The wet weather will continue tomorrow with an isolated shower or two in the morning, followed by numerous showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. The main threat will be pockets of flooding, but an occasional strong thunderstorm with gusty winds and frequent lightning is possible.

A continuous plume of tropical moisture from the Caribbean will run over South Florida this weekend and well into next week. This will keep a similar pattern going with at least 4-8” of rain expected over the next week.

Aunque este linaje pudo abrirle muchas puertas, Valencia —abogada, filósofa y especialista en Economía por la Universidad de Los Andes fundada por su abuelo— dice que se ha labrado su propio camino en la vida pública. Ahora es una de las punteras en la campaña para las elecciones del domingo y podría ser la primera mujer que llega a la presidencia de Colombia.

“Las mujeres estamos preparadas para gobernar a Colombia. El gran sostén del hogar colombiano es la mujer y el único hogar en que no manda la mujer colombiana es la Casa de Nariño y eso va a cambiar”, dijo Valencia, de 50 años, a The Associated Press sobre sus aspiraciones para llegar a la residencia y sede presidencial.

En una contienda con 11 aspirantes, solo tres mujeres participan como candidatas. En las elecciones de 2022, en las que no había representación femenina, Gustavo Petro se convirtió en el primer presidente de izquierda.

Valencia ha ejercido una férrea oposición a Petro en el Senado como parte de la bancada del Centro Democrático, dirigido por el influyente expresidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002-2010).

Su oposición ha ido más allá de los discursos en el Congreso y se ha trasladado a los tribunales con demandas en contra de iniciativas gubernamentales como la reforma del sistema de pensiones.

Uribe, su padrino político

Valencia nació en 1976 en Popayán, en el suroeste del país, pero ha vivido gran parte de su vida en Bogotá. Amapola, de 9 años, es el fruto de su relación con Tomás Rodríguez Barraquer, un profesor de Economía de la Universidad de Los Andes.

Hace una década, Valencia protagonizó una polémica cuando en una transmisión en vivo desde su casa apareció de fondo un óleo que mostraba a Uribe con una aureola y un corazón rodeado de llamas, como es representado el Sagrado Corazón de Jesús.

Valencia defendió la pintura y actualmente el expresidente continúa siendo su padrino político y escudero en múltiples actos de campaña.

“Para mí (Uribe) ha sido un gran mentor. La gente cree que es que él me llama por la mañana a decirme qué tengo que hacer; todo lo contrario. Él le ha dado alas a todas mis ideas, me ha ayudado a convertirme en la líder que yo soy”, aseguró Valencia.

El gobierno de Uribe es recordado especialmente por fortalecer a las Fuerzas Armadas y combatir con mano dura a grupos ilegales, sobre todo de izquierda, como la guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

Su política de “seguridad democrática” aún es defendida por quienes consideran que fue vital para disminuir la violencia armada o cuestionada por quienes aseguran que permitió graves violaciones de derechos humanos como los “falsos positivos” o ejecuciones extrajudiciales de civiles.

“Nosotros vamos a tener lo que funcionó en la seguridad democrática y los aprendizajes que durante todos estos años ha tenido Colombia”, explicó Valencia.

Entre la mano dura y los consensos

Valencia ha prometido fortalecer a la fuerza pública y acabar con los actuales diálogos de paz que Petro ha promovido con múltiples grupos armados ilegales, sin lograr aún desarmarlos.

“Habrá procesos de sometimiento (a la justicia) que implican responder con cárcel por los crímenes”, sentenció Valencia, quien se opuso al acuerdo de paz firmado hace una década entre el Estado y las extintas FARC.

La candidata ha prometido mano dura durante una campaña que se desarrolló en medio de múltiples ataques con explosivos que causaron en el último mes más de 20 muertos y decenas de heridos entre la población civil y las fuerzas de seguridad.

Pero Valencia también ha hablado de consensos políticos y ha buscado conquistar los votos de los moderados con su fórmula vicepresidencial, el economista Juan Daniel Oviedo, con quien sin embargo difiere en temas como el aborto legal y la adopción de niños por la comunidad LGBTIQ+, a los que la candidata se opone.

La postura de Valencia sobre el aborto le acarreó críticas de las feministas. Los dos integrantes de la fórmula aseguran que, de gobernar, llegarán a acuerdos.

La apuesta por Oviedo también le ha costado cuestionamientos de sectores conservadores justo cuando compite por votos con el candidato Abelardo de la Espriella, un abogado millonario simpatizante de los gobiernos de Nayib Bukele y Donald Trump.

En lo que se refiere a los puntos fuertes y débiles de Valencia, el analista político Sergio Guzmán ponderó que tenga experiencia como legisladora en contraste con el hecho de que no la tenga "ni como gobernadora, ni como alcalde, ni como ministra”.

A white cargo plane on Thursday morning delivered masks, gloves, boots, and medications — all of which are in short supply — donated by the European Union to Bunia, a northeastern town at the heart of the outbreak. U.N.-branded forklifts lifted several cases into trucks.

In Bunia, Associated Press reporters saw empty emergency treatment centers, and doctors in the nearby town of Bambu using expired medical masks while tending to suspected Ebola patients.

At least three attacks have been recorded against health centers in Ituri province as residents protested stringent medical protocols that clashed with local burial rites, heightening the danger health workers face.

The aid delivery from the EU is expected to come in batches over the next eight days, Jérôme Kouachi, head of emergency operations at UNICEF in Congo, told the AP.

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Thursday that he was on his way to Congo to see first-hand efforts to contain the Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. The WHO has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, in the hope of ramping up aid.

The Congolese government has confirmed more than 1,000 suspected cases, with at least 220 deaths, since it declared an outbreak on May 15. But the virus had been spreading undetected for weeks, and the WHO suspects it is much larger than what has been reported.

The virus has also reached neighboring Uganda, which has confirmed seven cases and one death. On Wednesday, the Congolese government said the first survivor to recover from the virus had left a health center.

“We are trying to catch up,” Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said earlier this week. “It is a race against the clock.”

The response on the ground has been hampered by multiple challenges, including customs' red tape, insufficient storage facilities, bad roads and weak telecommunications, humanitarian agencies said in a report on Thursday.

Tedros on Wednesday called for a ceasefire in a region where armed groups have staged violent attacks for decades. “We cannot build community trust or isolate the sick while bombs are falling,” he said.

Tucked in the northeastern part of Congo close to the Ugandan border, Ituri province has been reeling from attacks by the Allied Democratic Force, a rebel group allied with the Islamic State group, and a coalition of ethnic militias. In early May, the ADF killed at least 40 people and burned several homes in Ituri.

The illness has also been reported in two Congolese provinces south of Ituri — North Kivu and South Kivu, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls many key cities, including Goma and Bukavu. The rebels have reported two cases. The region’s main airport in Goma, which doubles as a staging ground for humanitarian efforts into the region, has been closed since January 2025, when M23 seized the city.

The conflict has precipitated one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with at least 7 million people displaced in eastern Congo.

—-

Ope Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

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According to Miami Beach police, the incident occurred at about 1:10 a.m.

Cellphone video captured the crime scene at South Pointe Park after the incident.

Miami Beach police and crime scene detectives were seen focusing on a bench along the main walkway after the shooting.

Hours later, after investigators cleared the area, Local 10’s cameras captured blood stains left behind on the bench -- a visible reminder of the violence that unfolded here.

“I am pretty stunned because it is a very nice park and nice people walking around here with their kids and dogs -- a really friendly neighborhood,” park visitor Ann Wessung said.

Police said the off-duty cop was the victim of some sort of incident involving another person.

South Florida Police Benevolent Association President Steadman Stahl said the deputy was protecting not only himself, but also relatives who were with him at the time.

“It just goes to show you we are never really off duty,” Stahl said.

Stahl said the deputy was walking back to his home with family members and his dog when he was attacked.

“The officer was walking back with some family members, back to his house, when he was attacked by a subject really unprovoked and he had to resort back to his police actions and training,” Stahl said.

That’s when the deputy fired his gun, hitting the other person, authorities said.

“Well, I mean, self-defense is self-defense. I guess he knows how to handle a weapon,” park visitor Ole Wessung said.

Police confirmed that the suspect was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition.

The suspect is not facing any charges, as of Wednesday night.

The deputy was not injured.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed it is investigating the “deputy’s use of force” at the request of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Lee County deputies said they saw a car swerving in and out of lanes Tuesday, prompting a traffic stop.

In the video, a deputy is seen approaching the passenger-side window and asking for the names of the driver and passenger.

The deputy tells them a K-9 will search the car and asks both people to step out.

When the woman gets out of the car, the deputy notices her allegedly trying to hide drugs, which fall onto the floor, authorities said.

Deputies said the baggie was filled with cocaine.

After searching the car, deputies also found a shoebox in the trunk filled with cocaine and other drug paraphernalia, according to authorities.

Deputies said all of the drugs belonged to Jacqueline Stacy.

In total, deputies said they found more than 44 grams of cocaine.

Stacy was taken to jail and is facing multiple charges.

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That’s according to Local 10 News sources and a growing number of detainees inside the facility who have been calling Local 10 and claiming they’re seeing operations shutting down.

“There’s less detainees, there’s less detainees now,” one detainee told Local 10 News over the phone. “And there are less officers too as well.”

U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost, from Central Florida, said the number of detainees is dropping drastically.

“They have 655 people there as of yesterday,” said Frost. “They spent nearly a billion of taxpayer dollars. There needs to be accountability and consequences.”

While many of the immigrants are being processed for deportation or transferred to other facilities across the country, Local 10 is learning a growing number of them are being released or bonding out to their families.

Sammy Aliferis has served as an immigration judge and an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement attorney, but now he is serving as a lawyer representing detainees inside “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Aliferus said detainees are being let out under a legal order called habeas corpus.

“It’s supposed to be to effectuate the removal, not to have them there indefinitely,” he said.

This is all coming after an immigration judge recently stated that, “If removal is not reasonably foreseeable, the court should hold continued detention unreasonable and no longer authorized by statute.”

Aliferis says detainees are also being granted bond following a recent decision in Florida’s 11th Circuit Court.

Local 10 News reached out to the Florida Department of Emergency Management, which runs the facility, to ask for comment on our reporting, or to confirm if they are shutting down.

They had not replied as of the time of this story’s publication.

The person who confirmed the existence of the investigation was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The perjury investigation is being led by the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has had no involvement because of his prior work as Trump’s personal attorney, the person said.

Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

It’s the latest in a series of investigations the Trump administration Justice Department has opened into perceived adversaries of the president. The actions, including securing an indictment last month against former FBI Director James Comey, have raised alarm from Democrats and former officials that an institution meant to make prosecutorial decisions independent of the White House is being weaponized.

Carroll has said a flirtatious, chance encounter with Trump in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue store ended violently. She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her. Trump has called the allegations a “made-up scam.”

A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million. The following year, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a defamation case related to Trump's social media attacks on her.

A court entry earlier this month said Trump won’t have to pay the award until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let the president delay the payment to Carroll, though it required that he post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made.

The Carroll investigation was first reported by CNN.

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Defense attorney Howard Srebnick argued Wednesday that the case should be dismissed or, alternatively, transferred, as a judge began considering multiple motions in the high-profile case.

Judge Marissa Tinkler Mendez is considering Pino’s request to move the case out of the county, dismiss the charges altogether and other motions as well.

Tinkler Mendez said the proceedings could take a couple of days and she may not issue all rulings from the bench, noting she could reserve some decisions for a later date.

Courtroom 41 was packed for Wednesday’s hearing, which drew family members of the victims as well as supporters of Pino.

The case stems from a Labor Day weekend boating crash in 2022, when Pino was operating a boat carrying his wife, teenage daughter and several of her friends. Investigators said the boat struck a channel marker in waters near Boca Chita Key, throwing passengers into the water.

Seventeen-year-old Lucy Fernandez was killed, and her friend Kathy Puig suffered serious, permanent injuries. Investigators also reported finding dozens of empty alcohol containers on board, and said Pino was seen on video stating he had two beers that day.

The defense has maintained there is no evidence Pino was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

Attorneys also argue he was not speeding and was otherwise following boating rules, contending the incident was the result of a brief lapse in attention.

“There is nothing to indicate anything other than, at best for the state, George Pino had a momentary lapse. He was distracted by something. It was inattention for a moment in time, but it wasn’t some conscious, willful, intentional decision to put people at risk,” Srebnick said. “And that’s what the court, I believe, has to wrestle with.”

Pino faces charges of vessel homicide and manslaughter.

Tinkler Mendez is also considering motions to exclude statements Pino made after the crash, with the defense arguing he suffered a head injury and that his account should not be used at trial.

Attorneys are also seeking to move the case out of Miami-Dade County, citing concerns over pretrial publicity and jury bias.

The state, meanwhile, is seeking to question potential jurors about their exposure to the case and is considering allowing jurors to visit the vessel as part of the proceedings.

Jury selection could begin as early as next week.

Inside the school, a classroom was transformed into a busy barbershop as barbers volunteered their time for what the school calls “Cut and Groom Day.”

“They look good, they feel good, they behave well,” Principal Theon Eames said.

Around 30 boys received free haircuts, including fades, buzzcuts and shape-ups.

“Whether they wanted a haircut, whether they wanted a shape up, whatever it was, they were able to provide it for them,” Eames said.

The event was made possible with help from barbers from Universal Barbershop in Hollywood.

“We love giving back to the community any way possible,” one barber said.

For fourth grader Carl Content, the haircut brought a boost in confidence.

“It feels nice and the haircut looks good,” Carl said. “It makes me feel good and refreshing.”

Principal Eames said the free haircuts also help ease a burden for families.

“We’re just trying to make a way to meet the need of our community and our scholars because they worked hard this year,” Eames said.

Some students were a little nervous while getting their haircuts.

“Just close your eyes and sit still,” one barber told a student.

Barbers said the reactions from students make the event worthwhile.

“It gives them some confidence, self-esteem. It helps them focus a little more better,” said Manuj Narine of Universal Barbershop.

“They’re like, ‘Ohh, that’s me, wow. I like this. I look fresh,’” Narine said.

“I’m going to look good,” student Corey Edgerton said.

Principal Eames said this is not the first time he has brought Cut and Groom Day to a school community, and he hopes it will not be the last.

End-of-the-school-year ceremonies have already started at the school.

For Radoslav Sekulic and his young family, the apartment was supposed to be a short-term place to stay while work was being done on their home.

After long days running his Miami Beach car detailing business, Sekulic said he just wanted a place where he, his wife and their newborn daughter, Mila, could get some rest.

Instead, they say they got scammed.

The family found the listing on Facebook Marketplace. The apartment looked real, with photos and a video walkthrough. They thought they had found the perfect place to stay for four to six weeks.

But on move-in day, things suddenly changed.

“I can’t let you in,” the supposed landlord told them. “The apartment doesn’t smell good, and we can do it in the next few days when the plumbing job is done.”

Those next few days never happened.

Detectives say the rental listing was fake from the start.

Sekulic spoke exclusively with Local 10 News, saying he wants to warn others about what police describe as a rental scam allegedly tied to Joseph Saroza, who now faces several counts of organized fraud and grand theft.

Sekulic said he pleaded with the alleged scammer after realizing something was wrong.

“My wife is not working. We have a 1-month-old. We cannot afford this. I’m currently under financial stress,” he said.

Police say Saroza allegedly lured renters with apartments he had no authority to rent. Investigators say he somehow got access to units, showed them to potential renters, talked about lease terms and collected deposits.

The problem, police say, is that he had no connection to the apartments at all.

Sekulic said his family lost $2,000. Detectives believe other victims may have lost even more -- between $4,000 and $6,000 in some cases.

Police also say Saroza allegedly used a fake name online.

Officer Mike Vega with the Miami Police Department said the scam followed a familiar pattern.

“Put it on Facebook and say it’s for rent, ask for a security deposit and a final deposit, and then at the end he would say there’s a problem with the plumbing,” Vega said.

Court documents say Saroza created fake leases and even fake key cards for some victims. Investigators say he met renters at the apartments to make everything look legitimate.

Local 10 News went to Saroza’s last known address looking for his side of the story, but he was not there. Relatives reportedly said he moved out some time ago.

“Calling him, he blocked me and he blocked my wife,” Sekulic said.

Saroza is out on bond. Miami police say there could be more victims and are urging anyone who believes they were targeted to come forward.

She practices yoga. She performs free flow dance. And while she works, she frequently listens to house music tuned to 432 hertz, a frequency lower than typical concert pitch.

“Music is medicine. Sound is medicine,” said Sanchez, who provides telehealth services for a healthcare management organization in California. “It helps me focus and be engaged with the patient I’m assisting, and it also helps me relax."

Music recorded in 432 hertz (cycles per second) is taking off on social media platforms and music streaming services, where users can find an increasing number of tracks and playlists employing the alternate tuning, everything from meditation soundscapes to reggae songs recorded by Ziggy Marley.

Many proponents assert that 432 hertz is aligned with nature. Others assign the frequency healing properties or the power to reduce blood pressure. So far, there's no robust scientific evidence to support those claims.

“There are frequencies going on right now that are higher than what we can hear and lower than what can hear. And they’re not special because they’re one of the billions and billions of frequencies that we’re receiving right now,” said Susan Rogers, a Berklee College of Music professor emeritus who worked as Prince's sound engineer during the 1980s. “To set one aside and say that it is the frequency of the universe is, as far as the science community is concerned, nonsense.”

To Sanchez, it doesn't matter if the pain relief and emotional benefits she ascribes to 432 hertz music have a scientific explanation.

“When it comes to music, it could activate different feelings in people, the vibrations of it. It’s not like a one-size-fits-all,” she said.

The story behind 440 and 432 hertz

Throughout history, as people sang or played music together, they tuned their instruments to the same pitch to create a harmonious sound. Singers and musicians often chose a musical note — typically the A above middle C on a piano — as a reference point.

The music genre known as “432 Hz” is characterized by its tuning, in which the A above middle C is pitch-adjusted to vibrate at 432 hertz instead of the standard 440 hertz. The lower frequency is noticeable to the naked ear, sounding like slightly lower notes. Some people feel the alteration produces a warmer, more harmonious sound that resonates with the human body and the natural world.

Many orchestras and musicians now tune their instruments to 440 hertz. But that wasn't always the case.

Until the 19th century, musicians tuned instruments according to local standards, which varied from one country to the next, said Fanny Gribenski, a music historian at New York University. “For most of music history, people are just singing within their own vocal range,” she added.

Eventually, there were orchestras and musical groups tuning to higher frequencies, and some composers became concerned that singers would be unable to perform music from the past, Gribenski said.

“The idea that it should be mainly a lower frequency than the ones that were in use at the time is really the cultural concern for protecting music from the past, protecting the voices of singers,” she said.

At the same time, as international travel became more widespread, the desire for a common tuning frequency grew. In 1939, representatives from multiple European countries and the U.S. agreed to accept 440 hertz as the international standard.

Artists continued to experiment with pitch over the decades that followed. In the 1980s and ’90s, sound engineers sometimes took a recorded song and sped it up or slowed it down to achieve a brighter or slower sound, moving away from the frequency of 440 hertz, Rogers said.

But Rogers doubts that retuning a whole band or orchestra to 432 hertz would improve its sound since many modern instruments were designed sound prettiest while tuned to 440 hertz.

“Some of those instruments might sound a little sweeter, but it’s likely that most won’t,” she said.

Higher pitch generally means more brilliance, or perhaps a little more power in some instruments, Gribenski said. For those listeners who appreciate the lower 432 hertz music, “I wonder if there is a sense of deceleration, slowing down slightly, and also taking one step down from the bright sounds of modernity,” she said.

Working and 432 hertz music

Fans of working while accompanied by a 432 hertz soundtrack cite a variety of reasons.

Amelia Beamer, who handles marketing at the North Carolina pharmacy her parents own, Andrews Apothecary, says she thinks taking work breaks to listen to music tuned to 432 hertz helps with her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She's noticed that she feels more focused if she listens before she starts a project.

Beamer works for 25 minutes, takes a five-minute listening break and then returns to the task at hand. She also listens to other frequencies, such as music tuned to 528 hertz.

“It definitely helps me feel more grounded and more centered,” Beamer said of 432 hertz music. “It helps me slow down and to take some intentional space and time for myself.”

Diana Wolf Torres, who creates videos and writes a newsletter about robots, frequently gets migraines and is sensitive to noises. If a gardener is using a leaf blower next door, she has difficulty ignoring it. Listening to music tuned to 432 hertz or other sounds such as white noise while wearing noise-canceling headphones helps.

“I just want to be there and get it done and feel like I’m doing my best writing possible, and anything that keeps me in the zone is a fantastic tool,” Torres said.

Torres doesn't think there's any science or special properties behind 432 hertz music but that “maybe some people find this lower tuning more soothing.” She noted that most listeners won't know if music labeled 432 hertz on social media is labeled accurately.

“What does it matter? If you're getting an effect, are you really going to check the resonance? Do you care?” Torres asked.

Sanchez, the telehealth worker, also enjoys listening to tunes fixed to other alternative frequencies, such as 528 hertz and 963 hertz.

“It’s something worth exploring and finding out for yourself whether it has any benefits or not,” Sanchez said. “For me, I find that grounding is beneficial to my overall wellbeing, so I see how it helps my livelihood."

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Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

The likely death toll rose to 11, including the missing, after another person who was injured died, authorities said Wednesday.

Authorities said there was no hope of finding more survivors following Tuesday’s tank failure at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, which also injured another eight people, including a firefighter who was treated and released by a hospital.

If the 11 deaths are confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest industrial accidents in the U.S. in recent decades — alongside a series of blasts that killed 16 people at an explosives plant in Tennessee last fall; a fire and detonation that killed 14 people at a fertilizer plant in Texas in 2013; the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 people in 2010; and an explosion at a West Virginia coal mine that killed 29 people in 2010.

Officials said Wednesday that the paper mill tank spilled more than 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of “white liquor,” a highly destructive chemical mixture used in paper manufacturing.

After delaying the search over concerns that the tank might collapse further, crews determined it contained less liquid than initially thought and that the tank was stable enough to resume efforts to find the missing. Fire officials said the search will be slow and methodical.

“We do not know where all nine are,” said Scott Goldstein, a Cowlitz County fire chief.

Authorities said the rupture hasn’t affected the safety of the air and drinking water in Longview, a Columbia River city of about 40,000 people with long ties to the Washington and Oregon paper and lumber industries.

Some contamination had reached the Columbia River, one of North America’s largest waterways, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that no effects on the river had been observed. Officials warned residents to keep away from ditches and dikes.

It was the second notable issue with a chemical tank in days on the West Coast, following the evacuation of thousands of Southern California residents due to an overheated tank at an aerospace plant before those orders were lifted Tuesday night.

The paper mill tank could hold about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) and was more than half full when it ruptured, Goldstein said. White liquor, which is made mostly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, is used with heat to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.

The sprawling plant, which employs about 1,000 people, makes material for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, and cartons. It sits along the river next to other timber, paper and chemical businesses.

Paper mill worker was always there to help, friend says

The rupture happened at shift change Tuesday morning, causing the huge circular tank to buckle on one side. The cause remained unclear.

Authorities haven’t released the names of the dead or missing, but some have begun to trickle out.

Todd Cornwell said his friend, Gilbert Bernal, was an electrician at the plant and was the first confirmed death. They knew each other through church and were in the same Bible study group, he said.

“We actually had our group last night and instead of doing Bible study, we talked about him,” Cornwell said. “He was always there willing to help in whatever needed to be done. When the local church school started flooding, he was one of the people there.”

Brian Williquette, a chemical supplier for the region’s mills, was at the plant Tuesday morning when he heard an alarm over the intercom and first wondered if it was drill. He was able to get out safely and didn’t see any of the damage.

“It’s just unfathomable,” he said at a community vigil Tuesday. “There’s not anybody that lives here that doesn’t know somebody at a paper mill.”

Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident, said she has friends at the plant who remained unaccounted for. She said people called and texted each other all day trying to figure out what happened.

“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she said. “There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why.”

Authorities press for answers about the rupture

Nippon Paper Group in a statement said Wednesday that it was offering its “deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families.”

Some of those who were injured suffered burns or inhalation injuries, authorities said.

Following the tank’s rupture, the liquid spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittny Goodsell, a state Ecology Department spokesperson.

Almost every industry uses chemical tanks like this and they are generally quite safe, said Stephen Kmiotek, a chemical engineering professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. But it’s important that companies keep up proper maintenance and inspections, particularly after the tanks get older, he said.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board on Wednesday announced an investigation. Its chairperson, Steve Owens, said the goal was to “determine how it happened and what can be done to prevent something like this from happening again.”

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Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle, Kathy McCormack in Concord New Hampshire, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims were up to 215,000, up from 210,000 the week before. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by nearly 6,300 to 209,000.

“Initial claims are still impressively low, near historic lows,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary. “The uptick from last week to this week is trivial in a labor market of 159 million workers.″

The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits — a proxy for layoffs — has stabilized in a low range of mostly 200,000 to 250,000 a week since the U.S. economy emerged from a brief but nasty pandemic recession in 2020.

The total number of people collecting jobless aid rose by 15,000 to 1.79 million the week that ended May 16.

The persistently low number of claims suggests that most U.S. companies have not resorted to layoffs. But even if they’re not cutting jobs, employers haven’t been adding many either. Last year, companies, nonprofits and government agencies added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month, weakest hiring outside recession years since 2002.

Job creation has picked up a bit so far this year — to an average of 76,000 a month from January through April. By contrast, employers added 122,000 a month in 2024 and averaged nearly 400,000 a month from 2021 through 2023 as the economy roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns.

But the United States now needs fewer jobs to keep the unemployment rate from rising. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and ongoing Baby Boomer retirements means that the monthly “break-even rate″ of monthly hiring may be as low as zero. And the unemployment rate — 4.3% in April — has, in fact, remained low by historic standards.

The Iran war has clouded the economic outlook as higher energy prices squeeze consumers and businesses. Iran responded to U.S. and Israeli attacks by turning to economic warfare — closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes, and causing the biggest disruption of global oil supplies in history. In response, U.S. gasoline prices have surged to an average of $4.43 a gallon from an average $2.98 a gallon on the eve of the conflict, according to AAA.

Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.5% in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4%, down from the 0.7% jump in March.

The report showed that prices have risen for many items in addition to gas, indicating that inflation could persist and pose problems for congressional Republicans in this year's midterm elections. Inflation is also notably above the Federal Reserve's target of 2%, which means Fed policymakers may decide to forego any cuts to their key short-term interest rate this year. Some officials have signaled that their next move could be a hike rather than a cut.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose to 3.3% in April from 3.2% the previous month. It is the highest core figure since November 2023. One positive sign in the report: Core prices rose just 0.2% in April from March.

Higher prices are also cutting into consumers' incomes, which were unchanged in April from March. Adjusted for inflation, incomes actually slipped 0.1% last month.

It’s made for a very rough commute to work and school and several flood advisories have been issued for the Upper Keys and near downtown Miami.

This first batch of heavy rain will move out of the area before 11 a.m. and flood advisories will be discontinued, however there’s a ton of moisture in the atmosphere and another period of strong showers and storms is likely later Thursday, mainly after 2 p.m.

Those afternoon and evening storms could cause more flooding in spots so be prepared for a rough commute home later in the day.

This stormy pattern will start shifting toward mainly the afternoon hours Friday through the weekend. It’s during those dry times in the morning when the sun will heat things up and create a very unstable atmosphere leading to those strong afternoon storms.

We might squeeze out over 6 inches of rain in spots over the next 5-7 days, putting a significant dent in the drought we’ve been experiencing.

Also, a federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

Here's the latest:

Justice Department opens investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of assault: AP source

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who’s said Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store 30 years ago, lied during the course of civil litigation against the Republican president, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person who confirmed the existence of the investigation wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The perjury investigation is being led by the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has had no involvement because of his prior work as Trump’s personal attorney, the person said.

Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

It’s the latest in a series of investigations the Trump administration Justice Department has opened into perceived adversaries of the president.

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— Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker

Key inflation gauge worsens as Americans shell out more for gasoline

Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.5% in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4%, down from the 0.7% jump in March.

The report showed prices have risen for many items in addition to gas, indicating inflation could persist and pose problems for congressional Republicans in this year’s midterm elections. Inflation is also notably above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, which means Fed policymakers may decide to forego any cuts to their key short-term interest rate this year. Some officials have signaled their next move could be a hike rather than a cut.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose to 3.3% in April from 3.2% the previous month. It’s the highest core figure since November 2023. One positive sign in the report: Core prices rose just 0.2% in April from March.

▶ Read more

The Minneapolis immigration crackdown ended months ago. For these little kids, trauma remains

The little girl approached the therapy dog outside the school library, reaching out to touch her fluffy blond coat. Social worker Nicole Herje leaned in.

“How does it feel when you pet Sage?” Herje said.

“I like it,” the girl said. “In Ecuador, I had a dog.”

A few months earlier, this girl and many of her classmates at Valley View Elementary were staying off the streets to avoid the immigration officers flooding their suburban Minneapolis community. Attendance plummeted as families kept their kids from school during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge.

Sage the goldendoodle is not just a cute diversion. She’s part of a broader strategy to address the psychological wounds of children who witnessed arrests, lost relatives to deportation or endured anxious weeks indoors.

Immigration officers made more than 4,000 arrests and shot multiple people, two fatally, before “Operation Metro Surge” wound down in February, leaving an imprint on the psyches of young children that could haunt them for years, mental health providers say.

▶ Read more

Republicans’ recent stumbles in Congress highlight the difficult road ahead for their agenda

A roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement through the remainder of President Trump’s term was supposed to be an easy lift for Republicans.

But progress stalled over concerns about the inclusion of White House ballroom security funding in the package and the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to finance claims of government mistreatment. The stumble hasn’t only delayed action on a top GOP priority but also is raising questions about other parts of the party’s legislative agenda, including whether Republicans can enact another catchall, party-line bill referred to in Washington parlance as “Reconciliation 3.0.”

Republicans have spent recent weeks laying the groundwork for such a bill, which they hope will serve as a final sales pitch to voters going into the midterms.

▶ Read more

Federal judge refuses to block Trump order to create federal voter list and limit mail voting

A federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., a Trump appointee, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups who had argued that Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Trump administration’s contention it was too early to issue the order because it has yet to be implemented.

The legal battle against the provision now shifts to Boston, where voting rights groups have a separate lawsuit against the executive order in federal court.

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US military says Iran fired missiles at Kuwait in the latest challenge to the fragile ceasefire

The U.S. military said that Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, calling the Iranian attack on one of the U.S. top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

The attack on Kuwait was the latest flare-up to shake the fragile ceasefire reached last month between the U.S. and Iran.

Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran announced it had retaliated after strikes earlier in the week on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name.

The Iranian strike came after, earlier in the week, the U.S. said it had struck Iranian missile launch sites, minelaying boats and attack drones it said posed threats near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

US military strikes another alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific, killing 2

The U.S. military on Wednesday struck another vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two men.

U.S. Southern Command posted video on social media showing a boat resting on the water before being struck by an explosion. The last few seconds of the video show smoke and fire rising from the boat.

A day earlier, U.S. forces had launched a strike on an alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing one man and leaving two survivors. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.”

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has gone on since early September and killed at least 196 people in total. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

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AP Exclusive: Trump administration tells prosecutors to stand down on Venezuela leader, sources say

The Trump administration has quietly instructed federal prosecutors in Miami to avoid pursuing criminal investigations into Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials, in the latest sign of warming relations between the White House and the oil-rich nation.

It’s unclear whether prosecutors had implicated Rodríguez in any crimes or whether investigators were moving toward an indictment. A Justice Department spokesperson said in an email, “There was never an investigation into her to shut down.”

But DEA records obtained by The Associated Press earlier this year show she consistently surfaced on the radar of federal law enforcement dating to at least 2018, though she has never been criminally charged in the U.S. like several other senior Venezuelan officials.

The directive to pause scrutiny into Rodríguez was meant to avoid upsetting the administration’s efforts to stabilize Venezuela after the capture of her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, among other reasons, the official said. It was not clear whether the White House, which deferred comment to the Justice Department, was involved in the decision.

▶ Read more

World shares decline and oil prices gain more than $2 after US strikes on Iran

World shares declined Thursday following more of what the U.S. military said were defensive strikes against Iran.

Oil prices gained more than $2 a barrel after having dropped sharply a day before.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX was nearly unchanged at 25,175.63 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.4% to 8,172.84. Britain’s FTSE 100 slumped 0.9% to 10,416.62.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks inched to more records after oil prices declined more than 4%, easing pressure on consumers and businesses worldwide.

▶ Read more

US military conducts another strike against Iran after Trump says Iran is ‘negotiating on fumes’

U.S. forces carried out new defensive strikes on Iran on Wednesday after Trump asserted that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and insisted that November’s midterm elections in the United States won’t make him rush into a deal to end the nearly three-month-old conflict.

U.S. Central Command forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The U.S. military also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone, the officials said.

Details about the strikes emerged after Trump, at a Cabinet meeting earlier Wednesday, expressed confidence that his administration was making headway on settling the war, even though the talks still remain very much in flux.

▶ Read more

A bonus: The brilliant star Antares will photobomb Sunday's spectacle for a celestial three-for-one.

A blue moon occurs every two to three years when a second full moon squeezes into a single month. May 1 saw this month’s first full moon.

Since the moon's orbit isn't a perfect circle, the upcoming full moon will be farther from Earth than usual at a distance of 252,360 miles (406,135 kilometers), making it seem a bit smaller and dimmer. It's the opposite of a supermoon when a full moon comes closer to us than normal. The most recent supermoon, for instance, was just 225,130 miles (362,312 kilometers) away.

The Virtual Telescope Project’s Gianluca Masi, who will provide a live webcast from Italy, said Sunday’s micromoon will appear about 6% smaller and 10% dimmer than that of an average full moon — “differences that are subtle enough to likely go unnoticed by most observers.”

The scene will be especially thrilling south of the equator across the Pacific.

For stargazers in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, eastern Australia, parts of Antarctica and a smattering of other islands, Antares will vanish temporarily as the blue micromoon passes in front of it.

The red supergiant star, 550 light-years away, is known as the “heart of scorpion” in the constellation Scorpius. A light-year is almost 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).

There won't be any disappearing act for those looking up elsewhere in the world, with Antares constantly visible alongside the full moon.

And despite the name, this blue moon won’t appear turquoise, sapphire or any other shade. The term simply refers to the uncommon occurrence of two full moons in one month.

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

The administration sued Harvard in March, accusing its leadership of failing to address antisemitism on campus. The move came months after a judge sided with Harvard in another lawsuit and ordered the administration to reverse billions of dollars in funding cuts.

The administration had slashed more than $2.6 billion in Harvard’s research funding, ended federal contracts and attempted to block the college from hosting international students. Harvard had argued it was being illegally penalized for refusing to adopt the Trump administration’s views.

Harvard commencements in recent years have become much more political, partly because of the ongoing battles with the federal government.

Last year, students cheered speakers who emphasized maintaining a diverse and international student body and standing up for truth in the face of attacks by the Trump administration. A year before that, graduates walked out of the commencement chanting “Free, free Palestine” after weeks of protests on campus over the war in Gaza. Others chanted “Let them walk, let them walk,” after the school announced some students who were part of a protest encampment would not get their diplomas alongside other graduates.

This year, striking graduate students at Harvard announced that they would be picketing commencement over a lack of progress in their contract negotiations with the university. The over 4,000 graduate student workers want better pay, an independent process for dealing with harassment and discrimination complaints and contractual protection for noncitizen and disabled workers, among other issues.

Caesars became an iconic name after the opening of Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in 1966. However, its roots date back to the 1930s in Reno, Nevada.

Fertitta Entertainment will pay $5.7 billion and take on close to $12 billion in debt from Caesars, putting the total value of the deal at about $17.6 billion.

As part of the agreement, Caesars can seek competing bids through July 11.

Caesars investors will get $31 in cash for each share they own, a 49% premium over the share price before chatter about a possible tie-up between the two entertainment companies began in February.

Shares of Caesars Entertainment Inc., which are up 15% since merger rumors emerged, rose almost 2% before the opening bell Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups that had argued Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Republican Trump administration's contention that it was too early to block the order because it has yet to be implemented.

“The Court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a final rule that directly affects Plaintiffs or their members, or that the Government may develop State Citizenship Lists that omit specific individuals due to particularized flaws,” Nichols wrote. “Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur. Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted.”

The legal battle against the provision now shifts to Boston, where voting rights groups have a separate lawsuit seeking to temporarily block the executive order in federal court. The Trump administration has yet to formally issue lists of eligible voters, and those who filed the initial request for a temporary halt said they'd be back if the administration moves in that direction.

“We are ready to resume the fight if and when the administration takes those next steps,” said Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the organizations that sought the stay from Nichols.

Trump issued the order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting stalled in Congress. The order would have had the federal government create a list of eligible voters and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list. Election officials argued it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

Since his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that year's vote, even though repeated audits and investigations, including ones run by Republicans, found it was free of widespread fraud. Trump also has said he wants to “take over” election administration in Democratic areas.

Democrats and civil rights groups argued it was urgent that Nichols issue a restraining order in the midst of primary season and with states already gearing up for the fall midterm elections.

This was Trump's second executive order seeking to overhaul elections and voting. His initial election executive order, issued just months after he took office in his second term, has been blocked by multiplefederal judges. That order sought to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, among other changes.

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Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies reported noticing a black four-door Cadillac sports utility vehicle that had been reported stolen in Miami Gardens.

The deputies, who specialize in robbery intervention, started to follow the driver at Northwest 22nd Avenue and 151st Street, according to MDSO.

Three unmarked law enforcement cars followed the driver, who slowed down and stopped, but did not get out of the stolen Cadillac, authorities said.

One of the unmarked cars performed a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT maneuver, and stopped the Cadillac along Northwest 152nd Street.

The driver got out of the Cadillac and ran eastbound along Northwest 152nd Street, across Rail Road Drive, and into a house’s yard near Opa-locka, according to deputies.

As he approached the train tracks, deputies in dark uniforms surrounded him, put him in handcuffs, and escorted him to a marked MDSO patrol car.

The driver was identified as 26-year-old Klauss Anthony Moise.

Moise is accused of not stopping when deputies tried to pull him over.

Moise was next to a marked MDSO patrol car before Florida Highway Patrol troopers searched him again and put him in a marked FHP car.

Local 10 News learned Moise has faced legal trouble before. In 2022, he was charged with accessory after the fact in the death of Amanda Collins. Police said he helped Collins’ boyfriend, Xavier West, dump her body in a canal in Opa-locka.

Now, nearly four years later, Moise is facing trouble again -- this time with a new set of charges.

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

Location

With ocean temperatures already surging, researchers fear another devastating mass bleaching event could further cripple Florida’s struggling reefs.

On a sweltering summer morning, volunteers from Rock the Ocean joined scientists from the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef program on a coral restoration mission off the coast of Key Biscayne.

Their work has become increasingly urgent after recent data revealed sea surface temperatures in parts of Florida Bay reached an alarming 97 degrees.

“Miami has been feeling that heat stress for actually three years straight,” said Dalton Hesley, a coral restoration ecologist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School.

The extreme conditions are reminiscent of the historic summer of 2023, when South Florida experienced the worst coral bleaching event ever recorded. During that crisis, NOAA scientists documented near-total bleaching across many reef systems.

“We’re seeing 100% bleaching. That’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy,” NOAA coral program lead Ian Enochs said during the event.

While NOAA has not yet reported widespread bleaching in the Florida Keys this season, early warning signs are already appearing closer to Miami. Colin Foord, of Coral Morphologic, who operates the Coral City Camera at Government Cut, recently observed bleaching in roughly 25% of corals near PortMiami.

“We’re ground zero for the coral crisis,” Hesley said.

Florida’s reefs have already suffered catastrophic losses over the past several decades. Since the 1970s, more than 90% of the state’s coral cover has disappeared due to warming oceans, disease outbreaks, hurricanes, and pollution.

“There’s been a suite of stressors that have really decimated our reefs to the point that they’re on the brink,” Hesley explained.

Growing Corals Underwater

About three miles offshore lies Paradise Reef, home to Rescue a Reef’s underwater coral nursery. The site functions like an ocean farm where scientists grow young corals before transplanting them onto damaged reefs.

Critically endangered staghorn corals hang from metal “trees” suspended underwater. Volunteers regularly clean the structures to remove algae, barnacles, and sponges that can smother the growing corals.

“If we’re not there to actually clean them, they’re going to get overgrown,” Hesley said. “We want these to be healthy habitats for the corals themselves.”

Once mature enough, the corals are harvested by clipping fragments from the nursery trees. Those fragments are then carefully planted onto nearby wild reefs.

“We easily planted over 150 staghorn corals, a threatened species today, back onto the reef to really fill in this restoration site,” Hesley said.

Over the past decade, Rescue a Reef has restored approximately 2,000 corals at the local site alone. But scientists acknowledge restoration alone will not fully reverse decades of reef decline.

Building “Super Corals”

Researchers are now turning to science and selective breeding in hopes of creating more heat-tolerant corals capable of surviving warmer oceans.

Just weeks before the latest restoration mission, scientists launched a groundbreaking pilot project aimed at reviving Florida’s endangered elkhorn coral using heat-resistant coral strains from Honduras.

“It’s the first time ever that it’s been permitted and we’ve gone ahead and outplanted,” said Dr. Andrew Baker, a marine biologist at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School.

Last year, University of Miami scientists traveled to Tela Bay, Honduras, where they collected fragments from unusually resilient elkhorn corals. Those corals were later crossbred with Florida elkhorn coral in partnership with the Florida Aquarium.

The resulting juvenile corals — now planted on a Miami reef — could represent a critical step toward building reefs better adapted to climate change.

“We’re going to see how well these do over the next few months, particularly over the course of a warm summer, to see if they are more thermally tolerant, as we hope, and better able to deal with the changing conditions in Florida’s corals reef,” Baker said.

Combined with Miami’s own resilient urban corals, scientists believe these so-called “super corals” may help shape the future of reef restoration.

“They are tough, so they are special,” Hesley said. “We’re trying to better understand why, so we can integrate that into gardening and restoration. So we’re building that super coral reef.”

Still, scientists stress that even the most resilient corals cannot survive indefinitely without broader action on climate change.

No matter how resilient we make our reefs, unless we address the root cause behind the coral crisis — climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution — our coral reefs don’t stand a chance.

The seizures included more than 12 kilograms (26 pounds) in gold bars, millions in cash, premium watches and some 20 luxury properties, investigators told a news conference.

Messina Denaro died in a prison hospital some nine months after he was arrested in January 2023, ending three decades as a fugitive. He had been tried in absentia and convicted in dozens of murders, including helping to mastermind a pair of 1992 bombings that killed top anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

As part of the investigation into a decades-long drug-trafficking money trail linked, authorities arrested three people and ordered the seizure of assets, companies and financial holdings worth more than 200 million euros.

More than 150 Italian financial police officers carried out searches in Italy and abroad, including in Andorra, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Lebanon, Monaco and Spain.

Italy’s national anti-mafia prosecutor, Giovanni Melillo, said the seizures form part of a broader effort to dismantle the Sicilian Mafia’s economic infrastructure and prevent it from rebuilding criminal networks capable of exerting global financial and social influence, including intimidation.

But progress stalled over concerns about the inclusion of White House ballroom security funding in the package and the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to finance claims of government mistreatment. The stumble has not only delayed action on a top GOP priority but also is raising questions about other parts of the party's legislative agenda, including whether Republicans can enact another catchall, party-line bill referred to in Washington parlance as “Reconciliation 3.0.”

Republicans have spent recent weeks laying the groundwork for such a bill, which they hope will serve as a final sales pitch to voters going into the midterms.

Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both of Louisiana, have been meeting with committee and caucus chairs to screen for proposals that have strong buy-in from the rank and file. They are aiming to follow up on last summer's big tax and spending cuts bill with a measure that would increase Pentagon spending by hundreds of billions of dollars and would include cuts elsewhere to help pay for it, which they are couching as tackling government waste and fraud.

It's a high-stakes gambit in an election year. Success will reinforce the GOP's message of being able to deliver on legislative priorities. Failure will underscore some of the Republican fractures under Trump that could leave voters seeking an alternative.

Here's a look at the coming debate as Republicans hope to pass a bill before leaving for their August recess.

House Republicans sound confident

Johnson navigated the House GOP's slim majority in passing Trump's tax and spending cuts bill last summer. The vote was 218-214. At the time, Republicans could afford to lose three votes from within their ranks. They lost just two.

They'll have a thin margin of error again, but Johnson said he's even more confident of success this time around.

“It will be just as beautiful, but not as big, so it’ll have less provisions and less things to get everybody to yes on," he said.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said Republicans are just as motivated as they were last year on the tax cuts bill.

“This one, I think you’ll have potentially money to support our troops in conflict," said Arrington, of Texas. "I can’t imagine a Republican not wanting to support our troops and military community in a time of conflict.”

The Trump administration has called on Republicans to provide $350 billion to defense through a reconciliation bill.

But Rep. Brendan Boyle, the lead Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said Republicans will have a more difficult path than they did with Trump's big tax and spending cuts bill.

“I think it will be for a couple of reasons. First is the president’s approval rating. He was at a much higher level a year ago than he is right now,” said Boyle, of Pennsylvania. "Number 2, we are much closer to the November midterm elections. So, if you’re one of a dozen or a couple dozen House Republicans who are really vulnerable in a swing district, you have to think even more carefully about voting for something that has even more health care cuts in it.”

The tax cuts bill that passed last summer reduced spending on Medicaid by more than $900 billion over a decade. It also reduced spending on nutrition assistance by about $187 billion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Caution in the Senate

Senate Majority Leader John Thune called a third reconciliation bill to get around the filibuster a “potential option,” hardly a ringing endorsement.

“We haven’t made any commitments on that, but we’re hearing people out,” said Thune, of South Dakota.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said lawmakers should know what will be in the bill before the legislative process begins. That way, it's less likely to unravel.

“If it just becomes another exercise where you’re not really sure what’s going to be the end product, then I think it’s a mistake even to pursue it,” Tillis said. "We ought to be smart about it if we do a third one, but it is kind of a moonshot.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she worried about the strategy.

“A third reconciliation may or may not happen. I’m just being direct," she said.

Little time and fractured relations

The House is expected to be in session for about 24 more days before it breaks for its August recess. That leaves little time to pass a budget blueprint in both chambers, which is the first hurdle for pursuing party-line tax and spending bills. Committees would also have to wrap up their work advancing their portions of the legislation.

Another hurdle could be Trump's treatment of current senators whose votes he will need for any package to become law. Trump endorsed opponents of two senators who faced stiff primary challenges and eventually lost — Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas.

Cassidy has already shown more willingness to buck the president. Fresh off his primary loss, he voted last week to advance a bill that seeks to force Trump to withdraw from hostilities with Iran.

What could make it into the bill

Lawmakers said they could tweak and resurrect some proposals that did not pass muster with the Senate parliamentarian for inclusion in last year's reconciliation bill. For example, Republicans tried to prevent states from providing Medicaid coverage for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said the bill should rest on three pillars, making the country more affordable and secure while reducing fraud.

Among the group's recommendations is a proposal to eliminate the capital gains tax on the sale of homes to first-time homebuyers, which they say would incentivize the market, and a proposal to impose a 5% tax on funds sent by noncitizens back to their home countries.

Arrington said he would also like to tighten the rules for the earned income tax credit, a program that increases the financial reward for working but that also has a high rate of improper payments. He also called for prohibiting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally from living in housing units financed by a housing tax credit paid to developers who construct and rehab affordable housing for renters.

“There's a lot more work to be done to build on what we did in the first one with Medicaid and SNAP (nutrition assistance), with respect to fraud,” Arrington said.

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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

Police officers accused Victoria Roman, who works as a graphic designer, of sharing an image of a victim on Nov. 19 on Instagram, according to an arrest warrant.

According to an email sent to Local 10 News by a man who identified himself as Roman’s husband, she is accused of “giving someone a breast” in the photo. He said the alleged victim in the case is an adult.

Roman surrendered to police officers on Thursday in Davie, and corrections booked her at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, records show.

Roman, of Miramar, appeared in bond court on Friday morning. A judge ordered her to stay away from devices with internet access.

Roman faced four counts of promotion of altered sexual depiction. Her bond was set at $60,000.

Roman later released the following statement to Local 10 News: “I have been subjected to prejudicial discrimination by the alleged victim in the case. There was no valid reason for her to kick me out like trash because 4 of my black students attended a free seminar that someone else approved of. (The alleged victim) slandered my name in a horrific way and took several thousand dollars from my family and didn’t fulfill her business agreement. Please watch the YouTube Video, ‘American Tigers Martial Arts - Student Unjustly Kicked Out’ for more information. There’s much more to this unfortunate situation.”

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.

Useful links

• The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center
• The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s cyber tip line

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated that Roman faced charges in a “fake porn” case, however records show she is facing four counts of “promotion of altered sexual depiction.”

The 27-nation EU's fine follows preliminary findings last year that Temu was exposing consumers to a high risk of products sold on its platform like baby toys and small electronics that didn't comply with EU consumer safety rules.

The bloc's executive arm issued the penalty under the Digital Services Act, or DSA, a wide-ranging rulebook that requires online platforms to do more to keep internet users safe from harmful content or dodgy goods, under the threat of hefty fines.

It's the second time Brussels has issued a fine under three-year-old DSA, following a $120 million penalty last year for Elon Musk's social media site X.

Temu said it disagreed with the decision and considered the fine “disproportionate.”

The decision relates to the commission's first DSA evaluation of Temu in 2024 “and does not reflect the current state of our systems,” the company said.

“Temu engaged constructively with the Commission throughout the process and has since taken further steps to strengthen risk assessment, platform governance, and user protection," it said in a statement.

The company is popular because it offers cheap goods - from clothing to home products — shipped from sellers in China. The platform has 92 million users in the EU and is owned by PDD Holdings Inc., which also owns the popular Chinese e-commerce site Pinduoduo.

The European Commission said Temu failed to identify, analyze and assess the systemic risks of illegal goods for sale on the platform and the resulting harm to European consumers.

Investigators had carried out a “mystery shopping exercise” that turned up a number of "non-compliant" products, including many electronic device chargers that failed basic safety tests. They also found a very high percentage of baby toys that posed safety risks, either because they contained chemicals at levels that exceeded safety limits or because they had parts that came off and could be a suffocation risk.

The commission said failing to do proper risk assessments is a particularly serious breach of the bloc's digital rules.

Risk assessments are “not box‐ticking exercises," European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkunnen said.

“Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence, and is not comprehensive,” she said in a prepared statement. "It leaves regulators, users, and the public in the dark about the true scale of potential harm posed by illegal products sold on Temu. Now it is time for Temu to comply with the law.”

Temu has until the end of August to submit an “action plan” to remedy the problem. It could be hit with additional daily, weekly or monthly fines if it fails to comply.

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AP writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

“It’s been so eye-opening to see who my people are,” Adler said. “I feel the love, I feel the compassion, the care — it’s nice to have a family again.”

Adopted by an American family when he was 9 months old, the 36-year-old is one of thousands of children who were stolen from Chilean families during the 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and among hundreds who have been reunited with their birth families thanks to DNA tracing and organizations that are helping Chilean adoptees investigate their pasts. Others are also working toward justice for the families ripped apart.

The American family that adopted Adler in 1990 raised him in an affluent Chicago suburb.

“My parents didn’t steal me; they didn’t name me Kyle out of malice. They saw me as who they wanted me to become, and there’s a lot of love that was put into that,” Adler said of his adoptive parents Mike and Connie Adler. Adler believes neither of them knew the circumstances surrounding his adoption. He said neither were initially supportive of his decision to find his birth mother before they died in 2022.

He grew up to be an overachiever who in adulthood wanted more meaning to his life, he said.

“Suddenly now I found myself where I didn’t know what to do. I knew I was adopted and at that point, I was just like, I need to find my mom.”

The day he was taken

Adler’s biological mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, was a 19-year-old single parent working nights at a fish shop in the seaside city of Coronel, some 533 kilometers (331 miles) south of the capital. She had named him Marcos Antonio Navarrete.

She could only afford a room for herself, so she hired a woman who took Adler into her home as a baby and looked after him. Navarrete told The Associated Press she visited him whenever she was not working.

One day, the caregiver told her he was taken by an American couple after a local priest made arrangements for a baby “in need of a family.”

“And she let them have him,” Navarrete told AP, furious and ashamed. The AP could not independently verify all the details of what occurred.

A police investigator told her the baby had likely been taken as part of a wide-reaching counterfeit adoption network that involved adoption agencies, immigration officials, judges, nurses and even doctors.

No one was held accountable, Navarrete said, and “those years afterward were some of the worst years of my life.”

Lacking family support, she said she eventually surrendered the idea she would get her son back.

No justice

“Justice for the poor did not exist in Chile and it still does not,” said Constanza Del Rio, founder and executive director of Nos Buscamos, a nonprofit organization with online data for thousands of cases. The government estimates more than 20,000 children were stolen from families.

Children of the poor and Indigenous populations were targeted during the Pinochet regime from 1973 to 1990, said Jimmy Lippert Thyden González, who was also illegally adopted and became a human rights lawyer.

“It was an effort to eliminate and eradicate the poor class. It was a way of eradicating the Indigenous population, the uneducated population,” he said.

Uncovering the past

In early 2017, Adler came across the Nos Buscamos Facebook group while Googling the term “Chilean birth mom search” online, he said. And that’s when he messaged Del Rio.

Within three months, Del Rio had confirmed Adler's origin story and organized a virtual reunion.

Initially, Adler felt crushed to find out he was adopted illegally, sending him into an identity crisis that led to years of therapy.

Then last year, Adler finally felt ready for answers.

A DNA test provided by genealogy platform MyHeritage, a global family history company based in Israel, confirmed a match between Adler and 56-year-old Navarrete of Santiago and “made it official,” he said.

MyHeritage partners with both Nos Buscamos and Connecting Roots, and other nonprofits doing similar work, to provide free at-home DNA testing kits for distribution to Chilean adoptees and suspected victims of child trafficking.

Tyler Graf, the founder and CEO of Connecting Roots, traveled with Adler.

Graf had also reunited with his birth mother Hilda Quezada Godoy decades after he was taken from her, and said it is now his mission to track others taken from families in Chile.

“Now it’s time to mend these families and bring everyone back home so they can see where they came from,” Graf told the AP.

Fighting for justice for the families that were separated

Human rights lawyer Lippert Thyden González sued the Chilean government three years ago and hopes to lead the fight all the way to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He also founded the organization Grafting Hope, a nonprofit focused on educating U.S. lawmakers and fighting for the rights of survivors of counterfeit adoptions.

The Chilean government didn’t immediately respond to several messages seeking comment from AP.

“I want justice. Not just for me, but also for him because I don’t know the type of life he had,” Navarrete told AP days after reuniting with her son.

Navarrete is working with a law firm and hopes those involved will get jail-time.

The reunion

“My birth mom’s just been wanting me to be alive,” Adler said ahead of boarding the flight from Miami in February.

The two were reunited two days after her 56th birthday on Valentine’s Day and an AP team was with them in Miami and Chile.

Tears flowed as Adler exited the international arrivals gate in Chile. Both mother and son were wearing white as Navarrete ran to embrace him. The tall, dark-haired son bent over to bury his face in his mother's hair.

“I’m so happy to be finally meeting him, my dream has finally come true,” Navarrete said.

The emotional reunion led to a fruitful week together visiting the beach in Coronel, the hospital where Adler was born and the house where he was taken from. They recovered a copy of his original birth certificate, and he met one of his four siblings. In Miami, he had previously met another sister and her daughter.

Back in Santiago, the two enjoyed keepsakes Adler brought with him as gifts: A framed graduation diploma, childhood photographs and a pair of baby shoes his adoptive parents had kept.

Adler is not a Spanish speaker so Connecting Roots provided a translator. These days, translation apps help them continue the conversation.

Navarrete said the time spent with her son was joyful but it also made her relive much of the pain of the past 35 years.

“It took me so long to find him. And then to spend a week together only to have him leave,” Navarrete said amid tears, “it's like I found him but I've now lost him all over again.”

She said she's hopeful the family will reunite in December. For Adler, the road to forgiveness continues but he hopes Navarrete is able to let go of the trauma.

“I’m not just the son that you lost, I’m the son that you found. I’m back to being your son,” he said.

Among the dozens of companies taking part, including well-known players like Boston Dynamics and Toyota Motor Corp., the big stars now were clearly the Chinese.

Chinese newcomers, like Booster Robotics and LimX Dynamics, took the technology initially developed in Japan and the U.S. and fine-tuned it, often for cheaper mass production. It’s a repeat of what happened in other Japanese industries, from consumer electronics to cellphones and electric vehicles. In humanoids, Japan was initially ahead but then failed to produce major commercial solutions.

Tim Hornyuk, author of “Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots,” who was at the event, categorized it as the so-called “Galapagos syndrome,” referring to how innovative Japanese products evolve in isolation and end up not translating for the international market.

“I really hope that Japan can come up with a Ford Model T-version of humanoid roots. But I think China has already stolen their lunch. It’s a bit too little too late,” he said.

The dancing and wiggling Mini Pi Plus robot from High Torque of China, for instance, still can’t help at an auto plant or do your dishes. But it’s cute. And it doesn’t come with an eye-popping price tag, starting at $5,500.

Chinese robots are dominating

One telling example of Chinese robotics use in Japan was GMO, a Tokyo-based AI and robotics company working on a humanoid with camera eyes that will help with Japan Airlines cargo and other chores at an airport.

The key is to have the robot do the work in the same way as people so they would be interchangeable, an initiative meant to tackle the labor shortage problem that is increasingly serious in Japan.

The inner robotics workings were all courtesy of Unitree, a Chinese outfit, which is also working on a four-legged dog-like “stellar explorer.”

Experts say Japan, with its finesse in manufacturing, proved a good breeding ground for robotics development. The sociological backdrop of a public receptive to robotics also helped.

A recent Pew global survey showed that people in Japan are highly aware of AI but are less anxious about it, at about 28%, than people in the U.S. at 50%.

Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co., a leader in robotics with its walking humanoid Asimo, first shown in 2000, was demonstrating a motorized four-fingered robotic hand that could screw on and off tiny bolts, or thread a needle.

It didn’t seem to bother Keisuke Tsuta, assistant chief engineer, that similar mechanical hands were on display galore near his booth, many of them from Chinese makers.

Japanese robotics show their prowess

The technology Honda had developed is more durable and powerful than rival offerings, and the Japanese have historically shown they can excel at quality mass production, according to Tsuta.

The looming threat of a Chinese robotics domination didn’t seem to phase Osaka University Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has worked on humanoids for decades, including one that’s his clone.

“What’s significant is that Japan has a culture that’s receptive to robotics. If we’re going to really start using robots in society, Japan is the ideal place,” he said, stressing that Japanese don’t discriminate against robots.

His robotic counterpart, dressed all in black like the professor, did as good a job, if not better, of answering a key existentialist question on the meaning of robots.

“I think robots will coexist with people. Robots are the mirror of human beings,” the robot replied in a slightly monotonous but human-like voice.

Earlier, the professor had answered a similar question, but a bit differently.

“No one is interested in me. All everyone cares about is my robot,” he said, sitting next to his twin-like humanoid.

“As long as people identify with what I have produced, I am a success,” he added.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

The two countries are preparing “a major defense package” and working on a deal to provide Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, Zelenskyy said on social media.

The Ukrainian leader has sought to deepen defense cooperation with other countries by offering the drone expertise his country has built up over more than four years fighting against Russia’s invasion.

Zelenskyy says Ukrainian specialists have helped countries in the Middle East — specifically the Gulf Arab region — strengthen their air defenses amid the Iran war. They have helped at American military bases in the Mideast as well, he says. Ukraine has also entered into joint drone production agreements with countries in the European Union, which fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin has military ambitions beyond Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones that patrol the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line and strike deeper at supply routes have pinned back Russia's bigger army.

“Ukraine’s successful mid-range and front-line drone strike campaigns are limiting Russia’s ability to transport personnel to the front line and to supply and sustain front-line positions,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in an assessment late Wednesday.

Russia has occupied about 20% of Ukraine so far. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014. The cost of capturing that land has been huge, with the head of U.K.’s GCHQ intelligence agency saying Wednesday that almost half a million Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

Russia, however, still has an edge in long-range ballistic missiles, which it has used throughout the war to damage Ukraine’s power grid and hammer cities.

Russian forces fired almost 90 missiles as well as hundreds of drones at Kyiv last weekend in an effort to overwhelm air defenses as part of its escalating long-range aerial campaign on civilian areas of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy has written to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress asking for more American-made air defense ammunition to counter Russian ballistic missiles, Kyiv officials said Wednesday.

Ukraine needs more U.S. Patriot PAC-3 missiles and other air defense systems, Zelenskyy said in the letter, warning that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts U.S. stocks.

The Ukrainian capital is bracing for further heavy bombardments. But no foreign diplomats are known to have heeded Moscow’s recommendation to leave Kyiv ahead of what the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this week would be “systemic strikes” on Kyiv.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that all diplomatic missions in the capital have continued operations.

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

Dong Guangping, 68, was aboard a 3.3-meter (10.8-foot) rubber boat in the waters off a western South Korean island on Monday night when he was detained by South Korea's coast guard for allegedly violating the country’s immigration law.

The coast guard sought a warrant to formally arrest him, but a local court on Thursday refused, saying it's “difficult to recognize sufficient grounds and necessity” for his arrest. The coast guard said later Thursday it will hand him over to an immigration office but will continue to investigate him.

Dong's prospects are unclear. Investigative authorities could pursue his arrest again or indict him without his physical detention. If Dong applies for refugee status, South Korea’s Justice Ministry said it will review it.

While Dong's possible submission of evidence of his political oppression in China could increase his chances for getting refugee status, observers still note that South Korea's acceptance rate for refugee status applications has been less than 2% in recent years.

Dong, a former police officer in China, had previously been detained in China several times for his activism. He was imprisoned for three years in 2001 for “inciting subversion of state power” and spent more than eight months behind bars after being arrested in 2014 for participating in a memorial for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to past statements from Amnesty International.

It is his fourth known attempt to flee China. Appearing at the court hearing Thursday, he told reporters that he hopes to go to Canada via South Korea to reunite with his wife and daughters, who already resettled there, according to South Korean media.

He previously escaped to Thailand and Vietnam, but authorities there deported him back to China. Dong also unsuccessfully tried to swim to a Taiwanese island.

In a post Wednesday on X, Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian activist, praised Dong's braveness. She said Dong had discussed fleeing by boat with her, though she felt it was too dangerous. She said she talked again to Dong through Messenger, after he arrived in South Korea.

“Dong Guangping said that when he reached Korean waters, he was already in a state of unconsciousness. He hadn’t slept for over 50 hours and had been blown by sea winds for over 30 hours,” she said.

A local coast guard office handling Dong's case said he had no major health issues when he was detained. The office said Dong told investigators that he came from Weihai city in China’s eastern Shandong province though he’s refused to respond to most other questions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, asked about Dong's case at a regular briefing Wednesday, answered that she was “not familiar with that.”

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il told reporters Thursday that Dong's case would likely be handled in line with the local law, though he referred questions to immigration authorities at the Justice Ministry.

The Canadian Embassy in Seoul said it was aware of the reports on Dong but said it was not in a position to make further comments.

Dong is not the first Chinese dissident to flee to South Korea by boat, though such an incident is highly unusual. In 2023, Kwon Pyong, another Chinese dissident, reached South Korea on a jet ski, saying he was trying to escape persecution in China for mocking its communist leadership. He was initially detained in South Korea but later reportedly moved to the U.S. to seek asylum.

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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

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This version corrects the pronoun referring to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson to “she.”

In two international studies, about 1 in 5 patients given the experimental drug saw their virus reduced to levels low enough for the immune system to keep in check.

“We have not had a treatment which has come to this level of cure,” Dr. Seng Gee Lim of the National University Health System of Singapore, who helped lead the GSK-funded studies, told reporters before presenting the findings at a scientific meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

The data also was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Chronic hepatitis B can cause liver cancer or liver failure, and kills about 1.1 million people around the world each year. Improvements to today’s lifelong therapy, which can be hard to stick with or to access in some countries, have been sought for decades.

The new findings “represent a major step,” Dr. Anna Lok, a hepatitis expert at the University of Michigan who wasn’t involved in the research, wrote in the journal. But she cautioned that more study is needed to see how long that remission-like state lasts.

The drug is bepirovirsen, nicknamed “bepi” and developed by GSK and Ionis Pharmaceuticals. It is under fast-track review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with a decision expected in October. Regulators in Japan, China and Europe also are considering the drug.

Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection spread through contact with blood or other bodily fluids, including childbirth. A highly effective vaccine can prevent it. For people who are infected, many have an “acute” illness that lasts several months. But for some — about 1.7 million people in the U.S. and more than 250 million worldwide — it becomes a chronic form that gradually damages the liver.

Standard treatments, including daily pills, reduce levels of the virus and prevent liver damage. But a true cure is elusive because hepatitis B has an unusual ability to hide in the body, ready to rebound if therapy stops.

The new drug attacks hepatitis B by binding to its genetic components, suppressing viral replication as well as a key protein, the “S” or surface protein, and stimulates the immune system, said GSK vice president Melanie Paff.

The trials included 1,838 patients assigned to get either a bepi shot or a dummy shot weekly for six months, in addition to their regular pills. If the virus was undetectable for six months after stopping the shots, they could stop their regular pills, too. In about 20% of the bepi recipients, the virus remained undetectable for six more months after they stopped all treatment — that “functional cure” — something no patients given the dummy shots achieved, the researchers reported.

Bepi recipients who started the study with lower levels of that S protein were slightly more likely to achieve a functional cure, Lim said. He is doing additional research to try to determine why only some people respond.

As for how long the functional cure lasts, GSK has tracked a small number of patients from earlier-stage studies and found most still faring well up to three years later, Paff said.

Lim said side effects included mild injection-site redness or pain and a temporary rise in enzymes that can indicate liver stress.

Lok, the Michigan hepatitis expert, noted the trials didn’t include patients with cirrhosis, high S protein levels or other complicating factors.

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

The strike hit an apartment building but it was not immediately clear who might have been targeted. Videos from the suburb of Choueifat, close to Beirut's international airport, showed white smoke billowing from a residential neighborhood.

Tensions have been escalating in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops have crossed the Litani River over the past days and issued a warning for residents to leave much of the area.

Israel in recent days has widened its attacks on Lebanon, some of the deadliest days since a Washington-brokered ceasefire agreement went into effect on April 17.

This was the first attack close to the Lebanese capital since May 6, where an Israeli strike killed a military official with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in another southern Beirut suburb.

Overnight, the Israeli military pounded the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon's fourth-largest city, killing at least 14 people across the south of the country in its ongoing military escalation against the Hezbollah group ahead of the Washington talks.

Among those killed in the flurry of strikes were five women and children and a Lebanese soldier. Dozens of others were wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and the state-run National News Agency.

An Israeli soldier meanwhile was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack in northern Israel, the Israeli military said.

Attacks increase ahead of Washington talks

The intensification comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion in the Israeli military's attacks in Lebanon, apparently sparked by Hezbollah's use of fiber-optic exploding drones that have struck Israeli troops in Lebanon and reached some of Israel's northern border towns. The Israeli military said it has launched hundreds of attacks targeting what they said were Hezbollah military assets.

Lebanese and Israeli military officials are set to hold their first security talks on Friday in the U.S. capital. The talks have extended a nominal ceasefire that went into effect April 17, although the attacks have since intensified, while largely sparing Beirut.

Hezbollah has dismissed the talks and instead endorsed its key ally Iran, which has made ending the war in Lebanon a condition for its own talks with Washington brokered by Pakistan.

Before the attacks on Thursday, Israeli military Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued warnings to residents of eight buildings in Tyre, along the Mediterranean, and in surrounding neighborhoods. Many people have fled the area.

Further north in the city of Sidon, an Israeli drone struck an apartment building where some displaced families lived, killing five people and wounding 21 others, among them five children. Among the killed was Hossan Zeidan who once was a correspondent for Iran's Arabic-language al-Aalam television.

Mohammad Al-Gharbi, who lived across the street from the building in Sidon, woke to the sound of the explosion.

“I was in my room when part of the wall and shattered glass fell on me, and everything was thrown into chaos,” he said. “This building that was hit had six apartments occupied by poor families who had fled from the south to escape the attacks there, only to be hit here.”

In the nearby coastal town of Adloun, an Israeli drone struck a car with a family that was fleeing, killing six people, of which four were two children and their parents, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Another drone strike that came without warning killed two people on a motorcycle near Tyre. The target of the attack was not immediately clear, NNA reported.

Elsewhere near the city of Nabatiyeh, the Lebanese military said a soldier was killed in an Israeli drone strike while he was riding his motorcycle.

Hezbollah attacks targets Israeli forces that have crossed the Litani River

The Israeli military said Thursday that a soldier in northern Israel was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack and two reservists were wounded.

Hezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it says targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The group said Thursday it has launched several attacks on Israeli troops and tanks that have crossed the Litani River into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqieh near Nabatiyeh, as close-range fighting continues.

Over 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which was sparked when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, two days after the Iran war began.

At least 3,269 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, with over 9,800 wounded.

According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 23 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, the vast majority by drones.

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Associated Press journalists Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.

The government’s largest-ever claim for compensation relates to contamination with per- and polyfluoroaklyl substances, known as PFAS, at 28 bases. Human-made PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don't break down naturally.

Australia filed the suit in the Federal Court of Australia against Minnesota-based 3M Company and its subsidiary 3M Australia.

3M said it would fight Australia’s claim.

“3M has never manufactured PFAS in Australia and ceased sales of the products at issue in Australia around two decades ago,” 3M said in a statement. “Despite this, the (Australian) Department of Defense continued to use PFAS-containing firefighting foams for nearly two decades longer.”

PFAS has been used since the 1950s in household and industrial products that resist heat, stains, grease and water. The firefighting foam containing PFAS was effective against fuel fires.

The Australian Defense Department warned residents near its Richmond Air Base outside Sydney in 2018 to reduce their consumption of locally produced fish and eggs, after PFAS was found in nearby groundwater.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland on Thursday accused 3M of withholding information about environmental risks the foam posed.

“The Commonwealth (of Australia) is seeking more than AU$2 billion ($1.4 billion) in damages to recover significant past and future expenses incurred in investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historic storage and use of this foam,” Rowland told reporters.

Assistant Defense Minister Peter Khalil said his department had already spent AU$1.3 billion ($920 million) on managing and mitigating environmental impacts of the foam. The department had removed 200,000 metric tons (220,000 U.S. tons) of contaminated earth from bases and treated 13 billion liters (3.4 billion gallons) of contaminated water, Khalil said.

“We are prepared to take on powerful corporations when Australians and Australian communities have been impacted,” Khalil said.

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This story has been corrected to show the lawsuit has been lodged in an Australian court.

Los congresistas del partido gobernante, Morena, y sus aliados impusieron una vez más su mayoría para respaldar, con 322 votos a favor, 132 en contra y veintidós abstenciones, la iniciativa que envió la semana pasada al Congreso la presidenta, Claudia Sheinbaum. Ahora, pasará al Senado para su aprobación final en los próximos días.

En junio del año pasado, los mexicanos eligieron en una inédita y compleja votación a unos 2.600 jueces federales y locales en medio de un gran desinterés y desconocimiento de los candidatos, lo que favoreció una abstención que alcanzó el 13%. En la reforma se estableció que en 2027 se elegirían otros 800 jueces y magistrados federales, y 2.800 jueces estatales.

En 2025 se eligieron algunos jueces, magistrados y ministros de la Suprema Corte cercanos al partido gobernante, lo que alimentó las dudas sobre la pérdida de independencia de la judicatura.

Entre los cambios que plantea la reforma está la demora de los comicios para el 4 de junio de 2028. También se prevé la creación de una comisión coordinadora integrada por representantes de los comités de evaluación de los tres poderes públicos, que se encargará de verificar el cumplimiento de los requisitos legales de los aspirantes y establecer los mecanismos de selección.

La iniciativa contempla reducir a cuatro personas la lista de aspirantes por cargo, y luego realizar una insaculación pública para dejar las opciones en apenas dos.

Durante la maratónica sesión, que duró más de 14 horas, se generó una controversia cuando el oficialista Sergio Gutiérrez propuso a último momento que se permita que los magistrados de la Sala Electoral participen como candidatos en 2028. La medida recibió objeciones de oficialistas y opositores, que señalaron que extendería la permanencia de esos jueces en los cargos por 17 años. Pese a las críticas, el cambio fue aprobado.

Al anunciar su propuesta la semana pasada, Sheinbaum dijo que era necesario mover la segunda etapa de la elección porque el próximo año habrá comicios regionales en 17 de los 32 estados para renovar gobernadores, congresos locales, miles de alcaldías y la Cámara de Diputados.

Contra la injerencia extranjera y el narco

La cámara debatirá el jueves una reforma que permitirá al Tribunal Electoral de México invalidar comicios cuando existan indicios de “intervención de individuos, organizaciones o gobiernos extranjeros con la intención de influir en las preferencias o en los resultados electorales”, según el texto.

El diputado oficialista Ricardo Monreal afirmó que la iniciativa busca “proteger las elecciones nacionales” como en Estados Unidos y otros países, pero expertos y opositores sostienen que la propuesta es “ambigua” y que será difícil de comprobar la injerencia extranjera en una votación.

Monreal promovió la iniciativa tras la crisis que se generó a finales de abril luego de que la fiscalía de Nueva York acusó a 10 funcionarios mexicanos —entre ellos el gobernador oficialista del estado de Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha— de narcotráfico, lo que alentó las críticas de la oposición a Morena y a Sheinbaum. Algunos calificaron el proceso como un intento de Estados Unidos de intervenir en la política mexicana.

Como parte de las reformas, los congresistas también discutirán la creación de una comisión de verificación de la integridad de los candidatos en el Instituto Nacional Electoral para limitar la participación de personas con vínculos con organizaciones criminales.

La Organización Meteorológica Mundial también prevé un sobrecalentamiento en el Ártico, cuya temperatura se incrementará 1,66º Celsius (casi 3º Fahrenheit) entre ahora y 2030, y una peligrosa sequía con posibles incendios forestales en la Amazonía, una parte crucial de las defensas naturales de la Tierra para reducir el cambio climático causado por el ser humano. Científicos señalaron que un planeta más caliente por la quema de carbón, petróleo y gas implica un clima más extremo, incluyendo inundaciones, sequías y olas de calor.

Las proyecciones de la agencia climática de la ONU y de la Oficina Meteorológica de Reino Unido indicaron que hay un 75% de probabilidades de que la temperatura media global entre 2026 y 2030 supere los 1,5º C (2,7º F) más con respecto de la era preindustrial. Ese umbral es el límite de calentamiento acordado —promediado a lo largo de 20 años— fijado en 2015 por el Acuerdo de París sobre el clima.

Un informe científico de la ONU, publicado unos años después, determinó que superar esa marca de 1,5º significa una mayor probabilidad de muerte, peligro y pérdida de especies. Aunque se trate apenas de unas décimas de grado, algunos ecosistemas, como los corales y los glaciares, no pueden soportar esa presión.

Superar el límite tiene consecuencias, pero no es un precipicio

El reporte de la OMM indicó que hay un 91% de probabilidades de que al menos uno de los próximos cinco años rebase el umbral de 1,5º y un 86% de probabilidades de que uno de esos años pulverice el récord del año más caluroso de la Tierra, establecido en 2024. La agencia proyecta que, de aquí a 2030, cada año estará entre 1,32 C (2,3º F) y 1,9º C (3,4º F) por encima de finales del siglo XIX.

“Es importante señalar que (1,5) no es una especie de precipicio por el que vayamos a caer”, afirmó la coautora del reporte, Melissa Seabrook, científica climática de la Oficina Meteorológica británica. “Cada 0,1 grados tiene un impacto cada vez más severo”.

Y apuntó al calor sin precedentes para un mes de mayo registrado esta semana en Europa.

Un año completo o más por encima de la marca de 1,5 grados “significa toda una gama de fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, probablemente muchos tan calurosos/húmedos/secos que superarán cualquier cosa que hayamos experimentado en el pasado y, por lo tanto, de manera crucial, cualquier cosa que nuestra planificación urbana, agricultura, etc., haya previsto”, dijo en un correo electrónico la científica del clima del Imperial College de Londres, Friederike Otto, que no participó en el informe. “Esto significará que muchas personas perderán la vida, nos esperan muchos sobresaltos en los precios de los alimentos e incendios forestales más intensos”.

Casi todos los pronósticos a corto plazo apuntan que pronto se formará un fuerte El Niño —un calentamiento natural de partes del Pacífico central que altera el clima en todo el mundo y dispara las temperaturas globales. El informe de la OMM indicó que podría prolongarse hasta 2028. Por ello, Seabrook sostuvo que 2027 probablemente batirá el récord de calor de 2024.

Y si los próximos cinco años promedian más de 1,5º C por encima de los niveles preindustriales, eso significaría que la Tierra se habrá calentado un cuarto de grado Celsius (0,45º F) en una década, más rápido que las tasas anteriores, que estaban más cerca de dos décimas de grado Celsius por década.

Los científicos climáticos debaten si el calentamiento global se está acelerando, “lo cual, obviamente, da bastante miedo”, y que, si estas proyecciones se cumplen, aportarían evidencia adicional para quienes ven una tasa de cambio acelerada, sostuvo Seabrook.

Se prevé calentamiento acelerado en el Ártico

Las proyecciones, basadas en el promedio de unas 200 simulaciones por computadora con 13 modelos climáticos diferentes de varios países, muestran que el calentamiento en el Ártico aumenta 3,5 veces más rápido que en el resto del planeta, porque hay menos hielo y nieve que antes reflejaban la radiación solar hacia el espacio, explicó Seabrook. Se convierte en un círculo vicioso.

“A medida que la temperatura sube, se derrite más hielo marino, lo que empeora la situación", comentó Seabrook.

Desde 2020 a 2025, los inviernos en el Ártico fueron, de media, 1,2º C (2,1º F) más cálidos que el promedio de 1991 a 2020. Seabrook indicó que la OMM proyecta que los próximos cinco inviernos promediarán 2,8º C (5,1º F) por encima de esa marca reciente.

El reporte también prevé que el hielo marino del Ártico seguirá reduciéndose en verano.

La Amazonía podría secarse, avivando temor a incendios

El reporte prevé condiciones aún más cálidas e inusualmente secas en la cuenca amazónica, y eso podría ser devastador tanto para los residentes como para el planeta, dijo Seabrook.

La población depende del Amazonas para el abastecimiento de agua y unas condiciones más cálidas y secas deberían aumentar el riesgo de incendios forestales, apuntó, lo que amenaza con convertir a la Amazonia —que ahora absorbe dióxido de carbono, que atrapa el calor, de la atmósfera— en una región que agrave el problema.

Es probable que la región africana del Sahel, que ha estado especialmente seca, reciba más lluvia de la habitual, lo que podría provocar inundaciones, según Seabrook.

Funcionarios de Naciones Unidas dijeron que los esfuerzos para frenar el cambio climático no han sido suficientes.

“A pesar de los avances de los últimos años, está claro que el calentamiento global sigue superando los esfuerzos globales para contenerlo, y las temperaturas abrasadoras en Europa, India y otros lugares muestran una vez más los brutales impactos humanos y económicos de que la humanidad siga quemando cantidades colosales de carbón, petróleo y gas”, manifestó Simon Stiell, jefe climático de la ONU, acerca del reporte de la OMM.

“Ya sea calor extremo, megatormentas, inundaciones, incendios forestales masivos o sequías que afectan al suministro y precios de los alimentos”, añadió, “cada nación ya está pagando un precio enorme por esta crisis climática global”.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

Apart from social media and messaging, Tencent’s WeChat offers payment services called WeChat Pay, or Weixin Pay, in mainland China. Tencent said in a statement that the feature will be available to U.S.-based PayPal users first, with more markets to follow.

Since cashless payments have become increasingly common in China, the move is likely to provide greater convenience to foreign visitors.

WeChat Pay and Ant Group’s Alipay, part of the Alibaba e-commerce empire, are widely available across China including in taxis and restaurants.

Making cashless payments easier for tourists aligns with China’s efforts to bring in more foreign tourists, said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia Pacific at French bank Natixis.

Tourism contributed more than 4% of China’s economy in 2024, official data show.

China has been expanding visa free access to travelers from dozens of countries including the U.K., Spain and Australia. That change has not yet been extended to U.S. travelers, who still need a visa to enter China, except for brief transits for those heading on to third countries.

The number of foreign visitors, excluding those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when China closed its doors to most foreign arrivals and imposed stringent quarantines in many places.

But it has since surged past the nearly 32 million visitors recorded in 2019, to over 35 million last year.

Ng said the PayPal move also aligns with a global trend of integration of payment platforms through mutually recognized cross-border QR codes.

Ivan Su, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said the impact of the QR code option with PayPal initially may be limited in terms of its overall benefit for Tencent given the current low volume of U.S. travelers to China.

WeChat Pay has allowed users to link their foreign bank cards since 2019. Tencent also said it will also be offering a transaction fee waiver for first time users linking their international bank cards to WeChat to encourage wider use of that option.

Tencent said such transactions by foreign travelers in China jumped nearly 80% year-on-year in January-April.

The National Assembly voted 254-0 — a rare show of unanimity — to adopt a bill repealing the Code Noir, or Black Code, the 1685 decree King Louis XIV signed to govern slaves across France’s colonies.

The law turned human beings into chattel, allowing them to be worked, beaten, sold, raped and murdered.

And the realization that France never formally did away with it left many aghast.

Debate in the chamber turned raw.

Steevy Gustave, a lawmaker descended from enslaved people on the Caribbean island of Martinique, told colleagues the repeal was necessary “but no vote alone can repair centuries of shattered lives.”

“We are not descendants of slaves,” he said, bursting into tears. “We are descendants of human beings born free, then reduced to the worst — reduced to slavery.”

The code’s reach was total. Article 44 declared the enslaved “movable property” — assets a master could acquire like real estate. Those who fled faced branding, the amputation of their ears, even death. The word of an enslaved person counted for nothing.

The Code Noir’s 60 articles “should never have survived the abolition of slavery” in the 19th century, President Emmanuel Macron said last week.

“The silence, even the indifference, that we have maintained for nearly two centuries toward this Black Code is no longer an oversight,” Macron said. “It has become a form of offense.”

Like French presidents before him, Macron stopped short of an apology.

France ran the third-largest slave trade, shipping about 1.4 million Africans to plantations whose sugar wealth built the French cities of Nantes and Bordeaux. The French empire later spanned four continents.

Others see the repeal as something more telling — a symptom, they argue, of a country that has yet to reckon fully with that past, one of many slow steps along the way.

Calls for France to face its past

In law, officially eliminating it is the easy part, observers say. The Code Noir lost all authority in 1848, when France abolished slavery.

France didn't relinquish its slave colonies: the four oldest — Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion — were made full French overseas departments in 1946. That means they're governed from Paris like any other.

Their roughly 1.9 million people, most descended from the enslaved, are French citizens.

Despite being fully part of France, the overseas departments remain among its poorest territories. Unemployment runs roughly double the mainland rate, and more than three-quarters of households in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte live below the national poverty line.

Shocked to find the law wasn't annulled

Before he discovered the truth, the French lawmaker who put forward the proposal to repeal the law didn't know it still existed.

Max Mathiasin, from Guadeloupe, had bought copies of the text over the years and left them on his shelf.

“As the great-great-grandson of people who were enslaved, I had never been able to read it in full,” he said. “This was made by human beings — against human beings.”

For him, the vote is “a way of restoring our ancestors, restoring our humanity” before a France whose motto is liberty, equality, fraternity. “It means living up to the Republican promise.”

That promise, he says, is still unkept at home.

“In Guadeloupe,” Mathiasin said, “in the most important positions, in the structures of the state, they are white.”

A colonial exception that never ended

The Foundation for the Memory of Slavery is chaired by a former prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, and its deputy director is Pierre-Yves Bocquet — both white men.

Bocquet calls the Code Noir the birthplace of France’s “colonial exception” — the principle that the French Republic’s founding rights could be suspended for those under its rule.

The principle outlived the empire, he said: “Even today, we accept that people in the overseas territories can have fewer rights than in mainland France.”

France is hardly the only country still holding fragments of empire — the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands still have overseas territories.

But what sets France apart, observers say, is that it made its slave colonies equal departments of the Republic, not dependencies it governs from afar.

The state insists that the overseas departments are France like anywhere else, even as the people who live there say they are treated as less.

France is 'still in a form of apartheid’

For Max Relouzat, 81, president of the Association for the Memory of Slaveries, the repeal matters, because so little else has.

His African ancestor had no name under the law, only a number and a registration code — the family that lived in Martinique was given the name Relouzat at emancipation, likely after Nelouzat, a village in the Auvergne region of central France.

What galls him, he said, is what the symbolism leaves untouched: systemic racism in France.

“Under the cover of departmentalization, a colonial system was maintained,” Relouzat said. “If the overseas departments are part of France, why is there a ministry for the overseas?”

In France, he said, “we are still today in a form of apartheid … a form of colonial continuity.”

‘Racism is the legacy of slavery itself’

For some who have fought longest, Thursday isn't the milestone it appears.

For Florence Alexis, a slavery expert and daughter of the Haitian writer Jacques Stephen Alexis, the real turning point came 25 years ago. In 2001, the Taubira law made France the first country to call the slave trade, and slavery, crimes against humanity.

“That is what changed my life,” Alexis said.

For her, racism is the legacy of slavery itself, not of one edict.

“When I was a child at school, they called me the little monkey,” she said. “People made animal cries when I walked past — as they still do in football stadiums today.”

Paris-born Élodie Léon, 29, whose family is from French Guiana, welcomes the repeal, but resents the delay.

“Symbolic neglect is also neglect,” she said.

"It shocks me,” said Muriel Jean-Baptiste, a Paris-born nurse whose parents are from Martinique. “A law that treated Black people as property was left sitting there,” she said.

The history of reparations

At the Taubira law’s 25th anniversary on May 21, Macron floated the idea of reparations — something that France has long stayed away from addressing.

He called it “a question we must not refuse,” but one on which “we must not make false promises.”

He committed no money, instead defining repair first as truth-telling, education and historical work.

The wealthiest of France's plantations were in Saint-Domingue, in the Caribbean, where the enslaved rose up and won independence in 1804 as Haiti. France then forced the freed to pay reparations for the loss of their masters — a debt cleared only in 1947.

France isn't alone. In the United States, federal reparations legislation has stalled for decades. California approved an apology, but no cash.

But the timing of Macron's latest speech was awkward. Two months earlier, France abstained when the U.N. General Assembly voted 123-3, with 52 abstentions, to call the trans-Atlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.

And this month at the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya, days after declaring himself a “pan-Africanist,” Macron seized a microphone and ordered the room to quiet down.

“As soon as he sets foot on the African continent,” French opposition lawmaker Danièle Obono said, “he can’t help but behave like a colonizer.”

The repeal of the nCode Noir, said Bocquet, “will have no direct effect.” Whether it helps France fight racism and inequality in its overseas territories, he said, “remains to be seen.”

“It is easy for the French authorities, and for Macron, to do this,” Alexis added. “Because it commits them to nothing.”

Yet the eerily empty Bamy Hotel is not a refuge for adventure-seeking tourists or international business travelers these days. Since late last year, only a small number of people have been staying there, and they aren't on vacation. They are being held against their will.

Under an opaque $7.5 million deal with the Trump administration, Equatorial Guinea's all-powerful president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has turned this hotel owned by his family into a prison for asylum seekers deported from the United States.

The hotel is just a way station, though. Of the at least 32 people imprisoned there since November — all of whom had previously been granted protection from U.S. judges, their lawyers said — 25 have been forced to go back to home countries across Africa where their lives might be in danger. The rest face pressure from authorities to leave.

“Government people would come all the time and say: Where is your passport? You need to go back to your own country,” said a 26-year-old man from an East African country imprisoned at the hotel. Out of fear of retaliation, he spoke on condition of anonymity, as did two other deportees interviewed by The Associated Press.

The Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole, immigration lawyers say, to indirectly force asylum seekers back to their home countries.

Because Equatorial Guinea is run by an authoritarian government — as are some other countries that have signed similar deals — it is difficult for foreign journalists to visit and report directly on conditions there. AP traveled to the island of Bioko as part of a recent visit by the first American pope, and is the only international news organization to visit the hotel detaining migrants.

Pressured to return to countries they fear

Trapped for now in a country many had never heard of before arriving, men and women from Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Mauritania wander the hotel’s long corridors and gaze out the windows at the shimmering pool they are not allowed to use.

They haven’t faced any physical abuse, but they feel intense psychological pressure knowing they are likely headed back to home countries they fear.

“I am scared and depressed,” said the East African man.

Because of his ethnicity and the fact he fled his home country, he said he would be imprisoned or killed if forced to return. All of the asylum seekers at the hotel face a high risk of persecution back home, human rights experts say.

Under a series of murky and often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say, all part of the broad U.S. crackdown on immigration. The countries with agreements are mostly in the developing world, according to the group Third Country Deportation Watch, including roughly a dozen in Africa. Experts say countries accepting the deportees may be doing so to earn goodwill in negotiations with the U.S. over trade, migration or aid.

The Trump administration declined to comment on the details of its deal with Equatorial Guinea. A State Department spokesperson said, “we remain unwavering in our commitment to end illegal and mass immigration.”

The Obiang administration did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Trapped in the surreal and the mundane

As the man from East Africa at the Bamy Hotel recounted his journey, a government minder who spoke little English sat nearby, scrolling on his phone in an otherwise empty conference room.

After traveling from Africa to Brazil, the man said, he arrived in August 2024 at the U.S. border, where he was detained. He then was shuffled between immigration centers in California, Arizona and Louisiana — before landing in Equatorial Guinea almost six months ago.

The deportees' daily routines at the hotel are mundane, though the setting makes it all seem surreal, he said.

They sleep in fancy rooms that rarely get cleaned, he said, and they are served rice and meat at white cloth tables set up inside the hotel's restaurant. After being sickened by the food several times, the East African man said he eats the bare minimum.

A local lawyer brings new toothbrushes, cellphone SIM cards, and, for women, sanitary products.

Medical care has been uneven. The East African man was driven to the hospital right away after complaining of an eye problem. But when he came down with malaria and typhoid, he was not taken to a hospital until his condition had greatly deteriorated, requiring an IV. Other detainees have had similar experiences, he said.

Recently, the East African man complained to a police officer about his situation. The officer responded by saying his problems would go away if he went to the hotel’s fourth floor and jumped out the window.

“What can I do now? It’s become worse,” he said, his frail body shaking. “I started losing my mind.”

The US has strong ties to, and criticisms of, Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea is one of the richest countries in Africa thanks to its oil resources. It is also rife with corruption and human rights abuses, according to U.S. officials.

A former Spanish colony, the country fell into economic despair after gaining independence in 1968. Its fate shifted in the 1990s when U.S. companies started drilling for oil along its vast coastline. The subsequent boom transformed the economy, yet over half the population still lives in poverty.

The country's oil-fueled wealth has been largely pocketed by Obiang and his family, according to rights groups. Obiang’s 57-year-old son and heir apparent, Teodoro “Teodorin” Obiang Nguema, chronicles his lavish lifestyle on TikTok — soaking in infinity pools, feasting on lobster, traveling on private jets — even as citizens of Equatorial Guinea are banned from the platform.

The younger Obiang, who serves as vice president, has faced international sanctions because of corruption across his father’s administration. But the U.S. lifted sanctions, allowing the younger Obiang to travel to a high-level U.N. meeting in New York last September, just weeks before the deportations to Equatorial Guinea began.

There are virtually no critical voices in Equatorial Guinea, where the government has been accused by rights groups and the U.S. State Department of detaining, torturing and even killing those that dare to speak out.

Despite that, its largest foreign investors are U.S. businesses, and its military receives funding for training from the U.S. government.

East African migrant awaits his fate

The deportees still at the Bamy Hotel know they can be sent home any day.

Representatives of the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration, and its refugee agency, visited the hotel in November, and promised the deportees they would come back. They never did.

The East African man is the only one among them that has been allowed to see a lawyer, though it's not clear why.

While Equatorial Guinea has no asylum policy, his lawyer made a formal request with the prime minister's office — a long shot worth taking if there was any chance of being released from the hotel.

He was told to plead for mercy with the country's vice president, but his asylum claim was rejected.

The next morning, authorities deported five other people, leaving him anguished as he awaits his fate. He was told he would be next.

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

The concert plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024.

The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in line with Austrian privacy rules, faces charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization.

His defense attorney said he pleaded guilty to the charges related to the concert plot during the opening day of the trial last month. He could face up to 20 years in prison.

Beran A. allegedly planned to target people outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives. Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans, known as Swifties, had traveled to Austria to attend the performances of the American singer’s record-setting Eras Tour. Devastated by the cancellations, many gathered in central Vienna to trade friendship bracelets and commiserate about the cancellations.

Beran A. also allegedly networked with other members of the Islamic State group ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors have said they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance, as well as swearing allegiance to the militant group.

He is on trial alongside Arda K., whose full name also has not been made public. They, along with a third man who was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, allegedly planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan 2024 in the name of IS.

Only Beran A. was charged in connection with the concert plot. He pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the plot for simultaneous attacks.

In closing arguments Thursday at the state court in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, prosecutors called for the men's conviction, the Austria Press Agency reported.

Beran A.'s defense lawyer, Anna Mair, told the court that her client was “not an ideological mastermind.”

In short final words to the court before it adjourned to consider a verdict, Beran A. said: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”

Education Minister Julius Ogamba said Thursday that 79 others were injured at the Utumishi Girls School, which has more than 800 students in the Gilgil area of central Kenya.

Ogamba said authorities would investigate whether the school’s fire safety manual had been adhered to.

Police said they were leading the rescue and emergency response efforts at the school, which is located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital, Nairobi.

The government-owned secondary school is managed and sponsored by the Kenya Police Service. Many of the students are the daughters of police officers.

The victims have not yet been identified, a source of anger and frustration for some of the parents who gathered at the scene. Dozens were still waiting to confirm their children were not among the victims of the fire.

Elizabeth Rioba, a mother of two girls at the school, said she was relieved to see her daughters but expressed concerned because one of the girls watched her friend getting stuck while trying to jump out of a window.

“She’s very traumatized, but I’m relieved she’s OK and I’m sad for all these children who have died,” she told The Associated Press.

The cause of the fire has not yet been established.

Wambui Nderitu arrived to check on her cousin, who is a student at the school.

“Even though my cousin escaped with a leg injury, we’ve been told many children are injured and some died,” she said.

The Kenya Red Cross said several students were evacuated and are receiving treatment in various hospitals.

The group said it deployed “tracing and psychosocial support teams to support affected students and families.”

“No words can truly ease the pain of losing young lives filled with promise, hope, and dreams for the future,” President William Ruto said in a statement. “As a nation, we mourn with the parents, guardians, teachers, and fellow students who are enduring this unimaginable tragedy.”

Fires at schools have been a cause of concern for education officials in East Africa, where classrooms and dormitories are often crowded, and there’s usually no firefighting equipment in place. Officials sometimes cite poor electrical connections as sparking blazes.

Kenya’s deadliest school fire in recent history occurred in 2001 when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos County.

In 2024, 21 students burned to death in a school fire in central Kenya. Ruto declared three days of mourning.

In 2017, 10 students died in a school fire in Nairobi. A student was charged with murder.

Though voting began in early May ahead of the June 2 primary, Democrats have been returning their ballots at a slower pace than normal after a chaotic campaign full of surprises. Unlike recent races for governor, there's been no clear frontrunner or political superstar (think Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger or Democrat Jerry Brown).

“I’m kind of pinching my nose and voting this go-around rather than being excited,” said Colin Culver, a 21-year-old San Diego resident who ultimately voted for Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund manager turned climate activist.

Democrats have been particularly perplexed given the state's top-two primary system, which places all candidates on a single ballot regardless of party. There are roughly 60 candidates vying to succeed termed-out Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. They include six major Democrats and just two prominent Republicans.

With the large number of Democrats running, party leaders feared months ago that the two leading Republicans, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton, could advance, locking out Democrats. That scenario has grown less likely after former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race after being accused of sexual assault, but the scandal further rattled anxious Democrats. President Donald Trump endorsed Hilton in April, which may have coalesced GOP support behind him and decreased the odds of a Republican upset in a state that hasn’t had a Republican governor since 2011.

But the fear among voters remains. Some Democrats are waiting to cast their ballots to see if one candidate breaks away from the pack in the final days, relying on polling to help make their decision. Others have struggled to make up their minds, reluctantly choosing a candidate after being unimpressed with the field.

Voters are returning their ballots later than normal

Even Democrats who typically have a high turnout in primary elections — often older, white voters — have been slow to drop off their ballots, said Paul Mitchell, a Democratic strategist tracking ballot returns.

“My joke is: Call your Democratic parents and tell them to turn in their ballot,” he said. “They are holding onto the ballot because they have seen this kind of topsy-turvy governor’s race. They’re waiting to make sure they’re making the right choice.”

About 10% of the state's roughly 23 million voters had voted as of Wednesday, according to Mitchell's tracker. That includes about 15% of Republicans, 10% of Democrats and 7% of voters registered with no or another party. That breakdown is unusual because Democrats in recent years have tended to vote early while many Republicans wait until Election Day.

Democrats toggle between candidates

Former state attorney general and federal Health secretary Xavier Becerra and Steyer are among the top Democrats voters are weighing.

A poll conducted in mid-May by the Public Policy Institute of California found that Becerra and Hilton each have the support of about 2 in 10 likely California primary voters. Steyer, Bianco and former Congresswoman Katie Porter each drew the support of between 10% and 15% of likely voters in the survey. No other candidates were polling in double digits.

Support for Becerra has increased from only 5% in a PPIC poll conducted in late March and early April, when Swalwell was still in the race.

Some voters aren't relying on the polls to make their choice. That includes San Francisco native Mary O’Neal, who voted for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa because she liked his record leading the city from 2005 to 2013. Although he's been on the debate stages, he's failed to generate significant support.

Fresno native Alexa Duran, 22, a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, said she’s leaning toward Becerra, despite her concerns about his refusal as attorney general to investigate the killing of a Latino man by an officer in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2020.

“I know he has tons of political experience, but I’m just not sure if he’s the right candidate,” Duran said.

Amber Larson, 41, a judicial analyst for the state living in Chico, likes Ramsey Robinson, a socialist candidate. But casting her ballot for him would be a “waste” due to his slim odds, she said.

She doesn't want to support a longtime politician — Becerra — and she's skeptical of billionaires — Steyer.

“Are we at a point where only a billionaire can beat an establishment, career politician?” Larson said, referencing Steyer spending millions to largely self-fund his campaign.

She planned to go with Steyer anyway because she likes his energy affordability plans and since he's one of the leading candidates.

“I don’t want to throw my vote away,” she said.

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Associated Press journalists Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles and Terry Chea in San Francisco contributed to this report.

La propuesta goza de amplia popularidad en Brasil de cara a las elecciones presidenciales de octubre. El presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva impulsó la iniciativa y la ha promovido repetidamente. La enmienda también forma parte de un impulso en la región que ha sido elogiado por grupos defensores de los derechos laborales, pero duramente criticado por el sector empresarial.

Actualmente, los brasileños trabajan cinco días de ocho horas y cuatro horas en un sexto día, para un total de 44 horas. La enmienda pone fin a la semana laboral de seis días sin reducir el salario de al menos 37 millones de personas, y establece un límite de 40 horas semanales. Garantiza dos días consecutivos de descanso de 24 horas cada semana, preferiblemente los sábados y domingos.

“Las personas que tienen esta semana laboral de lunes a sábado son las que tienen que trabajar más duro y a las que menos se les paga", les dijo el legislador Paulo Pimenta —líder de la bancada del gobierno en la cámara baja de Brasil— a sus colegas mientras votaban. "Necesitamos ser valientes y hacer justicia”.

Muchos legisladores de la oposición votaron a favor tras meses de presión de sus electores, pero algunos continuaban criticando la iniciativa.

“No me importa que sea un año electoral. Creo que necesitamos ser responsables. Esto será un problema para muchas empresas", dijo el legislador Kim Kataguiri. “Estamos haciendo esto apresuradamente, y los trabajadores deberían saber que podrían terminar peor de lo que están ahora si los líderes empresariales dejan de contratar”.

La enmienda les da a las empresas 14 meses para adaptarse, lo que fue un punto clave en las negociaciones. Muchos líderes empresariales y legisladores querían que los cambios se hicieran gradualmente durante 10 años.

“Esto se desarrolló con mucha responsabilidad, pensando en los trabajadores y las familias en Brasil”, dijo el legislador Leo Prates, quien redactó la enmienda en la cámara baja. “Necesitamos lograr esto para el pueblo brasileño”.

La votación de la cámara baja a última hora del miércoles envió la enmienda a la cámara alta. El Senado de Brasil no ha fijado una fecha para su votación, y podría hacer cambios antes de que Lula dé su aprobación para que se enmiende la Constitución.

El principal rival de Lula en las elecciones, el senador Flávio Bolsonaro, quiere reemplazar el sistema actual de semana laboral por una estrategia más flexible de pago por hora, que hasta ahora sólo parece ser popular entre algunos líderes empresariales.

Otras naciones latinoamericanas también han reducido recientemente la semana laboral.

En febrero, legisladores mexicanos aprobaron una propuesta de la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum para recortar la semana laboral de 48 horas. Las horas de trabajo se reducirán gradualmente hasta una semana laboral de 40 horas para 2030.

En 2023, Chile aprobó la llamada Ley de 40 Horas, que redujo su semana laboral a 40 horas a partir del año pasado. Se aplica a todos los trabajadores bajo el Código del Trabajo del país, sin reducir el salario.

Pero Argentina ha ido a contracorriente de esa tendencia bajo el presidente derechista Javier Milei, y podría extender su semana laboral de 48 horas. Un paquete de reforma laboral aprobado este año amplía la jornada máxima de ocho a 12 horas y elimina el pago de horas extra, entre otras medidas que los sindicatos argentinos dicen que favorecen a las empresas sobre los empleados.

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Los periodistas de la AP Megan Janetsky en Ciudad de México, Isabel DeBre en Buenos Aires y Nayara Batschke en Santiago contribuyeron a este despacho.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

Three months on, he still has no force to lead as none of the five countries that pledged troops have come through with any significant contributions.

Efforts to shore up the fragile ceasefire have stalled as Hamas has refused to disarm and Israel has seized more territory while continuing to strike what it says are militant targets, often killing civilians.

The Iran war has meanwhile made it more difficult for Arab and Muslim leaders to openly cooperate with the United States and Israel, which many in the region view as aggressors, and the resulting global energy crisis has sapped their resources.

Indonesian commitment of 8,000 troops is on indefinite hold

The biggest blow to the planned force came about a week after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, when Indonesia put its commitment of 8,000 troops on indefinite hold. Some 1,000 were to have been sent in April, followed by the remainder in June.

Indonesia's pledge was by far the largest of the group, which also includes Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania. U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, who spoke at the Board of Peace event, was to command the force.

Indonesia suspended its plans over what Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said last week seemed to be a lack of commitment from a distracted Washington, saying “we have not yet received any implementation guidelines.”

“New dynamics have emerged,” he told parliament. “Because the intensity of the conflict between U.S. and Iranian forces remains very high, the BoP has tended to be left behind. Since the BoP has been left behind, the ISF has also been left behind.”

US attack on Iran influenced Indonesia's decision

Domestic issues may have factored into Indonesia's decision, said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, director of the Indonesia-Middle East/North Africa desk at Jakarta's Center for Economic and Law Studies.

The Iran war is extremely unpopular in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country. The economy is suffering from soaring prices as a result of the conflict, and there is widespread skepticism of the Board of Peace.

“If you talk to the people on the street, I don’t think they believe that the Board of Peace will actually help the people of Gaza,” Rakhmat said. There are also concerns about sending troops to the Middle East when the economy is faltering, he added.

Indonesia lost four peacekeepers who were part of the United Nations mission in Lebanon during fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. That has further soured public opinion on such international commitments, he said.

Board of Peace blames stalled ceasefire on Hamas

The U.S. military’s Central Command declined to comment or make Jeffers available for an interview, referring all queries to the Board of Peace.

Board of Peace spokesman Brad Klapper also declined to comment on Indonesia's decision or the future of the stabilization force, pointing instead to May 21 remarks made at the U.N. by Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian defense minister who Trump appointed director of the Board of Peace.

Mladenov said the international force would not be able to begin operations until there was agreement and implementation of a second phase of the ceasefire, which would see Hamas disarm and Israel begin to withdraw. Israeli troops control some 60% of Gaza.

Mladenov has blamed the deadlock on Hamas, saying its disarmament is “non-negotiable” and is holding up progress on other fronts, including Israel's withdrawal and reconstruction.

“You cannot build a future with armed groups running the streets, hiding in tunnels and stockpiling weapons,” Mladenov said in Jerusalem this month. “You cannot deliver reconstruction with militias on every corner.”

Hamas blames delays on Israel

Hamas says Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, holding up its further implementation, and has accused Mladenov of siding with Israel.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 880 Palestinians since the ceasefire, according to local health officials. Israel says it was responding to violations of the truce.

Hamas is also demanding Israel withdraw from areas seized since the start of the ceasefire, according to an Egyptian official with knowledge of the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door talks. Egypt has long served as a mediator with Hamas.

Many of the countries that have pledged forces have refused to send troops without a deal on Hamas disarming, the official said.

Token forces committed and none yet known to be on the ground

Kazakhstan has said its support for the stabilization force would be limited to “the humanitarian component,” including sending medical units with a field hospital. Its Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Albania's Defense Ministry also declined to comment on its troop commitment, saying it was a “dynamic and ongoing process.”

Earlier this month, its chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Arben Kingji, told reporters that while the military had “participated in reconnaissance activities,” no troops had yet been sent. He said only a few would be dispatched as part of the stabilization force headquarters, without giving numbers, adding that further contributions would be considered.

Kosovo, which is expected to send 20 troops, said in April that it was in the “final phase of preparations.” The Defense Ministry did not reply to a request for an update.

Morocco's Foreign Ministry also did not reply. At the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said it would deploy “high-level military officers to the joint military command of the ISF.”

Indonesian turnaround can't be ruled out

Despite the delays from Indonesia, Rakhmat said it was too early to rule out eventual participation in the stabilization force.

President Prabowo Subianto is a former army general who has been keen to raise Indonesia’s profile on the world stage and wants to avoid jeopardizing economic ties with the U.S., Rakhmat said.

“Prabowo wants to strengthen ties to Washington and sign different agreements with the U.S., so to completely withdraw and completely cancel the plan, I don't think it's on the table,” he said.

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Associated Press reporters Samy Magdy in Cairo, Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, Akram Oubachir in Casablanca, Morocco, and Zana Cimili in Pristina, Kosovo, contributed.

The World Meteorological Organization also forecasts an overheating Arctic that warms nearly 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.66 degrees Celsius) between now and 2030 and a dangerous drought with potential wildfires for the Amazon, a crucial part of Earth's natural defenses to lessen human-caused climate change. A hotter globe from the burning of coal, oil and gas means more extreme weather including floods, droughts and heat waves, scientists said.

The projections by the U.N. climate agency and the United Kingdom's Meteorological Office said there's a 75% chance that the average global temperature between 2026 and 2030 will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. That threshold is the agreed-upon limit of warming — averaged over 20 years — set in 2015 by the Paris climate agreement.

A U.N. science report a few years later detailed how exceeding that 1.5 mark means more likely death, danger and species loss. Even though it's only a few tenths of a degree, some of the planet's ecosystems, such as coral and glaciers, can't handle the strain.

Passing warming limit has consequences, but no cliff

There’s a 91% chance that at least one of the next five years will shoot past the 1.5 degree threshold and an 86% chance that one of those years will smash the record for Earth’s hottest year set in 2024, the WMO report said. The WMO projects each year between now and 2030 to be between 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) and 1.9 degrees Celsius (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 1800s.

“It’s important to note that (1.5) is not kind of a cliff edge that we’re going to fall off,” said report co-author Melissa Seabrook, a climate scientist at the U.K. Meteorological Office. “Every kind of 0.1 of a degree has more and more severe impact.”

She pointed to unprecedented May heat in Europe this week.

An entire year or more above the 1.5 degree mark “means a whole range of extreme weather events, probably many so hot/wet/dry that it exceeds anything we’ve experienced in the past and thus crucially, anything our city planning, agriculture etc. has anticipated,” Imperial College of London climate scientist Friederike Otto, who wasn’t part of the report, said in an email. “This will mean many people will lose their lives, we are in for a lot of food price shocks, and more intense wildfires.”

Nearly all the shorter-term forecasts call for a strong El Nino — a natural warming of parts of the central Pacific that alters weather worldwide and spikes global temperatures — to form soon. The WMO report said it could stretch all the way to 2028. Because of that, Seabrook said 2027 will likely break the 2024 heat record.

And if the next five years do average more than 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, that means Earth will have warmed a quarter of a degree Celsius (0.45 degrees Fahrenheit) in a decade, which is faster than the previous rates of warming. Those were closer to two-tenths of a degree Celsius per decade.

Climate scientists are debating whether global warming is accelerating, “which obviously is quite scary,” and if these projections come true it would give additional evidence to those who see a speeded up rate of change, Seabrook said.

Accelerating warmth forecast in the Arctic

The projections, based on the averaging of about 200 runs of computer simulations using 13 different climate models from various countries, show warming in the Arctic rising 3.5 times faster than the rest of the globe, because there's less ice and snow that had been reflecting solar radiation to space, Seabrook said. It becomes a vicious cycle.

“As the temperature warms, more sea ice melts, the worse this makes it,” Seabrook said.

Winters in the Arctic from 2020 to 2025 on average were 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1991-2020 average. The WMO projects the next five winters will average 5.1 degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 degrees Celsius) warmer than that recent normal, Seabrook said.

The report also forecasts Arctic sea ice to continue to shrink in the summer.

Amazon may get drier, sparking fire worries

The report calls for even warmer and unusually dry conditions in the Amazon basin, and that could be devastating for both local residents and the planet as a whole, Seabrook said.

People rely on the Amazon for water and the hotter, drier conditions should increase wildfire risk, Seabrook said, threatening to turn the Amazon, which now sucks heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, into a region that worsens the problem.

Africa's Sahel area, which has been extra dry, is likely to get more than normal rain and that could lead to flooding, Seabrook said.

United Nations officials said efforts to curb climate change haven't been enough.

“Despite the progress of recent years, it’s clear that global heating is still outpacing global efforts to contain it, and the baking temperatures in Europe, India and elsewhere show yet again the brutal human and economic impacts of humanity still burning colossal amounts of coal, oil and gas,” U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said about the WMO report.

“Whether it’s extreme heat, mega-storms, floods, massive wildfires or droughts hitting food supply and prices,” he said, “every nation is already paying a huge price from this global climate crisis.”

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The national survey results, released Thursday, show the all-ages uninsured rate has stayed significantly down from where it was several years ago, but the ranks of the uninsured could soon expand as the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to the health landscape begin to take hold.

Massive changes to Medicaid, the government’s safety-net health program for low-income Americans, passed into law last year could result in 10 million more uninsured individuals over a decade, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.

And the expiration this year of certain Affordable Care Act subsidies — which had offset premium costs — is also contributing to reduced participation in marketplace health programs. Around 5 million fewer people are expected to enroll in those plans in 2026 compared with 2025, according to the healthcare research nonprofit KFF.

The government has multiple programs for tracking Americans’ insurance status, which can give different numbers depending on factors like timing and question wording. Many researchers consider the U.S. Census Bureau to be “the official scorekeeper,” said David Howard, an Emory University health policy and management professor.

But the CDC survey results tracks closely with that, and they offer the first complete data for all of 2025 — the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

The Trump administration has sought to expand access to low-premium catastrophic health insurance plans and lower drug prices for Americans who don’t have health insurance. It has also suggested that projected insurance enrollment declines indicate a drop-off of fraudulent and ineligible enrollees, rather than eligible Americans.

Although the share of insured and uninsured stayed roughly the same in 2025 as the year before, the number of uninsured grew by about 800,000 — 300,000 of them children. The growth of the overall U.S. population helps explain that.

The survey results also suggest a possible increased insured rate among Hispanic Americans. But that may in part reflect the effects of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, if uninsured members of that group left the country, Howard said.

Most Americans 65 and older have health insurance through the federal Medicare program. It's different for younger Americans, many of whom are covered through a patchwork of public and private insurance programs.

The percentage of Americans under 65 who were uninsured rose in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s — from 12% in 1980 to more than 18% in 2010. It fell following passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which expanded Medicaid programs and enacted measures to make affordable health insurance available to more people.

By 2016 it dropped nearly to 10%, before rising to 11 to 12% during Trump’s first administration, according to historical survey data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw the rate of uninsured fall again, as a result of government policies put in place to preserve coverage as people faced disruptions related to the pandemic. The rate hit an all-time low in 2023, falling below 9%.

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

The new nonprofit, Stop AAPI Hate Action, will be a political and advocacy arm dedicated to getting more Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders registered to vote — and to mobilize current voters, ensuring they make it to the polls. The initiative was sparked in part by President Donald Trump's pressure — and moves by Republican lawmakers — to redraw voting maps and strip parts of the Voting Rights Act.

The organization announced Thursday this initiative will build on Stop AAPI Hate's name recognition and reputation for elevating conversations about racism, discrimination and allyship. It's a major step for the group, which has also done policy work and advocacy over the past six years, Manjusha Kulkarni, the organization's co-founder, exclusively told The Associated Press.

“Those pieces — alongside what we're seeing from our community in terms of data — really motivated and inspired us to make this move," Kulkarni said. "Because we see how our communities are being harmed and exactly what needs to be done to address the harm, and prevent it in the future.”

Stop AAPI Hate Action was established as a social welfare organization so leaders can lobby in political campaigns within certain parameters.

Trump's immigration policies fuel more anti-Asian racism since COVID-19

A majority of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders believe President Donald Trump has done more harm than good on immigration and border security in his second term, according to an AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll.

Stop AAPI Hate's annual report — released in May, AAPI Heritage Month — found roughly half of AAPI adults said they or someone they personally know were negatively impacted by immigration policies or anti-immigrant attitudes in 2025. Last year, Trump signed an order restricting H-1B visa holders — thousands of whom come from Asian countries — and added a $100,000 annual fee for highly skilled foreign workers.

Plus, Chinese nationals face a plethora of anti-China laws in various states.

Navia Gutta, 28, was rattled by an encounter last summer at a Chipotle restaurant in Atlanta, where a woman approached her and a friend, calling the two — who are Indian American — “murderers” and “rapists." It escalated and she threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport them “back” to India, which the woman called a “dirty country.” Both of them were born in the U.S.

“Our hands were shaking and we full-on cried in the car,” Gutta said. “It made me realize that I grew up still very privileged, and I felt like I lived in a bubble up until then, because nothing like that had ever happened to me."

She later shared the experience with Stop AAPI Hate, and after talking at great length with a staff member was emboldened to volunteer with the group.

“It made me realize I would love to be a part of this solution,” Gutta said. “I would love to educate people. I would look at these issues and continue educating myself further because I think politics can be really scary.”

Reaching AAPI voters in red states, too

Stop AAPI Hate Action is ready to dive head first into the November midterms. That does not mean blindly advocating for all Democratic candidates, Kulkarni said. The group's main goal is to support candidates who share core values on immigration policies and civil rights.

“It is really, at its core, about harnessing the pain felt at an individual level and turning it into a collective power,” Kulkarni said. “This really has been an existential threat to our community."

The nonprofit is also not trying to compete or duplicate other AAPI-focused civic engagement organizations. The group is looking beyond blue states and swing states. A primary goal is to flip red districts with a significant presence of Asian American voters, and turn them blue. There are areas in Republican-run states “that deserve to be reached out to,” said Andy Wong, Stop AAPI Hate Action managing director of advocacy.

“The ones in Iowa and Nebraska and Alaska and other places where there are competitive purple districts — many of them with GOP incumbents," Wong said. “We are going to reach voters in those places,” by enlisting phone bank volunteers who speak Korean, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin.

That effort starts in July, and they plan to focus on reaching people who only turn out to vote in big general elections. To help build rapport, they also plan to match volunteers with voters of the same ethnicity.

Building longevity as a voting bloc

This new political entity is not a one-and-done operation, Stop AAPI Hate staffers say. The Asian American and Pacific Islander community is one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S., which means with each election year, there's potential for new voters.

But the political parties have overlooked this fact, and failed to invest in voter outreach and other civic engagement, Kulkarni said. “We’ve really been an afterthought. We're 24 million people."

Stop AAPI Hate sees the next few years not just as an opportunity to win over voters but also to increase AAPI power as an entire voting bloc. Kulkarni says some data indicates Latino, Black and Asian Americans who moved somewhat to the right during the 2024 election are edging back to the left.

“Where you see that especially is the South Asian or Indian American community specifically. You've seen that in some of the others, in the Japanese American community," she said. "How do we harness that?”

The group needs to build an infrastructure to get people involved not just when there's a major election, Wong said. They also hope to empower Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who are already doing the work to become leaders in their patches.

“They're putting in the phone calls. They're showing up at public hearings, delivering comments,” Wong said. “It’s about building long-term civic and political power.”

Those processes can require significant amounts of water, energy and chemicals — part of the reason denim has become a growing target for sustainability efforts across the fashion industry, which is among the world’s biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions.

Brands are responding to wider awareness by marketing their jeans as “sustainable,” touting regenerative cotton, recycled fibers and low-water manufacturing techniques. But figuring out if that's true is far more complicated. For one, sustainability is difficult to define — and there isn't a universal set of standards.

Last week, Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein acquired Everlane, a brand known for transparency and sustainability efforts, highlighting broader tensions over scale and affordability. Improvements in sustainable processes typically cost more, making it difficult for companies with fast production cycles and low prices to adopt them widely. Consumers are left to navigate a complicated web of tradeoffs involving farming practices, chemical processes, labor ethics and a wide range of prices.

Experts say people can find sustainable denim by learning how jeans are actually made.

It all starts with cotton farming

Most jeans are made from cotton, a crop that can require large amounts of water, fertilizer and pesticides.

Beth Jensen, chief impact officer at the nonprofit Textile Exchange, said many brands still lack full visibility into where their cotton comes from. Because denim production often spans multiple countries and suppliers, it can also be difficult to track labor conditions.

“We as an industry, collectively, have a long way to go on this,” she said.

As concern grows over fashion’s environmental impact, some brands have looked to solutions like regenerative cotton, which focuses on soil health, biodiversity and reducing synthetic chemical use. But as Jensen said, what’s feasible on a farm in California might not be in a place like India or Australia because of their different climates.

Why producing denim is labor and energy-intensive

After cotton is harvested, it is spun into yarn and dyed — typically with indigo, a process that can involve significant water use and chemical treatments. It's then woven into denim fabric, and cut and sewn into jeans.

Jeans then usually go through finishing treatments to create different shades, fades and distressed textures. Bill Curtin, owner of New Jersey-based BPD Washhouse, said denim-finishing is divided into “wet” and “dry” processes.

The wet process involves washing jeans with water, chemicals and treatments that lighten or tint the denim. Historically, brands have used pumice stones to achieve a worn, stonewashed look — with stones often shipped from Mexico, adding transport emissions and cost to the process. Many facilities are now switching to enzyme-based alternatives and ozone technologies that use less water.

The dry process creates abrasions, whiskers and ripped details either by hand or with laser technology, which Curtin said is more efficient and less labor-intensive.

Many stretchy jeans also contain fabrics like polyester or elastane — fossil fuel-derived synthetics that can shed microplastics over time.

But making sustainable denim is challenging

Fashion designer Maria McManus spent years wanting to add denim to her low-impact line but couldn’t find a way to do it that aligned with her values. The culprit, she said, was always the washing process.

“From a water and chemical perspective, it’s very invasive,” she said.

So instead she sourced dark, raw denim from Japan — indigo, minimal processing — and skipped the wash stage altogether, avoiding the faded and distressed look that define most commercial jeans. It was a deliberate constraint, and it held for years.

A breakthrough came when she collaborated on a collection with Agolde, a larger denim brand. Along with its parent company Citizens of Humanity, it's respected in the fashion industry for its focus on regenerative cotton farming.

Working with the company gave McManus access to infrastructure her small brand couldn’t build alone — a consulting agency that connected her with regenerative cotton farmers, a vetted indigo-dyeing process using biochemical rather than petrochemical dyes, and rigorous supply chain traceability.

But even that process, she said, isn’t simple. Organic and regenerative cotton crops can fail. Supply chains are hard to verify. “You know when they tell you their harvest failed” that they're honest, she said of one supplier. “I know I can trust them because really, what they should have done as business people or capitalists was just get regular cotton — because nobody is testing this stuff.”

But that often leads to higher prices. A pair of jeans from McManus’ brand is nearly $700 — a function of small production runs, she said. “It’s truly a units game.”

Finding the most sustainable pair of jeans

Experts say consumers should be wary of vague sustainability claims and instead look for brands that provide detailed information about their sourcing and manufacturing processes.

Dana Davis, a strategic fashion adviser who led sustainability efforts for the label Mara Hoffman, encouraged shoppers to look beyond a single product page and examine whether brands discuss labor rights, textiles and manufacturing sites across their entire business — not just in a capsule collection.

“If a brand really explains the whys behind why they’re doing these things, then you can get a sense of, ‘OK, this feels authentic,’” Davis said. But she added that “greenwashing” — overstating sustainability claims — can make it difficult for consumers to figure out what's legitimate.

Certifications can help, though Davis cautioned there is no single label that guarantees sustainability. One worth seeking out is the B Corp certification, which evaluates companies’ social and environmental performance. Some tree-based fibers like lyocell, a material commonly blended into jeans, may come from sources vetted by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), indicating the wood pulp was sourced from responsibly managed forests.

But one of the simplest ways to reduce denim’s environmental footprint is also the least glamorous: To buy fewer jeans, wear them longer, wash them less and shop secondhand.

According to a life cycle assessment by Levi Strauss & Co., if 34.2 million people — or the equivalent of 1 in 10 Americans — bought a pair of secondhand jeans this year instead of new ones, it would avoid roughly 1.5 billion pounds (roughly 0.7 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the emissions of about 150,000 gasoline cars.

“The most sustainable thing you can do,” Jensen said, “is use a product that’s already been made.”

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The proposal is widely popular in Brazil ahead of presidential elections in October, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sponsored the move and has repeatedly promoted it. The amendment is also part of a push within the region has been lauded by labor rights groups but highly criticized by the business sector.

Currently, Brazilians work five eight-hour days and four hours on a sixth day for 44 hours total. The amendment ends the six-day workweek without reducing pay for at least 37 million people and establishes a 40-hour weekly work limit. It guarantees two consecutive 24-hour rest days each week, preferably Saturdays and Sundays.

“People who have this workweek from Monday to Saturday are the ones that have to work the hardest and are paid the least,” lawmaker Paulo Pimenta, Brazil’s government whip in the lower house, told his peers as they voted. “We need to be brave and do justice.”

Many opposition lawmakers voted for it after months of pressure from their constituents, but some continued to criticize the initiative.

“I don't care this is an election year. I think we need to be responsible. This will be a problem for many companies," lawmaker Kim Kataguiri said. “We are doing this in a rush and workers should know they might end up worse than they are now if business leaders stop hiring.”

The amendment gives businesses 14 months to adapt, which was a key point in negotiations. Many business leaders and lawmakers wanted the changes to be made gradually over 10 years.

“This was built with a lot of responsibility, thinking about workers and families in Brazil,” said lawmaker Leo Prates, who drafted the amendment in the lower house. “We need to accomplish this for the Brazilian people.”

The lower house votes late Wednesday sent the amendment to the upper house. Brazil’s Senate has not set a date for its vote and could make changes before Lula’s approval for the constitution to be amended.

Lula's main rival in the election, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, wants to replace the current workweek system with a more flexible payment-by-the-hour strategy, which so far seems to be popular only among some business leaders.

Other Latin American nations have also recently shortened the workweek.

In February, Mexican lawmakers approved a proposal by President Claudia Sheinbaum to trim the 48-hour workweek. Working hours will be shortened gradually to a 40-hour workweek by 2030.

Chile in 2023 passed the so-called 40-Hour Law, which reduced its workweek to 40 hours as of last year. It applies to all workers under Chile’s Labor Code, without reducing pay.

But Argentina has bucked that trend under libertarian President Javier Milei and may extend its 48-hour workweek. A labor overhaul package passed earlier this year extends the maximum workday from eight to 12 hours and scraps overtime pay, among other measures that Argentine labor unions say favor companies over employees.

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AP journalists Megan Janetsky, Isabel DeBre and Nayara Batschke contributed to this report from Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Santiago, Chile.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

The 2 1/2-year investigation and prosecution that followed came to a close Wednesday with the sentencing of his personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who bought him the drugs, gave him injections, and found him dead in the hot tub of the house they shared on Oct. 23, 2023. The 54-year-old “Friends” star had told Iwamasa to shoot him up “with a big one.”

Here’s a chronological look at the end of Perry’s life, drawn from federal court documents, a medical examiner’s investigation and law enforcement reports.

The final month

Sometime in September of 2023 — Perry asks Iwamasa to help him get illegal ketamine. Working with his regular doctor, Perry had been receiving legal ketamine treatments for depression — an increasingly common off-label use of the surgical anesthetic. But he wanted more. Perry’s family members would later say they had known Iwamasa for decades, and trusted him to help keep the actor sober.

Sept. 30, 2023 — Told by a patient that he knew a prominent person willing to pay big money for ketamine, Dr. Salvador Plasencia meets with Perry and Iwamasa at their home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Plasencia texts a doctor friend, Mark Chavez, who agrees to obtain ketamine for him. “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texts Chavez. Later the same day, Plasencia returns to Perry’s house, where Iwamasa pays him $4,500 in cash for four vials. Plasencia gives Perry two injections, and teaches Iwamasa how to do it.

Oct. 2, 2023 — Iwamasa texts Plasencia seeking more ketamine, referring to it in code as “dr pepper.” Plasencia appears, gives Perry the injections, and leaves behind more vials.

Oct. 4. 2023 — Iwamasa injects Perry without help for the first time. He texts the doctor that he had found “the sweet spot” to put the needle into his boss, but that trying different spots on Perry had led to them running out of ketamine and says they need more. Plasencia texts Chavez asking if he can keep supplying the drug so they can become Perry’s “go-to.”

Oct. 8, 2023 — In a late night meetup at a Santa Monica shopping plaza, Plasencia sells Iwamasa four vials of ketamine for $6,000 in cash.

Oct. 10, 2023 — Iwamasa drives Perry to a public parking lot in Long Beach to meet with Plasencia. The doctor sells them more ketamine and gives an injection to Perry as he sits in a car. The same day, Perry asks a friend about other sources. She sends him to Erik Fleming, a licensed drug counselor she knows who has relapsed into addiction.

Oct. 11, 2023 — Fleming messages Iwamasa that he can get ketamine from a dealer he knows, Jasveen Sangha, who prosecutors dub “The Ketamine Queen.” Fleming says she only deals “with high end and celebs.”

Oct. 12, 2023 — Plasencia goes to Perry’s house, where he is paid $21,000 in cash, some of it owed to him for previous ketamine buys. While there, he injects Perry. The actor immediately freezes up and his blood pressure spikes. The assistant said the doctor told him, “let’s not do that again.”

Oct. 13, 2023 — Perry gets a sample of Sangha’s ketamine and tries it. He and Iwamasa ask for 25 vials of it, for which they pay $5,500 to Sangha and another $500 to Fleming. Fleming drops it off at Perry’s house a day later.

Around Oct. 20, 2023 — Perry receives his last legal ketamine treatment from his regular physician.

The final week

Oct. 23, 2023 — Iwamasa pays $6,000 to Fleming and Sangha for 25 more vials of ketamine.

Oct. 24, 2023 — Iwamasa gives Perry six to eight injections, a daily dosage that would continue until the actor’s death.

Oct. 25, 2023 — Fleming makes a third and final delivery of another 25 vials of ketamine for another $6,000. This batch includes the fatal dose.

Oct. 27, 2023 — With the supply coming from Sangha, Perry and Iwamasa had been out of touch with Plasencia for about two weeks. Plasencia texts Iwamasa, saying he had more to offer: “I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up.”

The final day

Oct. 28, 2023, about 8:30 a.m. — Using syringes from Plasencia and ketamine from Sangha, Iwamasa gives Perry an injection.

About 11 a.m. — Perry plays pickleball.

About 12:45 p.m. — Iwamasa gives Perry his second shot of the day, and the actor begins watching a movie.

About 1:30 p.m. — Iwamasa gives Perry his third and final injection of the day while Perry sits in or near his backyard Jacuzzi. “Shoot me up with a big one,” Iwamasa remembers Perry telling him. Iwamasa leaves to run errands.

About 4 p.m. — Iwamasa returns home to find Perry face down in the Jacuzzi. Paramedics arrive minutes later and declare Perry dead. When Iwamasa talks to police, he does not mention Perry’s illegal ketamine consumption, or his role in it, and hides evidence of it. Sangha and Fleming learn of Perry’s death and delete their message history.

The aftermath

Dec. 15 — An autopsy report is released, saying the acute effects of ketamine were the primary cause of Perry’s death, with drowning as a secondary cause.

January 2024 — A search warrant is served at Perry and Iwamasa’s home. Over the course of several interviews, the assistant admits to his role in Perry's illegal drug use. He points investigators to Fleming and gives them information on Plasencia, whom they have already identified.

March 2024 — A search warrant is served on Fleming's sister's home, where he was staying. He gave up Sangha to prosecutors and became an essential witness along with Iwamasa.

Aug. 7, 2024 — Iwamasa pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He will be sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Aug. 8, 2024 — Fleming pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He will be sentenced to two years in prison.

Oct. 2, 2024 — Chavez pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He will get eight months of home detention.

July 23, 2025 — Plasencia pleads guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He will get 2 1/2 years in prison.

Sept. 3, 2025 — Sangha pleads guilty to three counts of distribution of ketamine, one count of using her home for a drug operation and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. She will get 15 years in prison.

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A version of this story first moved on Aug. 16, 2024.

Oil prices gained more than $2 a barrel after having dropped sharply a day before.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX was nearly unchanged at 25,175.63 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.4% to 8,172.84. Britain's FTSE 100 slumped 0.9% to 10,416.62.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower.

U.S. officials said Central Command forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military also hit an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone. Those attacks followed others earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump asserted that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and said November’s midterm elections in the United States won’t make him rush into a deal to end the nearly three-month-old conflict.

During Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.5% to 64,693.12, while the Kospi in South Korea lost 0.5% to 8,185.29.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 1.3% to 25,006.16, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher to 4,098.64.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.4% to 8,592.90, while Taiwan's Taiex dropped 1.4%.

“Conflicting reports on the contours of a U.S.-Iran deal dampened risks sentiments as markets grow increasingly wary about the possibility of a deal,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank in Singapore said in a commentary.

“While there is desire to maintain the ceasefire with both Iran and (asterisk)the) U.S. toning down language on renewed attacks and persisting with indirect channels of communication, it remains remarkably hard to envisage how a compromise can be reached on key issues,” he said.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks inched to more records after oil prices declined more than 4%, easing pressure on consumers and businesses worldwide.

The S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.1% to 7,520.36 and the Dow industrials rose 0.4%, to 50,644.28. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.1% to 26,674.73. All three indexes set all-time highs.

Stocks of companies with big fuel bills helped lead the way on hopes that lower oil prices will remove a big drag on their profits. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings climbed 6.1%, and United Airlines rallied 6.3%. Delta Air Lines rose 3% and set an all-time high.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.6% to $92.25 after the ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to hold despite the U.S. military launching what it called “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran.

However, after the latest strikes, in early Thursday trading Brent was up $2.14 at $94.44 a barrel.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude gained $2.12 to $90.80. On Wednesday, it had fallen 5.5%, to settle at $88.68, back to where it was in mid-April.

Prices have moderated, after surging to well over $100 a barrel, on hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf for deliveries again.

Stocks have been able to run to records despite the painful inflation and uncertainty caused by high oil prices largely because companies have reported surprisingly strong profits for the start of 2026, and the forecast is for them to continue.

In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.50 Japanese yen from 159.51 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1611 from $1.1626.

U.S. Central Command said that Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, calling the Iranian attack on one of America's top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a U.S. base in an Gulf state it did not name. Kuwait's Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression."

The U.S. and Iran have traded strikes throughout the week, even as President Donald Trump has said he's confident his administration is making headway in negotiations with Iran to end the war.

On Monday, the U.S. said it conducted what the Pentagon called “defensive” strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran. U.S. officials said late Wednesday in Washington that forces launched more strikes on Iran, shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the strait and hitting an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard via the state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport and said it launched its own retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the assault, without specifying whether the attack referenced had targeted Kuwait.

Kuwait’s military announced its air defense systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones on Thursday, without providing further details on what had been targeted. Home to U.S. Army Central’s forward headquarters as well as air bases and a naval base, Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire.

The announcement comes as the Middle East is on the edge and talks to end the war remain in flux.

Trump is looking for an agreement that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed. He is also seeking to get Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium while the Islamic Republic wants economic sanctions to be lifted and frozen assets to be released to aid its shattered economy. The war has been unpopular in the U.S., and Iran's closure of the strait has sent oil prices skyrocketing, driving up fuel prices around the world.

___

Toropin contributed from Washington and Metz from Ramallah, West Bank.

Talarico has given Democrats their best chance in years of winning a Senate race in Texas and has boosted their still-uphill chances of retaking the majority in the U.S. Senate in November. Talarico, a former middle school teacher and a state lawmaker from Austin, laid out a clear strategy for the months ahead: Litigating Paxton’s scandals to a weary electorate.

“Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America,” Talarico told a crowd of about 1,000 supporters who packed a dance club in downtown Houston. “He has failed the character test. He has put his own interests above the laws of Texas. Those are not my words, those are the words of Ken Paxton’s fellow Republicans.”

He also sought to tie what he called the “rot” at the heart of the nation's political system to the everyday problems faced by many voters, driving home the concerns over rising costs that have been part of Democrats' wider messaging strategy for this year's midterm elections.

"In America, we have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis," Talarico told the crowd.

Talarico's messaging is tougher than in the primary

It was a stark pivot from the more sunny, spiritual theme of Talarico's Democratic primary campaign. Now, he's leaning into the same arguments against Paxton that Republican Senate leaders feared would make the attorney general a weaker candidate than Sen. John Cornyn, who Paxton beat in Tuesday's Republican runoff.

The diverse crowd in Houston held signs emblazoned with “Talarico,” but with a new twist. On the flipside was the campaign's new theme: “THE PEOPLE vs. KEN PAXTON.”

Phrased like a court case aimed at the state's chief law enforcement officer, the theme was launched on the day that also marked the third anniversary of Paxton's impeachment on allegations he used his office to benefit a wealthy political donor.

Paxton was acquitted on all 20 articles of impeachment, which has emboldened him and fueled his supporters. Many of them have long held that he and President Donald Trump, who endorsed him, have been victims of political persecution.

But the message seemed to resonate with many at Talarico's rally.

Monique Green, a retired elementary school teacher from Houston, said the most important part of the “The People vs. Ken Paxton” sign she clutched to her chest while standing in line to meet Talarico were its first two words.

“It’s a declaration that it’s about us," she said. "We are the ones, all of us, what we can definitely do together. And he inspires us to act. He doesn’t just talk — he believes.”

Campaign aides said Talarico had raised $600,000 in small, on-line donations within two hours of Paxton’s win in the Republican Texas runoff Tuesday, the most lucrative two hours for his campaign since he announced he was running in September 2025.

Turning personal attacks into campaign slogans

One of the first speakers at the rally was the Democratic state representative who co-led Paxton’s impeachment, Ann Johnson, alongside a Republican lawmaker.

Talarico emphasized that the impeachment over corruption allegations was brought by the Republican majority in the Texas statehouse, Paxton's own party. After his rally, he said he is making the campaign about Paxton’s record because “he has escaped accountability for years.”

Paxton's campaign declined to comment. But after Talarico finished speaking, Paxton posted a link to his campaign's donation page on the social platform X with a personal attack on his opponent: “James Talarico and his big vegan allies have raised a fortune trying to stop the America First agenda. I need your help!” he wrote.

It echoed a line from Paxton after his runoff victory on Tuesday, and Talarico had a response ready for his supporters at the Houston rally: "I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment,” he said.

The vegan jab is part of Paxton’s attempt to seek out what he considers weak points in Talarico’s campaign, including past statements in which Talarico said God is nonbinary and that there were six biological sexes. And in a strategy reminiscent of Trump, Paxton also has been testing nicknames for his opponent.

They included “TalaFreako," which Talarico turned to his advantage Wednesday night. He told his supporters they could go to his campaign website and buy T-shirts stamped with the new nickname.

In an interview with CBS News ahead of Wednesday's rally, Talarico responded to the claims about his beliefs on gender, saying that what he means is that “God cannot be defined by human categories" and there were “two sexes, men and women."

“I also know there’s a very small percentage of people who have these chromosomal abnormalities, and I believe that they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” he said.

“Small sample size,” the former Cy Young winner said.

What a sample, though.

After allowing two hits over six scoreless innings against Tampa Bay in his first major league start since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series against the Dodgers, the 35-year-old Cole did even better against struggling Kansas City. He allowed four hits while striking out 10 without a single walk, sending the Yankees to a 7-0 victory — their 14th straight win over the Royals.

“I feel like maybe the first game was the appetizer,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “and that was the main course right there. That was surgical. You saw everything, like, good fastball, both breaking balls going, mixed in the cutter a little bit, made some really good change-ups along the way. There was good defensive plays behind him early and then he kind of cruised.”

Cole (1-0) needed only 79 pitches to get through 6 2/3 innings, and he probably could have gone deeper into the game against Kansas City. But at this point in what the Yankees hope is a long season, there was no reason to push Cole's once-ailing right elbow.

The closest the Royals came to scoring off him came in the third, when Michael Massey hit a one-out double. Cole bounced back to strike out Isaac Collins, bringing Maikel Garcia to the plate. He ripped a single to right field, Aaron Judge fielded a tough hop cleanly, and then made a perfect throw to catch Massey at the plate for the final out of the inning.

Cole also stranded Garcia at second base after a two-out double in the sixth. Salvador Perez singled off him in the seventh.

And that was it. All the runners Kansas City managed against him.

“I think it just reminds you of who he is, and how great a consistent pitcher he is,” Boone said. “And to see him go through the process the last several months to get back to this, and go out there and execute like he is here to start, it's fun to watch.”

Cole was brutally efficient, especially with his 96 mph fastball. He threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters he faced, and only a couple of batters even managed to drive the count to three balls against him the entire night.

“I expect to execute pitches. I don’t necessarily expect to not give up any runs, especially on 75 percent strikes. You’re putting a lot of pressure on guys,” Cole said. “So you have to play good defense, which is what we did tonight."

There was pressure on Cole to execute, too, because the Yankees never really gave him a cushion. They managed a pair of runs on a single by Paul Goldschmidt, a triple by Ben Rice and Judge's sacrifice fly, but the rest of their offense came after Cole departed.

It wasn't nearly as prolific as the Yankees' memorable 15-1 win Tuesday night in which they belted six homers and had 24 hits — and, in a first for one of the game’s historic franchises, every player in the New York starting lineup had at least two hits.

But with Cole back on the mound, they only needed a fraction of that offense Wednesday night.

“It's two games. Small sample size,” Cole said. “We still have stuff to improve, and just have to keep the same mindset that we have right now, and that's to take it one outing at a time.”

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

The Asian elephant was put to sleep Tuesday at the zoo where she lived for almost a half-century. Zoo officials said some age-related conditions accelerated in recent weeks, and she showed signs of a falloff in kidney or liver function. A necropsy revealed arthritis and large, inoperable uterine tumors that are impossible to diagnose in elephants through exams or imaging, the zoo said.

“She was a wonderful elephant,” interim zoo director Craig Piper said in an interview Wednesday, as heavy-hearted staffers absorbed the loss of an animal some had tended for over 30 years. “She served as a tremendous ambassador for elephants and for elephant conservation.”

Since Happy’s death, the zoo's 57-year-old Patty is the last elephant on exhibit in the United States’ largest city. The zoo’s parent institution, the Wildlife Conservation Society, decided 20 years ago to stop acquiring pachyderms.

Born in the wild in Asia, Happy was brought to the U.S. as a 1-year-old. She was named for a character from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” before arriving at the zoo in 1977.

Happy keenly engaged with her keepers and was easy to motivate with favorite treats, such as watermelon or strawberries, said Keith Lovett, the zoo’s director of animal programs. Piper said she sometimes stashed treats in her ear to save for later.

In 2005, she showed researchers that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror — a sign of self-awareness seen in only a few other species. During the experiment, Happy faced her reflection and repeatedly used her trunk to touch an "X" painted above her eye, a mark she could see only in the mirror.

She was paired with other elephants until her last partner died in 2006. Happy then lived separately from Patty and a third elephant out of concern that they wouldn't get along, though Lovett said the animals could see, smell and touch each other over a divider. The third elephant, called Maxine, died in 2018.

Zoo officials said the median life expectancy for Asian elephants in U.S. zoos is about 45 years. Their life expectancy in the wild is more difficult to pinpoint.

During Happy’s lifetime, zoo elephant exhibits came under increased scrutiny. Some experts said urban animal parks were too small for creatures that roam extensive distances in the wild. Animal rights activists argued that zoo enclosures were no place for big-brained, social pachyderms.

Some zoos phased out their exhibits and sent elephants to sanctuaries, though some other zoos remain committed to keeping and breeding the creatures, arguing that they help keep people interested in saving wildlife.

One activist group, the Nonhuman Rights Project, sued the Bronx Zoo in 2018, seeking to have Happy declared a “person” for legal purposes and moved to a large animal sanctuary. It was the first such case about an elephant, according to the group.

Citing a principle that’s used to challenge the legality of a person’s imprisonment, the activist group said Happy was “an extraordinarily cognitively complex and autonomous nonhuman being” who was unlawfully deprived of her liberty and suffered from being pent up in a exhibit without other elephants.

Zoo officials said Happy was assiduously cared for and had space for swimming, foraging and other natural behavior. Uprooting her from her longtime home could harm her, the zoo said.

New York’s top court ultimately rejected the activists’ claim, by a 5-2 majority. Colorado's highest court later issued a similar ruling about five elephants in a zoo there.

Still, two of the New York high court judges wrote pointed dissents. One called Happy’s captivity “inherently unjust and inhumane” and “an affront to a civilized society.”

The Nonhuman Rights Project has continued pursuing cases about elephants in various other states.

The group's executive director, Christopher Berry, said in an statement Wednesday night that Happy “will always be remembered as the elephant who opened the courtroom doors to consideration of nonhuman animals’ legal rights.”

Happy spent her final weeks, by her choice, in an off-exhibit barn and yard within her enclosure, Piper said. In a zoo version of hospice care, staffers provided hydration, nutrition and pain management, he said.

Meanwhile, Patty is doing well, the zoo said.

The Wildlife Conservation Society said in 2006 that once there was only one elephant, the animal might be moved to another zoo if circumstances were right. Piper said the zoo will be “really thoughtful and careful” in contemplating whether to move Patty from her home of 53 years.

U.S. Southern Command posted video on social media showing a boat resting on the water before being struck by an explosion. The last few seconds of the video show smoke and fire rising from the boat.

A day earlier, U.S. forces had launched a strike on an alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing one man and leaving two survivors. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.”

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has gone on since early September and killed at least 196 people in total. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

The Pentagon watchdog said last week that it will evaluate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats. The six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle include a military commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment.

The Pentagon inspector general’s office said the review was “self-initiated.” It will not probe the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars.

The Trump administration says the U.S. is at war against the Latin American drug cartels, which it says are responsible for the scourge of fatal drug overdoses plaguing many American communities.

The sanctions were announced late Wednesday after U.S. forces carried out strikes on an Iran military facility after downing Iranian attack drones, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The sanctions move, first reported by The Associated Press, is the latest U.S. effort to use economic leverage on top of military action to push Iran’s leadership into an agreement to end the war and open the waterway where a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas normally passes. President Donald Trump has said a deal is imminent, but talks are ongoing.

Rising energy prices and other costs stemming from Iran’s effective closure of the strait have heaped political pressure on Trump and other Republicans ahead of the midterm congressional elections.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

The sanctions target Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority and any person or entity cooperating with the agency, announced earlier this month, that approves transit in the strait and charges tolls that could reach as high as $2 million per vessel.

Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has defended this oversight effort, saying the only safe route for transit through the critical waterway is through the corridor it has designated and saying any ships that deviate from that path face a series of attacks and risks.

Iran’s chokehold on the strait has caused worldwide energy shocks and followed the U.S. and Israel launching the war on Feb. 28. Prices have spiked for oil, gas and related products, and experts say it would take several weeks or even months for shipping and prices to recover once the waterway reopens.

In turn, the U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports for over a month, and Trump said it “will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”

The latest economic penalties come as Washington and Tehran have been engaged in some of the most intense diplomacy and negotiations in years, aimed at bringing an end to the war and a pathway for a longer-term solution to issues between the longtime adversaries.

Trump said Wednesday that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and said the sides are closing in on a deal even after the U.S. military said Monday that it had carried out “self-defense” strikes on missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Wednesday’s strikes are likely to cause more complications.

“They want very much to make a deal,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. “So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be — either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”

The Republican president also has reiterated his warning that fighting would resume if no deal is reached but has pulled back from those threats several times now in the last few months.

It’s unclear whether prosecutors had implicated Rodríguez in any crimes or whether investigators were moving toward an indictment. A Justice Department spokesperson said in an email “there was never an investigation into her to shut down.”

But DEA records obtained by The Associated Press earlier this year show she consistently surfaced on the radar of federal law enforcement dating to at least 2018, though she has never been criminally charged in the U.S. like several other senior Venezuelan officials.

The directive to pause scrutiny into Rodríguez was meant to avoid upsetting the administration’s efforts to stabilize Venezuela after the capture of her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, among other reasons, the official said. It was not clear whether the White House, which deferred comment to the Justice Department, was involved in the decision.

“Everybody has been told to stand down,” one of the former officials said.

The former officials, who had been briefed on the development, as well as the current official all spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations.

Rodríguez, a U.S. attorney representing her and the Venezuelan Communications Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The move eases pressure on Rodriguez

Removing the threat of potential indictment, even temporarily, eases pressure on Rodríguez as the Trump administration seeks to work with the acting leader to stabilize Venezuela after Maduro’s ouster and open the country to U.S. investment.

President Donald Trump praised Rodríguez as a “terrific person” shortly after the U.S. military took Maduro and his wife to New York to face federal narcotics charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

In recent months, the U.S. has lifted sanctions against Rodríguez and recognized her as Venezuela's sole head of state, allowing her to re-establish ties with western banks and more freely work with U.S. investors seeking to tap into the world's largest petroleum reserves. As ties between the two governments have deepened, some have held out the Venezuelan playbook — characterized by oil blockades, indictments of top leaders, and threats of military intervention — as a model to drive regime change from within as the U.S. pressures other longtime adversaries in Iran and Cuba.

Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the National Assembly, were hit with U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first term for their role in undermining Venezuelan democracy and cementing Maduro's authoritarian rule.

Rodríguez “is doing a great job,” Trump wrote on social media in early March. "The Oil is beginning to flow, and the professionalism and dedication between both Countries is a very nice thing to see!”

In recent months, Rodríguez has hosted ceremonies with a steady stream of American oilmen, some of them partaking in high-profile delegations led by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

Election talk deferred amid Trump's praise

Missing in all the mutual backslapping is any talk of elections, even as Rodríguez last month blew through a 90-day limit set by Venezuela's high court to fill Maduro's position on a temporary basis.

“I don’t know,” she responded in English when a visiting U.S. journalist earlier this month shouted out a question about her time frame for holding elections. “Some time.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has demanded the administration explain its favorable treatment of Rodríguez, calling her a “central figure in Nicolás Maduro's repressive regime.”

“Sanctions have been lifted on Ms. Rodríguez without any indication that she has taken concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order,” Sheehan, joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent last week.

Rick de la Torre, a former CIA chief of station in Caracas, said that the decision to shield Rodríguez fits well with the Trump administration’s foreign policy goals in Venezuela.

“She’s a lifelong Marxist and was a senior leader of one of the world’s most corrupt regimes but the U.S. is providing her with breathing space and carrots to lay the foundation for democracy and U.S. investment,” said de la Torre, the CEO of Tower Strategy, which advises companies on Venezuela.

“There’s a shelf life to her utility, however. At some point she will face justice.," he added.

Rodríguez has been on DEA's radar since 2018

The DEA had amassed a detailed intelligence file on Rodríguez dating to at least 2018, and has received allegations about her ranging from drug trafficking to gold smuggling, the AP reported earlier this year. One confidential informant told DEA in early 2021 that Rodríguez was using hotels in the Caribbean resort of Isla Margarita “as a front to launder money,” the records show.

Her name has surfaced in nearly a dozen DEA investigations — several of which remained ongoing as recently as this year — involving field offices from Paraguay and Ecuador to Phoenix and New York. She had even been linked to Maduro’s alleged bag man, Alex Saab, whom U.S. authorities first arrested in 2020 on money-laundering charges, the records show.

Rodríguez deported Saab this month as part of a purge of insider businessmen who are accused of having enriched themselves through corrupt dealings with Maduro.

It's unclear in which Miami investigations Rodríguez's name surfaced. Two of the former officials said Rodríguez has also come up in meetings with investigators in Tampa tasked last year by former Attorney General Pam Bondi with looking into financial crimes in Venezuela.

At the time, Rodríguez was serving as Maduro's vice president. Justice Department policy requires the attorney general to personally approve the charging of any foreign head of state, who are normally immune from prosecution under international and U.S. law.

Halting high-profile criminal probes of foreign leaders

The pausing of the investigations into Rodríguez comes as the Trump administration has similarly tapped the brakes on ongoing federal investigations into another prominent Latin American leftist, Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

The DEA had also designated Petro a “priority target” over alleged ties to drug traffickers that had been probed for months by federal prosecutors. The New York Times reported in March that U.S. officials recently assured the Colombian government Petro does not face charges in those cases.

Duncan Levin, a former prosecutor who worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, said it would be “deeply troubling” for law enforcement to be “told to stand down from a legitimate investigation for political or transactional reasons.”

“The White House cannot use criminal enforcement as a diplomatic light switch,” Levin told AP. “DOJ decisions are supposed to be based on law, evidence, policy and public safety — not on whether a foreign official is useful to the administration at a given moment.”

___ Durkin Richer reported from Washington and Mustian from New York. AP Writer Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed to this report.

___

This story is part of an investigation that includes the FRONTLINE documentary “Crisis in Venezuela,” which aired Feb. 10, 2026, on PBS. Watch the documentary at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel.

Al mismo tiempo, el gobierno del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva anunció un plan de protección ambiental para resguardar el bosque de posibles impactos por la carretera, que vincula los estados norteños de Amazonas y Rondonia con el resto de Brasil.

“Desde el punto de vista ambiental, será la carretera más moderna del mundo”, manifestó Lula durante una ceremonia en el estado de Amazonas, en la que estuvo acompañado por el ministro de Medio Ambiente, João Paulo Capobianco.

“A cualquier extranjero que venga aquí a opinar sobre el tema del clima, le mostraremos lo que hemos hecho aquí”, agregó el mandatario.

La carretera BR-319 fue inaugurada en 1976, pero en gran medida sigue sin pavimentar. Atraviesa la selva amazónica y llega a Manaus, la ciudad más grande de la Amazonía, con más de 2 millones de habitantes. La vía corre junto al río Madeira —uno de los principales afluentes del río Amazonas—, el cual ha sufrido sequías que interrumpen el transporte de carga.

Durante la ceremonia del miércoles en Iranduba, una ciudad de la Amazonía a unos 37 kilómetros (23 millas) de Manaus, el gobierno brasileño también anunció inversiones locales, incluidos proyectos de la estatal Petrobras y su filial Transpetro en Amazonas. Lula estuvo acompañado por políticos locales, que se prevé respalden su campaña de reelección para un cuarto mandato no consecutivo en octubre.

El gobierno anuncia medidas de protección

Funcionarios mostraron un video en el que se detallaban medidas de protección ambiental para la carretera, incluido el monitoreo ambiental de una franja de 50 kilómetros de ancho (31 millas) a cada lado de la vía a lo largo de toda su extensión. Indicaron que la carretera requiere una presencia estatal más fuerte, ya que atraviesa una de las zonas más delicadas de la selva tropical.

El gobierno también se comprometió a instalar puestos de inspección, bases para las agencias policiales y a crear nuevas unidades de conservación. Asimismo, anunció que en 2028 contratará a una empresa privada para apoyar las tareas de control.

Lula visitó el martes un tramo de la carretera, posó con maquinaria y trabajadores, y pareció operar equipos mientras continuaban los trabajos en el camino de tierra.

Grupos ambientalistas, incluido el Observatorio del Clima, han impugnado el proyecto en los tribunales. En 2024, el Observatorio del Clima presentó una demanda en un intento por anular la licencia preliminar de 2022 para pavimentar la carretera BR-319, argumentando que las autoridades ignoraron advertencias técnicas del organismo ambiental de Brasil y no exigieron salvaguardas clave, como la consulta a pueblos indígenas y estudios de impacto climático.

Impugnaciones jurídicas posteriores detuvieron brevemente en abril un proceso de licitación relacionado, pero pronto un tribunal superior revocó la suspensión.

George Santoro, ministro de Transporte, manifestó el miércoles que toda la carretera estará bajo contrato y en obras para finales de junio.

Las carreteras en la Amazonía, vinculadas a la deforestación

La Amazonía, la selva tropical más grande del mundo, desempeña un papel crucial en la regulación del clima global. La carretera atraviesa una de las regiones mejor conservadas del bioma, hogar de decenas de áreas protegidas y territorios indígenas.

Investigaciones científicas han demostrado que abrir nuevas carreteras en la selva impulsa la deforestación, al fomentar la proliferación de caminos laterales ilegales. Un estudio publicado en la revista Biological Conservation en 2014 concluyó que el 95% de la tala ocurre a menos de 5,5 kilómetros (3,4 millas) de las carreteras. Por cada 1 kilómetro (0,6 millas) de carretera oficial, hay aproximadamente 3 kilómetros (1,9 millas) de carreteras no oficiales.

Marina Silva, exministra de Medio Ambiente en el gobierno de Lula, dijo durante una audiencia en el Senado el año pasado que la deforestación en el área de la BR-319 se disparó inmediatamente después de que se anunciaran las obras viales. Renunció en abril para postularse al Congreso.

Marcio Astrini, director ejecutivo del Observatorio del Clima, sostuvo que el gobierno está eludiendo el debido proceso en la implementación de las medidas para resguardar las protecciones ambientales. Un plan para prevenir la deforestación a lo largo de la carretera, indicó, debió haberse debatido, aprobado e implementado antes de que comenzara el asfaltado, y no al mismo tiempo, como ocurre ahora.

“El simple anuncio bajo el gobierno de (el expresidente Jair) Bolsonaro de que la carretera sería reconstruida casi duplicó el acaparamiento de tierras y la deforestación en la zona. Asfaltar allí crea otro incentivo”, señaló Astrini. “Si no hay medidas de protección en vigor, simplemente se convierte en otro factor que impulsa la deforestación”.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

After nearly 10 months in the area, the USS Iwo Jima, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, was set to head back to Virginia next, according to the USNI.

The USS Fort Lauderdale, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, will also be leaving for the Naval Station Norfolk homeport in Virginia, according to the USNI.

The USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was on its way for decommissioning in Virginia.

The USS Gridley, an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer, the USS Lake Erie, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, and the USS Billings, a Freedom-class littoral combat ship, remained in the Caribbean, according to the USNI.

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Yet this past week, there were two major hazardous chemical emergencies on the West Coast. A large tank containing a corrosive chemical at a Longview, Washington, paper mill ruptured on Tuesday, killing two and possibly nine others. And late last week about 50,000 people were evacuated in Southern California after a chemical tank overheated and threatened the area with a catastrophic explosion. Authorities mitigated that risk, and people have been able to return home.

The incidents have raised questions about who is responsible for regulating companies that handle dangerous materials. An Associated Press review has found that officials at the local, state and federal levels all play a part in keeping these facilities safe.

Here's what to know:

Tanks typically have robust safety standards

Chemical engineering professor Stephen Kmiotek said almost every industry uses chemical tanks. They are common because most manufacturers will use chemicals at some point of their process.

Kmiotek said there might be millions of tanks across the country, but they are generally safe as long as companies are following the standards for how they are built, maintained and inspected. The Worcester Polytechnic Institute professor said the failure rate of chemical tanks is about 1 failure per 1 million tanks per year.

“There are a lot of measures in place to keep people safe,” said Kmiotek, who has tracked the Washington incident closely.

But it is important that companies keep up proper maintenance and inspections, particularly after the tanks get older. Inspections should be increased after a tank passes 10 years, he said. That is especially true for tanks that use highly caustic substances, like the white liquor in the Washington tank. Valves on the tank will need to be replaced more often.

Authorities in Washington said they don’t yet know how old the tank was or how recently valves had been replaced.

After the Bhopal, India, disaster at a pesticide plant in 1984 that killed at least 3,800 people, the chemical industry took a number of steps to improve safety, including making sure chemical tanks are built right and inspected, informing workers about the risks and analyzing what could go wrong if the tank fails and who is at risk.

State agencies are responsible for inspections

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was involved in the response to both situations, and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Wednesday it was opening an investigation into the Washington incident. It is an independent federal agency that investigates incidents that could cause “the catastrophic release of extremely hazardous substances.”

But it was state agencies in Washington and California that oversaw the safety at the two companies, along with local fire marshals and hazardous materials teams, said Marissa Baker, an associate professor in the University of Washington, Department of Environmental & Occupational Sciences. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries would have been responsible for conducting inspections, she said.

In Washington state, where there are far more chemical sites than there are inspectors, the state labor agency generally opens investigations based on complaints or incidents, Baker said.

Baker noted that the Washington company, Nippon Dynawave, was the subject of two investigations by the state labor and industries agency, although the issues were not related to the current situation, and it had fires in recent years.

Federal agencies provide some oversight

Federal regulators require facilities that store or use hazardous chemicals to maintain a “safety data sheet” that details the hazards and offers guidance on the emergency response. Businesses must share that information with state, tribal and local officials. Under an EPA right-to-know rule, the companies must allow fire departments to conduct inspections upon request.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has established protocols for industries that use or store highly dangerous chemicals, known as Process Safety Management standards. They involve inspections, training, special work permits, operating procedures and emergency planning and response.

While the GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, California, would fall under this type of regulation due to the materials it used in its manufacturing process, it was not immediately clear whether the Longview paper mill had to follow the Process Safety Management protocols.

The public danger from some chemicals isn't always clear

Stephen Lester, a public health expert and the former science director of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, said he is concerned that there aren’t clear standards for exposure levels. One of the primary standards is for workplace exposure, and there isn’t a proven standard for how much of a chemical it is safe to be exposed to after a spill or explosion.

“Without these health-based guidelines, you’re ending up with some person making the judgment about what’s acceptable and what’s not,” said Lester, who has spent more than 40 years helping communities assess their health risks.

And the workplace standards are based on an average man, so they don’t account for children or the elderly or anyone with a compromised immune system.

“It’s a very tough situation. I don’t envy the scientists and the toxicologists in the position of advising the decision makers because that person’s going to have to make a judgment call in their best opinion based on what information he knows and he’s been able to research and generally accept it about the exposure to these chemicals,” Lester said.

The federal lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., takes aim at a change made earlier this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which bars lenders from discriminating against credit applicants. Among the changes being challenged is that lenders will no longer have to consider “disparate impact” — policies that appear neutral but tend to cause disproportionate harm to certain groups.

Plaintiffs also argue the rule would make it easier for lenders to market loans to predominantly white neighborhoods, forcing minority communities to rely on risky, high-cost lenders that offer predatory loans with exorbitant interest rates.

“This is the deliberate dismantling of 50 years of legal jurisprudence, regulatory guidance, and bipartisan consensus that lending discrimination has no place in America,” Lisa Rice, the CEO and president of the National Fair Housing Alliance, one of the plaintiffs that filed the lawsuit, said in a statement.

“This reversal by the CFPB is a continuation of this Administration’s efforts to gut fair housing and lending protections,” she said. “Eviscerating these guardrails will ultimately result in less credit access for many people, make our markets less sound, and cause our economy to be less productive.”

Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, the CEO of another plaintiff, Rise Economy, a California nonprofit that advocates for economic justice, accused the CFPB of ignoring “public comments, common sense, and decades of precedent in its misguided attempt to turn anti-discrimination law on its head.”

“The CFPB was created to protect consumers and small businesses from financial abuse and discrimination, and this final Reg B rule would do real harm, setting us back in our collective efforts to ensure that all families and small businesses have a fair chance to achieve the American Dream,” Gonzalez-Brito said.

The CFPB did not respond to a request for comment.

Plaintiffs argue that the rule change is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to dismantle regulations related to fair housing and lending protections.

The administration, the National Fair Housing Alliance said, has proposed eliminating the budget for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, which funds nonprofits to ensure access to housing for seniors, disabled veterans, families with children and other groups. It also has cut staffing in half at the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

Several high-profile settlements in recent years indicate housing discrimination remains a significant problem.

In 2023, the Justice Department accused Los Angeles-based City National Bank of discrimination by refusing to underwrite mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities, requiring the bank to pay more than $31 million in the largest redlining settlement in department history. In 2016. the Justice Department and the CFPB fined Mississippi-based BancorpSouth $10.6 million, alleging the bank deliberately discriminated against minorities in its lending practices.

Plaintiffs are asking court to vacate the rule, which they contend is arbitrary and capricious, in excess of statutory authority, and issued outside the procedures required by Congress.

“The Final Rule does not reflect reasoned decision-making or an expert, good-faith effort to implement our nation’s foundational credit antidiscrimination statute,” plaintiffs wrote. “Quite the opposite: The Final Rule is a drastic turn, without justification, from the CFPB’s (and its Federal Reserve Board predecessor’s) longstanding interpretation and enforcement of key ECOA provisions.”

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The disturbance crosses from west to east, so Broward and Miami-Dade counties should expect an increased risk of rainfall.

Totals could exceed 2 to 4 inches, which could lead to some street flooding, especially in those areas with poor drainage.

The rain coverage backs off a bit later Friday, and over the weekend, but with more sun and daytime heat, there’ll be some scattered afternoon and evening storms around, some of which could become severe.

The rainiest month of the year is typically June, with over 10 inches on average for the month, so this forecast certainly looks to be right on schedule.

En una breve orden emitida el martes, el máximo tribunal aceptó la recomendación de un perito judicial para seguir adelante con los acuerdos, propuestos inicialmente el año pasado por Nuevo México, Texas y Colorado.

El acuerdo contempla reducir el bombeo de aguas subterráneas a lo largo del río, cada vez más menguante, y retirarle derechos de agua a tierras agrícolas de irrigación en el sur de Nuevo México. Los estados presentaron la propuesta como una promesa de restablecer el orden en un complejo sistema de almacenamiento y reparto de agua entre dos vastos distritos de riego en el sur de Nuevo México y el oeste de Texas.

“Estamos muy entusiasmados de redirigir recursos de un litigio costoso y prolongado hacia soluciones sobre el terreno”, manifestó el miércoles Hanna Riseley-White, directora de la Comisión Interestatal de Vías Fluviales.

Esas soluciones incluirán desde programas de barbecho a largo plazo y una infraestructura de riego más eficiente hasta el desarrollo de nuevas fuentes de agua, tales como aprovechar suministros salobres o importar agua, además de mejorar la gestión de aguas pluviales para que se pueda captar y almacenar más escorrentía.

Investigadores han advertido que el uso insostenible del río Grande —el nombre que se le da en Estados Unidos, el cual nace en Colorado y se extiende hacia el sur hasta México— amenaza la seguridad hídrica de millones de personas que dependen de la cuenca binacional del río.

Los agricultores del sur de Nuevo México han recurrido cada vez más a las aguas subterráneas para regar huertos de nuez pecana y cultivos de chile, a medida que condiciones más cálidas y secas han reducido los caudales del río y el almacenamiento en las últimas décadas. Ese bombeo fue lo que llevó a Texas a presentar una demanda en 2013, en la cual sostenía que la práctica estaba afectando las entregas de agua.

Aunque el río Colorado acapara todos los titulares, expertos señalan que la situación a lo largo del río Bravo es igual de grave. Se prevé que tramos del río, tan al norte como Albuquerque, vuelvan a secarse este año, la tercera vez en cinco años.

El paquete de acuerdos establece un sistema detallado de contabilidad para compartir agua con Texas. Nuevo México podría apoyarse en créditos y débitos de un año a otro para sortear periodos de sequía y de abundancia, aunque podría ser responsable de obligaciones adicionales de reparto de agua si las entregas se aplazan durante demasiado tiempo.

Según el acuerdo, Nuevo México debe reducir las disminuciones anuales de extracción de aguas subterráneas en 18.200 acres-pie, o aproximadamente 5,9 mil millones de galones (22,3 mil millones de litros) en los próximos 10 años. El compromiso incluye completar la mitad de esa reducción en los próximos cinco años.

Riseley-White indicó que eso representa aproximadamente entre el 5% y el 7% del uso actual de aguas subterráneas en el bajo río Bravo. El acuerdo no dicta de qué sector deben provenir los ahorros de agua, por lo que, añadió, la industria y los municipios también podrían asociarse con el estado para cumplir los mandatos.

Aun así, las autoridades prevén lograr la mayor parte de las reducciones necesarias mediante la compra de derechos de agua al sector agrícola, lo que significa que se le retiraría a más tierras de cultivo la facultad de obtener agua del río.

Riseley-White señaló que esta semana se realizan sesiones de escucha, y se prevé que las primeras adquisiciones comiencen más adelante este año. Nuevo México ha asegurado más de 40 millones de dólares en financiamiento federal para respaldar la iniciativa, agregó.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

Thursday will feature a mix of sun and clouds with southeast to south winds, sustained 5 to 10 mph. Thunderstorms are expected to develop during the afternoon. Localized flooding will be the primary concern. Temperatures will make a run for the upper 80s.

Stanton has been sidelined since April 24, after he experienced some stiffness while running the bases in a game against Houston.

“I think he wants it fully clear, and I think we got enough news today that allows us to take that step to hopefully the running goes in line with how he's feeling, and we can start to ramp up,” Boone said before the Yankees' series finale against the Royals.

Stanton's was off to a good start through the first 24 games of the season, hitting .256 with three homers and 14 RBIs. The availability of the five-time All-Star's right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup is especially valuable on nights in which Boone has a lineup that is loaded with left-handers, such as Ben Rice, Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Austin Wells.

“Having him in the middle, his presnce is massive,” Boone said. “So you know, hopefully not too much longer.”

Jasson Dominguez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when Stanton got hurt, only for the young outfielder to join him on the injured list when he strained the AC joint in his left shoulder May 7 while colliding with the outfield wall at Yankee Stadium.

He received an injection in his shoulder on May 11 and has been hitting off a tee for about a week.

The plan for Dominquez is to begin ramping up baseball activities this week, while the Yankees are completing their series in Kansas City and heading to Sacramento for three games against the Athletics to conclude their six-game, seven-day road trip.

“Hopefully when we get back next week,” Boone said, “there may be some live (batting practice) situations for him.”

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“I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill Biden told CBS News in an interview scheduled to air Sunday.

Joe Biden's shaky, mumbling and sometimes confused delivery against Donald Trump in June 2024 gave fuel to questions voters already had about his fitness for a second term. His attempts to explain away his performance and offer reassurance that he could handle four more years of the demanding job did little to assuage voters. Under mounting pressure from within his party, he stepped aside, and Democrats nominated Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I don’t know what happened,” Jill Biden said in the interview. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”

The former first lady is promoting a book due out next week, “View from the East Wing: A Memoir.”

Timothy Hudson was initially arrested and charged as a juvenile, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres ruled in February that the 16-year-old could live with an uncle and be electronically monitored. But after the case was transferred to adult court, prosecutors wanted Hudson in custody.

Minors are rarely prosecuted in federal court, and this case landed there because Kepner apparently died in international waters, outside any state’s jurisdiction.

The judge ended Wednesday morning’s hearing without making a final decision, saying he wanted to speak with the U.S. Marshals Service about the logistics of detaining Hudson in central Florida, closer to his family, rather than South Florida, where the trial is taking place.

It’s unknown when Torres will announce his decision. In the meantime, Hudson walked out of the courthouse after the hearing, rather than being immediately taken into custody.

Hudson has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. His federal public defenders have declined to comment on the charges.

Hudson’s stepsister, Anna Kepner, had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her family, including Hudson. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with Hudson and another teen, a criminal complaint said.

The cause of Kepner’s Nov. 6 death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Lopez argued Wednesday that the crimes Hudson is accused of are so serious that the court shouldn’t risk another violent attack. An autopsy determined that Kepner had been pinned down and forcibly raped, the prosecutors said. She also noted that it likely took 3-5 minutes for Hudson to strangle Kepner until she was dead.

“I believe there is clear and convincing evidence that this defendant is a danger to the community,” Lopez said.

The prosecutor also argued that Hudson was a much greater flight risk because he now faces a possible life sentence if convicted of the adult charges. As a juvenile, he would have been released at age 21, regardless of what counts he was found delinquent on.

Evan Kuhl, with the Federal Public Defender’s office, told the judge that Hudson has abided by the conditions of his release for months without issue.

The judge acknowledged that an adult facing these charges would almost certainly be detained until trial, but he still needed to consider the reality of Hudson’s age, despite the adult charges. While the judge said he agreed with the defense that Hudson was a low flight risk, he still hadn’t decided whether the teen posed a threat to the community if certain pre-trial restrictions remained in place.

Kepner’s father, Christopher Kepner, previously released a statement, saying the family was placing “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity.”

“The situation is deeply painful and complex for the entire family,” Kepner said.

Anna Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.”

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Cyr, of Pompano Beach, was a passenger in the Land Rover Discovery that crashed shortly before 1:40 p.m. on Tuesday at Northeast Third Avenue and 44 Street, according to BSO.

Jean Claude Saint Cyr was driving the Land Rover Discovery northbound on Third Avenue when he rear- ended a red 2023 Nissan Rogue that had stopped at 44th Street, according to BSO.

The Land Rover ricocheted off the Rogue into the southbound lanes, struck a white 2015 Nissan NV2000, and continued tumbling and rolling until it came to a final rest near the sidewalk, according to BSO.

The entire front axle was ripped off. The engine from the Land Rover was ejected. The Nissan Rogue rolled before coming to a final rest against the front porch of a home.

The driver of the Nissan Rogue was ejected as it rolled and was near the front porch, partially under the vehicle.

Fire rescue personnel transported the three drivers injured to Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach.

Neighbors said bad drivers are usually speeding there and don’t obey the four-point stop.

The crash damaged a house’s wooden fence near a pool where four girls were playing. Their grandfather said the girls weren’t injured.

Surveillance video shows fire rescue personnel at work for hours after the crash.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation on Wednesday afternoon, and authorities had yet to identify the person who died.

Afternoon report

Related story: Woman killed, 3 others hurt in Deerfield Beach crash

El abogado defensor Howard Srebnick argumentó el miércoles que el caso debería ser desestimado o, alternativamente, transferido, mientras una jueza comenzó a considerar múltiples mociones en el caso de alto perfil.

La jueza Marissa Tinkler Mendez está considerando la solicitud de Pino para trasladar el caso fuera del condado, desestimar los cargos por completo y otras mociones adicionales.

Tinkler Mendez indicó que los procedimientos podrían tomar un par de días y que podría no emitir todas las decisiones desde el estrado, señalando que algunas resoluciones podrían reservarse para una fecha posterior.

La sala 41 estaba llena durante la audiencia del miércoles, que atrajo tanto a familiares de las víctimas como a simpatizantes de Pino.

El caso se deriva de un accidente marítimo ocurrido durante el fin de semana del Día del Trabajo en 2022, cuando Pino operaba una embarcación que transportaba a su esposa, su hija adolescente y varias amigas de ella. Los investigadores dijeron que la embarcación impactó una marca de canal en aguas cercanas a Boca Chita Key, lanzando a los pasajeros al agua.

Lucy Fernandez, de 17 años, murió y su amiga Kathy Puig sufrió lesiones graves y permanentes. Los investigadores también reportaron haber encontrado decenas de envases vacíos de alcohol a bordo y dijeron que Pino fue visto en video afirmando que había tomado dos cervezas ese día.

La defensa ha sostenido que no existe evidencia de que Pino estuviera intoxicado al momento del accidente.

Los abogados también argumentan que no iba a exceso de velocidad y que cumplía con las reglas de navegación, sosteniendo que el incidente fue resultado de un breve momento de distracción.

“No hay nada que indique otra cosa más que, en el mejor de los casos para el estado, George Pino tuvo un momento de distracción. Algo desvió su atención. Fue una falta de atención por un instante, pero no fue una decisión consciente, deliberada e intencional de poner a personas en riesgo”, dijo Srebnick. “Y eso es con lo que creo que la corte tiene que lidiar”.

Pino enfrenta cargos de homicidio marítimo y homicidio involuntario.

Tinkler Mendez también está considerando mociones para excluir declaraciones que Pino hizo después del accidente, con la defensa argumentando que sufrió una lesión en la cabeza y que su versión no debería ser utilizada en el juicio.

Los abogados también buscan trasladar el caso fuera del condado Miami-Dade, citando preocupaciones sobre la publicidad previa al juicio y posible parcialidad del jurado.

Mientras tanto, el estado busca interrogar a posibles jurados sobre su exposición al caso y está considerando permitir que los jurados visiten la embarcación como parte del proceso.

La selección del jurado podría comenzar tan pronto como la próxima semana.

Una persona murió y dos resultaron heridas el martes en Northeast Third Avenue y 44 Street.

Los vecinos dijeron que los malos conductores suelen ir a exceso de velocidad en el área y no respetan la parada de cuatro vías.

Una Nissan Rogue roja quedó destruida. Una Land Rover blanca terminó volcada boca abajo. Una camioneta Nissan resultó dañada y su motor terminó al lado de la carretera.

El accidente dañó la cerca de madera de una casa cerca de una piscina donde cuatro niñas estaban jugando. Su abuelo dijo que las menores no resultaron heridas.

Un video de vigilancia muestra a personal de rescate trabajando durante horas después del accidente.

La causa del accidente seguía bajo investigación la tarde del miércoles y las autoridades aún no habían identificado a la persona que murió.

Historia relacionada: Mujer muere y otras tres personas resultan heridas en accidente en Deerfield Beach

Un vehículo policial sin identificar realizó una maniobra PIT, conocida como Técnica de Inmovilización de Precisión, y detuvo una Cadillac XT5 negra.

El conductor salió del Cadillac en el área de Northwest 18 Avenue y 152 Street y corrió a través de Rail Road Drive, cerca de Opa-locka.

Cuando el conductor se acercó a las vías del tren cerca de Ali Baba Avenue, agentes del orden lo rodearon, le colocaron esposas y lo escoltaron.

El conductor permaneció junto a una patrulla marcada de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade antes de que agentes de la Patrulla de Carreteras de Florida asumieran su custodia.

Esta es una noticia en desarrollo.

Ubicación

Última hora: Reportando en vivo

Última hora: Reporte de seguimiento

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In South Florida, Hard Rock Stadium will be known as “Miami Stadium” during the tournament’s seven games.

New signage was visible around the stadium Wednesday, with names such as Hard Rock and other branding removed. For the next month-plus, those areas will feature World Cup logos and FIFA tournament branding instead.

The opening game at Miami Stadium is scheduled for June 15, with the seventh and final match set for July 18.

The removal of stadium naming rights and sponsor logos is meant to protect the brands and sponsors that pay tens of millions of dollars for deals with FIFA.

En el sur de Florida, el Hard Rock Stadium será conocido como “Miami Stadium” durante los siete partidos del torneo.

Nuevos letreros eran visibles alrededor del estadio el miércoles, con nombres como Hard Rock y otras marcas eliminadas. Durante el próximo mes y más, esas áreas mostrarán en su lugar logotipos del Mundial y la imagen del torneo de la FIFA.

El partido inaugural en Miami Stadium está programado para el 15 de junio, mientras que el séptimo y último encuentro está previsto para el 18 de julio.

La eliminación de los derechos de nombre del estadio y los logotipos de patrocinadores tiene como objetivo proteger las marcas y patrocinadores que pagan decenas de millones de dólares por acuerdos con la FIFA.

Sánchez extended his scoreless innings streak to 44 2/3 innings on Wednesday to set the Phillies franchise record by passing Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander in a 3-0 win Wednesday against the San Diego Padres for a three-game sweep.

Sánchez reached the milestone by getting through the four full innings he needed to pass Alexander, who had a 41-inning scoreless streak in 1911. He kept going through three more scoreless innings before leaving after throwing 100 pitches. He allowed six hits, struck out nine and walked none.

He left his brilliant outing with a 2-0 lead, pumping his fists after striking out pinch-hitter Ty France to end the seventh.

“I just went out to compete and give the best of myself," he said through an interpreter.

He didn't think he had his best stuff, but he dominated a Padres lineup that went 0 for 20 with runners in scoring position and stranded 19 in the series, while striking out 32 times.

Interim manager Don Mattingly said the team acknowledged the record afterward, and Sánchez addressed the team.

“I just told them it was something special for me," Sánchez said. "First I thanked God and then I thanked all my teammates and everyone around me for their support. It’s really special to have their support, in the good times and through the rough times as well. That’s something I admire with this group.

“This is a game that it’s not only about me or about what I do on the mound, it’s about our group and I think it’s really something special and beautiful to feel the support of the team as a whole,” he added.

With Sánchez an inning away from the record, there was a heart-stopping moment as Manny Machado lifted a fly ball to left that Edmundo Sosa caught just in front of the wall leading off the fourth. Sánchez struck out Xander Bogaerts, Ramon Laureano doubled to left and then the lefty got Jackson Merrill to ground out to second base to set the record.

Machado had homered in Tuesday night's 4-3 Phillies win.

The Padres stranded runners in scoring position in the first and second innings, and Gavin Sheets lifted a fly ball just in front of the warning track in right to end the third.

“There were a couple of hits that I thought were gone off the bat, but thank God they didn’t," he said.

Center fielder Justin Crawford made a nice running catch of Machado's fly ball with one out in the sixth to save an extra-base hit before crashing into the padded wall.

Sánchez's streak dates to the second inning of the first game of a doubleheader against San Francisco on April 30.

He set another franchise record by going at least seven scoreless innings for the fifth straight start, becoming the sixth to so in MLB history.

He also now has the longest single-season scoreless innings streak by a left-hander in the Expansion Era after passing former Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw, who had a 41-inning scoreless streak in 2014.

“You just don't expect him to give up any runs,” said Mattingly, who managed Kershaw with the Dodgers in 2014. "I thought he was a little rough early. I don't know if this thing's on his mind at all, you know, he knew he had to get through four. He seemed to settle down a little more after that.

“He's been amazing from the standpoint of, it just seems like every time out, no matter what team or who it is, he just kind of keeps going.”

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A day before Major League Baseball is expected to make a salary cap proposal, the union outlined its initial economic proposals during a bargaining session at the players' association office in Manhattan. It included what it called a “competitive integrity tax” that would penalize teams dropping below a payroll floor and called for the luxury tax threshold to rise to $300 million next year.

Baseball’s labor contract expires Dec. 1 and MLB is expected to institute a lockout, management’s equivalent of a strike under federal labor law. Players have vowed they never will accept a salary cap.

“Attendance, viewership, interest — by any measure you want to use, our game is moving in a positive direction,” Baltimore pitcher Chris Bassitt, a member of the union's eight-man executive subcommittee, said in a statement. “We’ve put forward proposals designed to continue that trend. Support, incentivize, and reward clubs who are committed to competing, especially small-market clubs. Compensate players fairly for the work they are doing.”

MLB clearly is not in favor of what the union presented and maintains the players' plan would decrease revenue sharing.

“We understand their proposals are designed to benefit players. Unfortunately, they do not address and in fact exacerbate the competitive balance problem our fans are telling us we must address,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. "The MLBPA’s proposal would reduce the amount transferred to lower-revenue clubs, weaken the competitive balance tax and lead to even more payroll disparity than exists today. For example, under the union’s proposal, the Dodgers would pay less in luxury tax payments, giving them an additional $70 million to spend on payroll.”

Marcus Semien and Sean Manaea of the Mets and Eugenio Suárez of Cincinnati attended the session while other players participated online.

“The players’ proposals provide increased revenue sharing initially guaranteeing every small-market club a minimum of $240 million in revenue every season,” interim union head Bruce Meyer, who replaced Tony Clark in February, said in a statement. “This enhanced revenue sharing includes added protections to ensure clubs prioritize winning over profiteering.”

According to details obtained by The Associated Press:

— The luxury tax threshold, which starts at $244 million this season, would rise to $300 million in 2027 and then increase by $15 million annually. Penalties such as moving back a team’s pick in the amateur draft would be eliminated. Surcharge levels, currently as much as 110%, would drop to 10% above the preceding level.

— Free agent eligibility, which has been six seasons of major league service since the 1976 agreement would drop to five for players who have reached age 30 by Nov. 1. A team could retain the player by making a qualifying offer. If a player in that group refuses the qualifying offer, he would become arbitration eligible.

— The minimum salary would rise from $780,000 this year to $1.5 million next season, $1.65 million in 2028, $1,825,000 in 2029, $2 million in 2030 and $2.2 million in 2031.

— Salary arbitration eligibility would expand and teams would have to offer at least $3 million to eligible players. The threshold increased from two years to three years in 1986 and the so-called super 2 class with those of two to three years began in 1991 at 17% and it increased to 22% in 2013. The union proposed it be expanded to 44%. In addition, salaries in cases decided by arbitration panels would be guaranteed and the union asked that some salaries used for comparisons be given 120% of their value.

— The pre-arbitration bonus pool, established at $50 million in the 2022-26 deal, would increase to $180 million next year and then rise by $15 million annually. Players coming up to the major leagues for the first time who sign multiyear deals either before opening day or during the first 21 days of the season would become ineligible.

— The qualifying offer for players with six years of service would be eliminated. It has diminished the markets of some free agents since it began after the 2012 season because of penalties on signing teams.

— The amateur draft lottery would expand from six teams to eight.

— Rules instituted in 2022 designed to decrease service time manipulation would be expanded, such as ensuring a full year of service to eligible prospects who finish among the top five in MVP voting.

— Lower-revenue teams who lose players as free agents would get increased benefits and low-revenue teams would get more draft selections.

— A competitive integrity tax would be imposed on teams who do not reach 50% of the lowest tax threshold and teams further below would face surcharges. Teams would be penalized for not spending revenue-sharing money they receive on payrolls.

— Each small-market team would be guaranteed at least $240 million in revenue annually and teams would keep more ballpark-related revenue.

— Low-revenue teams with winning records or reaching the playoffs would get more revenue sharing money and local media revenue would be shared among teams more extensively.

A five-year deal was reached on March 10, 2022, the 99th day of a lockout, preserving a 162-game regular-season schedule. That was the sport’s ninth work stoppage and first since a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 caused cancellation of the World Series for the first time since 1904.

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

The attorneys general in New York and New Jersey, which is hosting eight World Cup matches including the final, announced Tuesday that they are investigating whether FIFA's ticketing practices violated consumer protection laws.

They have sent subpoenas to soccer’s global governing body demanding information on a range of ticketing issues, including FIFA's use of “variable pricing” models that sent ticket prices soaring for most matches and redrawn stadium maps that fans say relocated their seats far from the pitch.

The attorneys general, working with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, said they are focused primarily on ticketing practices for matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets," New York Attorney General Letitia James said. “No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchase will be the ones they receive."

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport accused FIFA of turning the act of buying a World Cup ticket “into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices.” It's an honor for New Jersey to host the World Cup, she said, "but the event is not an invitation to exploit our residents and visitors."

FIFA declined to comment.

The World Cup kicks off June 11 with matches in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico. The first match at the roughly 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium — temporarily renamed New York New Jersey Stadium for the event — pits Brazil and Morocco on June 13.

Some seats for the July 19 final are going for nearly $33,000.

Last week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that 1,000 tickets — about 150 tickets for each MetLife Stadium game, excluding the final — will be made available to city residents via a lottery system at a cost of $50 each.

FIFA previously made some $60 tickets available for every match, distributing them through the national federations of the teams playing in the games.

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The streamer, whose real name is Nurideen Shabazz, was taken into custody around 4 a.m. after officers responded to a call involving a woman who said she had been kicked off a yacht near the 200 block of North Shore Drive.

According to police, officers arrived shortly before 2 a.m. and met with the woman, who told officers she had been kicked off the yacht by Shabazz, 25, after other men attempted to speak with her.

Police said the woman told them Shabazz warned her against “entertaining anyone else but him.”

The report states that after the woman exited the yacht, Shabazz attempted to take her phone to prevent her from recording their interaction.

Officers said he grabbed her by the forearm but was unsuccessful in taking the device. Police noted that the encounter left a minor scratch on the victim’s left forearm.

The woman then called police.

According to the report, investigators later reviewed surveillance footage provided by the property owner, who told officers he had allowed Shabazz to borrow the yacht.

Police said the video showed Shabazz yelling for someone to grab the victim’s phone and make sure she wasn’t recording him. Officers wrote that the footage appeared to show Shabazz repeatedly attempting to take the phone, leading to a struggle as the victim tried to pull away.

According to the report, the footage showed the victim “cradling her body to the floor” to prevent Shabazz from taking her phone.

Police said she eventually got away from Shabazz at about 1:55 a.m. and then called 911.

Officers later learned the yacht was returning to the dock. When it arrived, police detained Shabazz for questioning.

According to the report, after being read his Miranda rights, Shabazz, of Temple Terrace, Florida, told officers he believed the victim had his phone. Police said his statement contradicted what officers observed in the video footage.

Shabazz was ultimately arrested on a charge of attempted strongarm robbery and was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he was being held at TGK on a $2,500 bond.

An attorney representing Shabazz sent Local 10 News the following statement:

“Mr. Shabazz denies the allegations reported today and intends to vigorously defend himself through the legal process. At this stage, the facts remain incomplete, and many of the claims circulating online are based on preliminary allegations rather than verified evidence presented in court.  This case will be determined in a court of law, not by social media.”

Richard L. Cooper, Esq.

Eso es según fuentes de Local 10 News y un número creciente de detenidos dentro del centro que están llamando a WPLG y aseguran que están viendo cómo las operaciones comienzan a cerrarse.

Mientras muchos de los inmigrantes están siendo procesados para deportación o transferidos a otros centros en todo el país, Local 10 está conociendo que un número cada vez mayor de ellos está siendo liberado o saliendo bajo fianza para reunirse con sus familias.

Sammy Aliferis se desempeñó como juez de inmigración y abogado del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas, pero ahora trabaja como abogado representando a detenidos dentro de “Alligator Alcatraz”.

Aliferis dijo que los detenidos están siendo liberados bajo una orden legal conocida como habeas corpus.

Todo esto ocurre después de que recientemente un juez de inmigración declarara que “si la deportación no es razonablemente previsible, la corte debe considerar irrazonable la detención continua y ya no autorizada por la ley”.

Aliferis dice que a los detenidos también se les está concediendo fianza tras una decisión reciente del Tribunal del 11.º Circuito de Florida.

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Speaking in Tampa, DeSantis said he will issue a proclamation for a special session beginning Monday. The goal, he said, is to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

The governor’s proposal would initially raise the homestead exemption to $250,000. DeSantis said that would eliminate property taxes for about 60% of Florida homeowners with homesteaded property.

The proposal would also require the Legislature to create a schedule to eventually eliminate homestead property taxes altogether. DeSantis said increasing the exemption to $500,000 would make about 92% of homesteaded Florida homeowners property tax-free.

“The primary purpose of that is to make your homestead property tax free,” DeSantis said.

The plan would need approval from 60% of the House and Senate to reach the ballot. If lawmakers approve it, 60% of voters would then need to support the measure in November for it to become part of the state constitution.

The proposal also includes several guardrails. DeSantis said remaining local property tax revenue from commercial and non-homestead residential property would be limited to core services such as schools, police and fire services. The plan would also cut the annual assessment growth cap for small businesses from 10% to 5%.

Another provision would allow the state to require new Florida residents to wait up to five years before qualifying for the full property tax benefit. DeSantis said that is intended to prevent the measure from creating a new incentive for people to move to Florida just to avoid property taxes.

The governor also said he would also seek a state trust fund to provide grants to local governments for core services, including in rural areas that may have a smaller tax base.

It’s unclear if enough members in the House and Senate will support the measure. The upper chamber has been leery of cutting too broadly, potentially harming revenue in rural parts of the state. The House approved its own homestead exemption earlier this year. While it preserved funding for schools, it eliminated the taxes immediately rather than through a gradual phase out.

Democrats have already raised concerns about the idea. House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said Tuesday she had not seen consensus around a specific proposal, but warned that even modest property tax cuts could have serious effects on local governments.

“In conversations with the local governments that I serve, I’m hearing that any cut, even though it might seem small in the grand scheme of things, could be devastating,” Driskell said.

She also argued that the state should be focused on property insurance instead, saying that is what residents raise most often at town halls.

“What they want to talk about is property insurance rates and how high they are,” Driskell said.

Driskell said property taxes help pay for law enforcement, first responders, libraries and other local services. She warned that reducing those revenues could shift costs elsewhere or leave some counties dependent on state support.

DeSantis rejected the idea that the state should raise other taxes to offset the proposal, saying Florida already has a strong budget position and should use available state resources to help make property tax relief work.

The special session is expected to begin Monday. Lawmakers would have to move quickly to finalize ballot language in time for voters to consider the measure in November.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday that New York Knicks owner James Dolan has invited him to the NBA Finals, when the Eastern Conference champion Knicks host either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs next month at Madison Square Garden.

New York, which is riding an 11-game postseason winning streak after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals, is scheduled to host Game 3 on June 8 and Game 4 on June 10.

Trump, a New York native, said he initially planned to attend Game 5 of the conference finals at MSG before the Knicks finished off the Cavaliers in four games. The president called Dolan a “great guy” and marveled at New York's run.

“Boy, what a team,” Trump said. “They have some really great players.”

Trump called the club's return to the finals for the first time since 1999 “great to see.”

“The Knicks have really suffered for years," Trump said to laughter. “They're doing (well) right now.”

Trump has routinely dropped in on prominent sporting events during his time in politics. He's taken in the College Football Playoff championship and caught a prime-time NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets just days before the 2024 election.

The Knicks have a history of having high-profile celebrities sit courtside at MSG, including filmmaker Spike Lee, who has clashed with Trump in the past.

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Tras el arribo de Paz se resolvieron las largas colas en las gasolineras después de que el gobernante aseguró las importaciones de combustible, mientras el país andino salía del aislamiento diplomático restableciendo lazos con Estados Unidos y otros países de la región.

Pero la desilución se apoderó de muchos bolivianos prontamente. Manifestantes campesinos e indígenas han bloqueado las principales ciudades, provocando escasez de alimentos, combustible y suministros médicos, mientras crecen los llamados al presidente para declare un estado de excepción a fin de contener la crisis.

Paz advirtió el miércoles que ante los llamados de diálogo sin respuesta podría acudir a lo que dicta la Constitución, incluido el régimen de excepción.

“Si no quieren dialogar… entonces viene la ley”, dijo refiriéndose a los manifestantes. “Si tenemos muertos a causa de los bloqueos, alguien tiene que responder”, agregó.

Esto es lo que hay que saber sobre las protestas que sacuden al país andino:

¿A qué se deben las protestas y cuáles son las exigencias al gobierno de Paz?

Antiguos simpatizantes del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) —el partido que dominó Bolivia durante mucho tiempo y que ayudó a Paz a llegar al poder frente a rivales más conservadores— han expresado cada vez más su preocupación por la falta de representación de su gobierno.

Poco después de asumir, Paz llegó a acuerdos con partidos más conservadores en el Congreso. Excluyó al vicepresidente populista, considerado por muchos como responsable de su éxito electoral.

Eliminó los subsidios a los combustibles, lo que provocó un aumento de precios de casi el 90%. Los transportistas se quejaron de que la gasolina estaba contaminada y dañaba sus autos.

Para mitigar el impacto, Paz ofreció transferencias de efectivo a familias vulnerables. Aumentó el salario mínimo un 20%. Derogó una controvertida ley de tierras, pero rechazó las demandas de nuevos aumentos salariales, enfureciendo al sindicato nacional.

Los bloqueos de carreteras ya han derrocado gobiernos en el pasado

Debido a una peculiaridad geográfica, las barreras levantadas en las laderas que conducen a La Paz, la capital administrativa de Bolivia, pueden aislar por completo a más de 1,6 millones de habitantes de la ciudad y sus alrededores (más del 13% de la población del país).

Los movimientos indígenas han empleado durante mucho tiempo la estrategia del asedio.

En 2003 y 2005, manifestantes que bloquearon La Paz en protesta por los intereses extranjeros sobre las reservas de gas natural del país derrocaron a dos gobiernos y allanaron el camino para el ascenso del expresidente Evo Morales, fundador del MAS.

Ahora, los bloqueos de carreteras asfixian a La Paz. Miles de camiones cargados con alimentos y otros artículos de primera necesidad, como suministros de oxígeno para hospitales, permanecen varados en las carreteras.

Aumenta la presión sobre Paz para que tome medidas enérgicas

Las fuerzas de seguridad han utilizado gases lacrimógenos para dispersar a los manifestantes y han arrestado a más de 120 personas, muchos de los cuales fueron liberados después.

Paz se ha resistido hasta ahora a los llamados a desplegar mayor fuerza para romper los bloqueos e insiste en el diálogo, con esfuerzos impulsados por las fuerzas políticas en el Congreso, la Iglesia Católica y otros, sin frutos concretos hasta ahora.

Paz ha ofrecido bonos a los maestros y llegó a acuerdos con algunos mineros que protestan. Redujo su propio salario a la mitad, destituyó a su impopular ministro de Trabajo y nombró a un abogado perteneciente a la mayoría indígena del país para el cargo, pero las protestas no cesan.

El papel de Evo Morales

Morales (2006-2019) ha propuesto convocar a nuevas elecciones, mientras el gobierno lo acusa de alentar las protestas.

Los analistas creen, empero, que el político que enfrenta cargos con la justicia ya no tiene poder de convocatoria y que busca utilizar el conflicto para levantar cabeza.

Morales está desde octubre de 2024 atrincherado en su feudo cocalero en el Chapare, al centro de Bolivia, donde ha evitado declarar sobre un caso de presunto abuso a una menor. Recientemente, no asistió al inicio del juicio y sumó una segunda declaratoria de rebeldía y una nueva orden de detención. Paz le exigió que “dé la cara” y que se presente ante la justicia.

Apoyo de EEUU y países vecinos

Los gobiernos aliados del gobierno de Donald Trump que recientemente llegaron al poder en América Latina —desde Argentina y Chile hasta Honduras y Costa Rica— han prometido su apoyo a Paz y han denunciado las protestas como desestabilizadoras.

El presidente de Colombia, Gustavo Petro —uno de los pocos líderes de izquierda que aún se mantienen en el poder en la región— respondió en defensa de las protestas, a las que calificó de “lucha por la dignidad latinoamericana”. Bolivia expulsó al embajador colombiano.

Estados Unidos ha calificando los disturbios como un intento de golpe de Estado.

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DEBRE reportó desde Buenos Aires.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that the hourlong spaceflight resulted in a mishap based on the performance of the mega rocket's first-stage booster.

Minutes after Starship blasted off from Texas on Friday, the booster separated as normal but engines conked out as it made its way back to Earth. Instead of a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the booster came in hard. There were no reports of injury or property damage, according to the FAA, which will oversee the company's investigation.

The spacecraft continued around the world, releasing 20 mock satellites before ending the mission as planned with a fiery splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s biggest and most powerful Starship yet, designed to carry crews to Mars. NASA is looking for it to land astronauts on the moon as soon as 2028 and help build a lunar base.

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

Lemon pleaded not guilty in February to federal civil rights charges, following a protest at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. He is one of 39 people charged in the January incident.

Lemon insists he was at the Cities Church in St. Paul to chronicle the Jan. 18 protest but was not a participant.

Lemon and another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, filed a motion in February seeking transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that resulted in the indictments against them and seven others.

In the latest filing in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Lemon's attorneys argue that “the past 15 months have seen an unprecedented and growing distrust in the Justice Department’s use of the grand jury process.” For that reason, the transcripts from Lemon's grand jury should be released, his attorneys said.

“In the past two weeks alone, several courts have chastised Justice Department prosecutors for irregularities in the grand jury process and gone so far as to dismiss indictments for grand jury misconduct,” Lemon's attorneys said in the Wednesday filing.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lemon cites the May 21 dismissal of all pending charges against four remaining activists who protested outside a federal building during last year’s immigration crackdown in Chicago. The dismissal came after a judge scrutinized allegations of grand jury misconduct by the prosecutor’s office.

Lemon also cites the May 15 dismissal of nine felony grand jury indictments by three federal judges in Wyoming. The judges cited misconduct by the interim U.S. attorney that could have prejudiced the jurors, including comments he made to the grand jurors.

Lemon cites a third case out of Rhode Island where a federal judge on May 13 blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping demands for confidential transgender patient information from the state's largest hospital that provides gender-affirming care to minors.

In that case, the judge rebuked actions by prosecutors, saying the Justice Department can no longer be trusted to enforce its power fairly and honestly.

Finally, Lemon’s attorneys referenced the denial of search warrants sought by the Justice Department related to Lemon’s YouTube channel and YouTube account and cellphone information related to four other defendants. The magistrate judge held that the government did not establish probable cause to believe that evidence of a crime would be found in what the Justice Department wanted to search.

The search warrants were rejected in February, but the court record was unsealed on Tuesday.

Several judges — including the chief federal judge for Minnesota — found no probable cause to support the complaints that prosecutors first tried to file against the two journalists, so they refused to sign arrest warrants for Lemon or Fort before the government turned to the grand jury.

Lemon's attorneys argue they should be allowed to see the grand jury records because of the “checkered history of this case” and “numerous examples of grand jury misconduct by DOJ around the country.”

Lemon is “entitled to see whether the government allowed the grand jury to serve its role or whether, as elsewhere, the government interfered with the proper function of the grand jury,” his attorneys argued.

Debido a que el cambio climático provocado por la quema de combustibles fósiles debería generar más aire inestable de alta energía, lo que favorece la formación de granizo, las tormentas globales que azotan techos, autos y el suelo con granizo de un tamaño mayor que el de una canica grande aumentarán entre un 38% y un 47% para finales de siglo, dependiendo de cuánto gas que atrapa el calor emita el mundo, se afirma en un estudio publicado el miércoles en la revista Nature. Y las tormentas que producen granizo más pequeño disminuirán entre un 4% y un 8%, según los investigadores.

Por lo general, el granizo no es mortal para las personas, pero es costoso. Ya le cuesta a Estados Unidos unos 10.000 millones de dólares al año y alrededor de 80.000 millones a escala mundial, señaló el coautor del estudio John Allen, profesor de meteorología en la Universidad Central de Michigan.

El granizo causa más daños que los tornados y, por lo general, ahora cuesta “más que un par de huracanes al año”, declaró Allen por la mañana desde Guymon, Oklahoma, antes de salir con científicos que se adentran en el corazón de las tormentas de granizo para entender qué es lo que hace que las piedras sean tan grandes. “Hemos visto piedras de granizo récord en los últimos años. Esto me parece extremadamente preocupante porque en realidad no estamos construyendo nuestro entorno para que sea resiliente al granizo. No incluimos esto en nuestras normas de diseño, por ejemplo, para viviendas construidas en Estados Unidos o, de hecho, a nivel internacional”.

Las simulaciones por computadora de Allen muestran que, con el cambio climático, aumentará la proporción de piedras más grandes. Esas son las que causan más daños, señalaron él y científicos externos.

Piedras más grandes implican problemas más grandes

Las piedras más grandes pesan más y caen más rápido a través del aire, por lo que impactan con mayor fuerza.

Aunque el granizo pequeño puede dañar los cultivos, el granizo grande de alrededor de 2 pulgadas (5 centímetros) “puede causar daños importantes a vehículos, techos, paneles solares y demás infraestructura”, explicó Andreas Prein, climatólogo de ETH Zurich, quien no participó en el estudio.

Un agujero en un techo causado por una sola piedra de granizo puede repararse, pero muchas piedras grandes golpeando ese techo por lo general implican un costoso reemplazo total, indicó Allen.

Lo que ocurre es que hay más vapor de agua en una atmósfera más cálida —casi un 7% por cada grado Celsius (4% más por cada grado Fahrenheit)— y “eso incrementa la energía disponible en la atmósfera y, por lo tanto, tendemos a terminar con corrientes ascendentes más fuertes”, explicó Allen. “Y eso genera más tormentas eléctricas con corrientes ascendentes capaces de producir granizo”.

Pero con un aire más cálido, hay menos frío a gran altura para las piedras de granizo más pequeñas, que tienden a derretirse más, mientras que las más grandes no, señaló Allen.

Estudios anteriores se han centrado en su mayoría en el granizo en Estados Unidos —que es donde se produce más ese fenómeno— y no realizaron el modelado tridimensional de la formación del granizo que sí hizo el nuevo estudio con autores principales de China, indicó Allen. Otros estudios han analizado un posible aumento en la frecuencia en lugar del tamaño.

El granizo es un problema global

Argentina, Europa, Canadá y las llanuras del norte de Estados Unidos probablemente verán el mayor aumento en el número de tormentas de granizo con piedras más grandes, mientras que partes de los trópicos deberían registrar una reducción debido a que las piedras más pequeñas se derriten, señaló Allen.

“El granizo no es solo un problema de Estados Unidos”, afirmó Allen. “Sí, vemos grandes pérdidas aquí, pero las pérdidas globales por granizo parecen ser algo que realmente se está disparando en los últimos años”.

Los autores del estudio analizaron granizo de más y de menos de 30 milímetros (1,2 pulgadas) de diámetro, que está en algún punto entre una canica y una pelota de golf, y es aproximadamente del tamaño de una moneda de 50 centavos de Estados Unidos. El equipo examinó tres escenarios basados en las emisiones de carbono derivadas de la quema de carbón, petróleo y gas. En un escenario ligeramente optimista, sin demasiada contaminación por carbono, el granizo más grande aumenta un 38%. En un escenario más pesimista, en el que las temperaturas suben casi 1 grado Celsius (2 grados Fahrenheit) más que en el otro escenario, el granizo más grande se dispara un 47%.

“Esta es una importante señal climática”, manifestó Walker Ashley, profesor de meteorología en Northern Illinois, quien no participó en el estudio. “Pero las pérdidas por desastres no están impulsadas únicamente por el peligro en sí”.

A medida que más personas, más viviendas, más parques solares y más infraestructura se trasladan a zonas propensas al granizo, aumentan el riesgo y los daños, señaló Ashley. “El cambio climático puede estar incrementando el potencial de granizo más grande y más dañino en algunas regiones, pero la señal de pérdidas futuras también dependerá en gran medida de dónde construya la gente, qué construya, cuán resilientes sean esas estructuras y cómo cambie el uso del suelo”, añadió.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

The 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, works with three coaches. He pays for word lists and study guides. He tries to learn every Greek and Latin root, every language pattern, every spelling bee-worthy word he can find. And he competes throughout the year in online bees that pit him against the country's other top spellers.

Shrey's approach has proven effective for spellers seeking to hold the trophy, and on Wednesday he became one of nine spellers who got through the semifinals and will compete in the finals Thursday night.

But at least one other finalist has gone old-school, shunning outside help and using the dictionary as his guide.

Their opposing strategies have revived a long-running if good-natured debate in spelling circles: Which is more important, mastery of languages or rote memorization?

“At the end of finals, most of the words aren’t going to have a really clean-cut language pattern or rule that you can pull from. So I think memorization is really important,” said Sam Evans, who coached each of the past two champions. “Sometimes it gets a bad reputation, but you have to do it.”

Every word is in the dictionary, if you can find it

It’s all but impossible to reach the finals without knowing the components that make up words absorbed into English: roots and languages of origin. But some champions have stood out for their incredible recall, the ability to instantly visualize any word they’ve run across or even recite dictionary definitions verbatim: Nihar Janga in 2016, Zaila Avant-garde in 2021 and Bruhat Soma in 2024.

Sarv Dharavane might be the next of that group.

Sarv finished third in 2025 as a relative unknown in the spelling community. There’s a reason for that. The 12-year-old sixth-grader from Dunwoody, Georgia, has no coach. He doesn’t participate in online bees. And his only study guide is the source for every word in the competition: Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged dictionary.

“The book is my coach,” Sarv said.

Given his past success, he saw no reason to change it up. And he's back in the finals.

“I didn't really change anything because my strategy got me far last year, but I did more of what I did before,” Sarv said.

“I used to read the dictionary and set aside difficult words to study later,” he explained. “I did it a lot, so I got a lot of words and it was really easy just to go through them. I've always been able to remember pretty well, and I can read through long lists without getting tired, so this strategy works pretty well for me.”

Simple, right?

Many spellers think there's a better way.

Master the roots, and you don't need to memorize as much

Dev Shah, the 2023 champion, advocates an artistic approach to spelling — the one also championed by his coach, Scott Remer. Master roots, master language patterns, and learn how to spot the exceptions, and you can spell a word that you’ve never seen or don’t remember.

Shah accepted that he could never memorize the dictionary — “No one can,” he said — and he believed if he got a word he didn't know, he could figure it out.

“The skill of guessing is everything,” he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed after his victory.

In an interview Wednesday, Shah said memorization was important, especially for quirky words with obscure origins. He said the best spellers, including Avant-garde, found a balance between memorization and mastery.

Having a conceptual understanding of how words are spelled can also help spellers perform under pressure when their memory fails them, said Shah, who admitted he finds it daunting to memorize a huge volume of words.

Former champion Sohum Sukhatankar, who coaches Shrey, said spellers need to fill their brains with the most useful information.

“When you’re at the highest level, you have to be prepared for hundreds of thousands of words,” he said. “You want to do as little memorization as possible to avoid the chance that you just forget it, so it’s all about efficiency.”

After a catastrophic school bee, one speller seeks every edge

Shrey knows he might have to guess when he's at the microphone, but he wants to eliminate variables. That makes sense, given that a year ago, he wasn't even the top speller at his school.

“I had a fever at my school bee last year, and I just blanked on the word ‘calipers’ ... and I missed it,” he said. “I was really devastated.”

It took a few months before Shrey was motivated to start studying again. Once he did, he added Sukhatankar to his coaching team. He's learned how to slow down when he's at the microphone because of a bad experience in 2023, when he rushed through a word, didn't enunciate it clearly and judges determined he got it wrong.

He's also a believer in study guides. Shrey said an interactive, AI-assisted platform called Onyma that offers personalized learning and competition with other spellers — launched this month by Sukhatankar and Evans — has helped with his preparation.

He also uses SpellPundit, an online resource created by two former spellers and their parents that made a splash at the 2019 bee when the majority of that year’s eight co-champions used it. The company claims every champion since as a customer.

Shrey won the annual SpellPundit bee, the South Asian Spelling Bee and several other online bees, which he doesn't necessarily see as an advantage.

“I feel like it (creates) more pressure to perform,” he said.

Evans believes spellers who want to win should use their study time efficiently, but there's no barrier to learning every possible word.

“There's a common joke among spellers that says everything's in the dictionary, so it's all ‘on-list,’” he said. “The dictionary is the most basic thing that spellers need to know.”

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Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.

But this wasn't a small-town mayor assuring a few dozen community members at a town hall that municipal improvement efforts would be completed in time for Little League season.

This was President Donald Trump — channeling his decades as a high-profile real estate developer — regaling his assembled Cabinet and a nationally televised audience on Wednesday with the ins and outs of beautification projects around Washington.

“I love construction. It's very exciting,” Trump said, maintaining that the face-lift he's helped oversee to the nation's capital means “D.C. is looking beautiful.”

His aside lasted 10 minutes and was far more comprehensive than anything said about the other major issues discussed during the meeting, including the war in Iran. There were also only passing references to gas prices nationwide that have spiked and fears about a weakening economy that could hurt Trump's Republican Party in its push to retain control of Congress after November's midterm elections.

He offered new details of his construction plans, suggesting for the first time that they'd extend to the fountain at the World War II Memorial.

The president also said that, under his watch, construction crews were working to improve 28 fountains, then bragged about a push to renovate the “reflecting lake” or “reflecting pond” — actually the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — which he said had been steam-cleaned, fumigated and coated with “American flag blue” paint.

“Over the years, I built hundreds of pools,” Trump said, recalling his days as a construction mogul in 1970s and '80s New York. “I always like to build Olympic-sized swimming pools.”

The president noted that, as part of the revamp, cleaning crews had removed “more than 10 dumpsters of garbage.”

“Every corner had massive amounts,” he said, before offering, “I guess that’s the way the tide goes” — even though no tide flows into the pool.

Trump said the idea was to complete the project by Independence Day and it was mostly on track, except that recent rains in Washington had presented delays.

But the most detail came when the president turned to power-washing.

Workers “sandblasted it, and then we pebble-blasted,” Trump said, explaining it as “a bigger version of sand.”

He said that, to guard against leaks, crews were using “a very sophisticated form of rubber.”

The president also said he'd been responsible for a rebuild of the park across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

“I made a contribution to redoing Lafayette Park. That’s the entrance to the White House. And it was an embarrassment that floors were broken,” Trump said, meaning the park's brick walkways.

Through it all, most Cabinet members listened intently with little emotion, except Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — already known for conspicuously laughing loudest at such meetings — who nodded frequently and enthusiastically along this time. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also offered comments about some of the renovation projects when prompted.

Before turning his attention to city improvements, the president opened the meeting by saying only a few select Cabinet members would be allowed to speak in hopes of moving things along more quickly.

“Everybody around here has got a lot to say. But we did that once, and it lasted for like four or five hours. It was a little much,” Trump said.

That was an exaggeration, though his past Cabinet meetings have indeed featured lengthy comments — often highly laudatory of Trump — from top officials. One such meeting last summer pushed the public portion past the three-hour mark.

In the end, Trump's construction update took up about one-eighth of an 80-minute meeting. It was up to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to help get things back on track and steered toward Iran. “I think, actually, your efforts on the reflecting pool are actually a great segue,” Hegseth offered.

“If you look at Washington and Lincoln, these are two men that faced monumental tasks and stood up in historic fashion and delivered for the American people,” the defense secretary said. “And, when you step back and look at 47 years of what Iran waged — war against us and our people — there’s only one man, over the course of both presidencies, who has stood up and said they will never get a nuclear weapon.”

Roselaine Jean-Pierre, 67, was among two dozen people who gathered at an intersection in Cite Soleil holding tree branches and demanding that police intervene in the area, even as gunshots were ringing nearby.

“I did not do anything to deserve this,” said Jean-Pierre, who fled her home on Sunday, and is now sleeping in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Some of the protesters said they saw people getting killed over the weekend in Cite Soleil, where burned cars and dead cows could also be observed. Haitian authorities have not released any information on casualties.

“I know of seven people that have been killed and also people that have been shot,” said Michel-Ange Toussaint, who had returned briefly to her home in Cite Soleil to gather some clothes.

She said the attacks on civilians began Sunday around 6 p.m., prompting many people to flee the area in search of safety. “It is our good feet that saved us,” Toussaint said.

Gangs have overtaken Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 at his home. Police say they control about 70% of the capital — down from 90% — and have expanded their activities — including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape — into the countryside. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.

In a statement released Monday, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders announced the evacuation of its hospital in Cite Soleil following the intense clashes Sunday.

The Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine, another hospital that operates in Cite Soleil, said on Tuesday that it had also suspended operations due to the outbreak of violence that began Sunday, and had to evacuate all of its hospitalized patients, including 11 newborns.

In April, the first foreign troops linked to a U.N. force arrived in Haiti to help quell ongoing violence.

The U.N. Security Council in late September approved a plan to authorize a 5,550-member force, which has not fully arrived in the island nation. An unknown number of troops from Chad have so far been deployed.

A report published earlier this year by the International Organization for Migration found that gang violence has displaced more than 1.4 million people in Haiti, with approximately 200,000 of them now living in crowded and underfunded sites in the nation’s capital.

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This story was first published on May. 12, 2026. It was updated on May. 27, 2026 to correct the spelling of Jovenel Moïse

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

El streamer, cuyo nombre real es Nurideen Shabazz, fue detenido alrededor de las 4 a.m. después de que agentes respondieran a una llamada relacionada con una mujer que dijo haber sido pateada fuera de un yate cerca de la cuadra 200 de North Shore Drive.

Según la policía, los agentes llegaron poco antes de las 2 a.m. y se reunieron con la mujer, quien les dijo que Shabazz, de 25 años, la había pateado fuera del yate después de que otros hombres intentaran hablar con ella.

La policía indicó que la mujer les dijo que Shabazz le advirtió que no “entretuviera a nadie más que a él”.

El informe señala que, después de que la mujer salió del yate, Shabazz intentó quitarle el teléfono para evitar que grabara la interacción.

Los agentes dijeron que él la agarró por el antebrazo, pero no logró quitarle el dispositivo. La policía indicó que el encuentro dejó un pequeño rasguño en el antebrazo izquierdo de la víctima.

Luego, la mujer llamó a la policía.

Según el informe, los investigadores revisaron posteriormente imágenes de vigilancia proporcionadas por el propietario de la propiedad, quien dijo a los agentes que había permitido que Shabazz usara el yate prestado.

La policía indicó que el video mostraba a Shabazz gritando para que alguien tomara el teléfono de la víctima y se asegurara de que no lo estuviera grabando. Los agentes escribieron que las imágenes parecían mostrar a Shabazz intentando repetidamente quitarle el teléfono, lo que provocó un forcejeo mientras la víctima trataba de alejarse.

Según el informe, las imágenes mostraban a la víctima “encogiendo su cuerpo en el piso” para evitar que Shabazz le quitara el teléfono.

La policía indicó que finalmente logró alejarse de Shabazz alrededor de la 1:55 a.m. y luego llamó al 911.

Posteriormente, los agentes supieron que el yate regresaba al muelle. Cuando llegó, la policía detuvo a Shabazz para interrogarlo.

Según el informe, después de que le leyeran sus derechos Miranda, Shabazz, residente de Temple Terrace, Florida, dijo a los agentes que creía que la víctima tenía su teléfono. La policía indicó que su declaración contradijo lo que los agentes observaron en las imágenes de video.

Shabazz finalmente fue arrestado por un cargo de intento de robo por la fuerza y fue trasladado al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight.

Hasta la tarde del miércoles, permanecía detenido en TGK con una fianza de $2,500 USD.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, said detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark are being given small portions of food that “very often” contain maggots and that the only medication they receive is Tylenol.

One woman, he said, had a lump in her breast but was still waiting on a mammogram more than a month into her detention. Another detainee was suffering from colon cancer but wasn’t receiving any treatment.

“The bottom line is, if you are human, if you are American, you cannot support what is going on here,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, another Manhattan Democrat who toured the facility Wednesday. “They’re living in jail conditions, and none of these people are criminals.”

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, another Manhattan Democrat, described conditions as “inhumane" after spending about an hour inside the facility,

“We will shut this center down," he vowed. “We will shut it down.”

The lawmakers addressed protesters and family members of detainees demonstrating outside the facility’s security gate after their visits.

More than 50 people held signs saying “Stop Family Separation” and chanted “Free Them All” and other slogans. Some shouted directly at the armed and helmet-wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers standing outside, calling them “cowards” and “idiots.”

The protests began Friday and have been tense at times.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, said he was pepper-sprayed as he and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill led a delegation of Democratic officials who tried to visit detainees at Delaney Hall but were denied entry.

“Instead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire,” Kim posted on social media after Monday’s clashes. “Civilians were tackled and restrained, and agents fired pepper balls and spray into the crowd.”

Gabriela Soto said Wednesday that her husband was among the detainees who participated in the hunger strike before he was transferred to another facility.

“At first it was just 300. Then it became a little bit more. Now, every single detainee inside there is participating. Every single one,” she said, wearing a black shirt that said “Abolish ICE.”

Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said his organization has heard “horror stories” of detainees, including pregnant women, not getting the proper medical treatment for their health conditions.

“Cruelty is the point,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has denied any hunger strike, abuse or poor conditions inside the center and dismissed the criticisms as political posturing.

“The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Wednesday of detainees at Delaney Hall. “This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

In a follow-up statement, DHS said two protesters were arrested for assaulting, resisting and impeding federal officers after ICE officers were sprayed “with an unknown chemical substance” Tuesday night.

“These rioters have OBSTRUCTED law enforcement operations — a felony and a crime,” the statement read. “Local police have refused to answer calls to help our law enforcement. We will not allow violent rioters to slow ICE down. Law and order will be restored.”

President Donald Trump defended the center's operations and criticized opponents.

“We run the finest facilities anywhere in the world of their type,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting with Mullin. “There’s nobody that runs a facility like we do.”

Located along an industrial stretch of Newark Bay and run by a private prison company, Delaney Hall has been a frequent flashpoint of protests and clashes between immigrant rights advocates and immigration enforcement officials.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, were among those arrested during protests when the 1,000-bed facility opened last May.

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Marcelo reported from New York. Associated Press photographer Seth Wenig in Newark contributed to this story.

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Rubio said the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., or GAESA, a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, controls 70% of the island’s economy.

Rubio said none of GAESA’s profits help the Cuban people, and this is a problem for the U.S., because having a failed state 90 miles away from U.S. shores is a threat to national security.

“Cuba is in a lot of trouble because, unfortunately for them, it’s run by a bunch of incompetent communists,” Rubio said. “Being a communist is bad, being an incompetent communist is like the worst.”

Rubio said the U.S. is continuing talks with Cuban officials. He did not mention the recent U.S. indictment of Raúl Castro over the fatal 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes.

In Venezuela, Rubio said, the process of “stabilization, recovery, and transition” was ongoing. He estimated that over 10 million barrels of oil had been delivered to the U.S. since Jan. 3.

Rubio added that Venezuela was selling oil at market rates, and “the money” was deposited into an account based in the U.S. that was audited by KPMG, and was controlled by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

“The money is not being stolen,” Rubio said. “It’s going to the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”

Related stories

• Analysis: As war with Iran possibly nears end, is Cuba next?
• Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Carlos Gimenez talk about Cuba policy
• Trump’s Cuba strategy echoes his Venezuela playbook. But there are key differences

Rubio dijo que el Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., o GAESA, un conglomerado empresarial operado por las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Cuba, controla el 70% de la economía de la isla.

Rubio afirmó que ninguna de las ganancias de GAESA beneficia al pueblo cubano, y que esto representa un problema para Estados Unidos, porque tener un estado fallido a 90 millas de las costas estadounidenses es una amenaza para la seguridad nacional.

“Cuba está en muchos problemas porque, desafortunadamente para ellos, está dirigida por un grupo de comunistas incompetentes”, dijo Rubio. “Ser comunista es malo, ser un comunista incompetente es como lo peor”.

Rubio dijo que Estados Unidos continúa las conversaciones con funcionarios cubanos. No mencionó la reciente acusación de Estados Unidos contra Raúl Castro por el derribo mortal en 1996 de dos aviones de Hermanos al Rescate.

En Venezuela, Rubio dijo que el proceso de “estabilización, recuperación y transición” seguía en marcha. Estimó que más de 10 millones de barriles de petróleo habían sido enviados a Estados Unidos desde el 3 de enero.

Rubio agregó que Venezuela estaba vendiendo petróleo a precios de mercado y que “el dinero” era depositado en una cuenta con sede en Estados Unidos auditada por KPMG y controlada por el Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos.

“El dinero no está siendo robado”, dijo Rubio. “Está beneficiando al pueblo venezolano”.

Historias relacionadas

• Análisis: Mientras la guerra con Irán posiblemente llega a su fin, ¿Cuba es la próxima?
• El senador Rick Scott y el representante Carlos Gimenez hablan sobre política hacia Cuba
• La estrategia de Trump hacia Cuba refleja su estrategia con Venezuela. Pero existen diferencias clave

Instead of trying to copy symmetrical shapes from nature by building robots that look like people, dogs or insects, engineering professor Boyuan Chen and his team focused on uniformity in action, or what he calls “dynamic symmetry.”

The result was Argus. The roly-poly robot named after a mythological many-eyed giant has depth-sensing cameras attached to 20 telescoping legs that radiate from a central core. With no front, back, top or bottom, it can see and move in any direction instantly.

“Instead of measuring how your legs are arranged around a different part of your body, we’re measuring how fast you can move in any direction,” Chen said. “Who said, you know, if you have a robot to help us in a most effective way, it has to look like us?”

In experiments, Argus has navigated sandy beaches and forest undergrowth, rolling over obstacles and stabilizing itself after being pushed. It can climb between parallel brick walls by alternating bracing and thrusting motions with its legs. If one or more motor dies or a leg breaks, it continues to function.

“Watching Argus move is unlike watching any other robot we’ve worked with,” said Jiaxun Liu, a graduate student and co-author of a study about Argus published online Wednesday in the journal Science Robotics. “The first time we saw it navigate among trees and rough terrain, even under heavy collisions, we knew this was something different.”

As part of their work, researchers developed a new design principle called dynamic isotropy that rates robots on a scale of 0 to 1 based on how uniformly they can accelerate in every direction. Most robots in use today, including humanoids and drones, score below 0.6. Argus scores 0.91.

“When a robot can accelerate equally well in every direction, it stops needing to face the world in any particular way,” said Chen, who hopes the same principle could guide the development of search and rescue robots, underwater or aerial vehicles or robots with the ability to grip objects.

“Instead of building a robot hand that looks like a human hand … one idea is to think about having Argus be the hand itself, and it can manipulate objects in any direction,” he said. “The knowledge we can transfer to the rest of the world is much more deeper than building an existing robot or copying an existing species.”

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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

Woodensky Pierre is a defensive midfielder who plays for Violette AC in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. An estimated 70% of that city is under siege by violent gangs.

The other 25 players on the World Cup squad play outside the country, coming from leagues in places like England, France, Portugal, Canada and the United States.

This year's World Cup will be only the second for Haiti in its history — the country’s only other appearance on soccer’s biggest stage was in 1974.

Haitian soccer federation spokesman Thecieux Jeanty said all but one player on the 1974 World Cup team was living and playing in Haiti at that time.

The U.S. visas for Pierre and nearly a dozen other officials with the Haitian soccer federation have yet to come through as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump continues to expand travel restrictions from countries including Haiti.

Pierre continues to train at a field with synthetic grass in Pétion-Ville, an upscale area of Port-au-Prince, as he awaits his visa, “in hopes of being with his team as soon as possible,” Jeanty told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday.

“I hope he doesn’t have to live in (Haiti) after the World Cup,” Jeanty said. “It’s an opportunity to present himself to the world and await a contract.”

The team’s home stadium in Port-au-Prince — not far from the neighborhood where Pierre is from — was deemed too dangerous, forcing Haiti to play its “home” World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao.

Pierre is from Cite Soleil, a seaside slum that has endured violence and hunger for years and serves as a base for powerful gang leaders. Cite Soleil has seen multiple massacres and gang rapes, with violence recently displacing more than 5,300 people, according to the latest report from the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.

“It’s a source of pride for him,” Jeanty said of Pierre being able to play in the World Cup. “It’s satisfying for (soccer) officials and for the public, too. As you know, Haiti is in crisis.”

Pierre did not return messages seeking comment, and neither did the team’s coach.

Officials for Haiti’s squad arrived in Florida on Sunday, and players began training in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday. Three other players are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, Jeanty said.

There is still time to resolve Pierre’s situation. Haiti will play two World Cup warmup matches, first against New Zealand on Tuesday and then against Peru on June 5, in South Florida.

Haiti opens World Cup play on June 13 in Foxborough, Massachusetts, against Scotland, then plays five-time champion Brazil on June 19 in Philadelphia and Morocco on June 24 in Atlanta.

Jeanty said he first made contact with Pierre in 2022, when they traveled together to Honduras for a under-20 match.

“I saw him as a top-level player,” Jeanty said, adding that “everybody’s very happy” to have Pierre on the team.

“There is soccer in Haiti,” Jeanty said. “It’s a country that wants to live.”

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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

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

A más de un mes del incidente que generó fricciones entre México y Washington y tensiones internas, Sheinbaum confirmó en su habitual conferencia diaria un número de agentes estadounidenses que es el doble del que habían reconocido las autoridades mexicanas inicialmente en Chihuahua.

Sin ofrecer detalles de la identidad de los agentes, las actividades que estaban cumpliendo en México o si pertenecían la Agencia Central de Inteligencia de Estados Unidos (CIA, por sus siglas en inglés) la mandataria dijo que a los dos agentes que sobrevivieron se les pidió abandonar el país porque “no tenían acreditación”.

Sheinbaum detalló que los cuatro agentes entraron a México “con pasaportes legales, diplomáticos, (y) como turistas”, pero que no cumplieron el protocolo de registro ante el gobierno mexicano, y agregó que a los dos agentes que “se les pidió que se registraran o abandonaran el país” optaron por salir.

La presencia de los funcionarios estadounidenses en México se conoció poco después de la muerte de dos de ellos en un accidente de tránsito que ocurrió el 19 de abril en las montañas del estado norteño de Chihuahua donde se había desmantelado un laboratorio clandestino de drogas sintéticas.

El incidente fue protestado por el gobierno de Sheinbaum, que se quejó a Estados Unidos de que no le informara de las actividades de sus agentes en territorio mexicano.

La CIA no hizo comentarios públicos sobre el caso.

Un funcionario de Estados Unidos y dos personas con conocimiento del accidente confirmaron en abril a The Associated Press la participación de la CIA. Todos ellos hablaron bajo condición de anonimato debido a que se trata de asuntos sensibles de inteligencia. La identidad de los dos estadounidenses como agentes de la CIA fue reportada primero por The Washington Post.

El hecho también ocasionó fricciones entre el Ejecutivo federal y la gobernadora opositora de Chihuahua, María Eugenia Campos, a quien la Fiscalía General de la República citó este miércoles para declarar sobre las actividades que realizaron los agentes estadounidenses en ese estado fronterizo.

De prosperar la investigación Campos y otros funcionarios de Chihuahua podrían ser enjuiciados por vulnerar las regulaciones sobre seguridad nacional.

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Detective Angel Rodriguez released a statement on Wednesday asking the public for help with finding Daphne S. Ellington.

Ellington was last seen at about 6 p.m. on May 10 walking in the area of Northwest 18 Avenue and 68 Street, according to a flyer that Rodriguez released.

Ellington has brown eyes, orange hair, weighs 110 pounds, and is 5-feet, 5-inches tall, and she was last seen wearing a short gray dress, according to the flyer.

Rodriguez asked anyone with information about Ellington’s whereabouts to call M-DSO Special Victims Bureau deputy K. Fernandez-Roblin at 305-715-3300 or 305-715-3249.

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

El detective Angel Rodriguez emitió un comunicado el miércoles solicitando ayuda del público para encontrar a Daphne S. Ellington.

Ellington fue vista por última vez alrededor de las 6 p.m. del 10 de mayo caminando en el área de Northwest 18 Avenue y 68 Street, según un volante publicado por Rodriguez.

Ellington tiene ojos marrones, cabello anaranjado, pesa 110 libras, mide 5 pies y 5 pulgadas de altura, y fue vista por última vez usando un vestido corto gris, según el volante.

Rodriguez pidió a cualquier persona con información sobre el paradero de Ellington que llame a la agente K. Fernandez-Roblin, de la Oficina de Víctimas Especiales de la MDSO, al 305-715-3300 o al 305-715-3249.

Los detectives solicitaron a cualquier persona con información sobre este u otros casos y que desee permanecer en el anonimato que llame a Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477.

The trio of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson, nicknamed Triple Espresso at the 2024 Olympics, were named on Tuesday to the U.S. training camp roster for a pair of June matches against the Brazilian national team in Brazil. The three have not played together since the gold medal match at the Paris Games.

Swanson was included on the U.S. roster for the first time since October 2024. She recently returned to her club team, the Chicago Stars, after taking time off for the birth of her daughter in November.

The 28-year-old Swanson has 38 goals in 103 appearances with the national team and scored the lone goal in the 1-0 victory over Brazil for the gold medal in Paris.

Wilson had returned to the national team in April after taking maternity leave last year for the birth of her daughter. She has 24 goals in 61 appearances for the United States.

“That front three haven’t been together since the Olympic gold medal match, that’s a long time, and we cannot waste a single minute," U.S. coach Emma Hayes said. “We absolutely have to put the very best players together with every opportunity that we have. But the circumstances are slightly different. We have Mal, who is coming back last, and yes, she is competing and contributing to Chicago, but like Soph last camp, it is so important to get them into the environment to reconnect with their teammates.”

The United States will play Brazil on June 6 in Sao Paulo and June 9 in Fortaleza.

Because the national team does not play many friendly matches away from the United States, the games in Brazil give the younger players an opportunity to experience travel routines.

Additionally, Brazil is hosting next year's Women's World Cup. The United States will attempt to qualify for the tournament starting in late November at the CONCACAF W Championship.

“This is another moment where we get to see how we cope with all of the environmental conditions that come with going to Brazil, whether that’s adapting to different cultures, different training facilities, different hotels, different experiences, fan experience, feeling like the away team, but with the pressure cooker of a top opponent. All of these things really, really matter," Hayes said.

Hayes named 26 players to the camp roster for the international window, with 23 players to be designated as available for each match.

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Goalkeepers: Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United)

Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Lilly Reale (Gotham), Tara Rudd (Washington Spirit), Emily Sonnett (Gotham), Gisele Thompson (Angel City), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave)

Midfielders: Croix Bethune (Kansas City Current), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes), Claire Hutton (Bay FC), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage), Rose Lavelle (Gotham), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes)

Forwards: Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Stars), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), Sophia Wilson (Portland Thorns)

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

Jacobs was arrested Tuesday in Brown County on allegations of strangulation and suffocation and other offenses over the weekend. His lawyers said he denies wrongdoing.

District Attorney David Lasee said it's too soon to make a formal charging decision.

“Our office has requested additional investigation, as there is reason to believe that additional evidence may exist that would impact whether criminal charges are appropriate, and what charges would be issued. ... The investigation remains open and is ongoing," Lasee said.

Jacobs' lawyers — David Chesnoff, Richard Schonfeld and Clarence Duchac — said they're pleased that he's out of jail.

“We encourage everyone to keep an open mind while the matter is fully reviewed. We remain confident that, once all of the evidence is gathered and evaluated, it will confirm that no charges should be brought against Josh in the future,” they said.

Hobart/Lawrence Police Chief Michael Renkas said police responded to a complaint about Jacobs around 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Jacobs is the Packers’ top returning rusher after running for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2025. That followed a 2024 season in which he ran for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns while earning his third Pro Bowl selection.

The Packers, who started organized team activities this week, had issued a statement Tuesday saying that they were aware of the matter and that “as it is an ongoing legal situation, we will withhold further comment.”

“I know there’s going to be a lot of questions about Josh,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said before the Packers' practice on Wednesday. “I’m going to stick with the statement that we put out as an organization and just let the process play out.”

LaFleur declined comment on his reaction to the arrest, how he addressed the matter with the team and whether the Packers had communicated at all with Jacobs over the past few days. He also was asked about whether he has to prepare for the possibility the Packers might have to play part of the season without Jacobs.

“I think a lot’s going to happen between now and then,” LaFleur said.

The Packers canceled a scheduled post-practice availability for reporters with players Wednesday.

Jacobs, 28, has rushed for 7,803 yards and 74 touchdowns in his seven-year career, which included five seasons with the Raiders. He earned All-Pro honors and had an NFL-leading 1,653 yards rushing with Las Vegas in 2022.

The only active players with more career touchdown runs are Baltimore’s Derrick Henry (122) and Buffalo’s Josh Allen (79).

Green Bay lacks proven running backs aside from Jacobs.

The Packers' second-leading rusher last season was Emanuel Wilson, who has since signed with the Seattle Seahawks. The Packers didn’t draft any running backs this year.

Green Bay's second-leading returning rusher is quarterback Jordan Love, who ran for 199 yards last season. The Packers did re-sign running back Chris Brooks, who rushed for 106 yards on 27 carries last season and ran for 183 yards and a touchdown on 36 attempts in 2024.

MarShawn Lloyd, a 2024 third-round pick from Southern California, didn’t play at all last year and appeared in only one game as a rookie because of injuries.

“I think he’s done everything he can in his power to put him in the best possible position," LaFleur said of Lloyd. "He’s just going to have to go out there and prove it.”

Other running backs on Green Bay’s roster include Damien Martinez, Pierre Strong and rookie undrafted free agent Jaden Nixon.

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White reported from Detroit.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

La gobernadora Jenniffer González indicó que la orden ejecutiva permitiría que su administración acelere proyectos para proteger los recursos naturales y a las comunidades costeras vulnerables. El gobierno señaló en un comunicado que el aumento del nivel del mar, las marejadas ciclónicas y otros factores han intensificado la erosión costera en Puerto Rico.

González se comprometió a ayudar a municipios del norte, entre ellos, Loiza, donde se ha evacuado a personas y han caído al océano trozos de asfalto de carreteras costeras tras fuertes oleajes.

La orden se firmó apenas unos días antes del inicio de la temporada de huracanes del Atlántico, que va del 1 de junio al 30 de noviembre.

Aún no se ha determinado el costo de los proyectos.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.