on a security system feed at the home in Sullivan's Island, an affluent suburb of Charleston, state agents said. The woman had fallen into a pool and was passed out on a couch covering herself with a pillow, agents said.

Another woman who happened to be watching the feed saw the assault and took pictures and wrote about it in a journal, police said. Mace and Bryant were not yet engaged at the time of the October 2018 assault.

Osborne, 46, is charged with first-degree assault and battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Bryant, 53, and Bowman, 46, are each charged with voyeurism.

Along with the voyeurism charge, Bowman was also charged with obstruction of justice after agents said he did a factory reset on a cellphone he knew investigators were seeking in a search warrant, and with publishing the name of a victim of criminal sexual conduct after posting the victim’s name and a video of her on X.

Bryant didn't return a message seeking comment on Wednesday, and attorneys who have been listed as representing Bowman and Osborne in other cases did not immediately return messages.

Mace, a Republican, described the assault at length in a nearly hourlong speech in February 2025 that named the men and described other photos and videos found when she looked at Bryant's cellphone when they were still together.

Mace said she “accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable. We’re talking about rape, non-consensual photos, non-consensual videos of women and underage girls, and the premeditated, calculated exploitation of women and girls in my district.”

At the time, Bryant completely denied the allegations. “I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name,” he told The Associated Press.

The State Law Enforcement Division didn't say if their investigation into any of the men is continuing.

After the arrests, Mace released a statement detailing the 25 bills she says will protect victims of sexual assault, harassment or discrimination, including in retaliatory defamation and libel lawsuits that may result from allegations they bring to light.

The Republican, who is leaving the House this term after losing her bid to be South Carolina governor, introduced a proposal this week to require that anyone who brings such a case and loses must pay attorney fees for the defendant.

“Protecting women and holding predators accountable isn’t a slogan. It’s been one of my top priorities in Congress. For too long, survivors have faced broken systems while predators exploited loopholes and walked free,” Mace said in her statement.

The City Council is expected to approve a bill next week that would end the rides by 2028. Three consecutive mayors had called for an end to the carriage rides because of safety concerns, only to have lawmakers yank back the reins.

A spokesperson for Julie Menin, the council speaker, confirmed the incoming vote and said the proposal had enough support to pass. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's office said he had reached a deal with the speaker on the legislation.

“The horse carriage industry is coming to an end in New York City,” Mamdani said in a social media post.

Teen's death reignited debate over carriage rides

The latest push for a ban started in June, when 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, visiting the city from India, died after jumping from a runaway horse carriage during a ride with family members. His death, which appeared to be the first fatality in a horse carriage accident since they were introduced in Central Park, reignited the debate over whether carriages, a romantic throwback to the city's past, have a place in a modern metropolis.

Mahajan's family has appeared at City Hall, in person and through videoconference calls from India, begging the city to finally end the rides.

“We are shattered, our whole family shattered. The pain does not go away,” his father, Deepak Mahajan, told city council members via a videocall during a hearing for the bill last summer, saying his son leapt from the carriage to try and help his mother, who was flung from her seat, after the horse bolted. “Every morning we wake up and think of nothing but the loss of our son.”

For decades, animal welfare activists and other critics have decried the carriage industry, arguing horses shouldn't be hauling tourists around busy streets and Central Park while having to navigate bustling traffic and gawking passersby. In the past, horses have collapsed, gotten startled and run off, hitting cars or other objects, with each accident resulting in fresh calls for a ban.

“The tragic and preventable death of 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan made clear that the status quo is no longer acceptable. Horse-drawn carriages have long been part of New York City’s history, but in an increasingly busy Central Park, this tradition has become a growing public safety liability,” Menin said in a statement.

The industry and its supporters have long cast the rides as a way for visitors to experience the New York they know from classic movies and television.

Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse danced into one of the carriages in “The Band Wagon.” Robert Redford and Jane Fonda rode one in “Barefoot in the Park.” Macaulay Culkin escaped bandits in a carriage in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

“Taking a horse and carriage ride in New York City is one of the most iconic things to do in New York City and people from all over the world know about us and travel to New York to go to a carriage ride in New York,” Conor McHugh, a longtime carriage driver, told the Council earlier this year.

Mayors have faced pushback in efforts to ban rides

Efforts to close down the industry have been met with pushback from unions and influential supporters, often resulting in tiresome political fights that have seen mayors throw up their hands over nagging worries about putting carriage drivers out of work and what to do with the horses if they can no longer work.

Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen said the Council's bill has “no meaningful economic relief for workers” and that Menin “used the tragic death of a tourist to contrive a public safety crisis.”

“This is disgraceful political opportunism, and Zohran should not simply go along with it, particularly when immigrant families’ livelihoods are being destroyed. This entire situation is reprehensible,” he said in a statement.

The proposal as written would require the mayor's office to develop a workforce transition plan for drivers, and includes a measure that would allow the city to consider some kind of compensation for industry workers. Carriage owners could not sell their horses off for slaughter, according to the bill's language, which requires that horses be disposed of in a “humane manner.”

“I think we have a civic responsibility to ensure that we are not leaving anybody out to dry,” Mamdani told reporters Wednesday.

The mayor's predecessor, Eric Adams, called for ending the industry during the waning days of his administration, but the proposal went nowhere. The mayor before that, Bill de Blasio, had pledged to eliminate the rides on day one of his administration but abandoned the crusade after heavy opposition from unions and a media blitz involving actor Liam Neeson.

Over the years, the city has placed various safety regulations around the industry, including a requirement that the horses get at least five weeks of vacation a year outside of city limits with daily access to a pasture. The horses are inspected by a veterinarian twice a year, and the maximum age they can work at is 26, according to city regulations. And they don't work when it is hotter than 89 degrees.

Answer all four trivia questions correctly for a chance to win one of the following:

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The team announced the decision Wednesday while also moving on from several members of his coaching staff. His contract is set to expire at the end of this month.

“We are thankful for Joe’s hard work, his passion for the game, and for his commitment to the Houston Astros,” team owner Jim Crane said in a statement. “He represented the Astros and the Houston community in the most positive way. We wish he and his family the best moving forward.”

The move comes after the Astros overcame a plethora of injuries to win the AL West with an 81-81 record and become the first team in Major League Baseball history to reach the postseason without a winning record. They were then swept by the Chicago White Sox in two games at home in a Wild Card Playoff series.

The Astros will now be searching for a new manager and general manager after former GM Dana Brown was fired in August.

Also on Wednesday, the Astros parted ways with catching instructor Tim Cossins, game planning coach Tommy Kawamura, third base coach Tony Perezchica, assistant hitting coach Anthony Iapoce and assistant pitching coach Ethan Katz.

The team said bench coach Omar Lopez has been offered an opportunity to remain in the Astros organization in a new role.

The Astros are retaining pitching coach Josh Miller, first base coach Dave Clark, major league field coordinator Jason Bell, hitting coach Victor Rodriguez and longtime bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte.

It was the first managerial job for Espada, who was in his third year after being promoted from bench coach after Dusty Baker retired following the 2023 season.

Houston won the AL West in Espada’s first season in 2024 but was swept by the Detroit Tigers in the wild card playoff round. That series loss ended a streak of seven straight appearances in the AL Championship Series, and that included four World Series trips and titles in 2017 and 2022.

The Astros went 87-75 last season to finish second in the division and miss the playoffs, snapping a streak of eight consecutive appearances.

The 51-year-old Espada went 256-229 as Houston’s manager.

He’s been with the Astros since joining them as the bench coach in 2018. Espada, who was born in Puerto Rico, was the second Latino manager in franchise history, joining Cuban-born Preston Gomez, Houston’s manager from 1974-75.

Espada began his coaching career in the Marlins organization, working in the minors until moving to the big league club as the third base coach in 2010.

He remained with the Marlins through the 2013 season before taking a job as a special assistant to New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. He joined the Yankees coaching staff in 2015 and worked as their infield and third base coach through the 2017 season before coming to Houston.

Espada was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the 1996 amateur draft and spent nine seasons in the minors. He advanced to Triple-A as a player, but retired at age 29 after failing to reach the majors before beginning his coaching career.

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Infantino will on Thursday chair the first session of the 37-member FIFA Council since his secretive and divisive World Cup sell-off plan was revealed — and dropped within days — 11 weeks ago.

The confrontation with his most determined opponents from Europe and North America comes ahead of a Nov. 18 deadline for candidates to enter FIFA's presidential election, which will be held four months later in Rabat, Morocco.

It is the biggest crisis of Infantino’s near 11-year presidency. He was cruising toward a fourth and final term through 2031 when the World Cup final was played July 19 near New York. The private investor plan was revealed nine days later.

Deep into an untypically long agenda, a four-part section promises to be fiercely debated in the basement meeting room at FIFA’s slate and glass headquarters next to Zurich’s zoo.

The four items to be reviewed: Infantino’s quickly withdrawn proposal to sell a permanent stake in tournament rights to private investors led by Joshua Kushner, paying FIFA's 211 member federations from its $5-6 billion reserves, FIFA disciplinary procedures and its governance standards.

FIFA didn't immediately reply to a request for comment about the planned scope and goals of the discussion.

At the core of all four subjects is Infantino’s increasingly executive, one-man leadership style that led his own — and now departed — chief operating officer Kevin Lamour to call the intended FIFA Forward Enterprise spinoff “the project of one person.”

However, it is unclear if most of the 211 federations want to vote out a president who has sent them multiple more millions of dollars from FIFA, a not-for-profit under Swiss law that they effectively own.

FIFA is proposing more cash to member federations

FIFA presidential elections have since 2007 been scheduled in the year after a men's World Cup.

The timing allows sitting presidents to steer a bonus from World Cup revenues, which in Sepp Blatter's time was $250,000, during the official election period. For the 2027 FIFA election, the official period started in April this year at the Congress held in Vancouver.

At the council on Thursday, Infantino is expected to propose the 211 members each get $15 million extra in the 2027-2030 commercial cycle, on top of their $10 million already promised.

That offer appears to counter UEFA and allies proposing last month that FIFA could afford to give each member a one-off $10 million payment from cash reserves. The UEFA-backed offer was in the context of suggesting FIFA had no need to raise $4.2 billion from private investors in exchange for a 20% permanent stake in the FFE subsidiary that would run commercial rights to all World Cups and Club World Cups.

That $4.2 billion would have funded Infantino's offer in July of $20 million to each member federation who approved the sell-off plan by a mid-September deadline.

UEFA filed court applications in the U.S. in August seeking authorization of evidence discovery from FIFA and Kushner's investment firm for a possible criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland. UEFA lawyers claim the $4.2 billion could be a “fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit.”

FIFA asked U.S. courts to reject the discovery requests, and accused UEFA of running a “ smear campaign. ”

FIFA's peace prize to Trump is also on the agenda

How and why a peace prize was created by Infantino and given to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw last December in Washington, D.C. is part of formal complaints by the Norwegian soccer federation to FIFA's ethics and governance officials.

It is also an additional item on Thursday's agenda, which German media reported was at the request of FIFA Council member and German Football Association President Bernd Neuendorf.

Infantino's ties to Trump, and potential conflicts of interest, also fueled scrutiny on FIFA disciplinary decisions for the World Cup that allowed Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and U.S. forward Folarin Balogun to keep playing after being shown red cards.

A third case revealed in media reports last week also raised questions about how Congo — whose soccer federation has close ties to Infantino — was not disciplined despite goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi being ineligible for four qualifying games he played in.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

According to an arrest report, Francisco Edilbert Carrillo, 38, of Homestead, was taken into custody Monday after a deputy stopped a suspicious white van that had reportedly been spotted leaving an avocado grove.

Investigators said the deputy was on routine patrol at about 3:30 a.m. when he received a call about the van that was “blacked out” leaving Dunagan Grove, located near Southwest 216th Street and Southwest 147th Avenue.

The deputy located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop near 15730 SW 232nd St.

As the deputy approached the van, he noticed two large black bags filled with avocados on the front passenger seat, according to the report.

When questioned, Carrillo allegedly told the deputy that he had been at the grove because he was trying to repair his vehicle’s lights.

He also claimed the avocados had been collected the previous night and not that day, authorities said.

According to the arrest report, the owner of the grove arrived at the scene and estimated that Carrillo had approximately 750 pounds of the fruit in his possession.

The amount was equivalent to one full bin of avocados, valued at approximately $1,000, investigators said.

Authorities noted in the arrest report that the grove was designated agricultural property and had posted no-trespassing signs.

When a detective arrived at the scene, Carrillo invoked his rights and declined to provide a statement, according to the report.

He was then arrested and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

According to the arrest report, Carrillo faces charges of trespassing on horticultural property and third-degree grand theft.

As of Wednesday morning, Carrillo was being held at the Metrowest Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.

Jimmy Butler. Paul George. James Harden. Tobias Harris. Al Horford.

Nothing more now in Philly than throwback jerseys in the back of some teenager's closet.

Josh Harris bought the team in 2011 and not even a year later the Sixers made the first splash of his tenure with a blockbuster deal when they landed All-Star big man Andrew Bynum in a trade with the Lakers.

Bynum with his achy knees never played a game with the Sixers. Butler, Harden and most of the rest certainly had their moments, yet they not only failed to win a championship in Philadelphia, but they also could not get the Sixers even out of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

That doesn't even count the draft night disappointments since Harris' first draft in 2012. Ben Simmons. Jahlil Okafor. Markelle Fultz. Michael Carter-Williams.

The trade-deadline blockbusters and late-night deals all seemed at the time like the Sixers were swinging for the fences.

The moves were just bunts compared to the summer of 2026.

The Sixers are as all-in as they've ever been in playing for a championship after they traded for Jaylen Brown, an NBA Finals MVP and champion with the Boston Celtics, and landed LeBron James as a free agent on the NBA veteran minimum salary.

If it doesn't work now, with perhaps the best starting five in the NBA, when will it for the Sixers?

“I wouldn't say it didn't work out,” Embiid said of the second-fiddle failures. “Obviously, we didn't win. It's hard to win when you get a group of guys together for one year, two years, maybe.”

The 76ers only have to look at their last championship in 1983 to know that sometimes going outside the organization is the right call. Take 1982, when the Sixers signed reigning NBA MVP Moses Malone to a six-year free-agent contract. Malone won MVP honors again in his first season with the Sixers and helped lead stalwarts Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones and Andrew Toney to an NBA title in 1983.

Brown and James will try to do the same in Year 1 and avoid joining this recent list of stars who left Philadelphia without a ring:

James Harden

Former Sixer executive Daryl Morey had his heart set on Harden and landed the feared Beard from Brooklyn at the February 2022 trade deadline. He had been one of the league’s top players for the previous decade, having won three scoring titles and the 2018 league MVP award.

Harden essentially forced his way with trades out of Houston and Brooklyn and soon added the Sixers to the list.

His low moments with the 76ers came in the 2023 playoffs when the Sixers blew a 3-2 lead to the Celtics. Harden was 0 for 6 on 3s in Game 2 and Game 6 losses. He scored only nine points in Game 7, and he went scoreless in the second half.

Harden got into a contractual dispute in the offseason that lingered into training camp, and he was traded in October 2023 to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Tobias Harris

The Sixers made another deadline deal in 2019 to land Harris from the Clippers. Harris had a modest career, and the Sixers were already his fifth NBA team at the time of the deal. Feeling the pressure to keep Harris after trading away a slew of draft picks, the Sixers signed him to a five-year, $180 million contract that summer.

Harris never made an All-Star team over those five years, and he never delivered in playoff crunch time. His low moment came in a 2024 playoff loss to the Knicks. Harris, who averaged 17 points in the regular season, went scoreless in 29 minutes for the Sixers in a Game 6 loss that ended their season.

Paul George

George was indeed the chosen one for the Sixers in the summer of 2024. He signed a four-year, $212 million free-agent contract after the nine-time All-Star spurned the Los Angeles Clippers. With the move — and a coinciding extension with All-Star Tyrese Maxey — the franchise was feeling like they had assembled a championship-level Big Three.

George's low moment in Philadelphia was a 25-game suspension last season for flunking a drug test that put a permanent blemish on his career. George returned to have a solid postseason for the Sixers against the Celtics, which may have been his greatest contribution.

The deal wasn't a total loss. The Sixers were able to use George as the offseason anchor in a trade with the Celtics to obtain Brown.

Jimmy Butler

Butler was an exciting arrival for the Sixers in November 2018 when they got a four-time All-Star in a trade with Minnesota.

Butler, Embiid and Simmons were christened a Big Three — one of many attempted by the Sixers over the last 15 years — and the team was instantly considered a serious threat to win it all.

Butler finished the season with the Sixers before going to Miami. Butler was frustrated with the Sixers' organizational structure and clashed with former coach Brett Brown. Butler felt he needed the ball in his hands and was irked in the playoffs — when the Sixers lost a semifinal series to Toronto in seven games — when he switched primary playmaking roles with Simmons.

His moment in Philadelphia actually came in 2022 when he returned with the Heat. After Miami eliminated the Sixers in the playoffs, Butler yelled as he walked off the court, “Tobias Harris over me?!"

Honorable mentions to Horford, Bynum — whose wasted season kickstarted the rebuild known as “The Process” — Danny Green, Josh Richardson and, well, the list goes on.

The 76ers hope the list of fiascos ends with James and Brown — and with a parade down Broad Street.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 inside Lummus Park in Miami Beach.

According to Miami Beach police, officers were flagged down by a man who told them he was walking along the boardwalk inside the park when he saw the suspect, identified by authorities as Roberto Hernandez, 56, unzip his pants, pull out his genitals and began masturbating.

Police said the witness recorded the act with his phone and presented the footage to the officers, who noted the proximity of the bench Hernandez was sitting on and nearby shower stations used by beachgoers.

Another witness told officers that he was with his wife and two children, ages 1 and 3, rinsing off the children at the shower station when he looked up and saw Hernandez “staring directly at the children while masturbating,” and that he “could clearly see the defendants penis as he was caressing it in an up and down motion,” according to an arrest report.

Officers said they took Hernandez into custody without further incident.

Jail records show he is facing charges of indecent exposure while observing a child and possession of an open alcohol container.

As of Wednesday morning, Hernandez was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $2,650 bond.

Deputies say Shakiria Ross was last seen at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday near the 2700 block of Northwest Ninth Place in unincorporated Fort Lauderdale.

They said she was last seen wearing a grey and white shirt and grey pants.

Ross is approximately 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighs about 190 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes, according to investigators.

Authorities said that Ross’ family confirmed that she has autism.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to contact BSO Missing Persons Detective Chris Blankenship at 954-321-4268 or the BSO non-emergency number at 954-764-4357.

Most schools, colleges and universities are closed and thousands of medical appointments have been canceled because of the one-day strike, which was called to pressure Prime Minister Micheál Martin to intervene in the talks, which have been stalled since June.

Speaking at Mater Hospital in Dublin, the head of the main public employees union, Forsa, blamed the government for failing to address the pay demands of workers.

“The government needs to respond to our members today, right across the country,” said Kevin Callinan, Forsa’s general secretary. “The struggles they’re having with the cost of living, the sense of a breach of trust that’s happened with the Department of Public Expenditure. They’re the issues that need to be faced up to by the government now.”

Consumer price inflation accelerated to 4.1% in the 12 months through September, the highest rate since January 2024, Ireland’s Central Statistics Office said last week. Housing costs jumped 9.5% in the period and transportation expenses rose 7.5%.

Conor Carroll was on the picket line Wednesday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, a coastal town south of Dublin. The hospital porter said that the dispute was all about the cost of living.

“Every time you go to the supermarket you feel it,” Carroll told The Irish Times. “Everything’s gone up, even the cost of eating. And whatever you’re earning doesn’t feel like enough these days.”

The government had tried to head off the strike by highlighting its commitment to put an additional 1.2 billion euros ($1.34 billion) into public sector pay.

Martin said Wednesday that he was open to being an “honest broker” to resolve the pay dispute.

The government’s budget decisions provided “a very strong foundation” for public service pay talks, he said, adding that he detected “goodwill all round.”

“I think the foundations are there for a very substantive engagement between unions and government, and we certainly will be doing everything we possibly can,” Martin said.

On the tourism-dependent island, motorcycles and cars waited outside stations and spilled onto nearby roads as motorists scrambled for fuel. The lines have been reported since Sunday.

Officials stressed that the shortages were caused by domestic distribution problems rather than a lack of fuel supplies or turmoil in global energy markets.

“This is purely a distribution issue,” said Laode Sulaeman, director-general of oil and gas at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. “A fuel tanker was delayed, but it has now arrived and 24-hour deliveries have been underway since yesterday.”

Sulaeman said that a tanker carrying fuel to Bali suffered an anchor problem while preparing to unload cargo, delaying deliveries to the island’s main fuel terminals. Rough seas and bad weather also slowed shipments to the Sanggaran terminal in Denpasar and the Manggis terminal in eastern Bali.

The disruption was compounded by strong demand for government-subsidized Pertalite gasoline, which is significantly cheaper than nonsubsidized fuel. Panic-buying by motorists worried about shortages further strained supplies at some stations.

At several gas stations, attendants posted signs reading, “Sorry, no fuel available,” while drivers and motorcyclists waited outside closed facilities for new deliveries. The shortages have frustrated residents and business owners on the resort island, where transportation is critical for daily life and tourism.

“This is really a waste of time. We should be productive, but instead we’re stuck in line,” said Made Marlianti, who said she had spent about seven hours waiting for fuel under the hot sun.

Fashion store owner Febi Marsha said that authorities should have managed the situation more effectively before it escalated.

“Fuel is available, but supplies are limited,” Marsha said. “The queues should be managed properly to prevent this from happening.”

Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday from several locations showed long lines of motorcycles, idle fuel pumps and security personnel, including soldiers, deployed to help manage crowds.

Bali Gov. I Wayan Koster said that fuel stocks at storage depots remained sufficient, but deliveries to gas stations were slowed by delayed tanker arrivals and road congestion. He urged residents not to panic, saying additional supplies were being distributed across the island.

State-run energy company Pertamina said that it was closely monitoring supplies after the arrival of a tanker carrying 18 million liters (4.8 million gallons) of Pertalite and 2.5 million liters (660,000 gallons) of Pertamax, a higher-octane nonsubsidized gasoline.

The shortages come as the country faces broader challenges securing fuel imports amid disruptions to global shipping routes linked to tensions in the Middle East. Despite the growing fiscal weight on the state budget, President Prabowo Subianto has held subsidized pump prices firm through the end of the year to contain inflation and shield household purchasing power.

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Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta.

Miles se desplazaban por el centro de Bogotá gritando consignas contra el gobierno: “¡Abelardo, fascista, usted es el terrorista!” mientras alzaban banderas del pueblo palestino, de Colombia y de los principales sindicatos.

El expresidente Gustavo Petro, quien terminó su mandato en agosto, convocó a manifestarse alegando que De la Espriella ha dado señales de buscar reducir el salario mínimo, lo que a su juicio provocaría un incremento de la pobreza.

La marcha también fue convocada por algunos sindicatos, incluido el de maestros, contra medidas de De la Espriella que “modifican decretos para precarizar el trabajo docente, privatizar la educación y limitar el derecho a la protesta”, indicó la víspera en un comunicado la Central Unitaria de Trabajadores.

Este será el primer gran pulso en las calles para De la Espriella, quien ha dicho que no tolerará desmanes y que la víspera publicó un decreto que modifica el protocolo del uso de la fuerza por parte de la policía durante las protestas.

La nueva norma permite la intervención policial sin agotar necesariamente el diálogo, según el decreto. A su vez indica que puede retomarse el diálogo después del empleo de la fuerza, siempre que las “acciones violentas” hayan cesado.

“Hay medidas como el decreto expedido el día de ayer que son autoritarias”, dijo a The Associated Press Percy Oyola, presidente de la Confederación General de Trabajo que protestaba en el centro de Bogotá. “Esta es una movilización pacífica, la sostendremos así para evitar enfrentamientos, esperamos que la provocación y la infiltración no provenga de actores que pretendan dar esa imagen de justificar una agresión”, agregó.

Algunos de los manifestantes cubrían sus rostros con telas y máscaras para evitar ser identificados mientras ayudaban a guiar la protesta por las calles cerradas.

“Siento que se viene una onda de violencia tenaz y de estigmatización hacia nuestro derecho a la protesta. La verdad da un poco de miedo y aterroriza un poco el panorama, pero hay que estar en pie de lucha”, aseguró a AP Julián Téllez, un artista de 26 años que sostenía un cartel que decía “Abelardo es un tigre de papel”, en referencia al apodo del presidente.

El gobierno argumenta que con las modificaciones en el protocolo busca garantizar los derechos de quienes participan en la protesta de manera pacífica.

“En Colombia se respeta la protesta pacífica, pero no se toleran la violencia, el vandalismo ni los bloqueos que atropellan los derechos de millones de ciudadanos”, aseguró De la Espriella el martes en X.

La modificación del protocolo generó especial preocupación en los movimientos sociales y sectores de izquierda que temen un uso excesivo de la fuerza y recuerdan la violencia registrada en las multitudinarias protestas de 2021 en las que algunos miembros de la fuerza pública resultaron implicados en lesiones y muertes de manifestantes.

La congresista Jennifer Pedraza, crítica del gobierno, demandó el decreto ante el Consejo de Estado —el máximo tribunal de la administración pública— pidiendo que se anule por considerarlo “regresivo e inconstitucional”.

At least half the survey questions could be axed. The cost-saving change is part of an ongoing effort to slim down the 69-year-old National Health Interview Survey, which for years has been suffering from declining response rates.

As many as a quarter of wheelchair users and more than a third of people who are blind or deaf could be miscategorized as not disabled because of the shorter survey, according to some advocates and researchers. That could leave the government unable to recognize the health needs of many disabled Americans, or the damage caused by changes to Medicaid or other health insurance programs, they say.

The cuts are being ironed out and officials predict the whittling won't be as severe as what's been suggested in earlier proposals.

Questions that have been proposed for removal deal with memory, fatigue, arthritis, difficulty walking and climbing stairs, as well as others about the use of hearing aids, canes, wheelchairs and scooters.

“We just won't know any of that anymore,” said Scott Landes, a Syracuse University sociology professor who researches people with disabilities.

Officials are still determining exactly how much cutting will take place. Currently, the survey has 490 health questions for adults. U.S. officials expect that the 2028 questionnaire will have about 200 to 225 questions, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Stephen Blumberg, who oversees the survey.

U.S. Census Bureau workers conduct the survey every year on behalf of the CDC. It’s a $40 million annual project, and around 30,000 households answer the questions each year.

Their answers have shaped the public’s understanding of topics including how common chronic fatigue syndrome is, how many people get X-rays, what proportion of U.S. children suffer seizures, and how many Americans have health insurance. The survey’s responses also are the foundation of how we measure the nation’s progress — or backsliding — on problems such as obesity and smoking.

Fewer people are interested in participating in such surveys. And the National Health Interview Survey is particularly daunting, as it can take an hour or more and has traditionally involved an in-person interviewer asking the questions.

The planned redesign should cut it to about a half hour, Blumberg said.

“People are busy. They're more protective of their privacy, and some don't trust the government to protect their data and use it only for statistical purposes,” he said. “Fewer people see sharing information with the government as their civic duty.”

The survey was first conducted in 1957, and has been updated every 15 to 20 years. The latest update was put into the field seven years ago, prompting some advocates to ask why it was being changed so quickly.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Office of Management and Budget were behind dramatic staff reductions, research funding overhauls and other federal health agency changes under the current Trump administration. But neither ordered this redesign, Blumberg said.

Rather, the factors driving the current redesign include tightening budgets and difficulties fielding enough workers to do so many in-person interviews — which was affected last year by a federal hiring freeze.

Another factor: The Census Bureau is reconfiguring its data collection platforms for the 2030 census in a way that affected the health survey, he said.

Related to all that is a proposed change in how the health survey is conducted. Instead of starting with in-person or telephone interviews, people will receive an invitation to fill out the survey online or to fill out a paper questionnaire. That's because in-person interviews have proven difficult with the proliferation of gated communities, locked buildings without door attendants and doorbell cameras, according to officials.

However, Census Bureau staff will visit homes for a smaller second round of surveying, Blumberg said.

A notice about the survey redesign appeared in the Federal Register in August, opening a public comment period that runs through Oct. 20.

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The move provided desperately needed good news for a franchise mired in a decade-long postseason drought with an interim general manager, a former captain in limbo and an unsigned restricted free agent.

The 28-year-old DeBrincat has established himself as a productive offensive player in the NHL with 298 career goals and 603 points. He led the team and set a career high with 85 points last season and matched his career high with 41 goals, becoming the first player to have at least 40 goals for the Red Wings since Marian Hossa in 2009.

DeBrincat leads the Red Wings with four goals and eight points this season but they have lost five of their first six games. Detroit hosts Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Chicago selected DeBrincat in the second round of the 2016 draft. He was an All-Star with the Blackhawks during the 2022 season and was traded to Toronto the following offseason, The Red Wings acquired the Farmington Hills, Michigan, native from the Ottawa Senators in 2023 and he was an All-Star in his first season in Detroit.

DeBrincat's extension is a positive development for a franchise that has had a string of negative news.

Detroit demoted former general manager Steve Yzerman in July, giving him an advisory role to owner and CEO Chris Ilitch, and named Shawn Horcoff interim GM after failing to hire one during a search.

Dylan Larkin asked for a trade during the offseason and after the team did not move the the 30-year-old center, he was stripped of his captaincy. Larkin was booed when he was introduced before the season-opening game while he was not in uniform, recovering from an upper-body injury.

When the Red Wings were preparing to start the season earlier this month, defenseman Simon Edvinsson was seen training with a team in his native Sweden. The 23-year-old restricted free agent had nine goals and 25 points in 72 games last year, his second full season in the NHL. Detroit drafted him No. 6 overall in 2021 and he has 19 career goals and 60 points in 175 games.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Los modelos de pronóstico están prácticamente vacíos para las próximas semanas. Eso podría permitirnos llegar casi a finales de octubre sin ningún sistema importante.

El Golfo y el extremo oriental del Atlántico, las excepciones de esta temporada

Como explicamos en el boletín del lunes, la actividad tropical en la cuenca del Atlántico es hasta ahora la tercera más baja desde que hay registros satelitales. Si la temporada termina a finales de noviembre sin más huracanes, será la única desde que existen registros confiables, en 1950, con un solo huracán.

Oficialmente, la última temporada con un solo huracán fue la de 1925. Pero en esa época no había vigilancia satelital las 24 horas ni aviones de reconocimiento, así que ese conteo es dudoso. Un estudio de 2021 publicado en la revista científica Nature Communications concluyó que en esos primeros años pudieron pasar inadvertidos hasta 4 huracanes por temporada.

Esta temporada, la actividad tropical ha sido menor fuera del Golfo y, sobre todo, en el oeste del Atlántico, donde los huracanes suelen alcanzar su mayor fuerza. Aparte de Isaias y el Golfo, los únicos puntos activos han estado en los extremos del este del Atlántico. Allí se formaron varias tormentas tropicales de corta duración.

En cambio, el Pacífico central y oriental registra hasta ahora su temporada de huracanes más activa desde que hay registros. La actividad ha sido especialmente intensa alrededor de Hawái, donde este año impactaron directamente tres huracanes: Lala en agosto, y Lowell y Nolo en septiembre. En apenas dos meses, el estado 50 del país enfrentó el equivalente a unas tres décadas de amenazas de huracanes.

Aunque no se espera ninguna tormenta cerca de Hawái en las próximas semanas, el Pacífico todavía no se apaga. Se pronostica que Simon afecte la península de Baja California, en México, a finales de esta semana. Además, Trudy podría convertirse en otro huracán de gran intensidad y afectar la costa del Pacífico mexicano a principios de la próxima semana.

According to the Plantation Police Department, officers attempted to stop the driver who was riding the electric motorcycle in the Plantation Acres area on Saturday.

Body camera video obtained by Local 10 News on Wednesday shows the moments that the suspect fled on the motorcycle but was quickly apprehended by officers.

Investigators said the electric motorcycle was stolen from Plantation in September. Police did not specify whether it belonged to a business or an individual.

The teenager, whose gender and identity have not been disclosed at this time, was arrested and faces charges of grand theft, driving with a suspended license, fleeing and eluding police, and resisting arrest, according to investigators.

Police said they transported the suspect to the Juvenile Assessment Center.

Team president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced the move Wednesday. Mattingly led the team to a 79-55 record and a spot in the postseason after he replaced the fired Rob Thomson in late April. The Phillies nearly blew a four-game lead for a wild card in the final week of the regular season, then lost in three games to the Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card Series.

The Phillies were 9-19 when they fired Thomson in April after he led the Phillies to four straight playoff appearances, including the 2022 World Series, and consecutive NL East titles.

Dombrowski and the Phillies were rebuffed twice by former Red Sox manager Alex Cora. Dombrowski was spurned by Cora when he made the move to fire Thomson and again after the season ended, leaving him in both cases with Mattingly.

The 65-year-old Mattingly was hired last offseason to serve as a bench coach and had another year left on his contract. With an MLB work stoppage on the table in December, leaving at least parts of next season in doubt, Mattingly is the safe and familiar choice to oversee a roster that includes Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and one of the top rotations in baseball.

Dombrowski has yet to hold his annual end-of-season press conference — he and Mattingly will speak Thursday, the team said. The Phillies were eliminated from the playoffs on Oct. 1.

The Phillies' September swoon prevented them from lining up their pitching against Atlanta because it took until Game 162 to clinch a playoff spot.

Philadelphia forced Game 3 against the Braves with three dramatic solo home runs late in Game 2. But in the end, the Phillies were eliminated from the postseason for the fifth consecutive year as they chase their first World Series title since 2008.

The Phillies’ core of Harper, Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have made five straight playoff appearances and averaged 91 wins per year during that stretch. They have yet to win a championship and have been eliminated further and further from that goal each season since reaching the 2022 World Series.

The following season, Philadelphia exited in the National League Championship Series, and the next two years saw losses in the Division Series. A wild-card exit this season marked another step in the wrong direction.

Mattingly was one of three interim managers in baseball last season. Andy Green of the New York Mets and Chad Tracy of the Red Sox each were midseason replacements who eventually had the interim tag removed.

A six-time AL All-Star in his playing career with the New York Yankees, Mattingly is the father of Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Turns out two of his longtime Ryder Cup teammates are providing some inspiration.

For this week’s DP World India Championship, McIlroy has brought along a new look — baggy golf pants.

After all, Tommy Fleetwood has been wearing them for a while.

“I have watched and I have admired Tommy Fleetwood over the past year,” McIlroy said, with a smile, on Wednesday's DP World Locker Room show about his style that has generated plenty of chatter in New Delhi this week.

“And in my everyday life, when I don’t have to wear what is my golf uniform, I wear a lot of wide-legged pants. It is the in-thing, the fashionable thing.”

But how, McIlroy was asked, do they feel to play golf in?

“These hit a little low, maybe a little short … I understand they are maybe not as well-fitting as they need to be,” he said, “but they are a work in progress.”

Also in the works for the Northern Irishman is a replica of what he calls his “performance trailer” that he uses in the United States to aid his fitness and recovery during and between PGA Tour events, in an effort to gain an edge over rivals.

Now, he wants one for when he plays on the European tour, too.

McIlroy said that idea came from tennis great Novak Djokovic but also fellow golfer Justin Rose.

“I decided to pull the trigger on it when Justin won in Memphis last year,” McIlroy said. “He’s 45 years old, playing great, contending in major championships, and at that time I was 36. I was like, I want to play really well for the next 10 years — I feel like I need to do something like this.”

McIlroy hopes to have that up and running by the summer of 2027 — by which time, who knows, he might have a record-tying eighth Order of Merit title that crowns the year’s No. 1 player on the European tour.

There are four events remaining in this season’s Race to Dubai and McIlroy will play in three of them, starting in India.

He is third in the standings, behind Patrick Reed and Eugenio Chacarra, but there's little between the three players and plenty of points on offer in the season-ending events in India, South Korea, Abu Dhabi and finally Dubai.

While Reed has stumbled of late thanks to an injury-prompted withdrawal at the BMW PGA Championship and a missed cut at the Spanish Open, Chacarra is finishing fast by climbing above McIlroy thanks to a tie for third at the French Open and a tie for second in Spain.

“It’s still anyone’s game,” Reed said Wednesday.

The American said he was swinging freely after the shoulder injury he sustained at Wentworth. He didn't play in France or at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and returned to shoot 73-71 in Spain, failing to make the weekend.

“For me, I was itching about getting back and getting out and playing,” Reed said. “Did I come back too early? Who knows. At the end of the day the good thing is I can’t hurt it worse, and because of that, I have the confidence and the comfort level to come out here and execute and perform at the highest level.”

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See AP’s full golf coverage here

There is no launch date yet for the Arthur M. Blank Crest Cup, which will have a prize pool of $1.5 million. The single-elimination competition will serve as a national championship and a pathway to qualification for the CONCACAF W Champions Cup.

“We’re working very closely with both the NWSL and the Gainbridge Super League to figure out what is the optimal time to do this,” U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said. “Obviously, we want to put it into play as soon as possible, but we also want to be respectful of each league’s calendar and how do we best go forth and do this. And I’ve got to say, I’ve been very impressed with both leagues and how much they’re leaning in and collaborating and cooperating to make this happen.”

Parlow Cone said the competition could be open to other clubs, including amateur teams, much like the men's U.S. Open Cup.

“We’re looking at the option for lower division professional teams being able to join, as well as amateur women’s teams being able to join, and what that could and should look like, but we’re also not of the thought that the tournament can’t evolve. So maybe we start with the NWSL and GSL, and then evolve and engage the other teams,” she said. “We’re announcing this in real time as we are still trying to put all the pieces together."

The growth of women's soccer has spurred club competitions in recent years. Internationally, the women's Champions Cup is in its second year, and the FIFA Women's Club World Cup is set to start in 2028.

The aim of Crest Cup is to capitalize on the popularity of the game, which is expected to grow with the World Cup next summer in Brazil. The United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica have a joint bid for the 2031 tournament.

The tournament also aims to give high-level, meaningful competition for club teams, while spurring player development.

“As we gear up for the World Cup in 2031, I think this is a great timing in order to create another competition, because most of the players and the coaches and the teams in our ecosystem, they only get that international exposure if they make their national teams, or if they’re lucky, one or two teams to be able to play in the CONCACAF tournament. But this is another way to get more players interleague competition that could then lead to international competition in really meaningful games,” Parlow Cone said.

Blank has long been a supporter of U.S. Soccer. The federation recently opened the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Lafayette, Georgia. Blank owns Major League Soccer's Atlanta United and an expansion NWSL team, Atlanta City FC, set to start play in 2028.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Forecast models are mostly blank for the next few weeks, which could get us through most of the remainder of October without any significant systems.

Gulf and far eastern Atlantic the rare exceptions this season

As we discussed in Monday’s newsletter, tropical activity across the Atlantic basin so far is the 3^rd lowest of the satellite record and if the season concludes at the end of November with no additional hurricanes, it will be the only season of the reliable record (since 1950) with only one hurricane (the last season to record only one hurricane was officially back in 1925 but without 24/7 satellites and aircraft reconnaissance, that count is dubious; a 2021 study in the scientific journal Nature Communications found as many as 4 hurricanes could’ve been missed annually during this early period).

Tropical activity has been most reduced this season outside of the Gulf and over the western Atlantic where hurricanes often hit their stride. The only hot spots of activity outside Isaias and the Gulf have been in the far corners of the eastern Atlantic where several short-lived tropical storms formed this season.

On the other hand, the central and eastern Pacific is notching its most active hurricane season on record to date, with especially significant activity around Hawaii this year which saw direct impacts from three hurricanes – Lala in August and Lowell and Nolo in September. This amounted to roughly three decades’ worth of hurricane threats to our 50^th state in a matter of two months.

Though no storms are expected to be near Hawaii over the next few weeks, the Pacific isn’t powering down just yet, with Simon forecast to affect the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico later this week and Trudy gearing up to be another major hurricane with possible impacts to the Pacific side of Mexico by early next week.

Established in 1798 by Thomas Rule as an oyster bar when Europe was in turmoil in the aftermath of the French Revolution, Rules has survived the British Empire, the Blitz and even plans for a new road layout that would have seen it demolished.

Its menu expanded to traditional British fare and the restaurant welcomed generations of high profile figures from Charles Dickens to Charlie Chaplin, David Bowie to Madonna. King Edward VII would even rendezvous with his lovers there.

Owner wants Rules to endure the test of time

Now, the four-decade owner of the building that houses Rules, J-P Mayhew, has made the selfless decision to donate 34-35 Maiden Lane in bustling Covent Garden in central London to the National Trust, itself a British institution hailing back to 1895.

“There are few restaurants in the world that have endured the test of time like Rules,” Mayhew said Wednesday. “The Trust will protect this place in a way that no one else could, safeguarding its bricks and mortar, its famous interior and its invisible atmosphere, too.”

The charity, which seeks to save important sites while opening them up for everyone to enjoy, said that the 11 million-pound ($14 million) donation would secure the future of a building where “kings dined and writers and politicians plotted.”

Along with the four-story building, the donation includes items such as visitor books, menus, caricatures, photographs, stained glass and signs. The gift also includes the annual rent from the ongoing restaurant business, which will go into conservation work each year.

The trust described it as a “rare example of living heritage” where both the historic structure and the original use of the building — a restaurant — remain intact.

“This place is an outstanding piece of living history, with its corners where kings dined and writers and politicians plotted, and the traditions it kept alive through wars and upheaval,” said Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust. “It has defied the odds to be standing here today, doors still open and treacle sponge still on the menu.”

Rules' special atmosphere is a treat for theatergoers

Going into the restaurant is like stepping back into a London that's long gone, with the interiors plush and colorful. The menu is rich and in many cases old-school English — fans of steak and kidney pies and guinea fowl and of course the desserts, such as sticky toffee pudding and apple crumble, are unlikely to be disappointed. The restaurant can accommodate around 90 guests, many of whom come before or after a visit to one of the many theaters and cinemas nearby.

There are rooms named after poet John Betjeman, who gave an impassioned speech in defense of the restaurant's “invisible atmosphere” when London's then governing authority planned to expand the nearby Strand thoroughfare in 1971 that would have led to the demolition of Rules.

There's also a room named after one of the restaurant's most loyal customers, writer Graham Greene, who had birthday meals there and featured it in his novel “The End Of The Affair.”

The restaurant’s proprietor Ricky McMenemy, who has worked there since 1989, will become a commercial tenant of the National Trust.

“As an independent business, it gives us both the security and peace of mind that our home will be in very good hands and be protected and secure going forward,” he said. “Having already established a very amicable working relationship with the Trust, we look forward to another two centuries in this, our home.”

The adjustment translates to $75 extra per month for the nearly 72 million people who receive monthly Social Security benefits and about 7.3 million beneficiaries who get Supplemental Security Income.

The announcement comes as inflation adds pressure on household budgets and businesses and as midterm elections are weeks away.

The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for retirees and disabled beneficiaries is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers, up to a certain annual salary. That is set to increase to $192,300 in 2027, from $184,500 in 2026.

The agency's commissioner, Frank Bisignano, said in a statement that the adjustment will give recipients “greater financial stability.”

Older adults feel the bite of rising costs

Some older adults feel the increase is a drop in the bucket as inflation has eaten away at monthly savings. The government reported Wednesday that inflation accelerated in September, with the consumer price index rising 3.7% in September compared with a year ago and gas prices have spiked in the wake of renewed fighting between the United States and Iran.

Nancy Altman, president of the Social Security Works advocacy group, said the latest inflation data shows that “as important as the Social Security COLA is, it is not keeping up with prices.”

Lorrie Ufkin, a 71-year-old retiree who lives outside Rochester, Minnesota, said the COLA will not put a dent in her healthcare costs, which are set to increase after the Trump administration concludes at year's end a temporary Medicare Part D subsidy program that has helped offset premiums. Ufkin said that her premiums and drug cost are expected to rise, although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has projected a modest increase for most people.

The COLA “doesn’t even meet what they’re going to do for changes to Medicare,” she told The Associated Press.

She said one of the medications both she and her husband take will go from $11 per month for each prescription, to $200 per month, after Republican administration changes made to older Americans' healthcare programs. She said that was “catastrophic.”

Senior advocacy groups say the COLA is a strong reminder of the financial straits of many older people.

“There’s a lot on the line financially right now for older Americans — one in five have no retirement savings, and more people feel financially insecure this year than last. That makes Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment critically important,” said AARP CEO Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan.

Jaime Jakubczak, a 68-year-old resident of Buffalo, New York who retired early at 55, has recently gone back to work to make ends meet, specifically to afford rising property taxes. He said the COLA is insufficient because it is offset by high inflation and a proposed 3.9% property tax increase in his town.

Jakubczak called the 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment “a pittance," given how high food, healthcare and gasoline prices have become across the country.

“We were getting ahead a little bit with the COLA based on inflation, but the inflation is so high that it doesn’t offset what our COLA allowance is," he said.

Most older adults believe the COLA isn’t adequately keeping up with inflation, according to an AARP poll from September. That poll found that about three-quarters of those 50 or older disagreed with the idea that a 3.5% COLA in 2027 would be enough to keep up with rising prices.

Social Security faces a looming funding shortfall

The Social Security Administration faces a looming bankruptcy date if a funding shortfall is not addressed by Congress.

The June 2026 Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report states that Social Security’s combined trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034. After that, incoming revenue would cover about 83% of scheduled benefits.

While a permanent solution for shoring up the benefits program has not been passed into law, lawmakers on the Hill have called for new measures to replenish the trust funds.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, in June proposed lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap, which is a maximum amount of earnings taxable. Treating all income the same "would generate substantial revenue that would extend the solvency of Social Security for another generation,” they wrote in The New York Times.

The move is controversial because Republicans have traditionally criticized calls to raise taxes on the wealthy.

The Peterson Foundation estimates that lifting the payroll tax cap would add roughly $3 trillion into the program over the next 10 years.

Both the Trump and Biden administrations signed into law new benefits for retirees, which boosted their finances, but simultaneously accelerated the insolvency of the old-age benefits program.

The Trump administration, as part of Republicans’ tax and spending bill, gave a temporary tax deduction for people 65 and over, which applies to all income — not just Social Security. But those who aren't able to claim the deduction include the lowest-income older adults who already don’t pay taxes on Social Security, those who choose to claim their benefits before they reach 65 and those above a defined income threshold.

Additionally, Democratic President Joe Biden in 2024 repealed two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that previously limited Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people, including largely former public workers.

If that capsule description makes “Lincoln in the Bardo” sound like a grim night at the opera, it’s actually far from that, according to its creators.

“It does seem quite heavy,” said Royce Vavrek, who crafted the libretto for composer Missy Mazzoli from George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel. “But it’s also so effervescent, quite hilarious at times. There’s such heartbreak, and such joy.”

The inspiration behind both the novel and the opera is the concept of the bardo, which in Tibetan Buddhism is the period between physical death and rebirth.

They're dead, but they don't know it

The ghosts populating Georgetown’s Oakhill Cemetery refuse to accept the circumstances — often abrupt or violent — that ended their lives.

They refer to their coffins as “sick-boxes,” and only when they are able to acknowledge their true state can they find peace, vanishing in a spectacular explosion of fireworks for which Saunders (in what he calls “a little bit of a nod to James Joyce”) invented the term “matterlightblooming.”

Through the course of the opera we learn many of the characters’ life stories, which range from inspiring to tragic to ridiculous.

“The opera honors that life is not all doom and gloom,” said Lileana Blain-Cruz, who is directing the work for its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. “People have desires and hungers, and we’re silly and we’re funny. There’s something wonderful about encountering the fullness of life in all these characters.”

Into this netherworld come Willie Lincoln, a victim of typhoid fever, and his distraught father, who pays a late-night visit to his son’s crypt and cradles the boy’s body in his arms. By the end of the opera, Willie has accepted the fact that he is dead, and Lincoln leaves the cemetery, ready to take up his burden guiding the nation through the Civil War.

Writing music for a dead child

For Mazzoli, the biggest challenge in composing the score was the fact that it deals with the death of a child.

“When I’m writing, there’s a period of years where I’m alone with these characters,” she said. “I really tried to inhabit the character of this boy, but it’s hard to enter that place every day.”

She solved the problem by focusing on the end of the story, when Willie realizes that since he is dead he is freed from earthly constraints.

“He sings this incredible aria where he says ‘all is allowed me now,’” Mazzoli said. “‘Now that I’m dead I can go down to the party, I can fly out the window, I can hang from the chandelier, I can drink rum.’

“He’s found this beautiful way of looking at it, and he sort of awakens the other dead people in the cemetery to this,” she said. “I had to find this positive slant so I wouldn’t be crushed by the sadder parts of the story.”

A first for soprano Christine Goerke

The opera opens Oct. 19 with Met music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting and will run for nine performances. Baritone Peter Mattei stars as Lincoln, and, in a bit of gender-switching, soprano Christine Goerke is the Reverend and counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is Miss Elise Traynor.

Goerke, one of her generation’s leading dramatic sopranos in operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss, said she was thrilled when Mazzoli told her she had her in mind to play the Reverend.

“I have waited my whole life to have a role written for me,” she said. “It’s the most meaty, spectacular role.”

Vocally, it encompasses her full range (“There’s a moment where I go from high C down two octaves!” she said.) And it’s dramatically challenging as well. Unlike the other ghosts, the Reverend knows he is dead but resists his fate because he’s had a vision that he’s doomed to eternal damnation. In the end, he makes a heroic sacrifice that may redeem him.

Mazzoli’s score has its moments of playfulness, starting with the prologue in which the chorus members blow into kazoos.

“I’m interested in non-virtuosic instruments in virtuosic settings,” she said. “I’m sure there are people who are really good at the kazoo, but anybody can pick it up and blow into it and make a noise. And I like that in the context of the Met, and in combination with really skillful singing.”

Blain-Cruz and her production team have made sure there’s plenty for the eye to feast on, from pyrotechnics to puppetry, to a black mustang named Zeus who carries a Lincolnesque figure back toward the White House at the final curtain.

This is the sixth collaboration between Vavrek and Mazzoli and comes close on the heels of the world premiere of “The Galloping Cure,” which got rave reviews in Edinburgh and will have its U.S. premiere in San Francisco next season. Met general manager Peter Gelb promises there will be more Mazzoli at the Met in years to come.

As for Saunders, he’s not quite done with “Lincoln.” He’s written the screenplay for a feature film version directed by Duke Johnson that combines live action and stop motion and will star Tom Hanks in the title role.

Numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected over the weekend. The worst of it is expected Sunday and Monday with 30-40 mph wind gusts. Some downpours could sit and back-build along the coast, leading to a flooding threat. Stay updated through the rest of the week as we fine tune the details on this high impact storm system.

The agency's report on Wednesday said that global oil demand is predicted to drop 2.5 million barrels a day year-over-year in the fourth quarter and fall 2.6 million barrels a day on average this year. Diesel is expected to account for 25% of the drop.

The IEA foresees a partial recovery of 2 million barrels a day next year, but that still puts global oil use 0.6% below 2025 levels.

Global production climbed 2.5 million barrels a day month-over-month to 102.3 million barrels a day in September, driven by Gulf producers. OPEC+ gains of 2.1 million barrels a day were led by Saudi Arabia, while the United Arab Emirates drove non-OPEC+ increases.

Oil supply is expected to drop by 5.8 million barrels a day to 100.7 million barrels a day this year before climbing by 7.7 million barrels a day next year. The agency said that renewed Gulf attacks “leave the recovery fragile.”

While gas prices in the U.S. have moved lower in recent weeks, they remain higher than a month ago. Gas prices averaged $4.33 per gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA, up slightly from a month ago.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.6% to $106.37 a barrel Wednesday morning. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.2% to $95.30 a barrel.

Brent has been pinballing between $96 and nearly $110 over the last month on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.

On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that he had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately supply the U.S. more than 300,000 tons of diesel. That would be followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November, then 4 million more tons at some point after that. But energy policy experts say that the new pact is unlikely to make a dent in painfully high prices at the pump or elsewhere.

The price of diesel has shattered records in recent weeks, ratcheting up inflation for a broad swath of consumer goods.

Trump's announcement came a week after the Group of Seven wealthy democracies said that they plan to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products in the coming weeks, starting with “substantial” amounts of diesel.

The release follows on from a March announcement that IEA member countries would release 426 million barrels of oil and products to stabilize the oil market. European Union countries committed about 92 million barrels, a promise weighted toward refined products made from crude such as diesel.

Russia's Federal Security Service said the man, who works for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was suspected of gathering information about Russia's defense capability on behalf of a Japanese intelligence agency. Russia's Foreign Ministry identified the reporter as Yuki Imai.

The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet KGB, said it arrested the man on Sakhalin Island as he was preparing to leave Russia.

Tuesday’s arrest is the latest dispute between the two countries, whose tensions have spiked after President Vladimir Putin ’s visit in August to Iturup, one of four disputed Kuril Islands, a Moscow-controlled Pacific archipelago that also is claimed by Japan.

Hokkaido Shimbun said the man had been reporting in Russia on a journalist visa and was due to leave the country on Tuesday. The newspaper did not disclose his name.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Tuesday that Imai had been charged with espionage. She accused Tokyo of using Japanese journalists in Russia to gather information to undermine Russian security, calling it “regrettable.”

Zakharova said Japan’s policies toward Russia and its military buildup threatened Moscow’s security interests in the Far East, adding that “the incident will further dampen the atmosphere in Russian-Japanese relations.”

In Tokyo on Wednesday, Kimitake Nakamura, head of the European Affairs Bureau at Japan's Foreign Ministry, summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to protest the arrest and Moscow's announcement without an explanation to Japan's government, according to a ministry statement.

Nakamura demanded humane and fair treatment of the journalist and for Japanese officials to be allowed to have contact with him, the ministry said.

He also reiterated Japan's territorial claim over the Kuril Islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territory. He protested a recent visit to Iturup by officials of a Chinese regional government and companies, calling it “unacceptable.” The Sakhalin regional government announced the visit Tuesday.

Nozdrev said he would relay Japan's position to Moscow, according to the Japanese ministry.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara earlier said the journalist's health was unknown because Japanese officials have been unable to contact him. Russia had not responded to Tokyo's requests for access, he added.

“We'll do everything we can for the protection of the Japanese citizen,” he said.

Though Japan has “many problems” with Russia, the two countries are neighbors and “we need to communicate,” Kihara said. Japan recognizes the importance of properly managing relations and will take appropriate steps to serve its national interests, he added.

The Russian region of Sakhalin includes Sakhalin Island and the four southernmost islands of the Kuril chain, which Moscow controls and Tokyo claims.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi protested Putin’s August visit, calling it a further blow to relations already strained by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Tokyo imposed additional economic sanctions on Moscow over the war.

The Soviet Union seized the Kuril Islands from Japan in the final days of World War II. The territorial dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.

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This story corrects to say the journalist was due to leave Russia on Tuesday, not Monday.

Jordahl was 30 when she started working for the city. Her last post was as the coordinator of the Urban Area Security Initiative special projects with the department’s division of emergency management.

Jordahl, a University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center patient, died on March 4, 2020. She was 48. Her husband, Joseph R. Fernandez, then Broward’s fire chief and now Key Biscayne’s fire chief, survived her.

Joseph “Jo” Zahralban, then Miami Fire Chief, honored her nearly two decades of service during Breast Cancer Awareness Month for years after the debut of the 2021 rescue truck decorated by Brazilian-American artist Romero Britto.

Chief Robert Hevia continued the tradition. On Tuesday, the pink rescue truck rolled into the WPLG-Local 10 News studios in Hallandale Beach with Jordahl’s message about being proactive with self-exams and mammograms.

“We are honoring her and everyone else who has lost their lives to breast cancer,” Lt. Pete Sanchez said.

The truck also included a sign: “Driving Hope In The Breast Cancer Fight.”

The tribute in memory of Jordahl hits home for the Local 10 newsroom’s family. Local 10 News reporter Janine Stanwood and Local10.com digital journalist Andrea Torres have both shared about their experience with the disease.

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Local 10 News health specialist Kristi Krueger is featuring patients and their doctors during her weekly episodes of Proactively Pink.

Related Proactively Pink stories

• Watch the episode with Nell Trimble, a registered nurse diagnosed with lobular breast cancer
• Watch the episode with Amanda Marchant, a mother of four diagnosed after her first mammogram at 40

Some of Stanwood’s stories

• ‘The power of women’: Janine Stanwood on marking Breast Cancer Awareness with Artfull Angels
• Local 10’s Janine Stanwood shares her breast cancer survival story

The German airline outbid Air France-KLM, the only other company in the race, Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said.

The government set aside 5% of the company for its more than 9,000 employees to buy shares, with the government remaining the main shareholder.

The deal still requires approval by European Union regulators. The government may conclude TAP’s complete privatization by 2028, Montenegro said.

TAP says it carried 16.7 million passengers last year. Its more than 90 aircraft fly to over 90 destinations, 52 of them in Europe, 16 in Central and South America, 14 in Africa and 11 in North America.

Its routes to Brazil are particularly prized, analysts say.

The airline made a net profit last year of 4.1 million euros ($4.6 million), according to the company’s published accounts.

Two previous attempts to sell off stakes in the airline, in 1998 and 2015, failed, with governments taking the company back into Portuguese state ownership.

El veredicto del martes fue mayormente favorable para Hill. El jurado falló en su contra en solo dos de los 11 reclamos.

El jurado, integrado por tres hombres y tres mujeres, falló a favor de su esposa, Keeta Vaccaro, de quien está separado, en dos reclamos por agresión.

Antes de que comenzaran las deliberaciones, los abogados de Vaccaro retiraron voluntariamente otro de los cargos.

Al final, el jurado le otorgó a Vaccaro $500,000 en daños compensatorios, pero no le concedió daños punitivos.

En sus alegatos finales, los abogados de Vaccaro habían pedido hasta $1 millón por cada cargo.

Minutos después de conocerse el veredicto, los abogados de Hill dijeron estar satisfechos con el resultado.

“Desde el principio sentimos que esto era un intento de sacar dinero, y creo que hoy el jurado lo confirmó”, dijo el abogado Michael Gottlieb.

Los abogados de Vaccaro señalaron que, aun así, el jurado falló a su favor en dos de las acusaciones de agresión.

“El jurado deliberó durante tres horas y media y determinó que el señor Hill cometió violencia doméstica contra su esposa”, dijo el abogado Evan Marks. “Agredió a su esposa y el jurado le otorgó daños compensatorios”.

El veredicto pone fin a un juicio civil de alto perfil, que incluyó varios días de testimonios sobre el matrimonio de la pareja y acusaciones de maltrato reiterado.

Mientras tanto, el divorcio de Hill y Vaccaro todavía no ha concluido.

Según las autoridades, el martes por la tarde agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Palm Beach y de la Patrulla de Carreteras de Florida localizaron una camioneta pickup Chevrolet negra. La manejaba el sospechoso de un robo por la fuerza.

El robo ocurrió el lunes por la noche en Lake Worth. Según las autoridades, el sospechoso había pedido una pizza.

“Le dice al repartidor: ‘Solo tengo $100. ¿Tienes cambio?’. Cuando el muchacho sacó el cambio, lo agarró y forcejearon por el dinero. Se lo quitó”, dijo el sheriff de Palm Beach, Ric Bradshaw. “Eso se llama robo por la fuerza”.

El repartidor pudo describir el vehículo del sospechoso y dar el número de placa. Con esos datos, los agentes localizaron el vehículo el martes.

“Intentaron detenerlo en una parada de tránsito y fue entonces cuando el tipo salió huyendo”, dijo Bradshaw. “Se fue por la I-95 y la FHP intervino”.

Según la Patrulla de Carreteras, comenzó una persecución. Terminó cuando el conductor de la camioneta chocó en una zona no incorporada del condado de Palm Beach, en Jog Road, entre Woolbright Road y Grand Isle Drive.

Según las autoridades, entonces comenzó un enfrentamiento entre el hombre que manejaba la camioneta y los agentes.

Según la Oficina del Sheriff, los agentes intentaron detener al sospechoso con métodos no letales. Al final, el sospechoso recibió un disparo mortal en el lugar mientras sostenía un objeto en la mano.

“Todo ese tiempo les estuvo gritando a los agentes: ‘Van a tener que matarme’”, dijo Bradshaw. “Ellos sí intentaron tres veces con métodos no letales, pero no le hicieron ningún efecto”.

Según las autoridades, tras el enfrentamiento los equipos de emergencia intentaron salvarle la vida al sospechoso, pero murió a causa de sus heridas.

Según las autoridades, no tenía ningún arma bajo la toalla o camisa que sostenía en la mano.

Las autoridades dijeron que el sospechoso, cuya identidad no se ha revelado, tenía un largo historial delictivo. Incluía robo de vehículo con violencia, agresión, posesión y venta de drogas, secuestro, entrada ilegal a una propiedad, alteración del orden público y fuga tras un accidente con daños graves.

El Departamento de Cumplimiento de la Ley de Florida (FDLE) investiga el tiroteo.

Nota del editor: Un primer informe de la Patrulla de Carreteras de Florida indicaba que el sospechoso manejaba un vehículo robado. Después, la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Palm Beach corrigió ese dato y aclaró que el sospechoso manejaba su propio vehículo. Esta nota y su titular se editaron para reflejar la nueva información.

House Democrats are preparing an ambitious 100-day agenda focused on delivering their campaign promises and say they'll be united in trying to make life more affordable and conducting vast oversight of the Trump administration — if the party seizes majority control in next month’s elections.

The Latest:

Senate Democratic staffers will act as observers in the Nov. 3 election

Democrats say they are sending more than 100 trained staffers to nine states to act as observers in the election next month, part of a new program they announced earlier this year.

The program is based on similar efforts by House Republicans and follows the passage of a 2024 law that allows congressional leadership in both parties to send election observers around the country. The workers will observe polling locations and document any attempted voter interference, threats or attempts to meddle in elections, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday.

Schumer and California Sen. Alex Padilla, the top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, said they have stepped up as President Donald Trump has continued to insist that the 2020 presidential election he lost was stolen and tried to change voting procedures to favor Republicans.’

“Our elections are free and secure, but we cannot take that for granted,” Schumer said.

US Department of Justice threatens California with legal action over noncitizen voters

The DOJ’s letter to Secretary of State Shirley Weber says the department has provided officials in Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive with a list of names the federal government believes are likely noncitizens who were sent ballots to participate in the Nov. 3 election. California mails ballots to all registered voters.

The letter gives the state 48 hours to determine whether any citizens are included on the list.

It’s part of the Trump administration’s hunt for noncitizen voters this year, even though the problem is exceptionally rare. Over the summer, the administration claimed that Nevada had 1,500 noncitizens on its voter rolls. But after the federal government identified them to the state, the number of actual registered noncitizens turned out to be zero.

Trump says Japan is investing $21 billion in computer chip factories

Trump posted on social media that Japan was committing $21 billion as part of the construction of two computer chip factories by Global Foundries in Malta, New York.

The president also said that the U.S. government would receive shares in Global Foundries, just as it did for Intel in a further expansion of the administration’s policy of taking ownership stakes in private companies.

Global Foundries said in a statement that roughly $10 billion would accelerate construction of a chip factory to open in 2029 and the other $10 billion would fund a second plant.

The Biden administration in 2024 announced plans to give grants and loans to Global Foundries in 2024 as part of the CHIPS program to expand production.

Justice Department threatens California with legal action over claim of noncitizens on voter rolls

The Justice Department has threatened California with possible legal action over what it says are noncitizens believed to have received mail ballots for next month’s midterm elections.

A letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Shirley Weber from Trent McCotter, the acting deputy attorney general, says that the Justice Department has provided officials in Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive with a list of names the federal government believes are likely noncitizens.

The letter obtained by The Associated Press gives the state 48 hours to determine whether any citizens are listed. For individuals whose citizenship cannot be independently verified, the state is to instruct local election officials to segregate their ballots until their status can be determined. It warns that legal action may follow.

Neither the California Secretary of State nor the Los Angeles County Registrar immediately responded to requests seeking comment.

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Judge extends temporary restraining order on Trump ads

A federal judge on Wednesday said her temporary order blocking Trump’s controversial taxpayer-funded television ads from airing will now extend through Nov. 8, several days past the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon in New York said that would give the plaintiffs time to seek discovery from the government and request a longer-term preliminary injunction, which she’ll consider on Nov. 4.

The plaintiffs, including the government watchdog Common Cause, want to know why some of the pro-Trump political ads paid for by a $20 million Department of Homeland Security contract kept running on Monday, despite Rochon’s order Sunday siding with the plaintiffs, who challenged the ads as an illegal misuse of funds.

Government attorney Jeffrey Oestericher said Wednesday that he had theater tickets Sunday and didn’t take all the steps he could have to ensure compliance.

Hegseth credits Ukraine for drone innovation, but cites dependence on Chinese parts

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the U.S. military has gained knowledge about drone warfare from Ukraine, but noted the vulnerability of Ukraine’s dependence on Chinese parts.

“We’ve learned a lot from Ukraine, but you can’t use everything that’s in Ukraine because of all the Chinese components involved in it,” he said during a panel discussion at the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington. “So you’ve got to be able to ensure that we take the best of that and the lessons learned.”

Since Russia invaded more than four years ago, Ukraine has become a global leader in military drone innovation. But Ukrainian drone makers are highly dependent on electronics made by China, a key Russian ally.

Ukraine has concerns the Chinese government could severely restrict its access to these critical parts. It also worries that Russian defense companies needing these same supplies could be given preferential treatment by Chinese factories.

Sudden Starlink limits sap Ukraine drone power as Kyiv fears US intelligence squeeze

Ukrainian drones lost some of their fighting capacity after restrictions were suddenly imposed on the battlefield use of the country’s U.S.-made Starlink communication terminals, officials said Wednesday as Kyiv endured another night of missile attacks.

Ukraine also did not receive the usual advance warning from its Western partners of incoming Russian ballistic missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, triggering fears that the U.S. is starving Ukraine of vital intelligence.

Zelenskyy did not specify which partners he was talking about, and Trump later said the U.S. has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

But the developments have frustrated the Ukrainian military and deepened concerns that Kyiv’s relationship with Washington is unraveling.

Trump has sought to blame Zelenskyy for high diesel prices in the U.S., saying Saturday that it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.

Neither SpaceX nor the White House offered immediate comment.

Democrats may regain power, but Trump has ultimate say

Much of the House Democrats’ agenda, if they regain power, would depend on the size of the majority. Details also depend on the Senate, and whether it flips to Democrats.

“We cannot simply go back to the status quo,” said Usamah Andrabi, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, an outside group that supports the far-left progressives.

But Trump has veto power at the stroke of his pen.

“We’re going to do a lot and we’re going to be very busy,” said Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter, who hopes to become chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “We will not be able to fix everything overnight.”

Fix healthcare, stop the war, end the tariffs — and investigate Trump

Jeffries launched five working groups to tackle the affordability agenda, focused on healthcare, housing, groceries and goods, gas and utilities, and care-giving.

Each group is co-led by a progressive and a centrist — healthcare, for example, is run by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Terri Sewell of Alabama — with the goal of striking common ground on draft policies all House Democrats can support.

At the same time, Jeffries has tasked ranking Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees with preparing investigations focused on Trump, his family and his administration as part of a sweeping anti-corruption agenda. Impeachment, Jeffries has said, is neither on nor off the table.

“We need to lower the cost of groceries and gas. Two, we need to make healthcare affordable for every single American. Three, we’re going to hold the crooks accountable who’ve visited unprecedented corruption on the American people,” Jeffries said.

A Freedom Caucus of the far-left?

Republicans are portraying Democrats as beholden to a far-left socialist agenda as they try to hold onto their congressional majorities.

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he’s often asked if Democrats will be confronting their own version of the Freedom Caucus, referring to the far-right Republicans who often grind the House agenda to a halt.

“It doesn’t work that way,” Casar told The Associated Press in an interview. “The Freedom Caucus breaks things. But if you’re a progressive, you want to pass things.”

Hegseth faces shouts at Army conference discussion on drones

Protesters shouted at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military leaders on Wednesday as they spoke at a panel on drones during the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington.

The six protesters appeared to yell about the war with Iran as well as Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion military budget for next year.

The speakers acknowledged the disruptions but continued their discussion, which focused initially on a need to open more military contracts to smaller businesses to develop more drones.

Others in the audience chanted “USA, USA” to counteract them at one point, but for the most part, the panel continued its discussion as the protesters were removed one by one.

House Democrats plan a 100-days agenda if they win majority in midterms

House Democrats are preparing an ambitious 100-days agenda focused on delivering their campaign promises — making life more affordable and conducting vast oversight of the Trump administration — if the party seizes majority control in next month’s elections.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, in line to become House speaker if the party wins power, said Democrats will be united “right out of the gate” on reinstating Affordable Care Act tax breaks, reversing Republican Medicaid cuts, holding votes against the Iran war and undoing President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

“That’s our commitment to the American people, because the cost of living is way too high and far too many people who are working hard, playing by the rules, can’t thrive and can barely survive — and are drowning — in the Trump economy,” Jeffries said recently at the party campaign headquarters in Washington.

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ICE appeared to intentionally strike man with vehicle in Houston, prosecutor says

A Texas prosecutor says a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent appeared to use a vehicle to intentionally strike a man who took off running in Houston, and that an investigation opened by his office could result in criminal charges.

“The most obvious criminal charge is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, told FOX 26 Houston. “Meaning the car was used as a deadly weapon. And it certainly is what appears to have happened based on the surveillance footage.”

Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, needed surgery for a broken leg on Saturday. ICE spokesperson Tim Oberle said in a statement that he “ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck.”

Teare also is investigating the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, one of at least 10 deaths in ICE encounters during Trump’s deportation campaign.

Zelenskyy says Russia keeps striking Ukraine’s energy sites despite Trump ceasefire push

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced outrage Wednesday over Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in apparent defiance of Trump’s demand for a ceasefire.

Moscow’s forces pounded Ukraine’s power grid, as well as oil and gas facilities, for the third straight night, Zelenskyy said, after Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to avoid striking energy infrastructure 4 ½ years after Moscow’s forces invaded.

Zelenskyy has agreed to halt Ukraine’s monthslong campaign targeting Russian oil refineries, which caused fuel shortages for Russians. Ukraine’s last reported hit on an oil refinery was last Friday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that details of the energy ceasefire are still being decided. Meanwhile, Trump’s efforts to stop the fighting have made no progress.

Iowa faces reckoning over water quality, cancer rates in midterms

Water polluted by industrial agriculture runoff and high cancer rates have been the focus of debate questions, roundtable events and campaign advertisements for both Republicans and Democrats, up and down the ballot in Iowa.

The issue has historically been politically taboo in Iowa, where chemical fertilizers and animal waste from huge corn, soybean and hog operations get washed into drinking water sources. The political calculus has shifted amid restrictions on water use in the Des Moines area and a burgeoning “Make America Healthy Again” movement in rural communities.

“The real issue is the water and the nitrates,” Democratic Senate nominee Josh Turek told cancer patients.

The Republican congresswoman running against Turek, Ashley Hinson, said Iowans can feel safe because tap water meets federal regulations.

“I don’t think water quality is a partisan issue,” Hinson said as she gathered farmers, researchers and local officials to discuss the water problems.

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Senate Democrats increase spending in Michigan and Maine races

Senate Democrats are pouring another $6.7 million into two competitive Senate races, announcing Wednesday that they will spend an additional $3.7 million to support Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and $3 million to back Troy Jackson in Maine.

The Senate Majority PAC, which is aligned with Sena te Democratic leadership, is increasing its investment as both candidates face significant Republican spending advantages. Jackson is challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a longtime Democratic target, while El-Sayed is locked in a close race with Republican Mike Rogers for an open seat.

Senate Democrats have pulled back spending meanwhile from North Carolina and Georgia, where their candidates have money advantages against Republican opponents.

White House press secretary’s debut raises new questions about her job

Katie Zacharia, now the official voice of the world’s most powerful person, put the “brief” back in briefing during her initial White House press conference, reading from a prepared text before answering just four questions.

“I get to do what I was doing on the outside already, which was hoping to amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump’s incredible agenda for the American people,” Zacharia said.

Nowhere did she mention the task of disseminating accurate information to Americans.

How will Zacharia fare in coming days and weeks and, if her tenure lasts, months? That, like so much else, depends on one thing: Donald Trump.

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Pricey gas and rising AI costs likely pushed inflation higher in September

U.S. inflation accelerated last month as gas, clothes, and air fares got more expensive just as Americans prepare to vote in elections focused on affordability.

The consumer price index rose 3.7% in September compared with a year ago, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up from 3.4% in August. Monthly costs showed the biggest gain in five months.

The figures reflect the lingering impact of the Iran war on gas prices and surging investments in data centers and artificial intelligence. Core prices rose 2.6% in September from a year ago, up from 2.4% the previous month, well above the Federal Reserves’s 2% target.

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found just 17% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, and only 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, a new low.

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Trump says oil, gas and mineral exploration in Greenland is set to begin. It’s not that simple

Trump said “massive” oil, gas and mineral exploration is set to begin in “our new and beautiful Greenland ” early Wednesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what exploration or developments the U.S. president was referring to in his post, and Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, rather than a part of the United States.

Rising energy prices — a direct result of Trump’s war in Iran — are creating serious and sustained financial hardships for America’s working class ahead of the midterm elections next month. Trump’s comments Wednesday are likely aimed at addressing voters’ concerns before they head to the polls.

But despite Trump’s optimism, resource exploration and extraction in Greenland has stymied companies for decades thanks to the island’s harsh climate, lack of key infrastructure and difficult geology. Previous efforts to extract so-called rare earth minerals, as well as oil and gas, have never progressed beyond the exploratory stage.

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Judge extends order blocking Trump from banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters from White House

A federal judge on Tuesday extended an order blocking Trump’s administration from banning reporters for three news outlets from the White House, a pivotal operational development for the organizations as the extraordinary case — pitting the president against the media that cover him — makes its way through the legal system.

In a victory for media organizations at a time when tension between the White House and journalists is high, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that CNN, MS NOW and Politico are likely to succeed in their constitutional free speech and due process claims.

“Still,” he added in his late-night order, “no one should interpret the Court’s decision to suggest that President Trump’s concerns about accuracy and fairness in the media’s reporting are unfounded, or that the government is powerless when its true aim is to protect national security when classified information is unlawfully disclosed.”

But Kelly agreed with the plaintiffs that the national security arguments came after the fact and were unsupported by the administration.

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Kamala Harris adds stops to her final midterm campaign stretch. Her decision about 2028 comes later

Kamala Harris is building out her final fall campaign blitz on behalf of other Democrats, completing a midterm schedule that by Election Day will have taken her to multiple early presidential primary states on Democrats’ 2028 calendar as the former vice president mulls whether to seek the White House again.

Spanning from Oct. 21 to Oct. 30, Harris’ expanded closing stretch will now include New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Mississippi, along with a virtual event in Florida, according to a schedule her office shared first with The Associated Press. Harris already had announced late October stops in Georgia and Nevada.

Harris has said in multiple recent interviews that she’s focused on helping Democrats win in November. But she’s not ruled out another presidential campaign after losing the 2024 general election to Donald Trump.

Her late October tour focuses on nominees for governor and U.S. Senate, including pairings that put the first Black woman to serve as vice president alongside potential history-making candidates.

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Democrats eye opportunities as Republicans drop spending in some House races

Republicans were retreating Tuesday from a handful of battleground U.S. House races while Democrats were racing to raise money to boost candidates who seemed like long shots earlier this year.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, the leading House Republican super PAC, canceled spending in four races from the Midwest to the East Coast and increased its investment in 16 other races from Texas to Pennsylvania. Another super PAC allied with President Donald Trump is cutting back in a battleground district in the Las Vegas area.

Meanwhile, Democrats’ House campaign committee is eyeing openings in Republican-held districts and hoping to raise millions of dollars in the next week to fuel a late round of advertising that they say could net at least a half dozen more seats.

The shifting money in the final three weeks of midterm campaigns points to an increasingly defensive posture by Republicans, who have already trimmed their expectations in U.S. Senate races, and new aggression from Democrats, who are trying to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s weak approval ratings.

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Former Mayor Dana Goldman is trying to unseat the current mayor, Larisa Svechin.

“I’d like to say that I am the voice for change,” said Goldman, who served as mayor between 2021 and 2022.

She claims sidewalks are deteriorating and parks on the north end of the city need to be improved.

“Our streets are in deplorable condition, our sidewalks, maintenance and repair, the bathrooms,” said Goldman.

Svechin says the city is changing aging cobblestone blocks to cement.

“We’re on Collins Avenue, FDOT comes in anytime they want to do work, and they literally destroy the sidewalk and don’t tell us anything,” said Svechin. “So we’re not in control of everything, but where we can control it and where we can solve for it, we absolutely do.”

Svechin said the city is upgrading its parks and replacing old playgrounds with new facilities.

“We just recently opened a brand-new sports park with tennis courts and basketball courts, literally brand new,” she said.

Both candidates agreed that there is too much traffic, and they have the same idea to fix it.

They want to do away with timed traffic cameras and utilize AI based on actual road demand.

“I believe with AI and new technology, and the adoption of the county with signalization, we can improve that,” said Goldman.

Added Svechin: “I’m already working with barrier island mayors, together with Golden Beach, us, Bal Harbour, Surfside and Miami Beach, to get all of our signals corrected.”

Both candidates also acknowledged South Florida’s affordability problem.

Svechin said Sunny Isles Beach has the lowest millage tax rate in Miami-Dade County.

“There’s plans to continue our low tax rate, potentially decrease it even more,” said Svechin.

Goldman says parking rates are too high, with some parts of the city charging non-residents $10 an hour to park their vehicles.

“I’m promising we’re going to lower it,” said Goldman.

Svechin said the rates are lower for the city’s residents for a reason.

“Our residents pay the lowest parking rate, which is $3 per hour,” she said. “The parking rates that are more expensive are for non-residents, and the purpose of this is to allow our residents to be able to enjoy the city which they pay for.”

A third candidate on the Sunny Isles Beach mayoral ballot, Robert Spence III, did not respond to an interview request for this story.

Local 10 News’ Jeff Derderian spoke with Leslie Rimboeck, a survivor of sexual assault.

Rimboeck said she was a victim of domestic and sexual assault by her ex-boyfriend, who she says slammed her in the face with her own cellphone, an act that was captured on video.

“There are days I stayed in bed, I couldn’t get out of bed,” she said.

Prosecutors in New York are investigating allegations of gang rape at Cornell University after an initial investigation two years ago by school officials resulted in no charges being filed.

Local 10 News has uncovered that colleges and universities are required to report certain crimes to the U.S. Department of Education, including rape and fondling.

Think of it as a school’s ugly secret.

It’s certainly not numbers they promote in any brochure.

Local 10 News reviewed the most recent federally reported data, under what’s called the Clery Act, for colleges and universities in South Florida.

The data is from 2024 and showed there were 25 reported rapes between the University of Miami, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and Nova Southeastern University.

The University of Miami documented seven reported rapes and five cases of fondling, FIU had nine reported rapes and six cases of fondling, FAU reported three reported rapes and six cases of fondling, and NSU reported six reported rapes and five cases of fondling.

“That number, when you said it, gave me chills,” said Rimboeck. “There’s no doubt it my mind the number is way more.”

Rimboeck said the shame and embarrassment is real, and defense lawyers who try to “dirty you up” makes it extremely hard for women to come forward.

“At the time, you feel shame, you feel like it’s your fault, and you feel fear,” she said.

Jewish Community Services in Miami Beach has helped many women, including Rimboeck, a mother of two, and had a message for young women in school: don’t stay silent.

“It’s very hard for them to make sense of how things unfolded, why they are the victim,” said Jewish Community Services Program Manager Dana Hahn. “It’s very hard, and also that they may be blamed.”

Rimboeck hopes young women at schools in South Florida do speak out like she did.

Local 10 News reached out to the four aforementioned South Florida schools.

FAU and UM said they offer to help sexual assault victims report the alleged crimes to authorities if they wish. The other two schools did not respond as of the time of this story’s publication.

According to authorities, deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol troopers located a black Chevrolet pickup truck on Tuesday afternoon being driven by the suspect in a strongarm robbery.

The robbery happened Monday night in Lake Worth, when authorities said the suspect ordered pizza.

“He says to the pizza guy, ‘I only got $100. Do you have change for that?’ When the guy took out the change, that’s when he grabbed him and they wrestled for the money. He took it away from him,” said PBSO Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. “It’s called a strong-armed robbery.”

The delivery driver was able to give a description of the suspect’s vehicle and tag number, and deputies were able to locate that vehicle Tuesday.

“They attempted a traffic stop and that’s when the guy took off,” said Bradshaw. “It went down I-95 and FHP got involved.”

Troopers said a chase ensued, which ended when the driver in the truck crashed in an unincorporated area of Palm Beach County along Jog Road, between Woolbright Road and Grand Isle Drive.

That led to a standoff between the man behind the wheel of the truck and first responders, authorities said.

According to PBSO, deputies attempted to bring the suspect into custody using non-lethal tactics, but ultimately the suspect was fatally shot at the scene while holding an item in his hand.

“During this whole time, he was yelling at the officers, ‘You’re gonna have to kill me,’” said Bradshaw. “But they did try less-than-lethal (measures) three times, but it had no effect on him at all.”

Following the standoff, authorities said the suspect received life-saving treatment from first responders, but ultimately died from his injuries.

He did not have a weapon under the towel or shirt that he was holding in his hand, according to officials.

Authorities said the suspect, who has not been publicly identified, had a lengthy criminal history that included carjacking, assault, drug possession and sales, kidnapping, trespassing, disorderly conduct and hit-and-run with severe damage.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.

Editor’s Note: An initial report from the Florida Highway Patrol indicated the suspect was driving a stolen vehicle. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has since corrected that report, saying the suspect was driving his own vehicle. This story and headline have been edited to reflect the new information.

James Robertson, 63, declined to offer any last words before receiving a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead about 10 minutes later. It was a stark contrast to the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee two weeks ago, where she was rushed to the hospital after surviving two lethal doses of pentobarbital.

Robertson’s execution, the first in Florida since Pike, comes at a time of escalating attention on the death penalty in the United States. The Pentagon said last week that it would livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, drawing criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

“Florida has a sound lethal injection process and protocol,” Jordan Kirkland, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson, said at a news conference before the execution. Although he couldn’t speak to Tennessee’s lethal injection procedure, he said Florida would make sure its process was “humane and dignified.”

Florida executes people by injecting them with a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

Robertson wanted to be executed

Robertson had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for strangling Frank Hart while he slept in 2008, and waived all appeals. He told investigators that he did it so he wouldn’t have to live out his days in prison.

Hart was killed just eight days before he was due to be released, his daughter, Rebecca Hart, told reporters at Florida State Prison. She stressed that her father was not just a piece of Robertson’s story.

“When someone you love is taken from you in such a violent way, the world keeps moving, even when a part of yours feels like it has stopped,” she read. “Other people go on with their lives, but you carry your loss into every tomorrow.”

Robertson was 17 years old when he went to prison in 1980 for burglary and assault. Years of convictions for escape, battery and weapons while in prison kept adding time to his total sentence. Hart had been sent to prison in 2003 following a sexual battery conviction.

A rare reprieve leaves another Florida prisoner on death row

Robertson was supposed to be one of two executions carried out by Florida on Tuesday, but Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew a death warrant last week for William Lee Thompson. The Republican governor did not provide a reason but had temporarily stayed the execution last month pending a psychiatric evaluation.

Records show this was the first time DeSantis withdrew a death warrant. Thompson, 74, will remain on death row, and a new death warrant could be signed in the future. His attorneys say he has dementia and failing health, and they want him transferred to a medical facility.

DeSantis is the third Florida governor to sign a death warrant for Thompson. Bob Graham and Bob Martinez both scheduled executions for Thompson in the 1980s, but years of appeals and stays allowed him to avoid the electric chair, the state’s method of execution at the time.

Thompson was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery in the 1976 killing of 23-year-old Sally Ivester.

Florida has the nation’s busiest death chamber

DeSantis oversaw 19 executions in 2025, more than any other Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Robertson was the state’s 17th execution of 2026, with two more already scheduled, not counting Thompson.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has made few public comments about the unprecedented number of executions but explained previously that his goal is to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for the death sentences to be carried out.

William Reaves, 77, is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 20, followed by Jesse Guardado, 64, on Nov. 5. Reaves was convicted of fatally shooting a deputy after dropping a gun in front of the law enforcement officer in 1986. Guardado was convicted of robbing and killing a woman in order to buy drugs in 2004.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Besides leading all other states last year, Florida has carried out more than half the 31 total executions in the U.S. so far this year. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Tuesday’s verdict was mostly favorable for Hill, with jurors siding against him on just two of 11 claims.

The jury, which was made up of three men and three women, ruled in favor of his estranged wife, Keeta Vaccaro, on two claims of battery.

One additional count was voluntarily dismissed by Vaccaro’s side before jury deliberations began.

Jurors ultimately awarded Vaccaro $500,000 in compensatory damages, but no punitive damages.

Her attorneys argued during closing statements that as much as $1 million per count should be awarded.

Moments after the verdict was announced, Hill’s attorneys said they’re pleased with the outcome.

“We’ve always felt from the beginning that this was a money grab and I think that the jury validated that today,” said attorney Michael Gottlieb.

Vaccaro’s attorneys pointed out that the jury still ruled in her favor on two of the battery allegations.

“The jury deliberated for three and a half hours, and they determined that Mr. Hill committed domestic violence against his wife,” said attorney Evan Marks. “He battered his wife and they awarded compensatory damages.”

The verdict brings the high profile civil trial to a close after several days of testimony over the couple’s marriage and allegations of repeated abuse.

Hill and Vaccaro’s divorce, meanwhile, has not yet been finalized.

The hearing began with the three-judge panel collectively questioning the government’s attorney, Eric McArthur. Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard asked how the government's argument about an administration's authorities was “not federalization and therefore running up against" the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 U.S. law forbidding the use of the federal military for domestic law enforcement unless authorized by the Constitution or Congress.

McArthur, answering Judge Judith Rogers' question on the limits of a president's action, said, “I think the limiting principle in our position is the president has to be calling out the guard in aid of the civil authorities.”

Trump deployed the guard in August 2025 as part of what he said was a crime-fighting mission in Washington, D.C. The force, which rose to a peak of about 5,000 troops over the summer, has supported arrest operations, patrolled city streets and neighborhoods and participated in cleanup efforts.

Trump’s Republican administration says the deployment has contributed to a decrease in crime in the city, where crime was already on the decline before the National Guard arrived. Officials and activists in the overwhelmingly Democratic city say the deployment is a waste of taxpayer money and has normalized the militarization of a major American city.

Mitchell Reich, who was arguing for D.C., did not escape the hearing unscathed, with the panel concentrating on his argument that there are laws and guidelines that lay out a president's ability to call out the guard and there were circumstances when those steps would be unnecessary, including during an invasion or an insurrection.

“If there’s any kind of organized violence in the district, the president can deploy the guard for the purpose of suppressing the same,” he said.

The 90-minute hearing came months after a different three-judge panel paused a lower court’s ruling that Trump's deployment of the guard was illegal.

Three judges who issued the stay last December — two appointed by Trump and one appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat — said in a unanimous 32-page ruling that a number of factors favored the Trump administration, including the “disruption to the lives of thousands of service members,” as well as what it said was the president’s interest “in the protection of federal governmental functions and property within the nation’s capital.”

The three judges on the panel on Wednesday were nominated by Democratic presidents: Pillard by Obama, Rogers by Bill Clinton and Bradley Garcia by Joe Biden.

The case is about whether the president has the authority

At the heart of the court case, brought by D.C.'s attorney general, is whether the president has the authority to deploy the National Guard to the city, which, as a federal district, has limited autonomy over its own affairs. The U.S. Constitution gives federal lawmakers authority over the District of Columbia, while the Home Rule Act of 1973 lets residents elect a mayor, a council and neighborhood commissioners.

The city has argued that the mobilization is an illegal use of the military for domestic law enforcement, a point Reich made during the hearing.

Last December, the three-judge panel that paused the lower court's ruling said Trump might prevail in his argument that the president “possesses a unique power” to mobilize the guard in Washington.

Those judges found that the district “has not identified any ongoing injury to its statutory interests.”

Even if D.C. wins at the appeals court level, the Trump administration will undoubtedly go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has already shown deference to the president in a number of cases.

A legal expert looks at the arguments

Syracuse law professor William Banks said D.C. might have a slim argument under its home rule, questioning whether National Guard units can be deployed to the city when it isn’t authorized by local law.

But, he said, outside of that argument “there is no overarching federal principle that would bail out the district in this case."

Because D.C. is not a state and because the president is commander in chief, there’s a "tremendous amount of leeway and discretion for the president” to control or delegate control of the local National Guard and out-of-state units, Banks said.

A judge said Trump couldn't unilaterally deploy the DC National Guard

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb concluded last November that Trump’s military takeover in Washington illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement in the district.

Cobb, a Biden nominee, found that while the president does have authority to protect federal functioning and property, he can’t unilaterally deploy the D.C. National Guard to help with crime control as he sees fit or call in troops from other states.

The appeals court stayed the order and has allowed the guard to remain in place while the case is pending.

The mobilization, extended until January 2029 by the Defense Department, has taken on a sense of permanence, despite the court case.

The federal government awarded a $292 million contract to a private company to provide members of the Joint Task Force-D.C. with apartments. The numbers have grown as well, ballooning to around 5,000 during the height of the semiquincentennial celebration. As of last week, that number had dropped to about 2,900.

DC residents rally against the National Guard's presence

Before the hearing began, several dozen people rallied outside the courthouse to oppose the continuing presence of the military in the city.

David Barrows, a retired office manager and city resident, was dressed in a Trump costume. “It’s easier to boss around the people in Washington, D.C., because we don’t have any representation in either House or Congress. So we’re basically an abused people,” he said. “We pay the highest federal taxes in the land, and we get no representation in both houses. So we’re a cheated people, and we’re scapegoats for Trump.”

He also questioned the premise of the guard's presence: “There's no national emergency here in Washington,” he said.

Jennifer Pace, a longtime resident and former banker, said she suspected the case would continue through the courts.

“But I really want it to move forward so they can just go home,” Pace said. "I’m sure they want to go home, too, because it’s clear they’re bored. They’re just standing around.”

“Swords,” said performer Deborah Hochberger. “It’s the swords,” she chuckled as she prepared for her rehearsal.

We met The Royal Chessmen, a South Florida stage combat and acting troupe, at T.Y. Park in Hollywood.

The nonprofit group combines Renaissance-era entertainment, staged combat and history lessons. They perform or just meetup at different Ren-faires and Pirate Festivals all across the state of Florida.

Click here to find The Royal Chessmen on Facebook.

“We write all our own shows,” Hochberger explained.

Members aren’t just playing characters. They’re finding their people and drawing new audiences to the park through weekly practice.

The troupe is also now preparing for the upcoming Camelot Days Medieval Festival.

President Chris Toriello says the group will bring its characters, staged duels and adventure quests to crowds at TY Park on Nov. 7-8, 14-15 and 21-22.

Click here for more information on the Camelot Days Medieval Festival.

For some like Hochberger, it’s a family affair. She’s been part of the Royal Chessmen since she was 6 years old and has watched this group evolve.

Find the group on Instagram by clicking here.

Longtime member Barry Schwartz and his then-girlfriend spent years traveling to different festivals and events. They joined the group to get involved and took their relationship to new heights. They got married onstage, as part of the show. But the wedding itself was very real and the audience didn’t know.

The Royal Chessmen welcome newcomers of all ages and experience levels. The group generally meets Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at T.Y. Park.

Members also have access to group costumes, props and equipment.

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

The Indonesian Ulema Council, or MUI, the country’s highest and most influential body of Islamic scholars, demanded the cancellation of Bocelli’s scheduled performances at the UNESCO-listed Borobudur Temple in Central Java’s Magelang city on Oct. 31 and in the capital Jakarta on Nov. 3.

The council, which initially announced its opposition on Oct. 10, met with Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism to discuss Bocelli’s Romanza 30th Anniversary World Tour Indonesia, including the Borobudur performance at one of Indonesia's most iconic historical sites.

The council said its objection is in response to Bocelli’s past support for Israel, including his participation in a 2010 fundraiser in Los Angeles for the Israel Defense Forces and a 2022 concert in Tel Aviv.

“Giving a platform to a figure who has funded or supported military actions linked to humanitarian abuses in Gaza runs contrary to the values of the Indonesian nation and MUI’s religious guidance,” the council said in a statement.

Public sympathy for Palestinians is widespread in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, and the government has long supported an independent Palestinian state.

Tourism Ministry Secretary Bayu Aji said the discussions with MUI were aimed at reaching a consensus.

“The government’s stance is clear: we support Palestine, and there are directives from the MUI leaders that we will try to communicate further,” Aji said, ”But if the MUI has already made a statement, we will certainly be aligned with the MUI’s decision.”

At the local level, police in Magelang on Wednesday withdrew a recommendation to issue a permit for the Borobudur complex concert. Opposition from several Islamic groups also has intensified, adding pressure on the event organizers.

Neither Bocelli nor the concert organizers did not immediately issue a public response to MUI’s objections.

The Indonesia performances are part of Bocelli’s Romanza 30th Anniversary World Tour, celebrating "Romanza," the album that launched the singer to international stardom and included one of his signature songs, “Con Te Partirò.”

• Driver of truck fatally shot after Palm Beach County chase, sheriff says
• Pope Leo XIV diagnosed with lung cancer after surgery to remove part of right lung
• Jury in Tyreek Hill divorce trial rules in favor of ex-wife on 2 of 11 claims, awards her $500K

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

Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. The charges involve six women and alleged offenses between 1999 and 2009.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told jurors at Southwark Crown Court in London that the six women, who don't know each other, were assaulted by Brand in “a hotel room, workplaces, a toilet cubicle in a bar and at his home address.”

She said Brand at the time had an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sexual contact, and “women were simply a means to an end.”

The prosecutor said Brand could be funny and charming, “a flirt with a huge sexual appetite — childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met.”

“He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipulative. And, the prosecution say, he was a sexual predator,” Karmy-Jones said.

The jury will hear from Brand's accusers later in the trial

Brand listened intently from the dock as the prosecutor described each of the alleged incidents, including the earliest, in which Brand allegedly raped a woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party’s annual conference in 1999. Brand, then a rising stand-up comedian, was performing in a cabaret on the fringe of the conference in the English coastal town of Bournemouth.

Two years later, another woman alleges, Brand tried to drag her into the men’s bathroom at the office building where she worked.

“There can be little doubt as to what Mr. Brand’s intention was,” Karmy-Jones said.

A third woman alleges that Brand orally raped her in 2004 in the restroom of a London bar, telling her “Don’t be a spoilsport” when she asked him to stop.

The prosecutor said the other complainants include a woman who says Brand kissed and groped her at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005, leaving her feeling “dirty and disgusting”; and a then-21-year-old fan who says Brand anally raped her at his home after she met him at one of his shows in 2009.

She said the following year she exchanged text messages with Brand, telling him: “You treated me like an animal.” He replied: “I’m sorry.”

The final complainant says Brand demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin during the recording of an advertisement in 2009.

Karmy-Jones told the jury that none of the alleged victims reported the alleged assaults at the time, due to guilt, shame and concern that they would be blamed. They individually went to police after a 2023 television program broadcast anonymous claims against Brand, she said.

The prosecutor said that jurors would hear from the women later in the trial, and “I have no doubt you will find their evidence compelling.”

The first witness to give evidence was Mark Pinheiro, a former friend of Brand who accompanied him on the 1999 trip to Bournemouth. He said that the day after the alleged rape, Brand made them leave town abruptly and seemed “incredibly alert and incredibly afraid.”

“Whenever a police siren passed the car, Russell would cower down behind the side window so he couldn’t be seen,” Pinheiro said.

Brand’s lawyer, Ian Winter, questioned Pinheiro's recollection of events more than a quarter century ago.

Brand denies all the charges. In police interviews, he denied ever engaging in nonconsensual sexual activity.

Brand has shifted away from mainstream media to an online audience

Brand is on bail and arrived at court on Wednesday to a crowd of photographers and video journalists. He said he felt “blessed.”

“I feel, of course, concerned but hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved,” Brand said. “That’s my prayer.”

Known for risque stand-up routines and battles with drugs and alcohol, Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s, hosting television programs and his own BBC radio show. He appeared in Hollywood films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek" and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.

In recent years he has moved away from mainstream media, relocated to Florida and built a large online following with videos mixing wellness, conspiracy theories and discussions of his religious devotion.

The Associated Press doesn’t name victims of alleged sexual violence, and British law protects their identities from the media for life.

Despite Trump’s optimism, the harsh climate of Greenland — a self-governing territory of Denmark, rather than a part of the United States — as well as a lack of infrastructure have foiled all previous attempts to extract so-called rare earth minerals, as well as oil and gas. No efforts have ever progressed beyond the exploratory stage, and a moratorium on new gas and oil permits has been in place for several years.

“Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin in our new and beautiful Greenland!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform following a campaign event Tuesday in Wasilla, Alaska.

Trump was stumping for Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is seeking a third term to represent the state in an election against Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola.

Rising energy prices — a direct result of the Iran war, which began on Feb. 28 after the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes — are creating serious and sustained financial hardships for working class Americans before the midterm elections next month. Trump’s comments are likely aimed at addressing voters’ concerns before Election Day on Nov. 3.

Recent deal paved way for more US bases but no exploration rights

Last month, Trump signed an agreement with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland to strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic, following months of tensions with NATO allies over the U.S. president's repeated demands to take control of the semiautonomous Danish territory. It doesn't grant the U.S. any special exploration rights, but does place some limits on investments by non-NATO countries in strategic sectors.

The deal also paved the way for more U.S. bases in Greenland and eased tensions over Trump's repeated calls for Greenland to become part of the United States. The agreement would still apply if Greenland eventually chooses independence.

Trump has expressed his desire to acquire Greenland since 2019 and, during his second term, issued threats to seize the territory from Denmark, a NATO ally.

Naaja H. Nathanielsen, who represents Greenland in Denmark's parliament, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she wasn't very surprised — or concerned — following Trump's post.

“This is just the way the president decides to engage,” she said. “I think we have all come to expect something like that.”

Nathanielsen said that any current projects regarding resource extraction were still years away from potential success. She said that she believes Americans worried about the price of gas were the post's intended audience, rather than Greenlanders, before the upcoming election.

“I recognize the worry in the U.S., but I think it's not a quick fix,” she told the AP. “There's no Greenlandic barrels of oil on ground in any near future.”

Nathanielsen also said that she wasn't upset by Trump calling the island “our Greenland.”

“I think, of course, it’s somewhat disrespectful,” she said. “But you can also see it as a term of endearment if you wanted to be very generous. Right now, I don't think much of it.”

Representatives from Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as from Greenland’s prime minister and the island’s mining ministry, did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday.

Greenland has valuable resources

Greenland has large deposits of the rare earth minerals that are needed to make everything from computers and smartphones to the batteries, solar and wind technologies that will power the transition away from fossil fuels. China currently dominates the world's supply of these critical minerals and the Trump administration is seeking to break Beijing's chokehold on them.

The U.S. Geological Survey has also identified major potential offshore deposits of oil and natural gas.

But tapping these resources could be prohibitively difficult: The rare earth minerals are encased in rock, and the offshore oil and natural gas deposits are covered by Arctic ice. And in 2021, Greenlandic lawmakers said the island would not issue any new oil and gas permits because of the environmental impacts of oil extraction, and a desire to avoid further worsening of the global climate crisis.

Trump boasts about Greenland’s strategic spot in the Arctic

Trump's Truth Social post also touted Greenland's strategic location, saying that “from a Security Purpose in the Defense and Offense of both the United States of America, and Europe,” the island is “second to none.”

“Any future attack on the United States will have to come across Greenland, where our Defense will routinely knock down drones, missiles, or any other form of weapon not yet even conceived,” he wrote. “It gives us time, location, and sightline, like nowhere else in the World!”

The United States was prominent in Greenland for decades but, since 1945, the U.S. military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers on 17 bases and installations to roughly 200 soldiers on the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest. The base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

Trump said last month that the U.S. would “immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations,” including “building two very major military bases.”

Spanning from Oct. 21 to Oct. 30, Harris' expanded closing stretch will now include New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Mississippi, along with a Florida virtual event, according to a schedule her office shared first with The Associated Press. Harris already had announced late October stops in Georgia and Nevada.

Harris has said in multiple recent interviews that she's focused on helping Democrats win in November. But she has not ruled out another presidential campaign after losing the 2024 general election to Donald Trump.

“For the past twenty months, the American people have struggled as a consequence of the cruelty and corruption of this current administration,” Harris wrote in a fundraising email Wednesday to donors asking them to support her travels via her Fight for The People PAC. “Now is the time for us to be ruthless in delivering for the people: on affordability, on fighting corruption, and on making our voices heard.”

Her late October tour focuses on nominees for governor and U.S. Senate, including pairings that put the first Black woman to serve as vice president alongside potential history-making candidates.

Harris will open Oct. 21 in Nevada with Aaron Ford, the state's first Black attorney general who would be the state's first Black governor, and other candidates. She'll also meet with Culinary Workers Union members. Nevada holds the second 2028 presidential nominating contest, after South Carolina.

On Oct. 22, she will be in Mississippi with Scott Colom, who would be the state's first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction. Colom has recently begun to garner more attention from national Democrats as he faces Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

From Mississippi, Harris will head to New Hampshire on Oct. 24 to campaign with Senate nominee Chris Pappas and participate in a discussion on reproductive care and abortion rights. As vice president, Harris was the Biden White House's foremost abortion rights advocate, especially during the 2022 midterm campaign. New Hampshire comes third in Democrats' 2028 primary order.

Harris and Wisconsin gubernatorial nominee David Crowley will campaign together Oct. 26. Harris will finish with a three-day swing in Georgia that begins Oct. 28. She will campaign with Sen. Jon Ossoff, attend voter protection events and speak Oct. 30 at the Fulton County Democratic Party's annual gala in Atlanta.

While in Georgia, Harris will headline a virtual organizing event with Florida Senate nominee Angie Nixon, who would be her state's first Black U.S. senator. That will put Harris, who hails from the Democrats' liberal establishment, alongside one of the party's most progressive nominees. A state lawmaker, Nixon identifies as a democratic socialist and draws support from many left-flank activists who in 2024 criticized Harris as too moderate.

The itinerary follows earlier in-person and online campaign appearances and fundraisers, along with voter protection and organizing events Harris helped lead, including for the Democratic National Committee. Most recently, Harris was in Michigan to campaign for Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed — another notable progressive Democratic nominee — and speak at an NAACP event.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other U.S. leaders recognize that the federal deficit and national debt are too high. But economic growth alone would not be enough to address the country’s more than $40 trillion in national debt, she said.

Meanwhile, rising bond yields, reflecting higher premiums demanded by investors for taking on greater risk, have been disrupting financial markets.

“We believe that growth, of course, helps, but it cannot deliver fast enough the necessary adjustments,” Georgieva said at the autumn meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok.

“There is no magic,” she said, adding that other measures would be needed. “You have to go in a direction of tightening, bringing it down, bringing the deficit down.”

‘Fiscal consolidation’ faces challenges

Rising debt levels and global inflation, partly resulting from high energy costs due to the Iran war, have pushed interest rates to multidecade highs, adding to the burdens of the world’s poorest nations.

Efforts to bring debt under control with what Georgieva and other experts call “fiscal consolidation” have suffered setbacks from heavy spending during the COVID-19 pandemic and since.

“Fiscal risks are rising, and a proper reaction is largely absent in many countries,” said Rodrigo Valdes, director of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department. “And in major advanced economies, the effect of fiscal indiscipline does not stop at the border. It travels to the rest of the world.”

“Among the world’s poorest countries, interest payments have reached historic highs relative to revenue, and declining amounts of aid are creating gaps that some countries have been unable to finance,” the IMF's latest Fiscal Monitor said.

That is forcing countries to make hard choices between supporting their most vulnerable people and meeting their debt repayment obligations.

“The Global South is paying the price for rising interest rates in wealthier countries,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said at an event on the sidelines of the IMF meetings.

“We need a new deal on debt, a deal that supports countries to repay over longer time horizons and, crucially, refinancing with better rates to give developing countries precious fiscal space,” he said.

Nations need help with job creation and investment

The median developing country pays three times as much in interest as developed countries, said Alexander De Croo, former Belgian prime minister and administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

On average, nearly 10% of government spending goes toward debt repayments. High fuel and fertilizer prices, the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon and rising borrowing costs have left many low-income countries with little room to recover.

“I mean, we don’t see really a light at the end of the tunnel,” De Croo told The Associated Press.

Creating jobs is another top priority, particularly as the growing use of artificial intelligence threatens to make many traditional occupations obsolete. More than 1.2 billion young people are expected to enter the global workforce over the next decade or so, while forecasts suggest only 400 million net new jobs will be created.

The UNDP this week announced its “Jobs for Prosperity” initiative to bring together governments, development banks — such as the World Bank — and private businesses to encourage investment in sectors such as tourism, healthcare and food processing.

The initiative and related efforts will help countries attract investment by strengthening governance and policies and developing pipelines of “investible projects,” De Croo said. “These are things that are feasible. It’s been proven that you can do it in many places of the world,” he added.

Separately, the IMF, Bank of Thailand and World Bank Group announced a “Bangkok Blueprint” on Wednesday to combat cybercrime, financial fraud and online scams.

The announcement came a day after cyberattacks caused refrigeration systems to overheat at hundreds of stores in France.

___

Associated Press journalists Haruka Nuga and Tian Macleod Ji contributed to this report.

At the same time, Ukraine did not receive the usual advance warning from its Western partners about the devastating Russian ballistic missiles aimed at Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, triggering fears that Ukraine is being starved of vital intelligence, especially from the U.S.

Zelenskyy did not specify which partners he was talking about when referring to the lack of warning. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

The developments frustrated the Ukrainian military and deepened fears that Kyiv’s relationship with Washington is unraveling.

Ukrainian officials fear U.S. support for the war effort is falling away after Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel despite international efforts to sanction Russia for its invasion and isolate Putin.

Trump has also leveled sharp criticism at Zelenskyy. He said Saturday that it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting Zelenskyy has not done enough to end the war with Russia and blaming him for high diesel prices in the U.S.

Trump’s efforts to stop the fighting have yielded no progress.

Starlink is an essential tool for Ukraine

Ukrainian officials are concerned that U.S. support, especially related to the sharing of military intelligence and the use of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications system, may be in jeopardy.

The American tech titan's SpaceX company overnight imposed a speed limit on Ukraine’s Starlink terminals mounted on drones, Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said on social media. The restriction disrupted operations, including making the slower-flying attack drones easier targets for Russian defenses.

Starlink is a vital tool for the Ukrainian military, both in offensive and defensive operations. The network is used for long-range drone missions, interceptor air-defense systems and front-line logistics, Beskrestnov said.

“Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is connected to the current political situation,” Beskrestnov said, without elaborating.

Neither SpaceX nor the White House offered any immediate comment.

Kyiv got no warning about initial ballistic missile attack, official says

Yurii Ihnat, Ukraine’s air force spokesman, said there was no warning of an initial Russian ballistic missile attack on Tuesday night, although Kyiv was warned about three later waves of missiles.

A lawmaker on Ukraine’s parliamentary Defense Committee told The Associated Press that intelligence sharing with international partners has not stopped. The lawmaker spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give statements to the press.

Five people were killed and 36 wounded in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital that lasted from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, Kyiv police said.

Russia keeps bombing Ukraine's power grid despite Trump's truce demand

Zelenskyy voiced outrage Wednesday over Russia’s continuing aerial bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in apparent defiance of Trump’s demand for a ceasefire.

“We ask America and EVERYONE in the world who does not turn a blind eye to reality to respond — and to respond forcefully” to Russia’s ongoing aerial barrages, Zelenskyy said in a social media post.

“Russia has squandered the opportunity for de-escalation and has clearly chosen to continue its insane war of annihilation,” he said.

Moscow’s forces pounded the Ukrainian power grid, as well as oil and gas facilities, for the third straight night, Zelenskyy said, after Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to strike energy infrastructure 4½ years after Moscow’s forces invaded.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has agreed to halt Ukraine's monthslong campaign targeting Russian oil refineries that caused fuel shortages for Russians.

Ukraine’s last widely reported hit on an oil refinery was Friday. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak accused Ukraine of attacking more refineries Wednesday, something local officials and independent media did not report. Ukraine called it a false claim.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that details of the energy ceasefire are still being decided. “The work in that direction is continuing,” he told reporters.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its forces attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in Kyiv, the wider Kyiv region and the northeastern Kharkiv region overnight, striking a total of six power plants.

Russian forces hit all three of Kyiv’s combined heat and power plants overnight into Wednesday, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said. At least 600,000 people were left without power, Zelenskyy said.

Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones at energy and other infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv overnight, Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy visits London for talks on more help in the war

Zelenskyy arrived Wednesday in London for talks with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who announced the accelerated delivery of British-made air defenses for Ukraine.

Ahead of their hourlong meeting at Downing Street, Burnham told Zelenskyy that Britain’s support for Ukraine would not change as he acknowledged that recent days have been “dark and difficult” for Ukraine. Zelenskyy also met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

European leaders fear Moscow’s wider ambitions on the continent and accuse Russia of sabotage as part of a hybrid war. They seek to keep Washington on Ukraine's side.

Ukraine claims it is pushing Russia back on the battlefield

Ukrainian officials say they are pushing back Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, which Russia’s bigger army has been trying to capture for years.

Ukraine has liberated 277 square kilometers (107 square miles) in the operation that started in the summer, Ukraine’s Third Army Corps commander Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi said Wednesday.

It was not possible to independently verify the claim, and Russian officials did not comment.

Russian air defenses overnight downed 902 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions, illegally annexed Crimea and the waters of the Azov Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 493 drones flew toward the capital region. Most were downed far away, and 180 were intercepted as they approached the Russian capital, he said. He did not report any damage or casualties.

Russia’s state-backed Sberbank confirmed an attack on its Saratov data center, once slated to become Europe’s biggest data center.

Russian state news agency Tass quoted a member of the bank's board as saying that Sberbank systems were operating normally.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless 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 strike, in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Dhahran, was the latest demonstration of the Houthis' ability to attack high-profile targets.

There were no casualties in the attack, which the officials said damaged the building's top three floors. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

The Houthis had warned earlier they were targeting Dhahran with a ballistic missile.

The sight of smoke rising from some of Saudi Arabia’s most sensitive facilities in recent days has rattled the region and global markets while increasing questions for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he's evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis in the latest front in the Iran war.

The Saudi energy ministry reported a “limited fire” at the Aramco building Tuesday night. Aramco didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Wednesday, Saudi civil defense authorities in the capital, Riyadh, said debris from an intercepted strike had left one person injured. The state-run SPA news agency published images showing a damaged building and a vehicle with a large cylindrical object, seemingly part of a missile, lodged in its hood.

The Saudi-led coalition said that it had intercepted two Houthi drones, four cruise missiles and one ballistic missile targeting Riyadh, a ballistic missile targeting Dhahran and a cruise missile targeting Al-Kharj, a key military and industrial city. Alerts for incoming missiles were also sounded around Riyadh, though details weren't immediately clear.

Rebels call the strikes retaliation for ones at home

The Houthis called the attacks retaliation for “treacherous Saudi aggression” against Sanaa, the rebel-held Yemeni capital, and other areas, as the kingdom backs the forces of neighboring Yemen's internationally recognized government in a major military offensive launched a week and a half ago. The rebel-run Health Ministry reported two dead in attacks in Yemen on Tuesday and blamed the Saudis.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has been targeted multiple times in the past week with strikes that have killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300 others, greatly affecting aviation across the kingdom.

The Houthis, hardened by years of civil war, have emerged as Iran's most effective armed proxy of the moment, but experts say they also have their own agenda. Either way, they are applying increasing pressure on a key U.S. ally.

Casualties surge along Yemen's front lines

There has been an “unprecedented surge” in combat casualties along Yemen's front lines, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, particularly in the city of Marib, along the Red Sea coast and the besieged city of Taiz, where the World Food Program says it can no longer reach more than 600,000 people who depend on aid.

Main roads leading into Yemen's third-largest city have been closed amid rebel attacks, with regular clashes on the outskirts and overnight bombardment.

Residents are increasingly worried about dwindling supplies of fuel and food.

A Taiz resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing the Houthis could seize the city, said that long lines now formed outside shops, and public transportation has become increasingly scarce because of fuel shortages. The sound of loud explosions keeps her awake at night, she said in a telephone interview, adding that downtown Taiz hasn't been shelled.

On Wednesday, schools in Taiz were ordered closed for a month.

Houthi official describes diplomatic outreach for a ceasefire

A senior Houthi official told The Associated Press that regional and international powers have reached out in an effort to stop the attacks on Saudi Arabia as part of a ceasefire deal.

Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, said that Oman has tried to get both sides back to the negotiating table, and Russia and China also tried via Iran.

“We’re welcoming any mediation that leads to an end of the war and the blockade between Sanaa and Riyadh,” he said. “We’re ready for a comprehensive end of the war and the blockade from both sides, not just a temporary ceasefire.”

The rebels continued to warn of attacks on both airports and oil facilities. More than 3,000 flights scheduled to depart from airports across Saudi Arabia have been canceled or listed as not operating in the past week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Saudi Arabia is running low on interceptors

The escalation has highlighted Saudi Arabia’s struggle to intercept Houthi missiles and drones. The kingdom has pressed allies like the United States for more military support. Regional officials say Saudi Arabia, the world’s top purchaser of U.S. weapons, is running low on interceptors.

The Saudis are trying to stop daily attacks across a territory about three times the size of Texas. Experts say intercepting all of the missiles and drones is impossible. The Houthis have a large arsenal capable of reaching targets well over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away, with some warheads capable of changing direction midflight.

The Saudi-led coalition is also striking oil targets. Earlier Wednesday, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said that two people were killed in an airstrike on Tuesday on an oil facility near the Ras Isa port in Hodeida province. The coalition attacked another oil facility in Sanaa.

The targeting of fuel storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas marks a new phase, said Ahmed Nagi, senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, a think tank. He said that in a war of attrition, the rebels could risk losing much of their military capacity.

“The Houthis are betting on pressure, while the Saudis are betting on time,” Nagi said.

The fighting has revived Yemen's civil war after four years of relative calm.

“There’s a huge fear,” said one Sanaa resident, Umm Shadi, after the Saudi-led strikes there on Tuesday, adding that people are largely staying home.

U.N. detainee released by rebels

A United Nations staff member detained by the rebels has been released, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen said Wednesday. Sami al-Kalabi, who was detained in June 2024, has been freed, Hans Grundberg said. Last week, the World Food Program announced the release of one of its employees.

The Houthis continue to hold 71 U.N. workers arbitrarily detained over the past few years. Aid workers are often held for months without charges, accused of being spies for the West or Israel, claims their families deny.

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Cara Anna reported from Jerusalem. Marzouk al-Jaberi in Taiz, Yemen, Fatma Khaled in Cairo, and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, contributed to this report.

Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were among about a dozen people detained by police Tuesday after they climbed over barricades to enter the grounds of Jantar Mantar, a historic observatory in central New Delhi that has long been a site for protests.

Police said this week that the site was no longer an official protest venue and accused Das and Ranka of trespassing and defying prohibitory orders.

The arrests follow a sweeping police crackdown over the weekend aimed at preventing mostly young Indians from gathering in New Delhi to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Police briefly detained thousands of demonstrators.

“Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India. We will reclaim it,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi wrote on X in a post condemning the arrests as “an act of cowardice.”

Protests have intensified over an ongoing nationwide revision of voter lists that has removed more than 130 million names since last year. Critics say the exercise is politically motivated and could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.

The Election Commission and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration say the revision is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries.

Abhijeet Dipke, the “Cockroach” movement’s founder, criticized Modi in a post on X.

“If you’re so determined to crush dissent, have the courage to officially declare an Emergency instead of hiding behind these cowardly tactics,” Dipke wrote.

The “Cockroach” movement began as an online satirical campaign this summer after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young people to parasites. Many young Indians embraced the remark, adopting the cockroach as a symbol of resilience.

Protests led by the group forced the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July, a rare setback for the prime minister, who has been in power for more than 12 years.

The United States is Taiwan’s main informal supporter and arms provider in the face of increased military threats by China, which sees the island as its own breakaway province, to be annexed by force if necessary. The details of the natural gas purchase plan came as Taiwan awaited a $14 billion arms sales package from the U.S.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement that state-owned oil and gas firm CPC Corporation signed a letter of intent in March 2025 on the natural gas project in Alaska, and the company and the U.S. side have made significant progress after more than a year of negotiations and evaluation.

Under the current plan, the annual purchase and participation in the Alaska project development, with an estimated maximum investment of $4.4 billion, are part of the cooperation areas, the ministry said. If the project proceeds as scheduled, it is expected to start supporting the island's natural gas supply in 2032 at the earliest, it said.

Approaches such as long-term energy procurement and project investment would help diversify natural gas supply, enhance flexibility and deepen Taiwan-U.S. cooperation, the ministry said.

It stressed that the cooperation would be conducted on the principles of mutual benefit and professionalism, while CPC Corp would continue to coordinate with the U.S. side. The specific investment arrangements, shareholding ratios and related terms would be handled in accordance with subsequent negotiations between both sides and commercial contract procedures, it added.

At a political rally in Alaska on Tuesday, Trump hailed Taiwan's planned purchase from the proposed mega-gas project — an 807-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline connecting Alaska’s North Slope to a liquefied natural gas export terminal in the southern part of the state.

“Taiwan has just agreed to buy 30% of the gas coming off the pipeline for the next 20 years,” Trump said. “That guarantees success. It’s one of the biggest commitments in history for anything. It’s one of the biggest deals ever made.”

The statement from Taiwan did not specify how many years it has committed to in the plan.

Trump had similarly touted a $54 billion investment from South Korea in the Alaska pipeline. But South Korean officials were more cautious, saying they needed to assess the project’s commercial viability before committing to the investment.

Maintaining a good relationship with the U.S. is important to Taiwan, which faces growing military and diplomatic pressure from Beijing.

China has been pressing Trump to halt arms sales to Taiwan. After his summit in May with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, a record-breaking $14 billion arms sales package to Taiwan was stalled. Trump described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

In September, Xi told Trump that he hoped the U.S. would adhere to “the correct position of opposing ‘Taiwan independence’” during his visit to Washington.

Washington approved another $11 billion package for Taiwan in December.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that the external exchanges of “China’s Taiwan region” must be handled in accordance with the “one-China” principle.

“The DPP authorities’ attempts to pursue Taiwan independence under the guise of economic and trade cooperation will not succeed,” she said, referring to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when a civil war brought the Communist Party to power in Beijing. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan. The island has operated with its own government since then.

Meanwhile, a hospital in Gaza said a woman was killed in an Israeli strike. And Iran has executed a man accused of an “armed operation” against the theocracy in support of exiled former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Read our full coverage here.

Iran says a cargo ship sank after hitting a naval mine

A cargo ship sank after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps navy said. It was the first time Iran had reported a ship sinking after hitting a mine during the war.

Shipping officials, meanwhile, said two Singapore-registered cargo vessels had been hit by “unknown projectiles” as they went through the strait on Tuesday and Wednesday. One sank, while the other reached safety. All crew members were evacuated from the first ship, and no injuries were reported in either incident, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said.

“Such attacks are unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law,” the authority said.

It was unclear, however, if the Singapore-flagged vessel that sank was the same ship Iran said had struck a mine.

There were few details from Iranian officials, including about the fate of the crew. State television quoted a Guard statement saying the ship was traveling on what it called an illegal and dangerous route when it hit the mine Wednesday morning. The Associated Press couldn't independently verify the images.

The unidentified ship, which was shown tilted in the water and spewing a thick plume of smoke, was carrying 2,500 containers, the broadcast said.

Iran has repeatedly warned ships from trying to transit through the strait without its approval. The U.S. military has been guiding ships through the strait on a route nearer to Oman's coast.

Houthi rebel strike hits Saudi oil company's headquarters

The headquarters of the Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco were hit in an overnight Houthi strike, two regional officials said, damaging the offices of the firm's chief executive and other top officials. It was the latest demonstration of the Iran-backed rebels’ ability to attack high-profile targets.

There were no casualties in the attack, which the officials said targeted the top three floors of a building used by top executives in the city of Dharan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Earlier Wednesday, new explosions were heard in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, residents said, as blame again quickly fell on Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.

The sight of smoke rising in recent days from some of Saudi Arabia’s most sensitive facilities has rattled the region and global oil markets while increasing questions for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he is evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis.

— By Samy Magdy in Cairo

Israeli strike in Gaza City kills a woman

An Israeli strike on an apartment in Gaza City killed one woman early Wednesday, according to officials at Shifa hospital.

Israel’s military said it struck a Hamas militant but was still assessing the strike's outcome, without elaborating.

Just over a year since a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, Israel still launches near-daily deadly strikes on the Palestinian enclave.

More than 1,490 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its figures are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It doesn’t give a breakdown of civilians and militants, but says almost half the dead are women and children.

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This item has been corrected to show that almost half, not most, of the dead are women and children.

Iran executes a man accused of 'armed operation'

Iran on Wednesday hanged a man accused of an “armed operation” against the theocracy in support of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah.

A report by Mizan, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Republic's judiciary, identified the man as Ali Sina Mostafavi and said that he opened fire earlier during the Iran war and wounded several people, including a child, in the southeastern city of Kerman.

Executions of people on similar charges have prompted an international outcry. U.N. experts this month called on Iran to halt all executions.

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

Blood tests and a chest X-ray showed the 71-year-old pope was recovering normally, his two doctors said.

“The Holy Father underwent respiratory physiotherapy and has begun walking in his room. He resumed his regular diet and had breakfast and lunch,” said Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal doctor, and Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the head thoracic surgeon at Gemelli hospital. “Recovery is proceeding as planned.”

Tuesday’s surgery confirmed that Leo has lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung.

The right lung has three lobes and the left has two. After one lobe is removed, the remaining lung tissue can gradually compensate, especially in otherwise healthy, physically active people. Leo is known for his interest in sports, including weekly tennis games and swimming.

The Vatican said late Wednesday that the pope had celebrated Mass with his secretaries in the afternoon in a special chapel set up for him on the 10th floor of the hospital.

No word yet on whether the pope's cancer had spread

Experts said some of Leo’s lymph nodes would also have been removed and tested to determine whether the cancer had spread. Those results have not so far been made public.

If the cancer has spread, test results will guide treatment, said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Options include chemotherapy, a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, or targeted therapy, which uses pills to treat cancers with specific characteristics.

Liu, who is not involved in the pope’s care, said that, of the different types of lung cancers, adenocarcinoma has the most favorable prognosis.

“While we know the diagnosis, we now need to know the stage,” Liu said. “We now need to know how big it is, how many spots in the lung are involved. Is it just one nodule, or more than one, and the lymph nodes, are they cancerous?”

Dr. PierCarlo Gentile, head of radiation oncology at Rome’s San Pietro Fatebenefratelli Hospital, said the minimally invasive, video-assisted chest surgery the pope underwent typically requires 15 to 20 days of recovery. Postoperative complications, including infections, are rare, he said.

Doubts over Latin America trip

The Vatican hasn't announced any changes to Leo’s planned trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru on Nov. 6-17.

But Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori said Wednesday that the pope's diagnosis and recovery could affect the visit, even as she expressed hope it would go ahead. Leo spent two decades as a missionary in Peru, holds Peruvian citizenship and is beloved by his flock there.

“We understand that this recovery will take several weeks, longer than expected,” Fujimori told reporters. “We also understand that there could be some changes to the schedule of his visit.”

The ambitious itinerary for the longest trip of his papacy covers just over 31,000 kilometers (19,000 miles), with a dozen flights and two helicopter rides across the three countries, as well as a significant change in altitude in Peru.

Fujimori said millions of Peruvians were praying for the pontiff’s recovery and awaiting further announcements from the Vatican.

“We hope his recovery will be swift and that his visit can go ahead, but we will also understand if that is not possible,” she said. “What matters most is that His Holiness regains his health.”

Oncology surgeons often advise patients not to fly for three weeks after surgery.

“If it is Stage 1, he can complete these trips. If more treatment is needed, I would likely advise against the trips,” said Liu.

Doctors took tissue samples before surgery

The pontiff has offered a rare degree of transparency about the first publicly disclosed major health problem of his 17-month papacy.

He revealed the discovery of a nodule, or growth, on his lung during his Sunday noon prayer, announcing it on live television. But Leo did not disclose everything he knew Sunday.

Tuesday’s medical bulletin said preoperative tests had led doctors to suspect cancer, which surgery confirmed. Leo did not use the word cancer in his announcement, though he described the nodule as being at an “early stage” and “circumscribed.”

The Vatican has now said that those tests included a robotic bronchoscopic biopsy, known as an ION broncoscopy, meaning doctors had already taken tissue samples to assess whether the mass was cancerous.

The procedure requires general anesthesia and must be performed in a hospital equipped with one of the advanced machines, said Dr. Lorenzo Spaggiari, chief thoracic surgeon at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan. He said Gemelli hospital had had one for about a year.

The Vatican did not say when Leo underwent the diagnostic tests, which also included a chest CT scan with contrast and a PET scan.

A PET scan can be used to make sure that the disease has not traveled to other places in the body, said Dr. Brendon Stiles, chief of surgical oncology at Montefiore Einstein in New York. Between the scan and the biopsy, Stiles said, “we can be hopefully reassured that this should be a stage-one cancer.”

Pope breaks with a tradition of secrecy surrounding health issues

The Vatican has long been secretive about the health of popes and tightly controlled any such information — a practice encapsulated in the popular Italian saying, “ The pope is fine until he’s dead.”

St. John XXIII died in 1963, nearly a year after doctors diagnosed stomach cancer that was kept hidden at the time. St. John Paul II died in 2005 after suffering for years from the obvious effects of Parkinson's disease that the Vatican only confirmed after he died.

Pope Francis seemed more up front about his health problems, giving an Argentine doctor a tell-all interview for a book about his physical and mental health. But in the end Francis, too, tightly controlled the information that was released in his dying months.

As a result, Leo's decision to announce himself that he had a nodule and was undergoing surgery was significant.

“That was truly a revolution. It was like he was reading a medical bulletin himself,” said Giovanni Maria Vian, a church historian and the former editor-in-chief of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.

Vian, who was part of the Vatican communications team from 2007 to 2018, said the Vatican's obsession with secrecy was due to both practical and cultural considerations. He noted the Vatican is a 2,000-year-old institution that is culturally European — and Europeans tend to be more guarded about health problems than people in the United States.

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Barry reported from Milan. Associated Press video producer Paolo Santalucia in Rome and Associated Press writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.

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

Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, needed surgery for a broken leg after being hit by a car Saturday, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL Houston, an immigrant rights organization that is helping the man's family.

The encounter has set off new criticism over immigration enforcement in Houston, where local prosecutors have also investigated a July fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, expressed concern over surveillance footage that shows Parra Hernandez and another person jumping out of a white truck and running as a dark SUV pursues them. A vehicle strikes Parra Hernandez, who is seen on the ground seconds later.

“In a case like this, the most obvious criminal charge is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,” Teare told FOX 26 Houston. “Meaning the car was used as a deadly weapon. And it certainly is what appears to have happened based on the surveillance footage.”

Tim Oberle, a spokesperson for ICE in Houston, said in a statement sent to The Texas Tribune on Saturday that “As ICE officers attempted to apprehend the illegal aliens, Miguel Parra-Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck.”

Spokespersons for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.

Parra Hernandez has been in the U.S. for 34 years and was on his way to work when the encounter began, according to Espinosa. Espinosa declined to share Parra Hernandez’s status.

He said he saw two ICE agents in Parra Hernandez's room while visiting him at the hospital.

“He already had a surgery for the injury under his knee and now we’re waiting for swelling to go down in his ankle to be able to have a reconstructive surgery on his ankle,” Espinosa said.

Teare said ICE and DHS have not cooperated with his office during its investigation.

In July, Teare said DHS also ignored his request for information after an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The shooting was one of at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attended the memorial services at Le Thi Rieng Park, where the remains were recovered from mass graves after over three months of excavations. They were laid to rest at Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs’ Cemetery in the city previously known as Saigon.

Generations in Vietnam have spent decades searching for loved ones who never returned from war, hoping to recover their remains, give them a proper burial and finally find some measure of closure.

Hundreds were buried in mass graves after bloody fighting

The Tet Offensive began on Jan. 31, 1968, when North Vietnamese communist forces launched coordinated surprise attacks across South Vietnam during the Lunar New Year holiday, known in Vietnam as Tet. One of the largest campaigns of the Vietnam War, it sparked fierce fighting and heavy casualties, including in the southern capital Saigon, where communist fighters attacked the U.S. Embassy, military installations and government buildings.

Although the communist forces suffered a military defeat, the offensive shocked Washington, undermined U.S. public support for the war, and became a turning point in the conflict. “The resultant conflict has changed the pattern of the war,” The Associated Press reported in February 1968.

The South Vietnamese government collected the bodies of communist fighters and civilians and buried them in mass graves during and after the fighting, according to Vietnamese government news.

The remains at Le Thi Rieng Park, which was previously the site of Do Thanh Cemetery, were discovered during excavations that began on June 23 at the park. Over weeks, excavators painstakingly unearthed bones and fragments, along with weapons, ammunition, military hammocks and personal belongings, said the Vietnamese government’s official news portal.

They discovered a wallet containing a faded military document bearing the name Huynh Van Quen, which helped authorities identify one of the dead as a soldier from the 1st Long An Battalion, a communist unit that fought a fierce seven-day battle at Saigon’s Y-shaped Bridge.

Among the mourners was Vo Huy Thinh, 70, who remembered watching bodies being buried there when he was 12. “The memory of that burial pit has stayed with me,” he told Vietnamese state media.

An AP photograph helped uncover the graves

For years, architect Nguyen Xuan Thang pored over photographs from the Vietnam War, searching for clues to the location of the burial site.

A breakthrough came when he found a color photograph taken by an AP photographer on Feb. 12, 1968, with a caption describing three large burial trenches that each contained about 300 bodies, he told state media.

The photograph shows two men carrying a body as two others look on. Three boys stand nearby, one of them wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt and looking directly at the camera. A water tower is visible in the background, providing a crucial clue to the site’s location. The image was shot by a French photographer credited as Gautron.

Thang told state media that he spent months riding his motorbike through Ho Chi Minh City, comparing old military maps with present-day landmarks, including the water tower. His research was part of a nearly eight-year effort, from November 2018 to May 2026, involving his team and the military, which helped authorities narrow their search to the park.

Investigators worked with researchers, historians, journalists and witnesses to piece together the location of the mass graves. They examined other wartime photographs, satellite images, military maps and archival records from Vietnam and abroad, comparing them with field surveys and accounts from people who witnessed the burials, said the Vietnamese government’s official news portal.

The long effort to identify Vietnam’s war dead

The recovery is part of a nationwide 500-day campaign running through July 2027 to locate the remains of about 7,000 war dead and identify them.

More than half a century after the war ended in 1975, many Vietnamese families are still searching for relatives who never returned home. The remains of about 175,000 Vietnamese soldiers have yet to be recovered, while hundreds of thousands more lie in graves without confirmed identities, according to government figures.

Of the 731 sets of remains recovered in Ho Chi Minh City, 307 were found with personal belongings, according to state media. Most have not yet been identified.

“Due to the harsh conditions of war and the passage of time, we have been unable to identify the names, ages, or hometowns of the majority of the martyrs in this group,” said Nguyen Manh Cuong, who heads the city's war dead identification efforts.

Samples have been sent to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi for DNA testing and comparison with samples from relatives.

Similar memorial and burial ceremonies will be held Thursday in three other parts of Vietnam, with the remains of what are believed to be 93 people to be buried in Tuyen Quang province. Another 65 will be buried in Hai Phong and 120 in Can Tho.

The consumer price index rose 3.7% in September compared with a year ago, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up from 3.4% in August. On a monthly basis, costs jumped 0.6% from August to September, the biggest gain in five months, up from a 0.4% increase the previous month.

The figures underscore the lingering impact of the Iran war on gas prices and the stubborn persistence of inflation, which has ticked higher since the war began in late February. The rise isn't all linked to oil and gas, as surging investment in data centers and AI has also pushed up prices for computer chips and the consumer electronics that use them. Elevated inflation has posed political problems for Republicans in Congress and is a challenge for the Federal Reserve, which is required by Congress to seek stable prices.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.6% in September from a year ago, up from 2.4% the previous month and higher than economists had expected. And they climbed 0.3% from August to September, an elevated pace that, if it continued for a year, would run well above the Fed's 2% target.

Higher inflation will likely put more pressure on the Fed to lift its key interest rate at its next meeting Oct. 27-28. Economists noted that the report showed price increases were spread more broadly across the economy than in recent months.

“The report was worse than expected,” Bill Adams, chief U.S. economist at Fifth Third Bank, said in a note to clients. “Price increases were widespread. ... Consumer demand seems to be holding up better than the downbeat consumer surveys would suggest, helping businesses maintain pricing power."

Wednesday's figures are the last major inflation data to be released before the upcoming elections. Ongoing inflation has taken a toll on Trump’s standing with U.S. voters. A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 17% of U.S. adults approve of his handling of the cost of living issue. And only 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, a new low.

Higher prices are eroding Americans' earnings. The Labor Department also said Wednesday that average weekly paychecks, when adjusted for inflation, shrank last month compared with a year ago for the first time since May.

Gas prices jumped 9.1% just from August to September, the government's consumer price index report said. Rising gas costs are a highly visible sign of inflation and often drive down measures of consumer sentiment about the economy.

With fuel much more expensive, air fares rose 1.2% last month and have soared 22% compared with a year ago. Hotel prices rose 2% from August to September and are up 4.4% compared with a year earlier.

Consumers saw some relief in grocery prices, which actually declined 0.1% last month and are up just 1.8% from a year ago. Ground beef prices fell 0.8% in September, though they are still up 5.4% from last year.

The cost of toys, new and used cars, sporting goods, and shoes all rose at a rapid clip last month, the government said.

The government also said Wednesday that Social Security recipients will receive a 3.6% cost of living increase, based on the inflation figures.

The Middle East and Russia-Ukraine conflicts have also sharply inflated the cost of diesel fuel, which is used by long-haul trucks. Higher diesel prices will increase shipping expenses, which in turn could push up prices for a range of goods.

Ralph Newhouse, CEO of Chefman, which makes countertop appliances, said that rising diesel prices could force him to raise prices in the coming months.

The Mahwah, N.J.-based company, which makes milk frothers, air fryers, blenders and other appliances in China, last increased its prices in 2024. This year, it has used its $20 million in tariff refunds to offset the rise in fuel costs, but may not be able to do so much longer.

“We’re at the point right now that if we continue to see any additional rises in (diesel) prices, then these conversations are going to be forced upon us. We just day by day, hope and pray that we don’t have to have this conversation.”

Federal Reserve officials are watching inflation data closely to determine whether they need to raise their short-term interest rate further, and by how much.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said last month that inflation isn't moving quickly enough back to the central bank's target, causing the Fed to hike rates for the first time in three years, to about 3.9%.

Yet some key Fed officials have suggested the central bank can wait before increasing rates again. The Fed has a policy meeting Oct. 27-28, but most Wall Street investors expect it to hold rates then, and potentially implement another hike in December. Fed officials have penciled in just one more rate hike this year.

Still, Wednesday's report has led many Wall Street investors to project that the Fed will now act in two weeks. The odds of a rate increase at the central bank's October meeting have doubled, though remain at just 50-50, according to futures pricing tracked by CME Fedwatch.

Stock prices fell slightly after the report, while greater expectations for rate hikes pushed up bond yields, which will raise borrowing costs throughout the economy.

By raising borrowing costs, the Fed hopes to slow spending and growth and cool price increases. Yet much of the current inflation comes from supply shocks, such as the Iran war's disruption to oil and gas supplies, and higher interest rates can't address those bottlenecks.

Warsh has said his goal is to keep the gas price spike from seeping into more areas of the economy. It's already pushed up the price of air fares about 22% from a year ago.

Those costs raise shipping and other expenses for many large and small businesses, some of which are forced to pass the cost to consumers. Last week, PepsiCo said that it will raise prices for its snack foods, including Doritos, Ruffles, Sun Chips, and some sodas to offset higher costs for fuel, aluminum, and food ingredients.

The artificial intelligence buildout has also sharply elevated the cost of semiconductors, computer equipment, and electrical components, which have been passed on to consumers in the form of more expensive electronics such as gaming devices, laptops, and smartphones.

Goldman Sachs estimated in a report Tuesday that the AI buildout has added about a half-percentage point to the annual inflation rate, according to the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

On September 1, Nintendo increased the price for its Switch 2 gaming system by 11% to $499.99. And Apple's newest iPhone, the iPhone 17, cost about 10% more than its previous upgrade, though some of that likely reflects greater capabilities.

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AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio contributed to this report from New York City.

After a lifetime of dreaming in Jane Austen — reading every novel and watching every adaptation she could get her hands on — she’d been cast as Elinor, the elder, more sensible Dashwood sister, in “Sense and Sensibility” (in theaters Friday).

If it wasn’t an inevitability that she, as one of the bright young talents of her generation, would eventually get to be in an Austen adaptation, it might seem that way in retrospect. For English actors of a certain age, starring in one is almost a rite of passage. Ang Lee's 1995 version would earn Kate Winslet her first Oscar nomination and Emma Thompson her first screenwriting win. And this one was going to be special, having the distinction of being the first major “Sense and Sensibility” to be directed by a woman, Georgia Oakley.

And though it was also an inevitability that there would be a slew of handsome men in the mix, including George MacKay, Frank Dillane and Herbert Nordrum (it is the law in Austen adaptation-land, isn’t it?), the relationship between the sisters was, Edgar-Jones said, “kind of everything.” And the search for the more outwardly romantic Dashwood was ongoing.

Casting Marianne Dashwood

“The film, as I saw it, would kind of live or die by the relationship between those two actors,” said Oakley, who studied Austen in school. “It was quite a pressurized situation trying to find sisters that, to me, were believably sisters.”

One of the names in the mix was Esmé Creed-Miles, who might not have come into the audition process with a deep Austen reverence, but who had something even better going for her. She and Edgar-Jones didn’t just know one another: They had spent a formative summer in Yorkshire together as teenagers making an indie film called “Pond Life” and watching “Love Island” together at night.

“So much of sisterhood is a shared history, a shared context, a knowledge of one another and so sort of acting across from Esmé, having such an image of her 17-year-old face, really helped,” Edgar-Jones said. “We just slotted straight into the roles.”

At their chemistry read, everyone in the room could feel an immediate intimacy as they dove into some challenging scenes, like one where the ever-reserved Elinor finally reveals to Marianne that she too is heartbroken over a man. The exercise even helped Edgar-Jones understand her Elinor a little better.

“Daisy feels like family to me,” said Creed-Miles. “We felt so almost spiritually, eerily connected to these women.”

It wasn’t just the dramatic moments that were revealing, either. That day of the chemistry reads, Creed-Miles had a bit of a break while Edgar-Jones read with someone else and, Oakley said, “helped herself to Daisy’s lunch.”

“I can’t really explain it, but it immediately felt very Elinor and Marianne,” Oakley said. “They were both really funny and kind of goofy with each other and, straight off the bat, they were just like making fun of each other and they just had a very sisterly dynamic.”

Creed-Miles, whose parents are actors Samantha Morton and Charlie Creed-Miles, has been acting on and off for most of her life, starting with a role at age 6 playing a Shirley Temple impersonator in a Harmony Korine movie. She also starred in the Amazon Prime series “Hanna” but has kind of resisted committing to being a career actor.

“It’s not that I don’t like acting or don’t want to act or don’t think it’s important and special, it’s just that there’s lots of other things that I’m also really interested in,” Creed-Miles said.

Those other pursuits include photography (her photos from the set were featured in “Vogue”), music (she’s in the alternative rock band Cusk) and filmmaking (she's directed a short). She was interested in “Sense and Sensibility” partly for the chance to work with an up-and-coming filmmaker like Oakley, as a fan of her debut film “Blue Jean,” about a closeted gym teacher in England in the late 1980s.

“I had always loved this Jane Austen,” Oakley said. “She doesn’t announce that she’s writing a political manifesto, but she at the same time is like unpacking some really kind of knotty and subversive themes in this book.”

Giving the film a messier, more undone aesthetic

To tell this story about a family of four women (Caitríona Balfe plays their mother; Bodhi Rae Breathnach plays the youngest sister) who have suddenly lost their fortune and now have to survive on their own, Oakley leaned into an earthier and slightly more undone aesthetic than is often depicted in Regency-era films. She showed the cast Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights” and Kelly Reichardt’s “Meek’s Cutoff” and made playlists full of violin music. The dresses she referenced had raspberry stains and soil on them.

“I was keen to kind of make a film where the characters didn’t feel at arm’s length. That they felt like human beings that we can kind of reach out and touch through the screen. And so this idea of everything being a little bit more undone kind of came in through that,” Oakley said. “This is actually a family who are going through something difficult and who aren’t constantly thinking about how they’re going to be perceived and how they are presenting themselves because they’re not always in the presence of visitors.”

Edgar-Jones said the prospect was exciting to her as she’d never seen an Austen adaptation done this way before.

“We were not trying to rebel against or go against the grain of Regency-era hair and makeup,” Creed-Miles added. “We were actually finding pockets of nuance to how these women express themselves in their interior lives that hasn’t actually been seen before in film.”

She also found herself developing a deeper relationship with Austen than she’d come in with.

“I think what’s nice about the fact that me and Daisy both had these different relationships to Austen before is that it kind of speaks to, I think, the success of the film and that it really is a movie for everyone, not just Austen fans, but also people that maybe haven’t read her books before,” Creed-Miles said. “It might introduce them and introduce a new generation to her characters.”

Someone let him into an adjacent room, and he found a place to change.

“Much better," Antetokounmpo said. With that, he sprinted back to practice.

Change, he believes, can be good. After 13 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks — with 10 All-Star selections, nine All-NBA picks, two Most Valuable Player awards and one NBA title during that span — the 6-foot-11 Greek forward is starting anew with the Heat, who have a lot in common with Antetokounmpo. Both have been to the top of the NBA mountain, and now, both are counting on the other to help them reach that height again.

But why now? Put simply, Antetokounmpo just wanted a fresh uniform.

“I feel like I was in my comfort zone for many years and I just wanted just a new challenge," Antetokounmpo told The Associated Press. “And I feel that with where I am in my career, Miami is the organization that will bring the best out of me. It’s an organization that loves to compete. Every single game, every single minute. And I’m the same. I’m the same person, so hopefully this — me being here — allows me to compete, allows me to help my team win games and get to the ultimate goal, which is winning the championship.”

The Heat gave up a ton to make the deal happen. The full trade, finalized in July, brought Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. to Miami in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kasparas Jakucionis, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, three first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and a second-round pick. Miami won't finish paying off the trade, in terms of the draft capital, until 2033.

And then there's the not-so-small matter of Antetokounmpo's next contract, one that could be worth as much as $275 million over four seasons if he ends up with a max extension sometime in the coming months.

It is a ransom. But if this goes as Miami hopes, the price could seem like a bargain.

“I feel lucky to be his teammate, especially at this stage of my career,” said new Heat guard Klay Thompson, a four-time champion from his time with Golden State. “I couldn't ask for a better opportunity. I’ve played against Giannis for many years, but now to be able to build chemistry with him and watch him hopefully have another MVP-like season is just a joy for me. And Heat fans should be ecstatic because when your best player is one of your hardest workers, it’s contagious and it’s just great to be a part of.”

He has averaged 24.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in his career, something only eight other players — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Karl Malone and Bob Pettit — either have done or are doing (since Davis and Embiid are still active).

And over the last 10 seasons, Antetokounmpo ranks first in total points and fourth in total rebounds. Injuries limited him last season — he wanted to play more than he did and grew frustrated that the Bucks had a differing stance — but his stat averages haven't dipped.

His game is elite, by any and all measures.

“If you’re going to turn the page to a new chapter, it's extremely exciting to be able to add a two-time MVP, somebody that is fully in his prime," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "His competitive spirit is aligned with ours. It’s so tough to be able to get a player of his caliber. To be able to do that, for him to choose this to be the place he wants, for us to choose him ... and the possibilities of what we can accomplish together, then yes, that is exciting.”

Antetokounmpo wasted no time in starting to rave about the Heat culture, a phrase that has become a lightning rod for criticism from talking heads around the NBA — especially after the franchise slapped the word across shirts and jerseys. But the culture, the noncommercial version, still exists, brought in by Pat Riley more than three decades ago and protected by Spoelstra and others still today.

It's simple: Work harder than everyone else and see what happens. Antetokounmpo spoke highly of it from afar for years. He's raving about it even more now.

“I love the culture and I want to be in a place that can bring the best out of me," Antetokounmpo said. "I want to play as many games as I can, be available for my teammates as much as I can. I'm always going to be honest. Last year, when I played, I thought I played at a very high level. The first 15 games, I thought I could be in the MVP discussion.

“Sometimes, things don’t work out the way you want and sometimes, when you think things don’t work out the way that you want, they actually do. I know when I’m healthy and I have the right mindset, I’m very hard to deal with.”

He speaks Greek, English and some Nigerian, plus has made a vow to learn Spanish — which makes tons of sense for someone who just moved to Miami. He says he already has learned to love much of what Miami has to offer (with iguanas the notable exception). He's building relationships within the organization and insists that the acclimation process is far from complete.

He sees the potential. He wants another title. The Heat want another title. It's a match.

“I’m just trying to fit in," Antetokounmpo said. "And when I find the time to kind of be myself, I will be myself.”

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

The trial that opened Wednesday in Hamburg centers on undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany in what is considered one of Europe’s biggest acts of sabotage since World War II.

Serhii Kuznietsov, 50, faces charges of causing an explosion, damaging property, disrupting public service and being an “accomplice to war crimes” by attacking civilian infrastructure.

His lawyers, making the motion for dismissal, argued that Kuznietsov was still an active duty soldier and as such was obligated by Ukrainian law not to speak for reasons of secrecy linked to national security.

As the proceedings got underway at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court, Kuznietsov, dressed in a gray suit and dark tie, kept a calm expression as he sat between two lawyers in black robes. From the dock, Kuznietsov glanced over to a packed visitors area and exchanged smiles with two people.

He did not speak during Wednesday’s proceedings, which lasted about two hours, and listened to simultaneous translation from German into Ukrainian through white headphones.

After the charges were read out, a judge asked whether Kuznietsov wanted to comment, and his defense lawyers said he did not. They went on to request that all the charges be dismissed.

Kuznietsov’s legal team said allegations of war crimes would be better targeted against the Russian forces acting on orders from President Vladimir Putin during the 4-1/2-year-war, citing examples like atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha and the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.

The defense team also disputed the accusation that the attack was sabotage of civilian infrastructure, with defense lawyer Nicola Canestrini saying the pipelines “were a weapon in the hand of the Russians.”

But the crux of their call for dismissal was that Kuznietsov had to keep quiet as a Ukrainian officer.

“He is not permitted to speak. His two immediate superiors told him that he does not have authorization to make any statements — not even to his lawyers,” defense attorney Jes Meyer-Lohkamp told the court, adding that under German law: “Anyone who cannot speak out cannot be convicted.”

Meyer-Lohkamp also decried the detention conditions of his client, likening them to solitary confinement: “He is brave, but he is locked up for 23 hours a day and suffers because of it. He has no opportunity to participate in social life.”

A trial under tight security measures

The trial of the suspect, who is alleged to be the ringleader of the attack, is being held under strict security measures.

While international observers initially blamed Moscow for the blasts, investigators later found suggestions that Ukrainian state security agencies may have been involved — even though Ukraine counts Germany as one of its closest allies.

More than 100 media representatives from around the world, including Britain, China, France, Ukraine and Russia, have been accredited to cover the case, according to the court.

Pro-Ukraine protesters gathered outside the courthouse as attendees filed into the building, holding up placards and signs that carried messages including “Russia is a Terrorist” written in red.

Ivan Kuritsyn of Citizens’ Initiative Vilni De Ua, a nonprofit formed by Ukrainians displaced by the war, said the demonstrators were on hand “to show our solidarity with Serhii Kuznietsov and to support him.”

“I want to emphasize here that we in no way question the court’s decision, because only the court can decide whether Serhii is guilty or not, but we must support him regardless,” Kuritsyn added.

Explosions that damaged the pipelines at center of case

According to the charges, the defendant was allegedly involved in causing the Sept. 26, 2022, explosions that damaged pipelines built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

At the time, European countries were moving to wean themselves off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Prosecutors say the aim of the plot was to permanently disrupt gas deliveries and prevent Russia from using the revenues to finance its military operations.

The defendant and others allegedly used a yacht that departed from the German port of Rostock. It had been rented from a German company using forged IDs and with the help of intermediaries.

Kuznietsov’s lawyers argued that his fingerprints were not on the yacht and no witnesses spotted him on it.

The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies in August 2022. They also damaged Nord Stream 2, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The suspect allegedly organized and carried out the detonation of at least four bombs between 14 and 27 kilograms (around 31 to 62 pounds) at a depth of 70 to 80 meters (230 feet to 263 feet) near the Danish island of Bornholm.

Kuznietsov was detained last year in an Italian village, where officers raided a bungalow where he was staying with his family. Police said he surrendered without resistance. He was publicly named in extradition proceedings in Italy that led to his transfer to Germany in November.

Ukraine has denied any role in the pipeline blasts

A second suspect was arrested on a European warrant in the northern Croatian town of Pula in August. He has applied for asylum in Croatia to fight his extradition to Germany.

The pipelines were long a target of criticism by the U.S. and some of its allies, which warned that they increased dependence on Russian gas.

Russia has claimed that U.S. and British intelligence agencies were involved in staging the explosions and has also accused NATO of involvement in the attack, while several Western countries initially blamed Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied allegations that his country was involved in the pipeline blasts.

The German government has so far refrained from comment on the trial, pointing out that no verdict has yet been reached and the case is in the hands of the independent judiciary.

So far, 16 court dates have been scheduled through Dec. 17. Additional dates are also planned for January, court officials said Wednesday. It is not yet known when the verdict will be announced.

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Associated Press Journalists Pietro De Cristofaro and Fanny Brodersen contributed to this report.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if the party wins power, said the Democrats will be united “right out of the gate” on reinstating Affordable Care Act tax breaks, reversing Republican Medicaid cuts, holding votes against the Iran war and undoing President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

They expect to launch the agenda in the first 100 hours, once the new Congress is seated in January.

“Fighting for an affordable America — that's what unites Democrats all across the country,” Jeffries said recently at the party campaign headquarters in Washington.

“That’s our commitment to the American people, because the cost of living is way too high and far too many people who are working hard, playing by the rules, can’t thrive and can barely survive — and are drowning — in the Trump economy."

It’s a hyper-focused agenda tapping into the voter sentiment that is driving much of the midterm election as Americans wrestle with affordability concerns and inflationary costs from the Iran war and other policies.

The undertaking will also test the ability of the sprawling House Democrats to work together and avoid the chaotic divisions and disruptions that have hobbled Republicans under Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership.

Democrats have been out of power in the House since 2023. If Jeffries takes the helm, he would be the first Democratic speaker since Nancy Pelosi, leading a new generation of lawmakers that includes a handful of far-left candidates who are aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.

“The antidote to that is getting things done,” said Illinois Rep. Nikki Budzinski, who is poised to become chair of the New Democrat Coalition, the largest caucus within the House Democrats. She said the party is determined to show the American people that “Democrats know how to govern."

A Freedom Caucus of the far-left?

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he is often asked if Democrats will be confronting their own version of the Freedom Caucus, referring to the far-right Republicans who often grind the House agenda to a halt.

“It doesn’t work that way," Casar told The Associated Press in an interview. “The Freedom Caucus breaks things. But if you're a progressive, you want to pass things.”

Leader Jeffries, Casar and other Democrats have been in touch with the progressive candidates, many of whom are backed by the DSA as the party focuses on shared priorities.

“This notion that because we'll have new members somehow we're going to be disjointed — not so,” said Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter, who hopes to become chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. "All those banking on that, save the popcorn for another day."

The Republicans, who are confronting an increasingly difficult election-year climate to hold onto their majority, portray Democrats as beholden to a far-left socialist agenda.

If Republicans retain power, Johnson has said they would press on with what they have already accomplished alongside Trump, which has been an agenda focused on cutting taxes and federal spending.

“What we would do in the next two years is exactly what we have been doing already," Johnson said on CNBC's Squawk Box, “and that is putting the conditions in place for a strong America again.”

Fix healthcare, stop the war, end the tariffs – and investigate Trump

Months ago, Jeffries launched five working groups to tackle the affordability agenda focused on healthcare, housing, groceries and goods, gas and utilities, and care-giving.

Each group is headed by a progressive and a centrist Democrat — the healthcare working group, for example, is run by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama — with the goal of striking common ground on draft policies that all House Democrats can support.

At the same time, Jeffries has tasked the ranking Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees with preparing investigations. They are focused on Trump, his family and his administration, as part of a sweeping anti-corruption agenda. Impeachment, Jeffries has said, is neither on nor off the table.

“We need to lower the cost of groceries and gas. Two, we need to make healthcare affordable for every single American. Three, we’re going to hold the crooks accountable who’ve visited unprecedented corruption on the American people,” Jeffries said. “Beginning on day one.”

Democrats plan to vote quickly to reinstate the health care tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, which expired in 2025, leaving millions of Americans confronting higher health insurance costs.

Proposals are also ready to reverse the Medicaid cuts that Republicans put in place as part of their “One Big Beautiful Bill” of tax breaks and program cuts, including new work requirements for recipients.

There are measures to reverse Trump's tariffs as Congress works to claw back power from the White House.

And Democrats, who have forced multiple votes on ending the Iran conflict, plan to pressure the Trump administration to end the military action by pushing forward more war powers resolutions.

Much of the House Democrats' agenda, if they regain power, would depend on the size of the majority. Details also depend on the Senate, and whether it flips to Democrats.

“We cannot simply go back to the status quo,” said Usamah Andrabi, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, an outside group that supports the far-left progressives.

And Trump, at the White House, has ultimate say, with veto power at the stroke of a pen.

“We’re going to do a lot and we’re going to be very busy,” Carter said. "We will not be able to fix everything overnight.”

But problems that have simmered for decades — water quality and cancer rates — have been forced to the forefront of state politics this year. They are the focus of debate questions, roundtable events and campaign advertisements for candidates from both parties, up and down the ballot.

The issue has historically been politically taboo to avoid pointing fingers at the powerful agricultural industry in Iowa, one of the country’s top producers of corn, soybeans and hogs. Chemical fertilizers and animal waste contain nitrates and phosphorus that can get washed with rain or snowmelt into the state’s web of rivers.

The problem has long caused tension between Iowa’s more liberal urban centers, which rely on rivers and lakes for drinking water, and mostly conservative stewards of its rich farmland. Farmers are increasingly participating in practices to prevent runoff, although critics say the lack of regulation forces downstream Iowans to pay for the pollution.

The spotlight has grown — and the political calculus has shifted — after back-to-back years of restrictions on water use in the Des Moines area coupled with a burgeoning “Make America Healthy Again” movement in Iowa's small towns and rural communities.

Cancer rates are a growing problem in Iowa

Iowa has the second highest rate of newly diagnosed cancers in the country. Specific diagnoses, like prostate, breast and lung cancer, are increasing in Iowa faster than in the U.S. overall. It's affecting urban and rural parts of the state.

New state-funded research at the University of Iowa shows most — but not all — of Iowa’s above-normal rates for five cancers can be explained by demographic and behavioral factors, such as smoking and binge drinking. Researchers next assess environmental factors, including nitrate levels.

“The real issue is the water and the nitrates,” said Democrat Josh Turek, who is running for U.S. Senate, as he talked with cancer patients last week. “Every Iowan deserves when they turn on the tap to ensure that their water is clean and not giving them cancer.”

Some studies have found a link between nitrates in drinking water and certain diseases, but it remains an area of debate. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not currently classify nitrates as a cancer risk. The agency initiated a plan to review that assessment in 2017, but it's been stalled, revived and stalled again under different White House administrations.

The Republican congresswoman running against Turek, Ashley Hinson, recently gathered farmers, researchers and local officials to discuss Iowa's water problems. She said there is an ongoing need for investments in infrastructure, water quality monitoring and conservation programs to ensure Iowans have safe drinking water. She also said people can feel safe because treated tap water meets federal regulations.

“We all know that we have some challenges here in Iowa," she said. “I don't think water quality is a partisan issue."

Farm runoff is a key contributor to river pollution — and political tensions

It’s been more than a decade since the Des Moines area’s water utility, fed up with paying roughly $16,000 per day to remove nitrates from water, sued counties further upstream to get them to help cover the cost. The complaint was ultimately dismissed, and Iowa’s Republican leaders celebrated the ruling.

Last year, Central Iowa Water Works issued its first-ever ban on lawn watering to reduce demand on its nitrate removal facilities, and state politicians rejected any suggestion of a “blame game” that would implicate farmers. Iowa had been investing nearly $100 million annually in its nutrient reduction strategy in recent years.

In May, though, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and lawmakers committed an additional $320 million for water infrastructure, conservation initiative incentives and other projects, including millions to Central Iowa Water Works to update equipment.

“Water quality isn't a farm issue. It isn't a city issue, and it isn't a political issue,” Reynolds said. “But it absolutely is non-negotiable.”

Still, criticism of slow progress has continued, including from candidates running to replace Reynolds.

Governor candidates make the issue central

Republican Zach Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand both emphasize that the state needs to better prioritize the water problem, though neither have called for mandating farming conservation practices that reduce runoff.

Lahn, who was endorsed early in his primary by political committee MAHA Action, has diverged from many of his Republican peers in directly linking polluted water and agrochemicals to Iowa’s cancer crisis.

At Lahn's agriculture-focused town hall in northeast Iowa in August, one attendee raised the issue.

“Right now the farmers, I would say, are really getting blamed for the high cancer rate in Iowa,” she said. “Even our daughter calls from Des Moines and says: ‘Should we be drinking this water?’”

Lahn said he knows certain agrochemicals are important “tools in the tool chest.”

“We’re not here to ban products," he said, "but we do have to address the water quality issue.”

Federal regulations say drinking water is safe with a maximum nitrate level of 10 milligrams per liter. That threshold was set to prevent what’s known as blue baby syndrome, a condition when an infant’s blood doesn’t have enough oxygen, but more scientific studies are now analyzing the relationship between nitrate-laden water below that threshold and certain cancers.

Lahn said he tested the nitrate levels from his well water and creek in rural east-central Iowa, finding both well above the federal limit.

Central Iowa Water Works ran its nitrate removal treatment for a record 193 days straight earlier this year, and the treated water's nitrate levels hovered around eight to nine milligrams per liter in the heart of summer.

Sand usually references water early in his stump speech, naming one reason he initially registered as a Democrat is the party’s advocacy for clean water because he likes to fish. He said Tuesday after meeting with cancer survivors and parents of children with cancer that he's seen the topic rise in the public consciousness over the past few years.

“I hear from people regularly who are so concerned about it that they wonder whether or not they want to be in Iowa," Sand said.

Iowa’s race for agriculture secretary illustrates the tension

Twenty years ago, research scientist Chris Jones said he’d give his boss at Des Moines' water utility updates on the rivers' nitrate levels.

“He’d say to me, ‘Where’s the outrage?’” Jones recalled. “Now, the outrage has arrived.”

Jones, who later worked on water quality monitors at the University of Iowa, says it’s a huge failure of the state for Iowans to lose faith in drinking water.

Jones is a Democrat running in the election to be Iowa’s secretary of agriculture, trying to unseat incumbent Republican Mike Naig.

Chief among their differences is whether conservation solutions should be mandatory. In a debate, Naig said Jones is an outlier in demanding farmers be required to adopt conservation practices. Iowa’s agricultural industry resists mandates, in part because not all farmers own the land they farm and some conservation efforts might lead to profit loss, at least initially.

Naig, who previously worked for chemical manufacturer Monsanto, highlighted the records that his department has set under Reynolds’ leadership and said conservation work is being scaled up to accelerate progress.

“It’s been a hot topic on the campaign trail,” Naig said, but “we have to have a long view of these things, and we’re making progress.”

But just because we might all have the same impulse, we all don’t have the same reach and impact. Exhibit A: a dispute between singer Kelly Clarkson and a small store in Brooklyn that's brought out angry fans and heated commentary.

The conflict from over the weekend, involving a high-priced mechanical bird, is raising more issues than just the quality of customer service. It's also a case study in power dynamics, and the differential that exists between someone with a high profile and those without.

It started Saturday when Clarkson went to Art of Play, a store in Brooklyn that offers items like books, games and playing cards and also hosts magic shows. But the interaction turned negative, she said in a social media post, when she “was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it” and went on to say the store had “just lost a huge sale.” She named the store and gave it a thumbs down.

A back-and-forth ensued, with the store making its own posts saying initially that the item wasn't for sale and then adding that they had tried to find her an alternative. Clarkson said that wasn't true.

Since Clarkson's initial post, there's been a barrage of commentary online — and, the store owners say, in the real world. There have been hateful messages and reviews, and even someone showing up at the store, said Adam Rubin, one of the partners.

“I don’t understand why these people are willing to debase themselves on behalf of a celebrity they never met,” he said. Representatives for Clarkson did not respond to repeated attempts to get comment.

The power of celebrity is potent

Celebrities have power in different ways. They can influence what people feel as well as impact what they think or believe, said Alfred Archer, assistant professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, who has done research around the ethics and politics of fame.

In a situation like Clarkson's, the influence is heavily weighted in the celebrity's favor as a result, he said. That doesn't mean celebrities should be censored or barred from speaking, but they should be cognizant of that reality in determining what they say and how they say it.

“You can’t hold the celebrity responsible for everything that their followers do, of course,” Archer said, but those who have influence should remember that their words can resonate widely and “be careful about what they put on social media and what they communicate in public for that reason.”

That power can also have positive ripples — like when Ms. Rachel, the children's educator and YouTube star, asked people on social media for Black-owned businesses to support. She gave recognition to small businesses like a coffee shop in New Jersey, leading to a huge jump in sales and popularity.

“I think really the responsibility here is to use this power in a responsible way,” Archer said. “And of course, what that looks like in any individual case is going to be a decision for a particular celebrity to make. But they do have to think about it a bit more carefully than an ordinary member of the public does.”

Social media changed the equation

While everyday people have always been fascinated by the famous, the explosion of social media and the glut of information — and the way we follow our family and friends right along with our favorite stars — means there's more of a likelihood that people can develop parasocial, or one-sided, unreciprocated relationships with celebrities. That can lead to the kind of harsh messages and bad reviews that the Brooklyn store says it has experienced.

That aspect of modern life is baffling to Franchesca Ramsey, a writer, podcaster, and content creator.

“I think social media itself has heightened people’s ability to feel a connection to a celebrity or a public person that they don’t know,” she said.

“Back in my day, you liked a musician, you put up a poster on the wall. You read the magazine articles about them. You maybe went to their concert. You watched their music videos. But beyond that, it didn’t feel like a two-way relationship. It felt like I’m the fan and this is the person that I really enjoy,” she said.

“Social media has ... kind of created this false sense of reality where, I really think even the act of watching someone’s content on your phone and it looks like they’re talking directly to you," she said.

Asked what advice he would give another small-business owner facing this kind of situation, Rubin didn't have any. “This is not something that a small business owner has the capability to deal with,” he said. “This is something that happens on a level of fame and celebrity that I don’t have access to, (that) most normal people don’t have access to.”

Watching the crowd of reporters from his plumbing supply store next door to Art of Play, Daniel Graffeo couldn't believe the uproar was still going on several days after the initial encounter, but wasn't totally surprised. “Nowadays everybody's looking for something, you know, publicity,” he said.

He hoped it would never find him. “I would not want to be in that situation.”

Deaths on roller coasters are still extremely rare, and Georgia officials have said little about what happened Monday when Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, a 42-year-old school employee from Atlanta, was thrown from his seat while riding the Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia before striking other patrons and then landing below the ride.

Goliath uses a sheer drop from 200 feet (61 meters) to reach top speeds of 70 mph (112 kph). It focuses on velocity and downhill plunges rather than turning riders upside down through loops or corkscrews. It has operated at the park for two decades.

Six Flags temporarily closed nine similar coasters across North America following the death, saying it was doing so out of an abundance of caution.

Ride manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard said it is “actively investigating the incident and will not comment further until we have a better understanding of what happened.”

The US has a patchwork of rules regarding rides

In the U.S., roller coasters and other rides at major amusement parks such as Six Flags are not regulated by the federal government. That responsibility falls to states.

Some say this has led to an inconsistent patchwork of rules where some states have strict regulations and others have little to no oversight.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts has repeatedly introduced legislation to close what he calls a “loophole” in federal law that allows U.S. safety officials to regulate mobile rides but prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from overseeing stationary rides like those at major amusement parks.

Brian Avery, a University of Florida professor and amusement ride safety expert, agrees that more federal regulations are needed.

“Who’s watching those in these organizations to ensure that they are adequately trained, that they are compliant, that they are monitoring these rides to the level which the standards have established?” Avery said.

Georgia’s Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, which oversees annual ride inspections in the state, is “conducting an in‑depth and comprehensive review” of what happened Monday at Six Flags, said Garrison Bennett, a spokesperson.

Amusement park industry has set its own safety standards

Amusement park operators worldwide generally adhere to what are known as ASTM standards set by industry experts, which cover everything from ride design and construction to how much acceleration and force each rider is allowed to experience.

The industry has multiple layers of inspection, said Dennis Speigel, a theme park consultant and past president of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, a trade group. Park operators are under pressure from insurance carriers that could face a hefty payout if something goes wrong.

“With the checks and balances that are put in place, theme parks are really one of the safest places to be on the planet,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday.

In 2024, the rate of serious and reportable injuries per million roller coaster rides was 1.27, according to the trade group. For all amusement park rides, “guest behavior” contributed to 66% of the injuries that year, with 9% attributable to operational factors and 15% to technical factors, the group said.

Jakob Wahl, the trade group's current president, extended condolences to Kariem's family in a statement on Wednesday.

Experts say roller coaster safety mechanisms are ‘dependable’

Martin Lewison, a roller coaster expert and a professor at Farmingdale State College, said it was difficult to imagine there being a mechanical malfunction on a roller coaster such as Goliath because of its design.

The ride features a pull-down lap restraint called a “clamshell” that works with a ratchet mechanism that makes clicking sounds as you press it down over your hips. They have multiple disks to ensure redundancy if one fails, Lewison said.

“They’re dependable. They’re not so technically advanced that theme parks have difficulty with operations,” Lewison said.

The operator then has a safety system that displays a green “go” light for every seat on the train before it can be dispatched. The train should theoretically not be allowed to proceed unless all restraints are locked, Lewison said.

But few things are 100% safe.

In 2022, a 14-year-old Missouri boy fell to his death from an Orlando amusement park ride when the harness didn't lock properly due to his size. In 2013, a 52-year-old Dallas woman was killed when she slipped out of her seat on the Texas Giant ride at Six Flags Over Texas. Six Flags has since added redesigned restraint-bar pads, seat belts and a coaster seat at the ride’s entrance so guests can check whether they fit safely into the cars before getting on.

Nick Mendenhall, who has been on the Goliath more than a dozen times in recent weeks and witnessed Monday's death, said he saw Six Flags staff check the restraints each time he rode it.

“There are two employees, one on either side of the train, and with their hands they push down and they make sure it locks every time. I’ve never seen them not do it,” Mendenhall said.

States handle oversight in different ways

In California, the state Department of Industrial Relations approves new rides and rides that have been modified. State officials either directly inspect them and how they are being operated each year or rely on an annual inspection by the owner, according to the department's website.

Florida’s largest theme parks, on the other hand, are exempt from state safety inspections, unlike smaller venues and fairs. Instead, the largest theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal conduct their own inspections and have their own protocols, but they must report to the state any injury or death. Texas, similarly, relies on inspections carried out by private inspectors hired by park operators or their insurance companies.

Arizona, where Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix is located, does not have a state-level agency that regulates amusement park rides or conducts safety inspections at all. The law requires an annual private inspection, with enforcement largely by local government.

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This story has been updated to correct the name of a roller coaster expert to Martin Lewison, not Lewinson.

The S&P 500 dropped 1.1% and was on track for a fifth loss in the six days since setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 171 points, or 0.3%, as of 1:14 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.6% lower.

Stocks felt pressure from rising yields in the bond market, where worries grew after a report said U.S. consumers had to pay prices for fuel, food and other costs of living last month that were 3.7% higher overall than a year earlier. That means inflation accelerated from its 3.4% rate in August and was worse than the 3.6% that economists expected.

Inflation has remained more painful than anyone would like since the economy launched out of the crevasse created by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s breathed in new life recently because of jumps in fuel prices caused by the war with Iran, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude added 1% Wednesday to $106.71.

That has built on signals that the U.S. economy is still growing, longstanding worries about fast-rising debt loads for governments and other factors to send yields to their highest levels in years or even decades in bond markets worldwide.

The centerpiece of the U.S. bond market, the 10-year Treasury, saw its yield rise to 5.23% from less than 5.17% just before the inflation report’s release. During the morning, it briefly jumped above 5.32% and pulled back toward its highest level since 2002.

Yields on shorter-term Treasurys had even bigger leaps as traders raised their expectations for coming hikes to interest rates by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed last month raised the interest rate that it controls, which affects very short-term loans, for the first time in three years in hopes of reining in inflation. Higher rates do that by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money and slowing the overall economy.

Traders now see a 39% chance that the Fed will raise the federal funds rate at its next meeting in two weeks, up from the 22% probability seen just a day earlier, according to data from CME Group.

“The consumer price index was a little hotter than expected, but not scorching hot,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. “It was just hot enough to keep traders on edge.”

Part of what's keeping inflation high is that Americans broadly are continuing to spend, which in turn encourages businesses to keep raising prices for their own products and services. As Americans become more “price-sensitive” and the economy benefits from greater productivity by workers, Vanguard Senior Economist Adam Schickling said inflation should slow, but “patience will be required.”

Higher yields in the bond market push downward on prices for stocks, and the main way companies can offset that is by delivering bigger profits. That’s exactly what analysts are expecting, and it’s how the S&P 500 has been able to set records despite the many challenges weighing on Wall Street.

BlackRock rose 0.1% after the investment company reported stronger profit and revenue for the summer than analysts expected. Customers poured a net $205 billion into BlackRock’s funds, including iShares exchange-traded funds, from July through September to bring its total assets under management to $15.5 trillion. BlackRock makes money by charging fees on those dollars.

But the high expectations for profit growth also mean companies will likely get punished if they fall short of targets, which is what several other financial companies did Wednesday morning.

Bank of America dropped 6% after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the third quarter than analysts expected. The profit would have fallen short even after ignoring the $1.2 billion in fines that the U.S. Treasury Department announced late Tuesday for alleged violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.

State Street sank 6.2% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, even though its profit was slightly above their forecasts.

The higher yields in the bond market, meanwhile, hurt some stocks in particular because of their effect on the cost to borrow money.

Homebuilders are finding potential customers turned off by mortgage rates at their highest level in nearly three years. Their stocks sank further on Wednesday, including drops of 2.8% for Lennar, 3% for PulteGroup and 2.5% for D.R. Horton.

In stock markets abroad, indexes ticked higher in Europe following a weaker finish in Asia. Indexes rose 0.6% in Paris and fell 0.9% in Shanghai for two of the world’s bigger moves.

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

As recently as 2024, the nonprofit consultant that works to strengthen public radio stations reported $3.42 million in revenue, according to tax filings. Public Media CEO Tim Isgitt said he was proud of his “small, but mighty team” and the impact that they had on the sector.

Then came the federal funding cuts.

One day in June 2025, Isgitt told a roomful of funders that federal cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting could create a “doom loop” with catastrophic effects on the entire public radio sector, requiring them all to act immediately.

The next day, the House of Representatives voted to rescind all of CPB’s funding, about $1.1 billion that stations were already promised. Within weeks, the Senate followed suit.

“It felt just like a wave that washed over us all of a sudden,” Isgitt told The Associated Press.

Isgitt and Public Media were quickly pressed into service. His idea to help was suddenly in demand.

“PMC had never been a grantmaking organization before, but everybody was saying, ‘You’ve got to do this,’” he said. “So we sort of turned ourselves inside out, hired some staff and became a grantmaking organization.”

The Public Media Bridge Fund is born to keep radio stations alive

By August 2025, Public Media had organized a fundraising bonanza. It created the Public Media Bridge Fund to raise and quickly donate $100 million to stabilize public radio stations that depended on CPB funding for more than 30% of their annual budgets and were in danger of closing after the federal cuts.

The fund launched with $27 million, including an initial $10 million donation from the Knight Foundation and support from Pivotal and the Ford, MacArthur, Robert Wood Johnson and Schmidt Family foundations. By December, it had distributed all $27 million to stabilize endangered stations. Stations with support from other sources, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs for tribal stations and the state of New Mexico for stations there, did not receive funding.

“That was a good thing,” Isgitt said, “because we committed every dime that we had.”

The Public Media Bridge Fund has raised about $87 million and stabilized 186 public radio stations that serve about 30 million people in the United States. The Knight Foundation’s additional $10 million donation, announced Tuesday, is part of PMC’s new $38 million fundraising effort to help stations become more financially sustainable without federal funding.

Knight Foundation President and CEO Maribel Perez Wadsworth said she was impressed with how quickly and effectively Public Media deployed funds last year.

“Now, it is really turning all of its attention to sustainability and the things that are critical to sustainability,” said Perez Wadsworth, adding that PMC’s focus on fostering collaboration between local news organizations can “drive the kind of business model change that will hopefully support sustainability in the long run.”

Helping public radio stations become economically sustainable - without federal funding

The bridge fund will still support stations with unstable budgets; the fund is now also looking at projects with broader impact, Isgitt said.

“Our attention now is more on the nationwide system and how it can sort of re-engineer itself to work more efficiently,” he said.

Judy Diaz, general manager of Delmarva Public Radio, said its stations relied on CPB for about 33% of their funding. The public radio network is a collaboration of three Maryland nonprofit stations owned by Salisbury University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Cost-cutting and increased donations allowed Delmarva Public Radio to use part of its Public Media Bridge Fund grant to modernize equipment and purchase new marketing database software. It also established a content-sharing agreement with Baltimore Public Media.

The changes tripled the number of donors and listeners in the station’s marketing database and increased membership revenue by 20% over last year's already unusually strong donations as supporters responded to the federal cuts, Diaz said.

“I can now see a clear path for the foreseeable future,” she added. “We didn’t have that before.”

Ashley Alvarado, president and CEO of Texas Public Radio, said Public Media and its bridge fund are helping her organization navigate a combination with the nonprofit newsroom San Antonio Report. The two nonprofits decided in July to join forces, believing they would be stronger financially together.

“What we found is that the strengths and weaknesses of each organization would really benefit from that combination,” Alvarado said.

It’s the kind of transformation Public Media hopes to bring to all its stations: improving financial stability while better serving communities. “Media and technologies are evolving quickly,” Isgitt said. “If these community organizations want to remain relevant, they have to evolve too.”

Knight’s Perez Wadsworth said the Public Media Bridge Fund was intended as a stopgap to keep public stations operating while they developed financial plans without federal support. However, she also knows philanthropy cannot replace large federal grants for long.

She hopes Congress will see the importance of public radio stations — for emergency broadcasts, for providing news and community information, and for fostering connection and civic participation.

“It is my belief, maybe because I’m a hard-wired optimist, that after stepping back from the brink and seeing the absolute need and critical nature of these stations, we will see some level of funding again, even at the federal level,” Perez Wadsworth said. "I think we will see a path to a thoughtful recalibration of what funding these stations looks like.”

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Fourteen minutes and just three questioners later, she was done. In the aftermath, it was clear that the former Newsmax commentator accomplished at least one thing: She put the “brief” back in briefing.

In her debut Tuesday, Zacharia looked downward and often read directly from a script. She paused and grinned when she uttered the words “Department of War.” She stumbled on a question about her background and mixed up the words “husband” and “president.” The few questions she took were nonconfrontational and from media outlets that have been sympathetic to the Republican president. In short: She made no memorable impression — or at least, to hear some tell it, not the one she likely wanted.

This would not be an easy job under any circumstances. Trump most frequently serves as his own spokesman. And his antagonism toward the media has created a new layer of tension. Zacharia is finding out on day one that she, too, will be under constant watch. Some — including a few of those who have stood in her shoes — didn’t think it went all that well.

In fractured times, in a national media scrum unimaginable just a few decades ago, what is the proper way to approach a job like this? How do you speak effectively when your boss speaks for himself so often that he commandeers the news cycle multiple times a day — and sometimes late into the night — with remarks provocative, unexpected and sometimes incendiary?

For one, you realize for whom you work: not your audience of millions but your audience of one, and the absolute need for his approval.

“I get to do what I was doing on the outside already, which was hoping to amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump’s incredible agenda for the American people,” Zacharia said. Nowhere did she mention the task of disseminating accurate information to Americans.

The press secretary role has been many things

Over the nearly 10 decades since former journalist George E. Akerson made his and the office's debut as Herbert Hoover's press secretary in 1929, the job has served many purposes: deliverer of information, amplifier of policy, jouster with journalists, protector of the presidential reputation and, sometimes, overlord of obfuscation.

Under Trump and his second-term press secretary so far — Karoline Leavitt, who resigned in August — the job has been primarily one of acting as the immovable object against an irresistible, and in Trump's eyes sometimes treasonous, force.

Leavitt got to know this terrain well in her 17-month tenure. She took a smiling but combative stance against a press that was increasingly coming under Trump's criticism for coverage — and was named in at least one lawsuit about White House media access. She was not shy about interdicting what she considered media bias. "What a stupid question," she said to one reporter at a briefing last year.

Trump, outside the White House on Tuesday shortly after Zacharia’s briefing, praised her debut as “excellent.” She was standing behind him at the time.

Other early reviews were more critical. MS NOW quoted one unnamed White House official as saying of the performance: “She needs to get much better fast, otherwise she’ll break Scaramucci’s record.” Anthony Scaramucci, an early White House communications director for first-term Trump, lasted 11 days in 2017. Said Scaramucci on X Tuesday afternoon: “I hope she makes it.”

Joe Biden's former press secretary, Jen Psaki, now the host of a show on MS NOW, put it more succinctly, posting on X: “Well that briefing was basically an SNL skit….except it wasnt.”

Talking up Trump but taking few questions

While Zacharia's performance — and of course, that's what every briefing is — may have been bumpy to some, it was also mostly content-free except for news she broke about the White House asking U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to quit, which she immediately did.

Predictably, also like Leavitt before her, Zacharia spent a great part of her opening monologue praising Trump and giving an “up 'til now”-style update on his second term's priorities and accomplishments so far. Talking points included a “booming economy,” “his historic boom in energy production” and “a great relationship with Venezuela.”

She was also fond of superlatives, a trait that likely will resonate with a president whose remarks are often equally if not more expansive: “President Trump is working to secure the Western Hemisphere for centuries to come.”

When it came to questions, though, she was downright parsimonious. She allowed three questioners, then answered an additional one as she prepared to depart. The three called on during the briefing were Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail, all of which have been friendly to Trump in varying degrees during periods of his two terms. And she said she would continue Leavitt's policy of bringing “new media” in — which has often meant outlets more sympathetic to Trump.

“We love new media and we want to be able to embrace it,” she said. Currently, three major outlets — CNN, MS NOW and Politico — are fighting to regain White House access after Trump banished them last month, saying he didn't like their coverage and calling it “fake news.”

How will Zacharia fare in coming days and weeks and, if it lasts, months? That, like so much else, depends on one thing: Donald Trump.

The late U.S. Sen. Howard Baker once famously said that, when being asked difficult things, handle it something like this: If you don't like the question being asked, just answer a different question. On Tuesday, a half-century later, Katie Zacharia found a different way in — pick three nonconfrontational questioners, then defer to your boss and say: The End.

Hill, who has played for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, was found liable for two counts of battery — one stemming from an incident in January 2024, and another from April 2025. The jury awarded Vaccaro $500,000 in compensatory damages but did not award her punitive damages.

The jury found Hill, 32, not liable for eight other counts that included battery, assault and continuing domestic violence.

The trial involved allegations of abuse made by Vaccaro, 30, who on the stand described instances in which Hill allegedly pulled her hair and “treated me like I was, just, a man.” Hill took the stand last week and mostly denied what he called “false allegations” made by his estranged wife, while saying in one instance he shoved Vaccaro and “created a hole in the wall."

Hill, wearing a dark polo shirt on Tuesday, embraced one of his attorneys and shook hands with others following the verdict before leaving the courtroom by himself.

It wasn't immediately clear what the verdict means for Hill's return to the NFL. He is still working his way back from a dislocated knee and torn ligaments suffered in September 2025 while he was with the Dolphins, but his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has indicated that he could be ready to play by November.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Wednesday that both sides will hold a ceremony for the launch of the New Yalu River Bridge. The four-lane, 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) bridge will connect the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuiju.

The bridge initially was expected to enter use in 2014 after China apparently completed construction of access roads, customs facilities and other related infrastructure on its side. But the date passed with no sign of an opening and without North Korea doing corresponding works on its side.

At that time, it prompted an unusually sharp report in the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, which quoted Dandong residents expressing frustration over delays in what they had hoped would be an economic boon for their border city.

A lack of substantial work on the North Korean side prompted speculation that North Korea was wary of an increase in economic dependence or was unhappy with China voting for United Nations resolutions toughening international sanctions on the North over its nuclear program. Some observers said North Korea and China also differed over the location of the bridge.

The old bridge could only handle one-way vehicle traffic

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday the new bridge will further promote economic, trade and “people-to-people exchanges."

“China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors linked by rivers and mountains,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. She added the bridge is an important “project for connectivity” between the two countries.

The new link is expected to lessen the burden on an existing yet aging bridge on the Dandong-Sinuiju route, which handles more than 70% of official trade between the two countries. The old bridge built in 1937 carries a railway line as well as cars and trucks, but vehicle traffic can move only one way at a time.

The South Korean government said last year there were at least 17 active road and rail links across the porous North Korea-China border, which stretches more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles).

The new bridge’s opening will likely boost bilateral trade and enhance logistical efficiency gradually. But in the short term, trade won't likely result in a sharp increase in Chinese exports to North Korea as Beijing would take Pyongyang's interests into consideration to some extent, according to a recent report by Gyubeom Kim, an expert at Seoul’s state-run Institute for National Security Strategy.

North Korea’s export of processed goods, food products, cosmetics and alcoholic beverages to China could increase, Kim said.

Bridge could affect relations with China and Russia

The bridge’s opening comes about a month after North Korea and Russia opened a 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) road bridge over the Tumen River as part of their efforts to cement relations.

Experts say Chinese officials likely felt uneasy about the opening of the North Korea-Russia bridge, which the Russian government said would allow daily passage of up to 300 vehicles through a newly built border crossing point.

The North Korea-China bridge is much bigger and likely capable of carrying round-the-clock, two-way traffic including containers and heavy cargo trucks, according to Jeong Eun-i, an analyst from South Korea’s Institute for National Unification.

China has long been North Korea's biggest trading partner and economic pipeline. But in past years, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has prioritized Moscow, sending thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, apparently in exchange for military and economic assistance.

Kim has recently drawn closer to China with the apparent intent to improve the economy and build a front against the United States. China, for its part, wants to restore its unique influence over North Korea. Last year, about 98% of North Korea’s external trade was with China.

The bridge’s opening has been anticipated since Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Pyongyang in June for a meeting with Kim. During their summit, Xi expressed Beijing’s willingness to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction and technology, while Kim described ties with China as a top strategic priority.

“Nosotros tenemos un plan y creo que beneficiaría más o menos a un 50% de los presos que hay en El Salvador, que han colaborado con pandillas, con una liberación anticipada”, dijo el mandatario en conferencia de prensa.

“Hay mucha gente que sí, ha cometido delitos, pero su delito fue colaborar con las pandillas. Merecen estar en la cárcel, pero venimos de un país donde colaborar con las pandillas no era tan inusual y si nosotros nos pusiéramos a capturar todos los que colaboraron con las pandillas tuviéramos que arrestar al 20% de la población”, explicó.

Sin entrar en detalles, el mandatario señaló que planean aplicar ese criterio para definir condenas anticipadas con monitoreo, lo que podría beneficiar a la mitad de los detenidos durante la vigencia del régimen de excepción.

A su vez, Bukele también arremetió contra organismos y organizaciones nacionales e internacionales que han denunciado supuestas violaciones a los derechos humanos durante la aplicación del régimen de excepción, el cual ha permanecido vigente desde marzo de 2022.

“Cuando aquí mataban a 30 personas diarias, nadie decía nada, nadie se pronunció, no hubo una organización de derechos humanos o una organización que dijera ‘miren, en El Salvador hay que hacer algo, están matando gente inocente, están matando gente honrada, están violando niñas, están cortando cabezas de gente por no pagar la extorsión’”.

Afirmó que estas organizaciones, incluida la OEA, aplaudieron cuando se suscribieron pactos con las principales pandillas del país durante el primer gobierno del exguerrillero Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) (2009-2014), durante los cuales las pandillas se repartieron territorios para mantener sus actividades ilícitas.

“No hubo ni una condena en el mundo, al contrario, hubo aplauso. fue puesto como un ejemplo de lo que se debía hacer en los demás países. Pero es que no le alcanzaban las manos para aplaudir”, dijo.

Pero criticaron “cuando nosotros hicimos lo contrario y dijimos que no vamos a negociar con los grupos terroristas, sino que lo vamos a poner en la cárcel”.

En respuesta a las críticas de organismos defensores de los derechos humanos respecto al régimen de excepción, Bukele comparó la medida —que forma parte de sus estrategias de seguridad— con un tratamiento médico intensivo.

“Nosotros aplicamos la quimioterapia llamada régimen de excepción, entonces funcionó y ahora el cáncer está en remisión. No hay homicidios, no hay asaltos, no hay robos, no hay violaciones", afirmó.

Defendió la necesidad de mantener el régimen de excepción “porque todavía existen células cancerígenas. Todos los días atrapamos a pandilleros escondidos, entonces si nosotros retiramos la quimioterapia, el cáncer va a regresar”.

Sin embargo, Bukele expresó su deseo de suspender la medida en el futuro. “A mí me encantaría quitarlo y lo vamos a hacer en algún momento, por supuesto”.

Luego de que el país registró 62 asesinatos a manos de las pandillas en un solo día, el Congreso salvadoreño aprobó el 27 de marzo de 2022 un estado de excepción a solicitud de Bukele para combatir a las pandillas. Ese año cerró con 495 asesinatos.

Las pandillas operaban en el 90% del territorio, recaudaban casi 2.000 millones de dólares en extorsiones y asesinaban a los que no pagaban, según las autoridades.

El estado de excepción suspendió derechos fundamentales, incluido el de ser informado de los motivos de la detención y el de tener acceso a un abogado. Además, las fuerzas de seguridad pueden intervenir las telecomunicaciones sin orden judicial, y la detención sin audiencia se prolonga de 72 horas a 15 días.

Desde que entró en vigor la medida, las autoridades han reportado la captura de 93.162 personas acusadas de pertenecer o tener vínculos con las pandillas. Bukele ha dicho que 8.000 personas que eran inocentes han sido liberadas.

Sin embargo, organizaciones defensoras de los derechos humanos aseguran que han registrado más de 6.000 denuncias durante el régimen de excepción y documentado la muerte de al menos 575 personas bajo custodia de las autoridades.

El Salvador registró 6.656 asesinatos y una tasa de homicidios de 103 por cada 100.000 habitantes en 2015. Ese año fue uno de los más violentos en la historia de la nación y el más violento desde el fin de la guerra civil. El Salvador cerró 2025 con apenas 82 casos de homicidio, un mínimo histórico.

Con pancartas de “Yo apoyo al IMSS” o “Médicos: salario justo, retiro digno”, empleados, estudiantes y jubilados de la institución marcharon por las calles del centro de la capital mexicana como parte de una ola de protestas que comenzó la semana pasada y se extendió a varios estados del país, entre ellos Campeche, Oaxaca y Querétaro.

“Estamos protestando porque no tenemos suficiente personal en las unidades”, dijo Ingrid Jiménez, una enfermera que se unió a la marcha. “Eso se deriva en sobrecarga para los que estamos laborando, además de que no tenemos insumos, no hay material”.

Los trabajadores afirman que la escasez dificulta una atención médica oportuna, además de que algunos exigen el restablecimiento de un sistema de pensiones ya eliminado y aumentos salariales superiores a los que ofrece el gobierno.

México tiene un sistema de salud pública muy fragmentado y desarticulado —varias entidades nacionales que dan servicio a poblaciones distintas, además de los servicios estatales— y en medio siempre ha habido un sistema de compra y distribución de medicamentos marcado por la corrupción, coinciden los expertos.

El modelo de compra cambió en 2019 con el expresidente Andrés López Obrador. La Secretaría de Hacienda lo centralizó y se separó el proceso de distribución, el cual era coordinado previamente por las farmacéuticas, y quedó en manos del Estado, en un intento por combatir la corrupción. Pero el resultado fueron altos índices de desabasto de medicinas, los cuales mejoraron en los próximos años, aunque sin llegar a solucionarse por completo.

La presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum ha insistido recientemente en que su gobierno ha hecho avances, pero reconoció que todavía quedan temas pendientes, como la contratación de más médicos especialistas, el aumento de los salarios de médicos residentes, y mejorar la distribución de medicamentos.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that CNN, MS NOW and Politico are likely to succeed in the extraordinary case pitting the president against the news outlets that cover him. In a victory for the journalists, Kelly expanded a previous, temporary ruling that the administration had violated the news outlets’ Fifth Amendment right to due process.

In a late-night ruling Tuesday, he also sided with a second argument by the outlets: that Trump’s ban breached their First Amendment right to free speech.

Kelly rejected Trump’s reasoning that the ban was driven by policy goals, such as protecting national security. He argued the ban was the result of Trump’s stated belief that the outlets’ reporting was inaccurate and biased.

“Simply put,” Kelly wrote, “That is unlawful viewpoint discrimination" — the government taking action against types of speech or coverage it does not like.

“Still,” he added in his late-night order, “no one should interpret the Court’s decision to suggest that President Trump’s concerns about accuracy and fairness in the media’s reporting are unfounded, or that the government is powerless when its true aim is to protect national security when classified information is unlawfully disclosed.”

But Trump’s standoff with the press is far from over. Kelly’s order did not address whether Trump can ban the three outlets from the rotating pool of broadcast networks that cover the president in tight spaces and share the reporting.

Stepped-up disputes between the president and the press

The fight reflects Trump's increasing combativeness against news outlets and reporters whose content he does not like — including sharply curtailing Pentagon access for the press corps that covers the Defense Department. Trump or other parts of the executive branch have also, in policy and in the courts, grappled with The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press and The New York Times — in addition to using the FCC to target broadcast networks.

The case of the three news outlets is increasingly messy and expensive. After the five-outlet rotating pool stood by CNN and canceled its coverage of Trump, the Justice Department over the weekend announced it was investigating whether those five companies violated antitrust laws in doing so.

Kelly's ruling stood largely by the news outlets. He wrote that without a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's ban, the outlets “are likely to suffer irreparable harm, and that the balance of the equities and the public interest tip in their favor.”

An email to the Justice Department, which is arguing the case on behalf of the administration, was not immediately returned. The White House also did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Theodore Boutrous Jr., attorney for the three media organizations, hailed the judge's ruling.

“When the President issued his ‘ban on the free press,’ he blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment,” Boutrous said in a statement. “The harm this ban did to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound. The Court was right to enjoin the White House from enforcing this ‘unconstitutional ban on the free press’ for the foreseeable future.”

Judge says no warning given before banishment

Kelly, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, previously ordered the White House to restore the reporters’ “hard pass” press credentials while he weighed their claims. With that temporary order expiring Tuesday, the judge issued a preliminary injunction that preserves the status quo indefinitely while the case is pending.

Kelly said that, “to put it mildly,” the White House didn’t give the plaintiffs any warning that they were in danger of losing their hard passes before Trump’s Sept. 18 social media post about their bans.

The judge also said the impact of the White House ban goes far beyond a single reporter's ability to do their job.

“The ban threatens to cut off all Plaintiffs’ access to the White House press area—a space open to many of their competitors—thereby restricting their ability to observe happenings there firsthand, immediately report on those activities, and try to engage with government officials,” the judge wrote.

Hard passes give journalists who regularly cover the White House longer term access to its campus without having to get permission ahead of time.

The government asked Kelly to suspend his own decision pending an appeal, but the judge said it didn’t justify that request. Kelly said the bans impacted a total of 78 reporters at the three news organizations.

Earlier judicial action against White House had

been only temporary

Trump provided no notice before announcing the bans in a Sept. 18 social media post, which criticized their reporting as “fake news.” Kelly temporarily blocked the bans on Sept. 24 at the request of the news outlets, which jointly filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C.

Attorneys for the outlets have described Trump’s move as “unprecedented and blatantly unconstitutional” under the First and Fifth amendments. They argued that it’s illegal for Trump to punish the journalists because he doesn’t like the content of their reporting.

“The ban also inflicts an injury on all news media organizations — which now risk a similar fate if they engage in fact-based, independent reporting the President deems insufficiently favorable,” plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote.

Government lawyers argued that access to the White House is a privilege — not a right — and said the president can impose the bans to protect national security and to stem the spread of misinformation.

“The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President,” Justice Department attorneys wrote. “Presidents have had a relationship with the press since the beginning. They have long decided which journalists should receive privileged access, which has varied substantially from administration to administration.”

___

Associated Press reporter Rebecca Boone contributed.

The increase beat economists' expectations and was stronger than the 25% year-on-year growth in August. High-tech goods including semiconductors and automobiles helped fuel its rising shipments overseas.

September's export growth pace was the fastest since February, according to a compilation of official data by FactSet.

Imports climbed 31% in September year-on-year, also accelerating from August’s 28.2% rise. Still, China recorded a $133.5 billion trade surplus last month, widening from $119.1 billion in August.

For the first nine months, China’s trade surplus reached $938.1 billion, with expectations growing that it could surpass last year’s full-year $1.2 trillion record.

Strong exports have helped drive China’s overall economic growth this year, at a time when domestic consumption and investment remained sluggish, weighed on by a yearslong real estate sector downturn.

However, China’s export resilience now faces mounting challenges, said Ecaterina Bigos, a senior market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

“While U.S.-China trade tensions have eased somewhat, the EU’s push to rebalance directly targets high-value exports,” she said.

The U.S. has launched an ongoing probe against China and other trading partners this year on their excess industrial capacity, although Washington and Beijing last month reached an agreement to extend their trade truce and cut tariffs on $60 billion worth of goods.

The 27-nation EU has particularly been struggling to rebalance a trade deficit exceeding $1.1 billion a day with China. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič, following his visit to Beijing where he met his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao last week, said a deal has been reached with Beijing, including halving Chinese hybrid car imports into the EU over the next few years.

Many of China’s trading partners are facing weak growth prospects and are fearful of their manufacturing industries being overrun by exports from China, said Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics and trade policy at Cornell University.

As talks about rebalancing trade with China grew, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Wednesday at a landmark trade fair in the southern city of Guangzhou that the country is willing to import more high-quality goods, especially high-value-added products, and that it acts as both a “super seller” and a “super buyer,” according to an official readout of his speech.

Policymakers have also pointed to an undervalued yuan, China’s currency, against the U.S. dollar contributing to Chinese exports being cheaper overseas when compared with goods from other countries, adding to trade imbalances.

China's central bank has said it has “no need or intent” to gain competitive advantages through currency devaluation and that its trade growth has been driven by its industrial competitiveness in the global market.

Between January and September, China’s semiconductor exports soared 108.1% year-on-year in terms of value, customs data showed. Its exports of automatic data processing equipment and parts jumped 54.6%, while auto exports rose 54.3%, driven by an increased global demand for Chinese electric vehicles and hybrids.

China’s trade surplus and its high-tech export model depend on open markets, Bigos said, and while diversifying its exports into markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America can help, it cannot fully substitute for Western demand.

The country’s reliance on high-tech exports, meanwhile, could face challenges as some U.S. technology industry leaders called for a global slowdown in the development of artificial intelligence for safety reasons.

“A slowdown in the global AI investment cycle could pose a greater threat to China’s export growth than trade restrictions imposed by other countries,” said Max Zenglein, Asia Pacific senior economist at The Conference Board.

Chinese leaders have set an annual economic growth target of 4.5%-5% for 2026.

This week, the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for China’s 2026 economic growth to 4.5%, down 0.1 percentage point from its previous projection, as it warned that the country's robust exports were unable to fully offset domestic weaknesses.

While Chinese officials have highlighted the need to bolster domestic demand, analysts believe that has yet to become a priority for this year even after authorities recently rolled out new measures to help lift its economy, including subsidies for homebuyers’ mortgage interest payments.

Peralta threw six innings of four-hit ball, Liam Hicks lined a two-run single after José Ramírez's fielding error and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 Tuesday night to even the AL Championship Series at 1-1.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night in Cleveland.

Peralta threw the hardest pitch of his big league career at 99.4 mph and relied on his four-seam fastball on 71 of 99 pitches — his 71.7% usage was his highest since June 11, 2019.

“It’s no secret that I trust in my fastball a lot and it’s my best pitch,” Peralta said.

Peralta's 96.9 mph average fastball velocity was 2.6 mph above his season average.

“It plays a big role, the adrenaline,” Peralta said. “And also I define myself as a competitor, and I like these kind of games. I’ve always said in the past, that I enjoyed this as a Dominican pitcher. I grew up watching the games in D.R., and that’s the game that you see. And I got used to that because I grew up watching it. And I feel that I have that in me, in myself. And that’s the way that I feel when I am on the mound in these kind of games.”

Peralta pumped a fist and screamed joyfully walking off the mound in the sixth after fanning Petey Halpin swinging at a 3-2 changeup.

“I just enjoyed the moment because it was a really good at-bat,” Peralta said. “It wasn’t an easy game since the first pitch that I threw until the last one. It was a lot of competition between me and the hitters. ... I think that was why I was fired up like that.”

Ramírez, whose two-run homer in Game 5 of their AL Division Series against Chicago helped the Guardians become the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series, misplayed a grounder in the fourth inning that led to three unearned runs against rookie lefty Parker Messick.

Junior Caminero walked to start that inning and Victor Mesa Jr. grounded into a forceout originally ruled a double play. The Rays challenged the calls at both first and second and Mesa was ruled safe when a video review overturned the out decision by first base umpire Mark Ripperger.

After Jonny DeLuca struck out, Chandler Simpson beat out a high chopper to shortstop, and the Mesa reached third standing up when Ramírez failed to cover the bag.

Ben Williamson followed with a grounder that scooted underneath Ramírez’s glove and between his legs after the ball hit the edge where the artificial turf met the infield dirt. The third baseman played back rather than charging.

“It's a little bit faster here this type of surface,” Ramirez said through a translator. “It's frustrating. I feel bad.”

Williamson reached second and Simpson went to third. Hicks drove the next pitch to right-center for a 3-0 lead, electrifying the towel-waving, cowbell-ringing crowd of 32,125 fans at Tropicana Field.

Peralta and three relievers didn’t need any more support.

“I think the velocity really stood out,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Peralta.

Kevin Kelly got two outs in the seventh, retiring Ramírez on a fly ball to center with two runners on.

Lefty Ian Seymour replaced him and Chase DeLauter lined an RBI double to the right-field corner.

Seymour struck out Jo Adell swinging at a changeup, leaving runners at second and third. Seymour pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Bryan Baker finished with a perfect ninth for his fourth postseason save.

Acquired by the Rays from the Mets at the trade deadline, Peralta turned around his season in Tampa Bay going 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts after posting a 4.99 ERA for New York.

He pitched his latest gem in front of Mets owner Steve Cohen, who was in attendance.

“We have a good relationship,” Peralta said of Cohen. “I think he’s awesome. And I’m happy that he was here watching, not watching me, watching the Rays.”

Messick, who grew up going to Rays games at the Trop, took the loss after giving up six hits and the three unearned runs in five innings.

Cleveland had won four straight in the postseason for the first time since winning their first six playoff games in 2016 on the way to a World Series berth.

The 98-win Rays swept the New York Yankees before a 7-3 loss in Game 1 on Monday.

That was their first loss in two weeks. Now, they're back on the winning track and need three more in a series that's reduced to a best of five to advance to their third World Series.

Liam's lineup drop

After batting cleanup in the first two games against the Yankees and sixth in Game 3 of that series, Hicks wasn't in the lineup against lefty Foster Griffin on Monday and batted eighth against Messick.

He doesn't care where he hits.

“This lineup is so good, you can hit anywhere in the lineup, and you’re not getting offended,” Hicks said. “There’s going to be opportunities.”

No hit for you

Caminero leaped to his left to snag Steven Kwan's hard liner to third in the fifth and then wagged a finger toward the batter. Caminero, who played all 162 games in the regular season and hit 42 home runs, was in the lineup after a collision with DeLuca on a foul ball in the ninth inning Monday night.

Up Next

Rays RHP Griffin Jax (8-10, 3.52 ERA) starts Thursday night. He struck out four and gave up one run in two innings of relief against the Yankees. RHP Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.76) is expected to start for the Guardians. Williams started Games 2 and 5 against the White Sox and tossed an inning in relief in Game 4. He had 24 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

“Los óculos son pequeñas hendiduras en las fachadas que dejan entrar la luz y creo que, en este momento, lo que más necesita Cuba es esa luz y compartirla entre todos”, dijo el padre Yosvany Carvajal, párroco de la Catedral y rector del Centro Cultural Padre Félix Varela, en declaraciones a The Associated Press,

El vitral –el óculo— de casi tres metros de altura, se encuentra ubicado sobre la puerta principal del templo del siglo XVIII y es el primer paso en un proceso de restauración necesario para evitar el deterioro adicional de la ornamentación. La obra lleva el nombre de “Madonna Luminosa” y fue creada por el artista cubano Aluan Argüelles.

La obra muestra a la virgen en tonos amarillos y azules con un singular movimiento en el diseño de su manto que destaca la iluminación

El vitral iluminado permanecerá en la fachada del templo por lo menos hasta el primer trimestre del próximo año, explicó el padre Carvajal. La Catedral festejará su aniversario 250 en 2027 y para entonces se tiene previsto que ya esté colocada la obra original restaurada.

Cuba atraviesa una complicada situación económica y social a partir del cerco energético y financiero impuesto por Estados Unidos en enero pasado como herramienta de presión para un cambio en el modelo de gobierno de la isla, agudizando la crisis al dejar al país prácticamente paralizado en todos sus sectores.

Apagones de más de 30 horas, carestía, desabasto de productos básicos y medicinas, recortes de horario en los centros de trabajo y jornadas perdidas son algunas de las consecuencias que el cerco ha provocado entre la población.

El proyecto de restauración de la Catedral de La Habana fue financiado a través de una recaudación de fondos realizada por la ONG Cuba Foundation, con sede en Nueva York.

“Nos enfocamos en apoyar al sector privado en Cuba, obviamente pasando por las regulaciones norteamericanas y de Cuba”, explicó el fundador de Cuba Foundation, Gustavo Arnavat, a la AP. Añadió que para él era una prioridad restaurar el óculo antes de que se perdiera del todo.

En el marco de las peores sanciones impuesta a la isla en décadas, el presidente estadounidense Donald Trump ordenó a finales de septiembre restricciones adicionales para los viajes desde Estados Unidos a la isla, en particular en lo referente a permisos académicos o intercambios, además de limitar las cuentas bancarias de empresarios isleños en Estados Unidos.

Arnavat aclaró que las sanciones no alcanzan a esta iniciativa, aunque reconoció que las medidas de este tipo suelen entorpecer los acercamientos binacionales.

“Las políticas del presidente Trump desde su primer mandato, que no cambiaron mucho durante Biden, han causado mucho ruido en los Estados Unidos. Entonces hay gente que es muy cautelosa, no sabe y tiene la impresión de que no se puede venir a Cuba… y claro no se puede venir como turista, pero se puede venir a apoyar al pueblo cubano”, sostuvo Arnavat.

————-

Siga a Andrea Rodríguez en X: https://x.com/ARodriguezAP

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and Sam Reinhart added two goals and an assist, extending his point streak against Columbus to a franchise-record 12 games.

Matthew Tkachuk assisted on all three of his brother’s goals and had an assist on Verhaeghe’s goal in the second for the first four-assist period in Panthers history. He extended his points streak to six games.

Brady Tkachuk became the ninth Panthers player with three goals in a period. He also had four points in the second as the brothers became the third and fourth Florida players with a four-point period.

Seth Jones contributed four assists, and Akira Schmid stopped 24 shots a night after replacing Jacob Markstrom following the first period of the Panthers’ loss at Buffalo.

Kent Johnson, Denton Mateychuk and Cole Sillinger scored for Columbus, and Damon Severson had two assists. The Blue Jackets lost for the third time in four games and have allowed seven power-play goals in 18 opportunities.

Cam Talbot stopped 17 shots before being replaced after allowing his sixth goal at 3:28 of the third period. Jet Greaves made four saves in relief.

Columbus took a 1-0 lead on Johnson’s unassisted goal at 14:11 of the first period, but Florida took control from there.

Brady Tkachuk took advantage of a turnover by Carson Soucy in the Florida zone and pulled the Panthers even at 2:27 of the second with his first goal of the season. He added a power-play goal 3 1/2 minutes later and completed his fourth career hat trick, and second against Columbus, with another power-play goal at 10:30.

Mathieu Olivier was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for slashing Uvis Balinskis at 13:44 of the second, leaving Columbus short-handed for five minutes. Verhaeghe scored on the ensuing power play.

Reinhart’s power-play goal 1:20 into the third gave him a Panthers-record 86 career power-play goals.

Columbus made it 6-3 with third-period goals from Mateychuk and Sillinger 22 seconds apart. Reinhart had an empty-netter.

Florida improved to 11-2-0 against Columbus since the start of the 2022-23 season.

Up next

Panthers: Host Vancouver on Thursday.

Blue Jackets: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

HIs recovery has been nothing short of remarkable.

“Getting struck by lightning was probably about one of the last things I would have thought that happened,” said Rick Stanczyk.

Stanczyk, who comes from a family of fishing guides, and whose family owns the iconic Bud N’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada, was scheduled to take three people out for a day of tarpon fishing on August 20th.

There were storms in the area, said friend and client Mark Fravel, but nowhere near where they were.

“We actually did see some lightning strikes, but it was so far away, you just saw the flash,” Fravel said.

The calm would soon change

Fravel heard what sounded like a loud crack.

“It was a crack so loud that it felt like it lifted the boat up in the air,” he said.

Stanczyk said not only does he not remember anything about that moment, but he doesn’t remember anything about that entire day. But he surmises that because he was holding on a metal steering wheel at the helm of his Contender center console boat, the lightning electrified him.

“I was holding the wheel and so it got me and everyone else on the boat was fine,” he said.

Fravel believes the lightning struck the water first, “chased up the engine and through the steering column,” he recalled.

Stanczyk, 44 and a father of two, collapsed.

His Contender was dead in the water.

Fravel and another onboard began CPR, while calling 911.

In minutes, Islamorada Fire Rescue paramedics raced to Bud N’ Mary’s and got onboard another boat captain’s vessel.

“It was dark and rainy,” recalled paramedic Steven Mejia. “We went onboard a vessel to reach where the patient was. If they weren’t there to initiate CPR - who knows what the outcome would have been.”

Stanczyk was flown to the hospital where he spent several days in a medically induced coma.

He recalls his wife telling him what happened as he slowly regained consciousness.

“‘Stay calm, Rick, you’re in the hospital,’” he said she told him. “‘You’re okay, but you were struck by lightning.’ And I was like, ‘What?’”

Florida is known as the lightning capital of the world.

Lightning activity in the state was reported to be nearly 28 percent above the 10-year average, according to the National Lightning Safety Council.

And even higher late this summer.

Meteorologist Chris Vagasky provided Local 10 with data that showed that lightning activity in August was 58% above average, and 108% above average in September.

Scientists are still working to find out why.

Now, Stanczyk is back on the water and says he’s cleared all medical tests - and is feeling strong.

In an abundance of precaution, he uses a rubber sleeve that covers the metal steering wheel of the boat he’s using. The Contender is still in the shop.

“As the captain of the boat, you always kind of think of yourself as the one who’s gonna be in charge,” he said. “(I’m) a little more grateful for being here and realizing you’re never really guaranteed tomorrow So you’ve got to enjoy the day.”

Leer en español

The vote gives the county the authority to take any necessary legal action to go inside the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters and examine the sheriff’s budget to see how he is spending taxpayer dollars.

“Everything stops if they just open their books and say, ‘Here’s what we’re spending our money on.’ It’s that simple, folks,” Broward Mayor Mark Bogen said.

The emergency meeting was led by Bogen on Tuesday morning.

The vote gives the county attorney the authority to sue the sheriff if negotiations go nowhere.

The board wants a closer look at the sheriff’s $870 million budget and exactly how the agency is spending taxpayer dollars.

The mayor says the county has a legal right to see the budget.

“We have a sheriff who refuses to disclose things, fights our requests, locks his doors, hides in his office making videos,” Bogen said.

On Monday, the mayor and commissioners were blocked from going inside BSO’s officer the to see its training facility, which the county auditor says cost more than twice what was expected, ballooning from $34 million to $73 million, which was already shown in audit in 2024.

“We sent many emails to the command staff saying we would like to view the gym and they don’t respond,” Bogen said. “They don’t respond.”

Right afterward, during a news conference, Tony claimed it was a distraction as statewide prosecutors sent subpoenas to all commissioners last month while investigating the county’s study about possibly removing BSO from both Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.

“It has been nothing more than a disguise to distract from what is actually taking place: an unprecedented criminal investigation,” Tony told reporters.

Tony went a step further on Tuesday, showing Local 10 News reporter Janine Stanwood the training facility.

“So this is a little uncommon, Janine, for me to show anyone what our toilets look like,” Tony said.

One commissioner claimed the facility has “gilded toilets.”

“And there you are, no gold,” Tony told Stanwood.

He showed Local 10 News the facility’s cold plunge, gym and sauna, as well as two massage tables for physical therapy.

All of it, Tony said, is “getting our people back into the field faster.”

Tony responded to criticism about placing his name on the logos on curtains and other places within the facility.

He said commissioners have turned it into “some scandalous approach about branding.”

Stanwood asked, “People might look at those weight plates and they say, ‘Why do you need to put Broward County Sheriff?’”

“Pride,” Tony, who said the branding was a nominal cost, said. “Organizational pride. Keep fighting. Let’s go.”

He said of commissioners’ request to tour the facility, “Over the span of two years since we’ve opened, there has been not one formal email request from any of those commissioners.”

Stanwood asked Tony, “So why not just say to the county ‘Here, look at the books. You don’t have to put in a FOIA because the taxpayers should be able to see what’s going on?’”

Costs, he said, are “already in the books. It’s in their audit report. I have tried everything possible to negotiate in good faith, present data and factual figures and it has fallen on deaf ears.”

“But why won’t you go to a commission meeting?” Stanwood asked.

“Because attending commission meetings, at this point in time, has become nothing more than theater,” Tony responded.

Tony has claimed the battle is a distraction as statewide prosecutors sent subpoenas to all commissioners last month while investigating the county’s study about possibly removing BSO from both Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.

“It has been nothing more than a disguise to distract from what is actually taking place: an unprecedented criminal investigation,” Tony told reporters at a news conference on Monday.

He later called Tuesday’s vote an “assault” on his independence as a constitutional officer.

Local 10 News has reached out to state investigators.

During Tuesday’s commission meeting, Bogen said he has not heard of any criminal probe and asked the county attorney to confirm that.

“Counsel, are you aware of any of us or any of the staff here (who are) under a criminal investigation?” Bogen said.

“Um, mayor, I’m not aware of any criminal investigation,” the county attorney replied.

Commissioner Lamar Fisher is also proposing taking the 911 system away from the sheriff.

There is a meeting next Tuesday when that proposal will come up.

If approved, he says the transition will happen immediately.

But mainland U.S. hurricane strikes tend to have harder bookends that fall within the prescribed June to November season. The earliest official mainland U.S. hurricane landfall from the National Hurricane Center’s historical database – coined HURDAT 2, which extends back to 1851 – was Hurricane Alma that struck the Florida Big Bend on June 9^th, 1966. The latest landfalling mainland U.S. hurricane was Hurricane Kate on November 21^st, 1985, that struck the Florida Panhandle.

While other out-of-season U.S. hurricanes have been documented – such as the retroactively named Hurricane Amanda uncovered by researchers in 2013 that struck the Florida Panhandle on May 28^th, 1863 – no mainland U.S. hurricane landfalls outside of the June to November hurricane season are officially listed in NHC’s historical HURDAT 2 record.

When do we typically see the last mainland U.S. landfall?

As we’ve written about in previous newsletters, the last U.S. hurricane landfall often precedes or even helps to usher in the start of South Florida’s dry season, which typically arrives around the middle of October.

Examining all hurricane landfalls in the satellite record (since 1966), 90% of seasons see their last hurricane landfall by around the middle of October (October 18^th). For named storms, which include both tropical storms and hurricanes, we’re usually done with mainland U.S. hits by the end of October.

That of course doesn’t mean we haven’t seen or can’t see November threats from tropical storms and hurricanes. They’re just far less common than any other month of the season and about a once-every -decade-or-less event (as we discussed in yesterday’s newsletter, November U.S. hurricanes are about a once-in-50-year event).

So let’s get through the next few weeks and then we can rest a little easier knowing the threats from hurricane season are mostly in the rearview mirror.

No development expected deep into October

Our longer-range computer models don’t show any viable candidates over the next week or two across the Atlantic basin.

Each week is especially meaningful this time of year and gets us closer to November when U.S. landfalls become the exception, rather than the norm.