Trump said other U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades.

“It looks like I’ll be the one that does it,” Trump said. “So, I would be happy to do it.”

Also on Thursday, diplomats from both Russia and China expressed their support for the Cuban government and opposition to U.S. sanctions.

“China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, also talked to reporters on Thursday.

“We reaffirm our full solidarity with Cuba,” Zakharova told reporters and wrote on X.

After the U.S. military captured Nicolás Maduro, who also had the support of China and Russia, Trump deployed U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio to hold talks with Venezuelan and Cuban officials and cut the flow of Venezuelan oil to Cuba.

Trump also imposed sanctions on any country that delivers oil to Cuba, except for a Russian ship that brought some brief relief.

On Wednesday, before the U.S. Justice Department announced the indictment against Raúl Castro and five Cuban military pilots, the U.S. Southern Command welcomed the Nimitz carrier strike group to the Caribbean.

“The president always has the option to do whatever it takes to support and protect the national interest,” Rubio said on Thursday.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel recently released a statement warning of a “bloodbath” if there is a U.S. military intervention and described Castro as “a hero.”

RELATED STORIES

• Rubio says probability of U.S.-Cuba deal is ‘not high’
• Cuban pro-democracy activists meet in Miami-Dade after Raúl Castro’s indictment
• U.S. Southern Command welcomes Nimitz carrier strike group to Caribbean
• Cuban pro-democracy activists meet in Miami-Dade after Raúl Castro’s indictment
• U.S. indicts Raúl Castro over 1996 fatal shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes
• Watch the speeches during Raul Castro indictment announcement at Freedom Tower
• Cuban exiles at Freedom Tower react to Raúl Castro indictment
• Cuban exiles at Miami’s Cafe Versailles react to Raul Castro indictment news: ‘All for it’
• Republican lawmakers from Florida react to Raúl Castro’s indictment
• Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel reacts to Raúl Castro’s indictment

Trump dijo que otros presidentes de Estados Unidos habían considerado intervenir en Cuba durante décadas.

“Parece que yo seré quien lo haga”, dijo Trump. “Así que estaría feliz de hacerlo”.

También el jueves, diplomáticos de Rusia y China expresaron su apoyo al gobierno cubano y su oposición a las sanciones de Estados Unidos.

“China apoya firmemente a Cuba en la defensa de su soberanía nacional y dignidad nacional y se opone a la interferencia externa”, dijo a reporteros Guo Jiakun, portavoz del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de China.

Maria Zakharova, portavoz del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Rusia, también habló con reporteros el jueves.

“Reafirmamos nuestra plena solidaridad con Cuba”, dijo Zakharova a reporteros y escribió en X.

Después de que el ejército de Estados Unidos capturó a Nicolás Maduro, quien también contaba con el respaldo de China y Rusia, Trump desplegó al secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Marco Rubio, para sostener conversaciones con funcionarios venezolanos y cubanos y cortar el flujo de petróleo venezolano hacia Cuba.

Trump también impuso sanciones a cualquier país que entregue petróleo a Cuba, excepto un barco ruso que brindó un alivio temporal.

El miércoles, antes de que el Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos anunciara la acusación formal contra Raúl Castro y cinco pilotos militares cubanos, el Comando Sur de Estados Unidos dio la bienvenida al grupo de ataque del portaaviones Nimitz al Caribe.

“El presidente siempre tiene la opción de hacer lo que sea necesario para apoyar y proteger el interés nacional”, dijo Rubio el jueves.

El presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel publicó recientemente una declaración advirtiendo sobre un “baño de sangre” si ocurre una intervención militar de Estados Unidos y describió a Castro como “un héroe”.

NOTICIAS RELACIONADAS

• Rubio afirma que la probabilidad de un acuerdo entre Estados Unidos y Cuba “no es alta”.
• Activistas cubanos prodemocracia se reúnen en Miami-Dade tras la acusación formal contra Raúl Castro.
• El Comando Sur de los Estados Unidos da la bienvenida al grupo de ataque del portaaviones Nimitz al Caribe.
• Activistas cubanos prodemocracia se reúnen en Miami-Dade tras la acusación formal contra Raúl Castro.
• Estados Unidos acusa a Raúl Castro por el derribo fatal de los aviones de Hermanos al Rescate en 1996.
• Vea los discursos durante el anuncio de la acusación contra Raúl Castro en la Torre de la Libertad.
• Exiliados cubanos en la Torre de la Libertad reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• Los exiliados cubanos en el Café Versailles de Miami reaccionan a la noticia de la acusación contra Raúl Castro: “Todos a favor “.
• Legisladores republicanos de Florida reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• El presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel reacciona a la acusación de Raúl Castro

Leer en español

Rubio also discussed the U.S.-Cuba diplomatic talks and negotiations for a deal, which is what President Donald Trump prefers.

“The likelihood of that happening, given who we are dealing with right now, is not high,” Rubio said.

Rubio was critical of the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., or GAESA, a Cuban military-run business conglomerate.

“They have a private military company named GAESA ... sitting on $18 billion of assets,” Rubio said. “Not a penny of that goes over to help the people of Cuba.”

Rubio said the Cuban government has accepted $100 million in direct humanitarian aid from the U.S. through the Catholic church’s charity.

“Cuba has always posed a national security threat to the United States,” Rubio said.

On Wednesday at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced there was a warrant for Raúl Castro’s arrest after a Miami grand jury indicted him.

For the fatal 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes, the indictment charged Castro, 94, with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder.

“Cuba has been one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region,” Rubio said. “Having a failed state 90 miles from our shores run by friends of our adversaries poses a threat to the national security of the United States.”

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Southern Command welcomed the Nimitz carrier strike group to the Caribbean.

RELATED STORIES

• Trump stands firm on Cuba after Russia and China express support
• U.S. Southern Command welcomes Nimitz carrier strike group to Caribbean
• Cuban pro-democracy activists meet in Miami-Dade after Raúl Castro’s indictment
• U.S. indicts Raúl Castro over 1996 fatal shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes
• Watch the speeches during Raul Castro indictment announcement at Freedom Tower
• Cuban exiles at Freedom Tower react to Raúl Castro indictment
• Cuban exiles at Miami’s Cafe Versailles react to Raul Castro indictment news: ‘All for it’
• Republican lawmakers from Florida react to Raúl Castro’s indictment
• Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel reacts to Raúl Castro’s indictment

In an interview with The Associated Press this week at the Big Ten meetings, Bryan Seeley, the CEO of the 11-month-old College Sports Commission, said he has actually heard more good feedback than bad as he's started making the rounds at league meetings.

The problem is that the bad stuff mostly revolves around issues that could break everything apart — notably, the third-party NIL deals that have blown budgets sky high and become the fulcrum of the frustration for schools trying to figure out how to survive in an era where they pay players.

“I was hired to launch the CSC and enforce the rules as written,” Seeley said. “It is totally fine with us if the rules end up changing if there is consensus to change those rules. But until that happens, we’re going to enforce the rules as written and that’s what we were told to do.”

Some athletic directors see an ‘unsustainable’ model

Michigan State atheltic director J. Batt summed up the feelings of some administrators in California this week when he called the college system as it currently stands “unsustainable.”

“We've got to evolve the system,” Batt said. “That (has) potential for a lot of different tracks. Primarily, evolving the CSC to meet what has become an evolving landscape is important. The current state isn't working.”

Batt's comments came less than 24 hours after Ohio State AD Ross Bjork openly wondered to cbssports.com about the Big Ten potentially breaking away from the pack and writing its own rules. Washington AD Pat Chun told the website “we created this fraudulent market to be able to compensate our athletes.”

The comments came in the same week that saw hopes scuttled again for federal legislation to resolve some of these problems.

The Congressional Black Caucus and NAACP leveraged the recent Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for Southern states to redraw Black-majority districts into a call for Southern sports leaders, especially in the SEC and ACC, to speak up. House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said: “If the SEC schools are for it, we are against it.”

Commission gets a win in arbitration that doesn't solve all the problems

Seeley flew to California a week after from what the CSC would term a win. In the first challenge to the CSC rejecting an NIL deal — one involving contracts for Nebraska football players — an arbitrator ruled in favor of the commission.

Seeley said “a lot of foundational issues were addressed in that one.” Namely, the arbitrator ruled that a multimedia rights group — in Nebraska's case, Playfly — could be deemed an “associated entity,” which is key because the CSC is asked to evaluate all NIL deals that come via associated entities. Attorneys for athletes in the $2.8 billion House settlement responded by asking the judge now overseeing the landmark case to clarify whether the CSC is properly classifying thir parties like Playfly as “associated entities.”

The arbitrator also dinged Nebraska and Playfly for “warehousing” the players' NIL rights — essentially securing them for a purpose to be named later instead of having an actual deal to use them right away.

Seeley said potentially a more serious problem is schools making guarantees about third-party NIL payments to players while recruiting them from the transfer portal, which is not allowed under NCAA rules. Deals aren't supposed to be signed until after the athletes are enrolled.

“And they are now finding it quite difficult to submit compliant NIL deals to meet those obligations,” Seeley said. "Assuming that is true, that is clearly a problem. The question is, how should the industry attack that problem? You're seeing differences of opinion, in some ways based on whether you're a school who made those commitments or didn't.”

The CSC says it has cleared more than 26,000 NIL deals worth some $242.3 million through May 1 since its launch.

Seeley says schools, not CSC, responsible for delays in approving cases

Seeley said he hears criticism about a slow timeline to clear deals, which can leave schools in limbo, unsure if certain players are eligibile. But the CEO calls that a “false narrative.”

“Deals are being held up because they don’t comply with the rules,” Seeley said. “And many times when we ask for information about the deals, we get no response, a partial response that doesn’t answer our question, or, increasingly, false responses, which causes delays.”

Four months ago, at the NCAA Convention in Washington, Seeley made an impassioned plea for each 68 Power Four school to sign a so-called “participation agreement” that would lock in the CSC's authority.

It will not go into effect until all the schools sign it but many have refused. Some have cited guidance from state attorneys general who say it's illegal for a public university to sign away its right to take legal action, the likes of which could still take place in the Nebraska case.

Seeley now views the agreement, along with federal legislation, as not being completely necessary for the CSC to function.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti agrees that the real drivers of change won't come from Washington but from conferences themselves.

"Can we get to make adjustments that we think we need, based on the real-time experiences of what’s happened?” Petitti said. “And what’s sustainable about that? How does it impact what we’re doing going forward? Because we’re going to still face that with or without Washington. So we’ve got to be willing to come up with some sustainable model.”

Seeley said the CSC wants to work with whatever model the schools develop. What he refuses to do is accept blame for enforcing the rules.

“We didn’t write the rules,” he said. “But the issue now is not, is the CSC broken or not working? The issue is a lot of schools apparently didn’t follow the rules.”

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

“This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC," the disclaimer said. "The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.”

It's an inauspicious label on a document that has caused so much heartburn. Ken Martin, the DNC chair, originally promised to release the autopsy, then decided to keep it under wraps because he said he didn't want to cause a distraction ahead of the midterms.

After months of handwringing, Martin released the report on Thursday, saying it was only withheld because it was so shoddily done.

After all that, what's in the report? Here are some takeaways from the 192 pages.

The report has some big gaps

The report is far from comprehensive, and it avoids some of the most critical factors in the 2024 race.

For example, it doesn't address President Joe Biden's decision to run for a second term at 81, despite widespread concerns about his age. Biden dropped out after a faltering debate performance, and Harris was quickly anointed to replace him at the top of the ticket.

After serving as Biden's vice president, Harris was viewed in some corners as the natural choice for a new nominee. But the report does not address lingering concerns that the process was rushed or should have been handled in a more deliberative manner.

Perhaps most notably, the words “Gaza” and “Israel” do not appear anywhere in the text. Democrats suffered from internal disagreements over the conflict, which sapped enthusiasm for Harris among voters who were upset by the Biden administration's support for Israel.

Harris was boxed in

The report found that the Biden White House did not “position or prepare the vice president” in a way that would allow her to lead a successful campaign.

It wasn’t until Biden announced his departure from the race in July that the campaign’s polling team scrambled to get fresh public opinion on three key areas — “one on the Vice President’s biography and record, one on her vision and plan, and another on attacks and responses.”

The team also determined Harris had no answer on a sensitive issue: The Trump campaign's anti-transgender attacks. Specifically, the report highlighted the pollsters’ belief that the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by Republicans' “very effective” advertisement highlighting Harris’ previous support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.

“Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you," the ad said.

The report said: “If the Vice President would not change her position — and she did not — then there was nothing which would have worked as a response.”

Trump wasn't attacked enough

There's been no shortage of criticism toward Harris' campaign after her defeat. Some Democrats think she spent too much time campaigning with Republicans like Liz Cheney, others think she lacked a strong economic message.

The autopsy report reaches a different conclusion, saying not enough was done to convince voters that Trump was an unacceptable candidate.

“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”

At another point, the report says, "Democrats made a mistake by assuming voters were already aware of Trump's various weaknesses.

“The idea Trump’s negatives were ‘baked in’ is a major failure of analysis and reality,” the report says.

DNC leadership did not appear to like these conclusions, adding annotations like “no evidence provided; contradicts claims elsewhere in report” and “no sourcing or evidence provided.”

Identity politics and demographic shifts

The report criticized Harris’ outreach to key segments of America while including a handful of derisive references to “identity politics.” The document raises serious concerns about Latinos in particular.

“Democrats can no longer assume Latino voters, especially younger Latino men, are a reliable part of their base," the report says. “The party needs a complete rethink of its Latino outreach strategy, moving beyond traditional approaches like Spanish-language ads and late-cycle surrogates.”

The report points to successful Democratic statewide candidates in Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, who showed that “economic messaging, and addressing cost-of-living concerns resonate more than identity politics.”

The autopsy also highlighted the Democrats' underperformance with men.

“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed," the report says. “Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color.”

Harris also didn't have any answers for the party's struggle with rural voters.

“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”

Leer en español

Standing in one of the affected areas, the damage stretches across rows of cars.

Residents described the suspects as “airbag pirates.”

“The air bag is gone,” said resident Alex Cernabas. “It’s very expensive. I went to look at it and they’re selling it on eBay for $750.”

Resident Mohammed Hussain said his wife called him after discovering their vehicle had been broken into.

“I was just surprised this afternoon and my wife called and (asked) do I know what’s happening? I said ‘no,’” he said.

Residents said 19 cars in the area were hit, with five vehicles damaged in one section of the parking lot alone.

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

Cernabas said he is now helping his mother get to work because her car cannot be legally driven without an airbag.

“My mom couldn’t go to work. I’m trying to help her with it,” he said.

Residents say the thefts bring more than just the loss of an airbag, also making them deal with insurance deductibles, inconvenience and frustration.

“I hope they go to jail for a long time, and get a job,” said Cernabas. “Don’t steal from people that are working.”

Hussain, who owns the kind of vehicle residents believe is being targeted by the thieves, said he plans to keep a close eye on his vehicle after learning that 19 cars had been hit.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about the airbag thefts is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

For now, the world's top-ranked player is chasing Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion looking for his first victory since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf.

Koepka shot 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead over five other early finishers at the revamped TPC Craig Ranch on Thursday, with Scheffler three back while playing with Koepka and Si Woo Kim, one of those at 64.

“I felt like I was getting lapped out there for a little bit,” said Scheffler, who led from the start of last year's Nelson and won by eight shots at 31 under while tying the tour's 72-hole scoring record at 253. “So I was fortunate to make a couple birdies late in the round and keep myself in the tournament.”

Kim — the highest-ranked player in the field behind Scheffler at No. 24 — had the only bogey in the threesome, on his 16th hole at the par-3 seventh.

One of several countrymen in the event sponsored by South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, Kim got back within a shot of the lead with a birdie while Koepka saved par 5 at the ninth.

Emiliano Grillo, Keith Mitchell, Stephan Jaeger and Michael Thorbjornsen were tied with Kim, one shot ahead of Doug Ghim and Mackenzie Hughes.

Koepka, who contended at last week's PGA Championship before fading on Sunday, eagled the par-5 12th and was 4 under through five holes. He had four more birdies in a span of five holes in his back nine, capped by a 3-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 sixth.

Kim had four birdies on the front and four more on the back while Scheffler was lagging at 2 under before getting birdies on three of his final five holes.

“It was just a comfortable group,” Koepka said. “Everyone is just kind of feeding off each other, easy. Everyone’s having fun. Makes it enjoyable. I feel comfortable on the golf course as well.”

Even though he hardly recognizes parts of it.

Koepka last played at TPC Craig Ranch in 2021, the year before he bolted for LIV. The sixth Nelson at the par-71 layout about 30 miles north of Dallas was the debut of a Lanny Wadkins-led redesign that cost nearly $25 million and added bunkers everywhere and overhauled the greens with mounds and ridges.

“The greens are totally different than when we played,” Koepka said. “That’s obviously the biggest thing. Off the tee it looks pretty good. Place hasn’t changed too much. It’s familiar. I like it.”

Koepka was a regular at the Nelson a decade ago, including a runner-up finish in 2016 when he lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff. The 36-year-old also has a little CJ Cup history. He rose to No. 1 in the world with a victory when the event was in South Korea in 2018.

The title sponsorship moved to the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic and has been associated with the Nelson since 2024.

The move to LIV forced Koepka to put aside things such as world rankings, and now he's dealing with stipulations he had to agree to in order to rejoin the PGA Tour. Among them is not being exempt for the $20 million signature events, even though he won a major — the 2023 PGA — while with LIV.

“I think there’s such a huge difference right now of trying to get into signature events, on my way back, coming back to the tour,” Koepka said. “(Winning) would be a big confidence boost for sure because I feel like I’ve been playing well. I feel like I’m knocking on the door, and I’m very, very close.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Leer en español

The presence was encouraging for the Cuban Americans who support a U.S. military intervention and Castro’s capture.

The strike group includes the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, the embarked Carrier Air Wing 17, the USS Gridley, and the USNS Patuxent.

The U.S. State Department reported that the USS Nimitz was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, “to conduct joint naval exercises with the Brazilian Navy” from May 11-14.

The New York Times reported that the strike group will remain in the Caribbean for at least a few days as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to pressure the Cuban government, according to the military’s Southern Command and a U.S. official.

Related social media

Welcome to the Caribbean, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group!

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the embarked Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17), USS Gridley (DDG 101) and USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201) are the epitome of readiness and presence, unmatched reach and lethality, and strategic… pic.twitter.com/83mfzSIKzd

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 20, 2026

RELATED STORIES

• U.S. indicts Raúl Castro over 1996 fatal shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes
• Watch the speeches during Raul Castro indictment announcement at Freedom Tower
• Cuban exiles at Freedom Tower react to Raúl Castro indictment
• Cuban exiles at Miami’s Cafe Versailles react to Raul Castro indictment news: ‘All for it’
• Republican lawmakers from Florida react to Raúl Castro’s indictment
• Trump, Rubio signal support for change in Cuba amid historic indictment remarks
• Rubio releases message in Spanish to Cubans suffering on the island
• Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel reacts to Raúl Castro’s indictment

Interactive: 19-page indictment

Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, quien estuvo el miércoles en la Freedom Tower para el anuncio de la acusación formal contra Raúl Castro, ofreció una declaración.

“Estamos más cerca de la libertad que nunca”, dijo Gutiérrez-Boronat. “Creo que después de ayer, estamos aún más cerca”.

Por el derribo fatal en 1996 de dos avionetas de Hermanos al Rescate, la acusación formal señala a Castro, de 94 años, por conspiración para matar ciudadanos estadounidenses, dos cargos de destrucción de aeronaves y cuatro cargos de asesinato.

“La masacre de Hermanos al Rescate del 24 de febrero de 1996 no fue la única masacre que Raúl Castro ordenó”, dijo Gutiérrez-Boronat. “Ha ordenado varias masacres más en Cuba. Están completamente documentadas y es momento de que todos estos crímenes sean presentados ante el mundo”.

Gutiérrez-Boronat dijo que legisladores chilenos votarán una resolución que implementaría un tribunal internacional contra los crímenes de lesa humanidad del régimen de Castro.

René Bolio, abogado en México y presidente de la Comisión Justicia Cuba, una organización no gubernamental, dijo que el Estatuto de Roma, el tratado internacional fundamental que estableció la Corte Penal Internacional, era clave.

“De los 11 crímenes contemplados en el Estatuto de Roma, el régimen cubano ha cometido desde 1959 al menos 10”, dijo Bolio en español. “Y lo importante de esto es que están vivos, siguen en el poder y pueden ser juzgados”.

Chile es miembro participante de la CPI desde 2009.

Gutiérrez-Boronat también informó que hubo avances en la revisión por parte de la Unión Europea de un acuerdo con Cuba, lo que podría resultar en una pérdida de financiamiento.

La jefa de política exterior de la Unión Europea, Kaja Kallas, “reconoció que el comunismo siempre fracasa en todo y siempre hace daño”, dijo Gutiérrez-Boronat.

Gutiérrez-Boronat también dijo que legisladores hondureños votaron una resolución en apoyo a la democracia en Cuba, lo que indicó un “consenso” internacional. Luis Zúñiga, ex preso político cubano, se mostró esperanzado.

“La dictadura podría ya estar en su fase final”, dijo Zúñiga en español.

Declaración completa de Gutiérrez-Boronat

NOTICIAS RELACIONADAS

• Rubio afirma que la probabilidad de un acuerdo entre Estados Unidos y Cuba “no es alta”.
• El Comando Sur de los Estados Unidos da la bienvenida al grupo de ataque del portaaviones Nimitz al Caribe.
• La Corte Suprema falla a favor de una empresa estadounidense en sus demandas por propiedades confiscadas en la revolución cubana.
• Estados Unidos acusa a Raúl Castro por el derribo fatal de los aviones de Hermanos al Rescate en 1996.
• Vea los discursos durante el anuncio de la acusación contra Raúl Castro en la Torre de la Libertad.
• Exiliados cubanos en la Torre de la Libertad reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• Los exiliados cubanos en el Café Versailles de Miami reaccionan a la noticia de la acusación contra Raúl Castro: “Todos a favor “.
• Legisladores republicanos de Florida reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• Trump y Rubio dan muestras de apoyo al cambio en Cuba en medio de declaraciones históricas sobre la acusación formal.
• Rubio publica un mensaje en español dirigido a los cubanos que sufren en la isla.
• El presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel reacciona a la acusación de Raúl Castro

Interactivo: Acusación formal de 19 páginas

Multiple reports indicate Snelling is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery, an operation that typically requires 12–18 months of recovery for pitchers.

That timeline would sideline him for the remainder of this season and likely a substantial portion of next year as well.

Leer en español

Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, who was at the Freedom Tower on Wednesday for the announcement of Raúl Castro’s indictment, delivered a statement.

“We are the closest we have ever been to freedom,” Gutiérrez-Boronat said. “I think that after yesterday, we are even closer.”

For the fatal 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes, the indictment charged Castro, 94, with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder.

“The Feb. 24, 1996, massacre of Brothers to the Rescue was not the only massacre Raúl Castro has ordered,” Gutiérrez-Boronat said. “He has ordered several more massacres in Cuba. They are fully documented, and it’s time for all these crimes to be presented before the world.”

Gutiérrez-Boronat said Chilean lawmakers are going to vote on a resolution that would implement an international tribunal against the Castro regime’s crimes against humanity.

René Bolio, an attorney in Mexico who serves as the president of the Cuba Justice Commission, a non-governmental organization, said The Rome Statute, the foundational international treaty that established the International Criminal Court, was key.

“Of the 11 crimes listed in the Rome Statute, the Cuban regime has committed since 1959 at least 10,” Bolio said in Spanish. “And the important thing about this is that they are alive, they remain in power, and they can be tried.”

Chile has been a participant ICC member since 2009.

Gutiérrez-Boronat also reported there was also progress with the European Union’s review of an agreement with Cuba, which could result in a loss of financing.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas “recognized that communism always fails on everything and always does harm,” Gutiérrez-Boronat said.

Gutiérrez-Boronat also said Honduran lawmakers voted on a resolution in support of democracy in Cuba, which indicated an international “consensus.” Luis Zúñiga, a former Cuban political prisoner, was hopeful.

“The dictatorship may already be in its final phase,” Zúñiga said in Spanish.

Gutiérrez-Boronat complete statement

RELATED STORIES

• Rubio says probability of U.S.-Cuba deal is ‘not high’
• U.S. Southern Command welcomes Nimitz carrier strike group to Caribbean
• Supreme Court sides with US company in claims over property seized in Cuban revolution
• U.S. indicts Raúl Castro over 1996 fatal shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes
• Watch the speeches during Raul Castro indictment announcement at Freedom Tower
• Cuban exiles at Freedom Tower react to Raúl Castro indictment
• Cuban exiles at Miami’s Cafe Versailles react to Raul Castro indictment news: ‘All for it’
• Republican lawmakers from Florida react to Raúl Castro’s indictment
• Trump, Rubio signal support for change in Cuba amid historic indictment remarks
• Rubio releases message in Spanish to Cubans suffering on the island
• Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel reacts to Raúl Castro’s indictment

Interactive: 19-page indictment

Leer en español

But authorities said Vladimir Kudyakov wasn’t acting as a mere courier: part of his so-called “job” was making fake IDs of the intended recipients in order to swipe the parcels.

Police investigating the theft of a Rolex watch from a Doral FedEx location said employees at another shipping center in downtown Miami spotted the 43-year-old a few days later as he tried to steal another package.

According to the Doral Police Department, investigators began their probe after a man went to the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center at 10005 NW 41st St. on May 15 to pick up a $53,500 Rolex he had ordered from a New Hampshire company.

Workers there told him that someone already picked up the package the day before. That person ― later determined through facial recognition software to be Kudyakov ― had given FedEx workers a Florida driver’s license with all of the victim’s personal information on it, but Kudyakov’s photo.

It even scanned with the victim’s information on it, authorities said.

Police said on Wednesday, a FedEx loss prevention worker called Doral investigators after an employee at the shipping center at 200 S. Miami Ave. recognized Kudyakov, of Hollywood, from an internal flyer and called her.

Investigators said the employee was able to stall him in time for Miami and Doral police to arrive.

Authorities said Kudyakov gave a “full confession,” saying he was at the downtown Miami location “to pick up another package that did not belong to him” with a fake driver’s license and volunteered that he had an additional stolen package in his vehicle, which police said contained a laptop that was supposed to go to a woman.

The report said investigators also found “a printer, vinyl sticker paper, a laptop and eight counterfeit Florida driver’s licenses.”

Authorities said Kudyakov said he signed up for the “package delivery job” through the messaging app Telegram, which is popular with both Russians and criminals.

In the Russian-language group, Kudyakov said the organizer gave him a list of items to buy to make the fake IDs and then began receiving texts about “jobs” to complete, the report states.

“The texts included a tracking number, victim name and address, description of (the) item and the location of where it is being delivered to,” Doral police wrote. “(He) said that after he retrieves the package, he is then provided with a shipping label via Telegram for the address he is supposed to mail the packages to.”

Kudyakov admitted to completing as many as five “jobs” before his arrest, including the Rolex theft, police said. He said he sent the high-end watch, as instructed, to a pack and ship center in Oakland Park.

Records show Kudyakov faces seven felony charges in Miami-Dade County, including organized fraud, dealing in stolen property and identity theft.

As of Thursday afternoon, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $55,000 bond.

Pero las autoridades dijeron que Vladimir Kudyakov no actuaba solo como mensajero: parte de su supuesto “trabajo” era fabricar identificaciones falsas de los destinatarios previstos para robar los paquetes.

La policía que investigaba el robo de un reloj Rolex de una ubicación de FedEx en Doral dijo que empleados de otro centro de envíos en el centro de Miami detectaron al hombre de 43 años unos días después mientras intentaba robar otro paquete.

Según el Departamento de Policía de Doral, los investigadores comenzaron la pesquisa después de que un hombre acudiera al FedEx Office Print & Ship Center en 10005 NW 41st St. el 15 de mayo para recoger un Rolex de $53,500 USD que había ordenado a una compañía de New Hampshire.

Los empleados del lugar le dijeron que alguien ya había recogido el paquete el día anterior. Esa persona, posteriormente identificada mediante software de reconocimiento facial como Kudyakov, había entregado a los trabajadores de FedEx una licencia de conducir de Florida con toda la información personal de la víctima, pero con la foto de Kudyakov.

Las autoridades dijeron que incluso fue escaneada con la información de la víctima.

La policía indicó que el miércoles, un trabajador de prevención de pérdidas de FedEx llamó a los investigadores de Doral después de que un empleado del centro de envíos ubicado en 200 S. Miami Ave. reconociera a Kudyakov, residente de Hollywood, en un volante interno y la llamara.

Los investigadores dijeron que el empleado logró entretenerlo el tiempo suficiente para que llegaran agentes de la policía de Miami y Doral.

Las autoridades dijeron que Kudyakov dio una “confesión completa”, afirmando que estaba en la ubicación del centro de Miami “para recoger otro paquete que no le pertenecía” usando una licencia de conducir falsa, y además reveló que tenía otro paquete robado en su vehículo, el cual, según la policía, contenía una computadora portátil destinada a una mujer.

El informe indica que los investigadores también encontraron “una impresora, papel adhesivo de vinilo, una computadora portátil y ocho licencias de conducir falsas de Florida”.

Las autoridades dijeron que Kudyakov afirmó haberse inscrito para el “trabajo de entrega de paquetes” a través de la aplicación de mensajería Telegram, popular tanto entre rusos como entre criminales.

En el grupo en ruso, Kudyakov dijo que el organizador le dio una lista de artículos para comprar y fabricar las identificaciones falsas, y luego comenzó a recibir mensajes sobre “trabajos” que debía completar, señala el informe.

“Los mensajes incluían un número de rastreo, nombre y dirección de la víctima, descripción del artículo y la ubicación donde sería entregado”, escribió la policía de Doral. “Dijo que después de recoger el paquete, le proporcionaban una etiqueta de envío a través de Telegram con la dirección a la que debía enviar los paquetes”.

La policía indicó que Kudyakov admitió haber completado hasta cinco “trabajos” antes de su arresto, incluido el robo del Rolex. Dijo que envió el reloj de lujo, siguiendo instrucciones, a un centro de empaques y envíos en Oakland Park.

Los registros muestran que Kudyakov enfrenta siete cargos graves en el condado Miami-Dade, incluyendo fraude organizado, tráfico de propiedad robada y robo de identidad.

Hasta la tarde del jueves, permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza de $55,000 USD.

La acusación formal anunciada el miércoles surge mientras el gobierno del presidente Donald Trump continúa su campaña de presión para derrocar al gobierno socialista de la isla. En los cargos se acusa a Castro y a los pilotos militares de conspirar para aterrorizar, intimidar y tomar represalias contra los cubanos y la comunidad de exiliados del país al derribar las aeronaves que volaba el grupo Hermanos al Rescate.

Castro, que ahora tiene 94 años, era ministro de Defensa cuando varios cazas MiG atacaron los aviones del grupo.

Las autoridades sostienen que los cinco presuntos coconspiradores de Castro, todos integrantes de la Defensa Antiaérea y Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria de Cuba, realizaron misiones de entrenamiento hacia febrero de 1996 “para encontrar, rastrear, perseguir e interceptar” aeronaves frente a la costa cubana, ante la expectativa de vuelos de Hermanos al Rescate.

En la acusación formal se señala que recibieron entrenamiento “bajo el mando de Castro y con instrucciones de” un coconspirador que no fue acusado.

Esto es lo que se sabe sobre los cinco pilotos, identificados como el teniente coronel Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, el teniente coronel Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco y Raúl Simanca Cárdenas.

Teniente coronel Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez

En la acusación formal se afirman que Pérez-Pérez y un piloto que no fue acusado derribaron dos aviones el 24 de febrero de 1996 en espacio aéreo internacional, lo que causó la muerte de cuatro estadounidenses.

Pérez-Pérez declaró a la televisión estatal cubana, días después del derribo, que interceptó la primera aeronave y le advirtió por órdenes de los controladores. Afirmó que el avión ignoró sus advertencias y siguió acercándose a la costa cubana, por lo que recibió la orden de interrumpir su vuelo, antes de hacer lo mismo con la segunda aeronave.

La acusación formal señala que Castro autorizó el uso de fuerza letal después de que Hermanos al Rescate volara aviones que arrojaron panfletos a favor de la democracia sobre Cuba en enero de 1996. Los fiscales estadounidenses indicaron que Castro y su hermano mayor, Fidel Castro, que era presidente en ese momento, fueron quienes tomaron la decisión final sobre las órdenes de derribar los aviones.

Pérez-Pérez ya había sido acusado anteriormente en Estados Unidos en agosto de 2003, señalado por asesinato, destrucción de aeronaves y conspiración.

Teniente coronel Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez

En la acusación formal se sostiene que, el mismo día de los ataques mortales, Gual Barzaga, Simanca Cárdenas y González-Pardo Rodríguez siguieron, pero no destruyeron, un tercer avión.

González-Pardo Rodríguez, de 65 años, es el único acusado que se encuentra bajo custodia en Estados Unidos. Fue imputado en noviembre por presuntamente hacer declaraciones falsas en un documento migratorio.

El Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos indicó entonces que él declaró falsamente que nunca recibió entrenamiento con armas ni entrenamiento militar, que nunca participó en ningún grupo que usara armas o amenazara con usarlas, y que nunca sirvió en una unidad militar o policial. En realidad, señalaron los fiscales, “recibió ese tipo de entrenamiento y sirvió en el ejército cubano como parte de la Fuerza de Defensa Antiaérea”.

Está previsto que reciba sentencia en los próximos días del mes, tras declararse culpable en febrero.

Los cinco pilotos y Castro enfrentan un cargo de conspiración para asesinar a ciudadanos estadounidenses. Castro y Pérez-Pérez también fueron acusados por cargos de asesinato y destrucción de aeronaves.

Tres pilotos más

Se sabe poco sobre Gual Barzaga, Palacio Blanco y Simanca Cárdenas.

En la acusación formal se sostiene que Pérez-Pérez y Palacio Blanco despegaron del aeródromo de San Antonio de los Baños, cerca de La Habana, en aviones distintos. Unos 20 minutos después, Pérez-Pérez solicitó autorización para derribar la aeronave civil.

Mientras Pérez-Pérez atacaba los dos aviones, según la acusación formal, Gual Barzaga y Simanca Cárdenas estaban juntos en un tercer caza, y González-Pardo Rodríguez se encontraba en un cuarto, listo para desplegarse. Las autoridades alegan que los pilotos que esperaban escucharon por radio las solicitudes de Pérez-Pérez para obtener autorización para atacar los aviones y que, finalmente, se unieron a él en la persecución de la tercera aeronave civil.

La acusación federal incluye una foto sin fecha de González-Pardo Rodríguez y Pérez-Pérez mirando un documento junto a un avión de combate.

___

La periodista de The Associated Press Dánica Coto en San Juan, Puerto Rico, contribuyó a este despacho.

___

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

She's hoping it's the only hiccup she has on a potentially historic week.

While Legge is trying to become the first female driver to attempt the one-day, two-race, 1,100-mile marathon known as the “double” on Sunday, her team has spent the past week fine-tuning her race-day plans while getting advice from the most recent driver to attempt the feat, Kyle Larson.

“Hopefully, we get all of the travel woes out of the way now before the weekend, and this weekend goes smoothly,” Legge told The Associated Press on Thursday. “My management has been speaking with Kyle's management about how to get the logistics sorted out, how they did it and we're trying our best to copy and paste what they had and they're just keeping me in the loop.”

The difference between the five men who attempted to start and finish the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 and the first woman to try it is those guys had months to fine-tune their race strategy, itineraries, contingency plans and which race to prioritize if necessary.

Legge's NASCAR team, BRANDed Management, only made its announcement last week.

The English driver's team already has lined up a helicopter ride from the track to nearby Indianapolis International Airport and a private jet to take her from Indy to Charlotte on Sunday.

The rest Legge's schedule consists of being in Indy for Friday's final 500 practice, heading to Charlotte for Saturday's qualifications and back to Indy on Saturday night so she can rest before the scheduled start of the first race at 12:30 p.m. local time. Whenever Legge's day ends in Indy, she'll head back to Charlotte for that race's scheduled 6 p.m. start.

But Larson knows better than most how quickly things can change. A four-hour rain delay in 2024 cost him the chance to make the starting grid in Charlotte on time, and he crashed out of both races last year after rain forced Indy's start to be delayed for 47 minutes.

It could happen again. Indy's forecast calls for a 32% chance of isolated thunderstorms Sunday, though Legge has already decided to stay for the 500 if she's forced into an either-or decision since she's not a full-time driver in either series.

“This is a lot, a lot to do in a short period of time," she said. “But I'm very lucky that I'm surrounded by great people who have put in a lot of work, a lot of hours to make this possible. It wouldn't be possible without e.l.f. Cosmetics and Chevrolet, who are providing the vehicles for us to do this and, obviously, both teams have been awesome and coordinated. So I'm just kind of lucky.”

Only one driver, three-time Cup champ Tony Stewart, has actually completed all 1,100 miles. This year is the 25th anniversary of his feat.

If Legge is going to expand that one-person club, she knows there's not much margin for error. First she needs to qualify in Charlotte, then she must stay out of trouble after qualifying 26th on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. The weather needs to cooperate and, of course, the flights need to be on time, too.

Larson's advice: Savor the moment.

“He said to enjoy it and not to stress about it,” she said, even though Larson acknowledged this week he considered the experience extremely stressful.

Will Power, the 2018 race winner and two-time IndyCar Series champion, also missed media day because of a family commitment. Graham Rahal and Indy rookie Mick Schumacher were the final drivers to appear because they were playing in Rahal's annual golf tournament.

Still, Legge is eager to get back to town. Sure, she may be scrambling a bit to make up for the time lost in New York, and, yes, she'll be dealing with a challenging, compact schedule. But she's also ready to make this a weekend she — and perhaps race fans — will never forget.

“I'm beyond excited," Legge said. “Like it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do either the Indy 500 or the Coca-Cola 600 but to be able to do both and do both on the same day is pretty special, and it's an opportunity I don't take lightly. It's also very cool to be one of the few who have attempted it, and I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel Sunday night. Hopefully, I'll be happy that I've completed all the laps but we'll see.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Trump said previous U.S. presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”

“Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump is intent on addressing it.

Rubio says the US prefers a negotiated agreement with Cuba

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who has long taken a hard-line against Cuba’s socialist leadership, said the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully but is doubtful the U.S. can reach a diplomatic resolution with the island's current government.

Trump's “preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful. That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba,” Rubio said in Miami before boarding a plane to attend a NATO meeting in Sweden and then visit India.

“I’m just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high,” he said.

Top Trump aides — including Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe and other senior national security officials — have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the U.S. side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government in the past week.

Over the years, Cuba has gotten used to “buying time and waiting us out,” Rubio said. “They’re not going to be able to wait us out or buy time. We’re very serious, we’re very focused.”

When asked whether the U.S. would use force in Cuba to change the island's political system, Rubio repeated that a diplomatic settlement was preferred but noted that “the president always has the option to do whatever it takes to support and protect the national interest.”

He pushed back on a reporter’s suggestion that it sounded like “nation-building,” insisting it was about addressing a national security risk.

New threats follow US announcement of charges against Castro

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled an indictment that accuses Castro of ordering the shootdown in 1996 of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. The charges, which were secretly filed by a grand jury in April, included murder and destruction of an airplane.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has condemned the indictment as a political stunt that sought only to “justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”

The Castro indictment has led many to believe that the Trump administration is following the same playbook it did when it captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation in early January. Maduro, who has been imprisoned in the U.S. since his seizure, faces federal drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

The U.S. military touted the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and accompanying ships to the Caribbean Sea on the same day the charges against Castro were announced. U.S. Southern Command said the ships are taking part in maritime exercises with partners in Latin America that began in March.

Rubio would not discuss how the U.S. might move to implement the indictment against Castro, who turns 95 next month.

Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since ousting Maduro and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. That has led to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island.

Trump has ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging to conduct a “friendly takeover” of the country if its leadership did not open its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries.

On Thursday, Rubio said Cuba poses a serious national security threat to America because of its security and intelligence ties with China and Russia and friendly relations with U.S. foes in Latin America.

China opposes U.S. sanctions and pressure on Cuba, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said Thursday.

“China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference,” Guo added.

___

Associated Press writers Simina Mistreanu in Bangkok and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.

The department will use ChatGPT and other AI tools to analyze audit reports from all 50 states on an ongoing basis, said Gustav Chiarello, the assistant secretary for financial resources who is leading the new program.

“It’s classic big government: Everyone files an audit and it lands with a thud and no one does anything about it,” Chiarello said in an interview. “Here, with AI, we’re able to dig into it.”

The move builds on the department's embrace of generative AI for investigating state Medicaid programs, automating administrative tasks and editing text. AI tools can be a powerful aid in finding patterns or problems across large documents, but critics say the government should use them with caution because they frequently make mistakes and can have unintended biases.

The Trump administration and Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force have spent recent months promoting efforts to crack down on fraud in the Medicaid and Medicare programs as well as in student loan applications and other areas. Those efforts have also involved using AI technology to flag likely fraud, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said recently on Fox News.

States, local governments, nonprofits and higher education institutions that spend at least $1 million in federal money a year are required to submit annual audits. The new initiative will use AI to analyze those audits from HHS-funded programs, including state Medicaid programs and federal grantees in research, addiction services and more, Chiarello said.

Recipients that do not file the required reports or resolve problems in them could face a loss of funding.

Critics have blasted the administration's anti-fraud efforts, noting most have been targeted at Democratic states and at times have reflected a tendency to attack first and gather the facts later. On at least one occasion, the administration acknowledged to The Associated Press that it made a major mistake in data it had used to help justify a New York Medicaid fraud investigation.

Asked about safeguards against the AI tools making mistakes, Chiarello noted that officials were evaluating public reports rather than uncovering new information. He said the tools were intended to make grantees better stewards of federal dollars.

Rob Weissman, co-president of the consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen, said he doesn’t think the administration is seriously concerned about fraud, and doesn’t trust it to use AI tools in a fair and nonpartisan way.

“The AI is kind of beside the point when you assess what their actual objectives are, rather than what they pretend they are,” he said.

HHS said it has sent letters to governors and treasurers in all 50 states alerting them to the new initiative. The program was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Chiarello said he has been in touch with his counterparts in other federal departments in hopes that they follow his lead.

“It would be fairly easy for the other agencies to use our technology and jump on it,” he said.

Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints.

The men — who do not appear to be connected — are among the earliest defendants to face charges under the Take It Down Act, a law signed last year by President Donald Trump that adds stricter penalties for publishing AI-created deepfakes and “revenge porn.” The bill drew bipartisan support, as well as the public backing of first lady Melania Trump.

Under the new law, the men now face up to two years in prison.

Attorneys for Shannon and Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Joseph Nocella, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said the men had ”used cutting-edge digital technology to create images that degraded and violated” dozens of women. “This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime,” he added.

Shannon, a resident of New Jersey, published at least 240 albums of AI-generated pornography featuring female politicians, musicians and singers, according to the complaint.

The deepfakes published by Hernandez, of Texas, included both celebrities as well as private women, including recent high school graduates, prosecutors said.

The arrests come as increasingly sophisticated generative AI tools have raised alarm about the online spread of sexually explicit fakes, often depicting minors.

Last month, an Ohio man became the first person convicted under the Take It Down Act after pleading guilty to using AI to generate child sexual abuse material.

In March, two teenage boys received probation for creating explicit AI images of their classmates at an exclusive private school in Pennsylvania.

And in a separate case filed earlier this year, three teenagers in Tennessee sued Elon Musk’s xAI, claiming the company’s Grok tools morphed their real photos into explicitly sexual images.

The high school students are seeking class-action status to represent what the lawsuit says are thousands of people who were similarly victimized as minors.

Mullin arrives in the capital for a two-day visit following tensions in recent weeks over the deaths of two CIA agents at Mexico’s northern border and U.S. drug trafficking indictments against 10 Mexican officials.

Sheinbaum's administration, which took office in October 2024, has toed a fine line with the Trump administration as it has emphasized bilateral cooperation, while also maintaining Mexico's sovereignty in the face of threats of U.S. military intervention.

“What we want is for us to continue working within the framework of that (security) understanding,” Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference, referring to past dialogues with the Trump administration.

Mullin, who assumed the position in March after Kristi Noem’s departure, is also scheduled to meet with Mexico’s Security Cabinet.

Sheinbaum said Thursday that she would also speak with Mullin about the 15 Mexican migrants who have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers since 2025, which prompted diplomatic protests from her government. Sheinbaum has instructed consulates to make daily visits to the detention centers, and Mexico announced in March that it would bring the cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The Mexican president ruled out discussing the cases of the 10 indicted officials, some of whom belong to the governing Morena party, during her meeting with Mullin.

In late April, the New York Attorney General’s office indicted Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha, Culiacan mayor Juan de Dios Gámez, and eight other active and retired officials on charges including drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms.

Rocha and Gámez temporarily stepped down from their posts to facilitate the investigation opened by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, while the former Sinaloa government officials, Gerardo Mérida and Enrique Díaz, surrendered to U.S. authorities last week.

Bilateral relations became strained after the deaths of two CIA agents on April 19, along with two officials from the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office, when the vehicle they were traveling in plunged into a ravine in the mountains between Chihuahua — which borders Texas — and the state of Sinaloa, where a clandestine synthetic drug lab had been dismantled.

The incident prompted a formal protest from the Sheinbaum administration to Washington that it hadn't been informed of the presence of the two U.S. agents in Mexico, or of their activities in the opposition-governed state of Chihuahua.

___

Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

It’s the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, one from the country's General Security agency and the other from the military intelligence, both of them accused of providing Hezbollah with “illicit support” and intelligence during the ongoing conflict.

The announcement comes as pressure mounts on Beirut to take more decisive action in disarming the group.

Included in Thursday's sanctions are former cabinet minister and senior Hezbollah official Mohammed Fneish, senior Hezbollah parliamentarians Hassan Fadlallah, Ibrahim al-Moussawi and Hussein Hajj Hassan. All have pushed against efforts for disarmament.

Mohammad Reza Sheibani, the Iranian Ambassador designate to Lebanon — who was ordered to leave Beirut by Lebanon's foreign ministry — was also hit with sanctions.

Treasury accuses the men of undermining Lebanon's ability to disarm the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization.

The announcement comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials continue holding low-level talks in Washington in a bid to end the monthslong war between Israel and Hezbollah. Military officials from both sides are expected to hold their first direct talks in the Pentagon on May 29 as Israel mounts pressure on Lebanon to disarm the powerful group, and Beirut urges Israel to end its daily airstrikes and to withdraw its troops from large swaths of southern Lebanon.

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 19 people, including four women and three children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Hezbollah has dismissed the ongoing talks, instead backing Iran’s talks with the U.S. mediated by Pakistan. It rejects calls, both locally and internationally, for its disarmament. Lebanon’s president and prime minister in early 2025 came to power on a reformist platform vowing to disarm all non-state groups, including Hezbollah. Washington and Israel have been critical of the slow process, but the authorities fear a more confrontational approach could risk armed conflict in the tiny Mediterranean country.

The sanctions announced Thursday deny the parties access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. Its unclear what kind of ties they have with the U.S. financial system.

Hezbollah has been designated a “foreign terrorist organization" under the authority of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act since 1997.

“Treasury will continue to take action against officials who have infiltrated the Lebanese government," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, adding that Hezbollah has waged a "senseless campaign of violence against the Lebanese people.”

—

Chehayeb reported from Beirut.

Leer en español

According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, at about 1:21 p.m. on Feb. 28, Dania Rodriguez-Ortiz entered a Sephora, located at 8500 SW 88th St., grabbed about $850 worth of skin care and makeup products, placed them in her purse, and left without paying.

Deputies said the entire incident was captured on surveillance video, and she was later identified by name and date of birth.

They said a second incident occurred on March 4, at about 4:23 p.m., when Rodriguez-Oritz allegedly returned to the same store and selected about $1,059 worth of similar items.

The report states that she placed the merchandise in her purse, then went to the register and paid for one makeup item before leaving without paying for the rest.

That incident was also captured on surveillance video, according to authorities.

Jail records show Rodriguez-Ortiz is facing two counts of third-degree grand theft.

As of Thursday afternoon, she was being held on a $2,500 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

The indictment announced Wednesday emerged as the Trump administration continues its pressure campaign to topple the island's socialist government. The charges accuse Castro and the military pilots of conspiring to terrorize, intimidate and retaliate against Cubans and the country's exile community by shooting down the aircraft flown by the Brothers to the Rescue group.

Castro, now 94, was defense minister when MiG fighters targeted the group's planes.

Authorities allege that Castro’s five co-conspirators, all part of the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force, engaged in training missions around February 1996 “to find, track, pursue and intercept" aircraft off the Cuban coast in anticipation of flights by Brothers to the Rescue.

The indictment states that they underwent training at Castro’s “command and with direction from” a co-conspirator who was not indicted.

Here is what is known about the five pilots, who were identified as Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco and Raúl Simanca Cárdenas.

Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez

The indictment alleges that Pérez-Pérez and a pilot who was not charged shot down two planes on Feb. 24, 1996, in international airspace, killing four Americans.

Pérez-Pérez told Cuban state television days after the shooting that he intercepted the first aircraft and warned it based on orders from controllers. He said the plane ignored his warnings.

“We tried to dissuade their crew members, but they continued to dangerously approach the Cuban coast, and then we received the order to interrupt the flight of the first aircraft,” Pérez-Pérez said at the time. “Afterward, we conducted the same operation with the second plane, which also refused to change its direction.”

Castro is accused in the indictment of authorizing the use of deadly force after Brothers to the Rescue flew planes that dropped pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba in January 1996. U.S. prosecutors said Castro and his older brother, Fidel Castro, who was president at the time, were the final decision-makers on orders to kill.

Pérez-Pérez was previously indicted in the U.S. in August 2003 and accused of murder, aircraft destruction and conspiracy.

Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez

The indictment alleges that on the same day of the deadly attacks, Gual Barzaga, Simanca Cárdenas and González-Pardo Rodríguez followed but did not destroy a third plane.

González-Pardo Rodríguez, 65, is the only defendant in U.S. custody. He was indicted in November for allegedly making false statements in an immigration document.

The U.S. Department of Justice at the time said that he falsely stated he never received any weapons or military training, never participated in any group that used weapons or threatened to use weapons, and never served in a military or police unit. In reality, prosecutors said, "he received such training and served in the Cuban military as part of the Air Defense Force.”

He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month after pleading guilty in February.

The five pilots and Castro face one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. Castro and Pérez-Pérez were also indicted on counts of murder and destruction of aircraft.

Three other pilots

Little is known about Gual Barzaga, Palacio Blanco and Simanca Cárdenas.

The indictment alleges that Pérez-Pérez and Palacio Blanco took off from the San Antonio de los Baños airfield, near Havana, in separate jets. Pérez-Pérez requested authorization to shoot down the civilian aircraft some 20 minutes later.

While Pérez-Pérez attacked the two planes, according to the indictment, Gual Barzaga and Simanca Cárdenas sat together in a third fighter jet, and González-Pardo Rodríguez was in a fourth one ready to deploy. Authorities allege the waiting pilots listened to Pérez-Pérez's radio requests for authorization to attack the planes, and they eventually joined him in the pursuit of the third civilian aircraft.

The federal indictment includes an undated photo of González-Pardo Rodríguez and Pérez-Pérez looking at a document next to a fighter jet.

___

Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

Según un informe de arresto de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, alrededor de la 1:21 p.m. del 28 de febrero, Dania Rodriguez-Ortiz entró a una tienda Sephora ubicada en 8500 SW 88th St., tomó aproximadamente $850 USD en productos para el cuidado de la piel y maquillaje, los colocó en su bolso y salió sin pagar.

Los agentes dijeron que todo el incidente fue captado en video de vigilancia y posteriormente fue identificada por nombre y fecha de nacimiento.

Indicaron que un segundo incidente ocurrió el 4 de marzo alrededor de las 4:23 p.m., cuando Rodriguez-Ortiz presuntamente regresó a la misma tienda y seleccionó aproximadamente $1,059 USD en artículos similares.

El informe señala que colocó la mercancía en su bolso, luego fue a la caja registradora y pagó por un artículo de maquillaje antes de salir sin pagar el resto.

Ese incidente también fue captado en video de vigilancia, según las autoridades.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que Rodriguez-Ortiz enfrenta dos cargos de hurto mayor en tercer grado.

Hasta la tarde del jueves, permanecía detenida en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza de $2,500 USD.

Leer en español

An arrest report from the Florida City Police Department states that the incident started with a 5:30 p.m. confrontation in the intersection of Palm Drive and Krome Avenue.

Police said Billy Graham Tindal, 63, of Lakeland, began honking at the victim, who was in the intersection after the light changed and “drove within inches of his vehicle,” prompting the other driver to give him the middle finger.

Authorities said Tindal, who is temporarily living in Homestead, eventually followed the other driver onto U.S. 1, where he tried to run him off the road and then “rolled down his window and pointed a small handgun” at him. The report states that Tindal waved the gun again while both were at a red light north of Florida’s Turnpike.

According to the report, the victim called police and followed Tindal at a distance to Hummingbird Drive and Jay Court in Homestead, where an officer from that city’s police department arrived.

Florida City police arrived later and said that Tindal gave “multiple conflicting statements” about the incident and claimed that he was the one nearly run off the road, saying he pulled into a hotel parking lot to “get away” from the other driver.

Authorities said Tindal’s own dashboard camera showed that he was the one behaving aggressively and never pulled into the hotel lot like he claimed. The arrest report states that the video showed Tindal trying to run the other driver off the road but the investigating officer didn’t see him “visibly brandish(ing) the firearm in the video footage.”

But police said they did seize a gun from Tindal after taking him into custody on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving.

As of Thursday, Tindal was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $2,650 bond.

Un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Florida City indica que el incidente comenzó con una confrontación a las 5:30 p.m. en la intersección de Palm Drive y Krome Avenue.

La policía dijo que Billy Graham Tindal, de 63 años y residente de Lakeland, comenzó a tocar la bocina a la víctima, quien estaba en la intersección después de que cambiara la luz y “condujo a pulgadas de su vehículo”, lo que provocó que el otro conductor le hiciera una señal obscena con el dedo medio.

Las autoridades dijeron que Tindal, quien vive temporalmente en Homestead, eventualmente siguió al otro conductor hasta U.S. 1, donde intentó sacarlo de la carretera y luego “bajó su ventana y apuntó una pequeña pistola” hacia él. El informe indica que Tindal volvió a mostrar el arma mientras ambos estaban detenidos en una luz roja al norte de la autopista Turnpike de Florida.

Según el informe, la víctima llamó a la policía y siguió a Tindal a distancia hasta Hummingbird Drive y Jay Court en Homestead, donde llegó un agente del departamento de policía de esa ciudad.

La policía de Florida City llegó más tarde y dijo que Tindal dio “múltiples declaraciones contradictorias” sobre el incidente y afirmó que él fue quien estuvo a punto de ser sacado de la carretera, asegurando que entró a un estacionamiento de hotel para “alejarse” del otro conductor.

Las autoridades dijeron que la propia cámara del tablero de Tindal mostró que él era quien se comportaba agresivamente y que nunca entró al estacionamiento del hotel como afirmó. El informe de arresto indica que el video mostró a Tindal intentando sacar al otro conductor de la carretera, pero el agente investigador no vio que “mostrara visiblemente el arma de fuego en el video”.

Sin embargo, la policía dijo que confiscó un arma de Tindal después de arrestarlo por cargos de agresión agravada con arma mortal y conducción imprudente.

Hasta el jueves, Tindal permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza de $2,650 USD.

Running more than 250 pages, the prospectus for his SpaceX stock debut shows spending at a massive scale — greater than the economic output of some countries — and about to grow much larger as he races to make good on his promise to hurl men to distant planets. Money raised in the initial public offering — reportedly $75 billion or so — will help finance those futuristic, fantastical plans.

Assuming the IPO goes off without a hitch, it will rank as the largest ever. It will also likely make Musk, a major SpaceX owner and already the world’s richest man, the first trillionaire.

The document in part reads like a script for a Hollywood sci-fi movie as he details how he hopes to use his rockets to save the human race from extinction by making it an interplanetary species.

First, he will send men to the moon, then, maybe, Mars, where he hopes to build a permanent one-million person colony.

A look at the outsized numbers behind Musk’s outsized ambitions.

$1.75 trillion-$2 trillion

The expected valuation for SpaceX after its public offering, expected to take place next month. Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable public company at around $5.4 trillion. It went public in January 1999 and first closed with a market value above $2 trillion in March 2024.

$4.9 billion

SpaceX’s loss for the full year 2025. Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company, went public in 2010 but didn’t earn an annual profit until 2020.

$839 billion

Elon Musk’s net worth as of May 20, according to Forbes. Musk is a major stockholder in SpaceX, and also stands to reap hundreds of billions of dollars from a compensation package awarded to him at Tesla, assuming he hits some ambitious financial and business metrics.

85.1%

The voting power at SpaceX controlled by Musk by virtue of his owning more than 90% of the company’s Class B shares, which give the holder 10 votes for every share held. He also owns a 12% stake in the Class A shares, which carry one vote.

At least 1 million

That’s how many human inhabitants Musk needs to have living in a colony on Mars for him to receive a part of his SpaceX compensation package. There are no current capabilities of transporting one human to Mars, let alone 1 million.

$7.5 trillion

That’s the top market capitalization SpaceX has to reach for Musk to receive his full compensation. He will receive it in pieces as the market capitalization rises to certain milestones along the way. By comparison, Trump’s proposed defense budget for fiscal year 2027 is $1.5 trillion.

9,600

That’s approximately how many Starlink satellites SpaceX has in orbit. By comparison UPS says it has 135,000 delivery vehicles — including motorcycles — in its fleet. Delta Air Lines has a fleet of more than 1,200 when regional airline partners are included.

366

The number of days Musk is required to hold on to his SpaceX stock before he’s able to sell or transfer it. It’s called a lock-up period and prevents insiders dumping their shares or immediately cashing out. Other top SpaceX investors have to wait 180 days.

$20.7 billion

How much the company spent in 2025 for all its units, which include rockets, satellites and artificial intelligence technology. The bulk of the spending, at just under $11.4 billion, came from its connectivity unit that includes its Starlink satellites.

$131 million

That’s how much SpaceX spent in 2025 on Cybertrucks from Musk’s other public company, Tesla. The base model of a Cybertruck costs $69,990, so $131 million gets the buyer 1,871 vehicles. Musk’s businesses often interact, which has raised speculation that Tesla and SpaceX could eventually merge.

That's because we're talking about barbecue — the “low and slow” cooking method that's a hallmark of American culture.

Obviously, meat cooked over heat can be found in great-tasting forms all over the world - roasted, baked, grilled, all the ways. Many of them are regulars on the American plate. But there's something about the way barbecue developed in the U.S., cuts of meat made falling-off-the-bone tender through hours of cooking over indirect heat or smoke at lower temperatures, often with a sauce used as a marinade or for basting or perhaps a mix of dry spices. See: Ribs. Brisket. Pork shoulder. (You're hungry, aren't you. Told you.)

The roots of what's become American barbecue go back before the U.S. officially even became a country, says Robert F. Moss, contributing barbecue editor for “Southern Living” magazine and author of “Barbecue, The History of American Institution.”

It's a mix of influences, he says, starting between the indigenous peoples already here with their own cooking methods, the colonists who came from Europe with livestock new to the Americas and the enslaved Africans with their own cultures and traditions forcibly brought over and put to work.

“A lot of visitors to the United States ... called out barbecue as being a particular American kind of thing,” Moss says. “From the very beginning, it was something distinctive to the Americas and something that Europeans recognized as being something different than the way they cooked meat.”

The development of what we think of as barbecue today had other influences over the centuries, like commercial refrigeration of the late 19th century and the subsequent popularity of the in-home version in the early decades of the 20th, which allowed people to buy and store cuts of meat in ways impossible in colonial times.

Another hallmark of American barbecue culture is how regional it is, with different sauces and cooking techniques in North Carolina vs Memphis vs Texas vs Georgia. Moss says that developed in the early part of the 20th century.

A local cook might start a restaurant and teach barbecue to his employees, who then went out on their own. “You can literally map out these barbecue mentors who sort of spun out all these other cooks, and you can see how their style sort of was handed down from one generation to the next,” Moss says. “And that’s where you start seeing all the things we think of as the iconic.”

___

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

Fendrich died Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his wife Rosanna Maietta said. He was diagnosed with cancer in February shortly after returning from Milan, where he covered his 11th Olympics.

Tennis great Roger Federer, who estimated he'd had more than 100 interactions with Fendrich over the decades, called the journalist “one of those constant and reassuring presences in the tennis world for many years.”

“He started covering tennis in 2002, right around the time I was starting to have my breakthrough in the sport, and over time he truly became part of the fabric of tennis,” Federer said. “Tennis lost a wonderful journalist and a great person.”

Fendrich is survived by his wife; his mother, Renée; his brother, Alex; and two sons, Stefano and Jordan, each of whom are pursuing careers in sports journalism – just like their dad.

“Howard was a gifted journalist who brought such skill, expertise and enthusiasm to his work,” said AP Executive Editor and Senior Vice President Julie Pace. “His stories were a joy to read, combining lively writing with insightful reporting. He was also a generous and beloved colleague whose warmth and passion touched so many across the AP.”

A veteran of AP across three decades

A graduate of Haverford College near Philadelphia, Fendrich worked at AP for 33 years, starting as an unpaid intern in Rome.

There, he became fluent in his beloved city’s language, mostly by watching Italian karaoke videos, and that helped him get a foot in the door to the news agency’s European sports coverage, focusing on soccer. That, in turn, landed him on the radar of the AP sports editor at the time, Terry R. Taylor, who helped him get back to the United States.

In the United States, Fendrich started as an editor on the AP sports desk at the New York headquarters, where he also wrote a sports media column. He moved to the Washington area in 2005 and became a steady presence on sports beats in the region where he had grown up.

But his true passion was tennis. He chronicled the careers of Venus and Serena Williams, Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and others. He covered some 70 Grand Slam tournaments over nearly a quarter century on the beat. It was at those events where his brilliance shone brightest.

Fendrich's writing honors included two Grimsley Awards for best overall body of work among AP sports writers and a handful of deadline-writing citations. One was for a piece from Andre Agassi’s last match, which came at the 2006 U.S. Open:

“Crouched alone in the silence of the locker room, a pro tennis player no more, a red-eyed Andre Agassi twisted his torso in an attempt to conquer the seemingly mundane task of pulling a white shirt over his head. Never more than at that moment did Agassi seem so vulnerable, looking far older than his 36 years.”

The passage highlighted Fendrich at his best – watching, rewatching, taking notes, going beyond the courts and painstakingly sifting through details of events that millions of people witnessed to tell them something the guy sitting right next to him might not have noticed.

Fendrich captured Federer’s heartfelt meeting with Bjorn Borg in the hallway after a history-making win at Wimbledon. He detailed the gritty realities of playing on red clay at Roland Garros, then having to wash it out of shorts and socks when the match was over.

At his last big assignment in Milan, he followed speedskater Jutta Leerdam’s famous fiancé, fighter Jake Paul, down the hallway leading to the parking lot – all just to unearth a detail, just to get a quote. He got them, then Paul proclaimed: “OK, we’re done.” Bodyguards moved in and, as Fendrich said at a dinner later: “I decided, ‘Yes, I guess we are.’”

An unerring instinct for how to get the news

He had a knack for knowing where to go, who to ask and, just as importantly, what to ask and how.

For days during the steamy Washington summer in 2011, he sat on a folding chair on a sidewalk, perched a laptop on his lap and wrote, all while waiting for principals to emerge from tense negotiations during the protracted NFL labor lockout. Though he wasn’t what would be known today as an “NFL insider,” Fendrich worked the room, the phones — and the sidewalk — and helped AP stay as competitive as anyone in delivering developments and detailing the eventual end of the standoff.

“There was that doggedness,” said Mary Byrne, the AP’s deputy sports editor at the time of the lockout. “He was annoyed by it, and by all the time he spent out there waiting for people to come out and say nothing. But that situation wasn’t going to get the best of him, and he wasn’t going to get beat on the story.”

When Washington quarterback Alex Smith broke his leg in the most gruesome of fashions in 2018, Fendrich immediately got on the phone with the one person who could understand: retired star quarterback Joe Theismann.

Sometimes, however, the phone would ring for him and, even if he was in the middle of a World Series game, Fendrich would pick up. If he started speaking Italian, it was undoubtedly Rosanna, his wife. Or sometimes the kids called and had a school question — or a story from that day’s soccer game. For them, he had endless patience and time.

Then: Straight back to work, and he didn’t miss a thing.

“Nothing got past him,” said Stephen Wilson, AP's former European sports editor, who worked with Fendrich for more than 20 years. “Every story — even a three-paragraph brief — had to be iron-clad.”

It wasn’t just the written word where Fendrich was a master. He had a snappy, razor-sharp sense of humor. No colleague could turn him down when he raised his eyebrows, motioned his head toward the door and asked them to join him in his “office” -- usually a quiet courtyard or hallway outside a press room — to hash out coverage plans for the day or compare notes about people and things seen around the courts.

Chris Lehourites, an editor at AP who guided tennis coverage in Europe for decades, spent many a long day fretting over punctuation, syntax and word choice with Fendrich, whom he called a “perfectionist when it came to his job.”

“Howard was also a friend,” Lehourites said, “whose dry humor, along with his bags of Blow Pop lollipops, made long days go by quick.”

___

https://apnews.com/sports

La Junta Directiva de la vía interoceánica escogió luego de varias semanas de evaluación a quien actualmente ocupa el cargo de subadministradora de la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá, donde ha liderado proyectos clave como la ampliación de la vía, que se inició en 2007 y se puso en operación a mediados del 2016.

La ingeniera, de 64 años, ocupará el cargo por siete años a partir del 1 de octubre y reemplazará al actual administrador Ricaurte Vásquez. Espino de Marotta se desempeña como subadministradora desde el año 2020.

“He hablado con la nueva Administradora del Canal de Panamá... para felicitarla y reafirmar el compromiso de trabajar coordinadamente en proyectos estratégicos que generen empleo, prosperidad y progreso para los panameños”, escribió el mandatario en su cuenta de la red social X.

Espino de Marotta cuenta con más de 35 años de experiencia en la industria marítima, principalmente en el Canal de Panamá. Con un muy característico casco rosa estuvo al frente de millonarios proyectos de inversión, entre ellos la ampliación del tercer juego de esclusas valuada en más de 5.000 millones de dólares.

Actualmente, lidera el Proyecto de Río Indio, estimado en 1.500 millones, una de las iniciativas más importantes para el futuro del canal porque permitirá la estabilidad hídrica de la vía interoceánica y el abastecimiento de agua para más de dos millones de personas que habitan en la capital panameña y zonas aledañas.

La nueva administradora también tendrá entre sus principales retos el desarrollo de dos nuevos puertos que serán licitados en los próximos meses, uno en cada salida del canal. Además, la vía planea licitar la construcción de un gasoducto y el desarrollo de un corredor logístico como parte de su estrategia de expansión y diversificación.

Espino de Marotta obtuvo una licenciatura en Ingeniería Marina de Texas A&M University y una maestría en Ingeniería Económica de la Universidad Santa María La Antigua. Además, participó en el Programa de Desarrollo Ejecutivo de INCAE Business School y en la Kellogg School of Management de Northwestern University. También cuenta con una certificación como administradora de proyectos del Project Management Institute.

The two-time American League Cy Young Award winner underwent a non-invasive procedure on his left pitching elbow on May 6 to remove a loose body. He threw his latest bullpen session prior to Detroit's home game against Cleveland.

Manager A.J. Hinch called it a “great step” but stopped short of saying when Skubal might return to action.

“There are little hurdles to clear along the way when you come back from a procedure,” Hinch said. “As much as we described it as simple, it's still a procedure.”

Skubal used his full arsenal while throwing a total of 35 pitches, taking a breather in-between to simulate a break between innings.

“His velocity was as high as it's been since his throwing started,” Hinch said. “He sat down and came back and did like a simulated second inning. That's encouraging and it's full stuff.”

Skubal will travel with the team during its weekend series in Baltimore and throw another bullpen session. The team's medical and coaching staff will determine his next step afterward.

Skubal is 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA in seven starts this season. He'll be a free agent after the season.

___

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

Postcards emblazoned with “Greetings from” a state, city or tourist attraction advertise more than just the tiny scenes squeezed into 3D letters. They also reflect American innovation and idealism in both their production and popularity.

So-called large-letter postcards weren’t new when a German immigrant named Curt Teich began producing colorful linen-textured versions in the early 1930s, but he “was kind of a genius,” said Will Hansen, curator of Americana at the Newberry Library in Chicago, home to largest public collection of Teich postcards in the United States.

Just as Henry Ford revolutionized automobile production, Teich’s company perfected a system of mass producing large-letter postcards based on the idea that no town was too small to include.

“Nobody had really pulled together the idea that we should just do these for everywhere, and that’s kind of a quintessentially American thing,” Hansen said. “You take an idea, and you perfect it and you replicate it.”

The postcards’ popularity in the 1940s, 50s and 60s was fueled by an obsession with the automobile and the adventure of road travel. Teich and his imitators used saturated colors and simplified scenes to paint an enticing view of mid-20th-century America.

“They’re very optimistic-looking,” Hansen said. “That is sort of in tandem with how Americans are thinking about America at that time — that this is a country on an upward trajectory, that we have more money to spend, that we’re able to travel freely in ways we couldn’t before.”

Peter Meggison, a 76-year-old retired community college professor in Westport, Massachusetts, has 10,000 large-letter postcards in his private collection. His favorites include cards depicting his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and one from Saugatuck, Michigan, that features a vibrant artist’s palette as the background.

“I think it’s the graphics that appeal to a lot of people, and they really do represent mid-20th century America, which is really quite nice,” he said.

For non-collectors, sending the postcards to friends and family was an inexpensive way to show off their travel. Today, travelers pose in front of murals around the country that mimic the vintage postcards and share photos on social media. Last year, the Newberry helped The Eagles create a background of gigantic postcard images at the Sphere in Las Vegas for the classic rock band’s performance of “Take it Easy.”

Says Hansen: “Even if folks in that crowd weren’t alive at the time when these were being distributed, everybody knows them."

___

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

El subcomandante de la Policía de Cochabamba, Marcelo Acuña, informó que se detuvo a nueve manifestantes que atacaron a los agentes arrojándoles cartuchos de dinamita.

En La Paz la policía buscaba mediante el diálogo establecer un corredor para garantizar el abastecimiento de oxígeno medicinal, alimentos y combustible. La noche del miércoles en la vecina ciudad de El Alto, que también tiene puntos de bloqueo, se logró el paso de 70 carros cisterna con gasolina. El jueves Chile envió un avión Hércules de su Fuerza Aérea con alimentos.

El sector productivo estimó en 600 millones de dólares las pérdidas causadas por los bloqueos.

La Paz y sus ciudades aledañas tienen más de 20 puntos de bloqueo de los más de 40 que hay a nivel nacional, en su mayoría protagonizados por campesinos y seguidores del expresidente Evo Morales (2006-2019).

El jueves La Paz estaba tranquila y con plena normalidad comercial, pero escaso transporte. El Palacio Presidencial era custodiado por militares y policías a la espera de las marchas anunciadas para la tarde.

En El Alto los cortes de ruta se mantenían, pero cada vez más débiles, dijo el alcalde Eliser Roca.

Luego de que el miércoles el presidente Paz anunciara un reordenamiento de su gabinete, el ministro de Trabajo, Édgar Morales, puso su cargo a disposición.

Leer en español

It happened on Feb. 17 in the area of Southwest 266th Street and 138th Avenue in the county’s Naranja neighborhood.

According to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the two victims said they were at the scene to buy drugs when they were ambushed and shot by a man later identified as 22-year-old Brian Laoz.

The victims drove themselves to the hospital while deputies said Laoz fled the scene and was later picked up by Leah Santos, 22, who told investigators that she was Laoz’s girlfriend.

Now, authorities have arrested a third person, 22-year-old Lamont Lindner, for his involvement in the crime.

According to MDSO, surveillance video from the night of the shooting showed Laoz running away from the scene after allegedly opening fire on the victims before stopping on Southwest 268th Street just west of 138th Court and making contact with Lindner, who had just arrived on a bicycle.

Investigators later arrived to where both Laoz and Lindner were and detained them, at which time Lindner told a detective, “Y’all got the wrong people today, brother,” according to his arrest form.

Deputies also said Lindner was wearing a black T-shirt with a design that said “In Glock With Trust with a picture of a handgun and a magazine,” that was exposed because the gray hoodie that he was wearing when he arrived at the scene had been removed and given to Laoz, who had since put it on, according to official documents.

Lindner is facing felony charges of accessory after the fact and tampering with physical evidence.

As of Thursday afternoon, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on $12,500 bond, but official documents indicate he was out on felony bond at the time of his arrest.

El incidente ocurrió el 17 de febrero en el área de Southwest 266th Street y 138th Avenue, en el vecindario Naranja del condado.

Según la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, las dos víctimas dijeron que estaban en el lugar para comprar drogas cuando fueron emboscadas y baleadas por un hombre posteriormente identificado como Brian Laoz, de 22 años.

Las víctimas condujeron por su cuenta hasta el hospital, mientras los agentes dijeron que Laoz huyó de la escena y posteriormente fue recogido por Leah Santos, de 22 años, quien dijo a los investigadores que era novia de Laoz.

Ahora, las autoridades arrestaron a una tercera persona, Lamont Lindner, de 22 años, por su participación en el crimen.

Según la MDSO, un video de vigilancia de la noche de la balacera mostró a Laoz corriendo lejos de la escena después de presuntamente abrir fuego contra las víctimas, antes de detenerse en Southwest 268th Street al oeste de 138th Court y hacer contacto con Lindner, quien acababa de llegar en bicicleta.

Los investigadores posteriormente llegaron al lugar donde estaban Laoz y Lindner y los detuvieron, momento en el que Lindner le dijo a un detective: “Hoy atraparon a las personas equivocadas, hermano”, según su informe de arresto.

Los agentes también dijeron que Lindner llevaba puesta una camiseta negra con un diseño que decía “In Glock We Trust” junto a la imagen de una pistola y un cargador, que quedó expuesta porque el suéter gris con capucha que llevaba cuando llegó a la escena había sido removido y entregado a Laoz, quien posteriormente se lo puso, según documentos oficiales.

Lindner enfrenta cargos graves de cómplice después del hecho y manipulación de evidencia física.

Hasta la tarde del jueves, permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza de $12,500 USD, pero documentos oficiales indican que estaba libre bajo fianza por otro delito grave al momento de su arresto.

Denied entry into the military as a teenager because of his extreme views, the 50-year-old Ben-Gvir nevertheless rose to become one of the most powerful people in the country after operating for decades within its far-right fringes.

His tactics drew a backlash this week, as foreign leaders — and even coalition partner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — condemned his on-camera treatment of some 430 detainees from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

In one clip, Ben-Gvir is seen waving a large Israeli flag over hunched-over detainees whose hands appear to be bound. In another, he taunts a kneeling detainee whose wrists are zip-tied, yelling “Am Yisrael Chai” at him — Hebrew for “The nation of Israel lives.” In another, the detainees can be seen — foreheads to the floor of an outdoor pen — as the Israeli national anthem plays and armed guards encircle them.

Here is a closer look at Ben-Gvir:

An outlaw youth

Ben-Gvir has been convicted eight times for offenses that include racism and supporting a terrorist organization.

The army banned him from compulsory military service when he was a teen, deeming his views too extreme.

Ben-Gvir gained notoriety in his youth as a follower of the late radical rabbi Meir Kahane. He first became a national figure when he broke a hood ornament off then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s car in 1995.

“We got to his car, and we’ll get to him too,” he said, just weeks before Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to his peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Two years later, Ben-Gvir took responsibility for orchestrating a campaign of protests, including death threats, that forced Irish singer Sinead O’Connor to cancel a concert for peace in Jerusalem.

Moving to the mainstream

The political rise of Ben-Gvir was the culmination of years of efforts by the media-savvy lawmaker to gain legitimacy. But it also reflected a rightward shift in the Israeli electorate that brought his religious, ultranationalist ideology into the mainstream and diminished hopes for Palestinian independence.

Ben-Gvir is trained as a lawyer and gained recognition as a successful defense attorney for extremist Jews accused of violence against Palestinians.

With a quick wit and cheerful demeanor, Ben-Gvir also became a popular fixture in the media, paving his way to enter politics. He was first elected to parliament in 2021.

Ben-Gvir has called for deporting his political opponents. In an episode in 2022, he brandished a pistol and encouraged police to open fire on Palestinian stone-throwers in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood.

In his Cabinet post, Ben-Gvir oversaw the country’s police force. He used his influence to encourage Netanyahu to press ahead with the war in Gaza and recently boasted that he had blocked past efforts to reach a ceasefire.

As national security minister, he has encouraged police to take a tough line against anti-government protesters.

Controversial minister

Ben-Gvir, who lives in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank, secured his Cabinet post after 2022 elections that put Netanyahu and his far-right partners, including Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party, into power.

“Over the last year I’ve been on a mission to save Israel,” Ben-Gvir told reporters before that election. “Millions of citizens are waiting for a real right-wing government. The time has come to give them one.”

Ben-Gvir has been a magnet of controversy throughout his tenure — encouraging the mass distribution of handguns to Jewish citizens, backing Netanyahu’s contentious attempt to overhaul the country’s legal system and frequently lashing out at U.S. leaders for perceived slights against Israel.

He oversees the nation's police force, prison service and border police units that operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

During the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack, Ben-Gvir repeatedly advocated against the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory, even as experts warned of brewing famine.

In July 2025, he was one of two Israeli ministers sanctioned by Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway for allegedly “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. T he Netherlands has banned Ben-Gvir from entering the country.

He recently celebrated in Israel's parliament after the body approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a bill he spearheaded.

Resignation and return to Netanyahu's cabinet

Ben-Gvir temporarily resigned from Netanyahu's Cabinet last year to express his disapproval of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

That ceasefire ran from Jan. 19 to March 1. Ben-Gvir's resignation did not stop the ceasefire, but it did weaken Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

Ben-Gvir rejoined the Cabinet when Israel ended the ceasefire and returned to active combat in Gaza in March 2025. He remained in Netanyahu's Cabinet through the current Gaza ceasefire.

Rubio dijo que era poco probable que las conversaciones diplomáticas entre Estados Unidos y Cuba resultaran en un acuerdo.

“La probabilidad de que eso ocurra, dado con quién estamos tratando en este momento, no es alta”, dijo Rubio.

Rubio criticó al Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., o GAESA, un conglomerado empresarial administrado por militares cubanos.

“Tienen una empresa militar privada llamada GAESA… con $18 mil millones USD en activos”, dijo Rubio. “Ni un centavo de eso se destina a ayudar al pueblo de Cuba”.

Rubio dijo que el gobierno cubano ha aceptado $100 millones USD en ayuda humanitaria directa de Estados Unidos a través de la organización benéfica de la Iglesia católica.

“Cuba siempre ha representado una amenaza a la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos”, dijo Rubio.

El miércoles en la Freedom Tower, en el centro de Miami, el fiscal general interino de Estados Unidos, Todd Blanche, anunció que existe una orden de arresto contra Raúl Castro luego de que un gran jurado en Miami lo acusara formalmente.

Por el derribo fatal en 1996 de dos avionetas de Hermanos al Rescate, la acusación formal señala a Castro, de 94 años, por conspiración para matar ciudadanos estadounidenses, dos cargos de destrucción de aeronaves y cuatro cargos de asesinato.

“Cuba ha sido uno de los principales patrocinadores del terrorismo en toda la región”, dijo Rubio. “Tener un Estado fallido a 90 millas de nuestras costas dirigido por aliados de nuestros adversarios representa una amenaza para la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos”.

También el miércoles, el Comando Sur de Estados Unidos dio la bienvenida al grupo de ataque del portaaviones Nimitz al Caribe.

HISTORIAS RELACIONADAS

• Estados Unidos acusa a Raúl Castro por el derribo fatal de los aviones de Hermanos al Rescate en 1996.
• Vea los discursos durante el anuncio de la acusación contra Raúl Castro en la Torre de la Libertad.
• Exiliados cubanos en la Torre de la Libertad reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• Los exiliados cubanos en el Café Versailles de Miami reaccionan a la noticia de la acusación contra Raúl Castro: “Todos a favor “.
• Legisladores republicanos de Florida reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• Trump y Rubio dan muestras de apoyo al cambio en Cuba en medio de declaraciones históricas sobre la acusación formal.
• Rubio publica un mensaje en español dirigido a los cubanos que sufren en la isla.
• El presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel reacciona a la acusación de Raúl Castro

By an 8-1 vote, the justices revived claims filed by a U.S. company, Havana Docks, that operated docks in the Cuban capital. The suit targets four cruise lines that brought tourists to Cuba during the brief thaw in relations during the Obama administration.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court that the federal appeals court in Atlanta was wrong to dismiss the claims, holding that “the cruise lines used confiscated property to which Havana Docks owns the claim.”

The court’s ruling is not a final decision in the suit filed by Havana Docks. But it comes amid heightened pressure on Cuba from President Donald Trump’s administration, including Wednesday’s indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles.

The Supreme Court case turned on a provision of the federal law known as Helms-Burton that Congress passed in response to the shootdowns. Title III of the law allows Americans to sue almost any company that engages in commercial activity or benefits from property confiscated by Cuba’s government.

Before the first Trump administration, every president had suspended the provision because of objections from U.S. allies doing business in Cuba and the effect on future negotiated settlements between the U.S. and Cuba.

In 2016, President Barack Obama used a joint news conference with Castro to announce that cruise lines could resume service to Cuba. Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises began making stops in Havana that allowed cruise travelers to go on excursions to local nightclubs, landmarks, rivers and beaches.

That changed abruptly in 2019, when Trump decided to activate the provision allowing lawsuits and then announced new restrictions on travel. The cruise lines hastily dropped Cuba stops and rerouted ships on the go.

Ruling in the lawsuit filed by Havana Docks, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami found the cruise lines liable for their use of the Havana terminal the company once controlled.

Licenses by Obama’s Treasury Department to carry American passengers to Cuba did not shield the cruise lines from the lawsuit, Bloom ruled.

She awarded Havana Docks, more than $400 million in all. A federal appeals court ruled for the cruise lines, reversing the judgment.

The case now returns to the appeals court. Thomas acknowledged that the cruise lines have additional arguments that have yet to be ruled on.

.

Markwayne Mullin arribará el jueves a la capital mexicana para una visita de dos días tras las tensiones generadas en las últimas semanas por la muerte de dos agentes de la CIA en un accidente de tránsito en el estado fronterizo de Chihuahua y las acusaciones de narcotráfico que realizó la fiscalía de Nueva York contra 10 funcionarios mexicanos, entre ellos el gobernador oficialista del estado de Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha.

Horas antes del encuentro —que está previsto para el mediodía— Sheinbaum dijo que hablará con Mullin sobre los casos de los 15 migrantes mexicanos que murieron en centros de detención del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus iniciales en inglés) desde 2025 y que motivaron notas diplomáticas de su gobierno. México anunció en marzo que llevará la denuncia de los casos ante la Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos (CIDH).

Mullin también tiene previsto reunirse con el Gabinete de Seguridad de México. La visita del secretario estadounidense fue acordada durante una conversación telefónica que mantuvo Sheinbaum con el presidente Donald Trump en la que dialogaron sobre seguridad y comercio bilateral.

“Lo que queremos es que sigamos trabajando en el marco de ese entendimiento" de seguridad, señaló la mandataria en su habitual conferencia matutina al ser preguntada sobre la visita.

Sheinbaum descartó que en el encuentro con Mullin se vaya a conversar sobre los casos de los 10 funcionarios mexicanos acusados por Estados Unidos, algunos de los cuales pertenecen al partido gobernante Morena.

A fines de abril la fiscalía de Nueva York acusó de narcotráfico y tenencia ilícita de armas a Rocha, al alcalde de la capital de Sinaloa, Juan de Dios Gámez, y a otros ocho funcionarios activos y retirados.

Rocha y Gámez se separaron temporalmente de sus cargos para facilitar la investigación que abrió la Fiscalía General de México, mientras los exsecretarios de Seguridad y Finanzas del gobierno de Sinaloa, Gerardo Mérida y Enrique Díaz, se entregaron la semana pasada a las autoridades estadounidenses.

Las relaciones entre los dos vecinos también se tensaron tras la muerte de dos agentes de la CIA el 19 de abril junto con dos funcionarios de la fiscalía de Chihuahua cuando la camioneta en la que viajaban cayó por un barranco en las montañas que unen Chihuahua —fronteriza con Texas— y el estado de Sinaloa, donde se había desmantelado un laboratorio clandestino de drogas sintéticas.

El incidente motivó una nota de protesta del gobierno de Sheinbaum que reclamó a Washington que no había sido informado de la presencia en el país de los dos agentes estadounidenses ni de sus actividades.

Leer en español

According to an arrest report from the South Miami Police Department, the victim told police that just after leaving the gym last Friday, she immediately noticed that she was being followed by a gray Tesla Model Y.

“The vehicle continued following the victim southbound on S. Dixie Highway while the driver attempted to gain her attention,” a police officer wrote in the arrest report.

The driver, later identified by police as Rogerio Miranda De Souza, of Pinecrest, was also “brake checking” her “in a manner that could have caused a collision,” the report stated.

Police said the victim was stopped near the intersection of South Dixie Highway and Southwest 70th Street when Miranda De Souza drove extremely close to the driver’s side of her vehicle, at which time she noticed his pants were lowered, exposing his genitals, and he was stroking his penis while making direct eye contact with her.

The victim provided detectives with the vehicle’s license plate number and a physical description of the suspect.

Police said she later identified Miranda De Souza in a photo lineup.

He was arrested Wednesday on a charge of indecent exposure.

As of Thursday afternoon, Miranda De Souza was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $1,000 bond.

“Investigators have since learned that a neighboring law enforcement agency is conducting a separate investigation involving the same subject under similar circumstances,” a news release from SMPD stated. “Based on the ongoing investigation and the similarities between the incidents, detectives believe there may be additional victims who have not yet reported their encounters to law enforcement.”

Miranda De Souza appeared in bond court Thursday, where a judge ordered that he stay away from the victim in the case if he posts bond.

His attorney told Local 10 News that he is expected to be released later in the day.

Anyone with information about this investigation, or who believes they may have been victimized by Miranda De Souza is asked to call the South Miami Police Department or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Smith, who played at Georgia, was cited for speeding and reckless driving, the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.

He posted bond and was released shortly after his arrest on May 15.

Smith, from Savannah, Georgia, was selected by the Eagles with the 30th pick in the 2023 NFL draft. He has 25 quarterback hits, 10.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries over three seasons.

He played a crucial role in the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX run, recording five quarterback hits, four sacks and four tackles for loss during the playoffs. He famously refused to exit the Eagles' 40-22 Super Bowl victory against the Kansas City Chiefs despite sustaining a torn triceps that later required surgery.

Philadelphia begins organized team activities on Tuesday. Smith has a court date scheduled for July 15, but a sheriff’s office representative said he will not need to appear if he pays his fines.

A spokesperson for the Eagles didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Smith is the latest former or current Georgia player to be arrested for driving offenses. His Eagles teammate, Jalen Carter, was given 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine in 2023 after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing related to a crash that killed Bulldogs offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Trump said he was postponing the Oval Office event with tech industry executives because he did not like what he saw in the order’s text. “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters.

The order would have established a framework for the government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems before their public release, according to a person familiar with the White House’s deliberations with the tech industry but not authorized to speak about it publicly. The directive was being characterized as a voluntary collaboration with participating U.S.-based tech companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google, the person said.

The push for some kind of government action to review leading AI systems follows growing concern within the banking industry and other institutions about the leaps in AI’s abilities to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the world’s software.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an urgent meeting with Wall Street CEOs in April, warning them about the cybersecurity risks posed by Anthropic’s AI model, Claude Mythos.

The meeting, urgently assembled at the Treasury Department's headquarters, was intended to ensure that banks were aware of the risks associated with the models, Bessent said at CNBC’s “Invest in America Forum” in Washington in April. “This new Anthropic model is very powerful,” he said. “Some banks are doing a better job in cybersecurity than others, and we want to have the ability to convene them and talk about what is best practices and where they should be heading."

That led some allies of the Republican president to propose better methods for getting those AI tools in the hands of trusted cybersecurity experts.

Trump's hopes for AI have run up against voters' fears of its impact

Trump had pledged to undo the AI safety regulations set by his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump's administration has viewed the AI sector as an engine to help deliver on his pledges to expand the economy and he has promoted its major players at events at the White House and around the world. Last week, Trump had tech CEOs in tow for a summit with China’s Xi Jinping.

Trump's ambitions for the sector have collided with the fears of voters over the impact of the technology on American life, jobs and electricity bills. Republicans themselves are divided over whether to embrace the AI industry or side with voters who express skepticism about the technology.

Also complicating the government's interest in working with Anthropic on cybersecurity is the government's ongoing legal fight with the company. Trump in February ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s chatbot Claude after an unusually public clash between the Pentagon and CEO Dario Amodei.

There are competing factions within the administration, said Serena Booth, a computer science professor at Brown University and former AI policy fellow in a Democratic-led Senate committee.

“We do see this kind of public fighting,” she said. ”‘We will release an executive order. No, we won’t. We’re going to sign it this afternoon. Oh, the signing is canceled.’ I think this whiplash is because we’re seeing these fractures.’”

Some of those divides are balancing what Booth said is a “reasonable idea” to test the most capable AI models before their public release, with a concern that government scrutiny, if it takes too long, could burden AI developers.

“It does come at a potential very large cost to innovation and speed of development,” she said. “There is, I think, a real risk here and I do see both sides.”

The White House has pushed back against state laws seeking to regulate AI, saying the measures could curb growth. A new executive order that could have been perceived as government screening of commercial AI models would have signaled a significant shift in the administration's approach.

At the same time, similar screening is already happening. Trump’s Commerce Department announced earlier this month that it signed agreements with Google, Microsoft and Elon Musk’s xAI to evaluate their most powerful AI models before their public release, building on previous agreements the Biden administration made with Anthropic and OpenAI. But the announcement later disappeared from the Commerce Department website.

White House describes a balance between safety and innovation

At a White House press briefing Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance declined to discuss specifics from the order but said the administration wants to promote innovation while also addressing cybersecurity threats and data privacy.

“The president wants us to be pro-innovation. He wants us to win the AI race against all other countries in the world,” he said. Vance added, "We also want to make sure that we’re protecting people.”

Asked about new models that could pose security risks, Vance said the administration is taking a collaborative approach with tech companies.

“It also does have some downsides,” he said, “and we’re trying to balance that safety against innovation.”

A former White House tech policy adviser who was a lead author of Trump’s AI policy roadmap said the disagreements likely represent “healthy tension” in an administration that has long been wary of regulating the “frontier AI” companies like Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.

“They don’t want to do it because it’s politically risky in a million different ways,” said Dean Ball, now at the Foundation for American Innovation. Ball said he would welcome an executive order that would get those companies working more closely with the government on cybersecurity but “ultimately, I’m fine with them taking time to get this right.”

—-

O'Brien reported from Providence, R.I. Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.

Según un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de South Miami, la víctima dijo a la policía que justo después de salir del gimnasio el viernes pasado, notó de inmediato que estaba siendo seguida por un Tesla Model Y gris.

“El vehículo continuó siguiendo a la víctima hacia el sur por S. Dixie Highway mientras el conductor intentaba llamar su atención”, escribió un agente en el informe de arresto.

El conductor, posteriormente identificado por la policía como Rogerio Miranda De Souza, de Pinecrest, también estaba “frenando bruscamente” frente a ella “de una manera que podría haber causado una colisión”, señala el informe.

La policía indicó que la víctima estaba detenida cerca de la intersección de South Dixie Highway y Southwest 70th Street cuando Miranda De Souza condujo extremadamente cerca del lado del conductor de su vehículo. En ese momento, ella notó que tenía los pantalones abajo, exponiendo sus genitales, y que estaba acariciando su pene mientras hacía contacto visual directo con ella.

La víctima proporcionó a los detectives el número de matrícula del vehículo y una descripción física del sospechoso.

La policía indicó que posteriormente identificó a Miranda De Souza en una rueda de reconocimiento fotográfica.

Fue arrestado el miércoles por un cargo de exposición indecente.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, Miranda De Souza permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza de $1,000 USD.

“Los investigadores han sabido desde entonces que una agencia policial vecina está realizando una investigación separada que involucra al mismo sujeto bajo circunstancias similares”, indicó un comunicado del Departamento de Policía de South Miami. “Con base en la investigación en curso y las similitudes entre los incidentes, los detectives creen que podría haber víctimas adicionales que aún no han reportado sus encuentros a las autoridades”.

Cualquier persona con información sobre esta investigación, o que crea haber sido víctima de Miranda De Souza, debe comunicarse con el Departamento de Policía de South Miami o con Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawn-out legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day,

The Corps is “decisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe," Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement.

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months near the river crossing.

The protests resulted in hundreds of arrests and related criminal cases and lawsuits, some of them still ongoing, including litigation that threatens the future of the environmental group Greenpeace.

In December, the Corps released its final environmental impact statement nearly six years after a federal judge ordered a more rigorous review of the pipeline's crossing. In that document, the Corps endorsed the option to grant the easement for the crossing and keep the pipeline operating with modifications.

Those measures include enhanced leak detection and monitoring systems, expanded groundwater and surface water monitoring and third-party expert evaluation of the leak and detection systems, among others, the Corps said. The conditions also include water supply contingency planning and other studies coordinated with affected tribes.

The Corps had weighed several options, including removing or abandoning the pipeline's river crossing or even rerouting it north. The agency said its decision “best balances public safety, protection of environmental resources, and leak detection and response considerations while meeting the project’s purpose and need.”

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer hailed the decision, saying the pipeline has been safely operating for nearly 10 years and is critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.

“We want to thank the Corps for the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by so many to bring this matter to a thoughtful close,” said Vicki Granado, a company spokesperson.

The Associated Press sent text messages and emails to media representatives for the tribe and left a voicemail at the tribe's headquarters. They didn't immediately respond Thursday.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer each welcomed the decision to ensure the pipeline continues operating.

The Corps' announcement came as officials and oil industry leaders were gathered for a trade conference in Bismarck.

Energy Transfer and Enbridge are in early stages of a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of light Canadian crude oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline by using another pipeline and building a 56-mile connecting line, spokespersons for the companies said. Enbridge will decide sometime in mid-2026 whether to move ahead.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that 1,000 tickets costing $50 will be made available to residents of the city of more than 8 million for the most watched sporting event in the world.

“To put that into perspective, that is five lattes in New York City,” Mamdani quipped from a bar in Harlem’s Little Senegal neighborhood alongside U.S. men’s national team forward Timothy Weah.

About 150 tickets per game will be made available for seven of the eight matches played at the roughly 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium, located across the river from Manhattan in New Jersey. The lone exception is the high demand July 19 final, where some seats now cost nearly $33,000.

The tickets will also include free roundtrip bus transportation to the stadium for the ticket holders, the mayor said. They will be distributed via a lottery starting May 25.

To prevent scalping, Mamdani said the city would be taking steps to ensure the ones they distribute go to New York City residents and are not resold on the secondary market.

He said the tickets will be non-transferrable and that there will be a “variety of ways” city officials will verify residency. They’ll also only be handed out directly to the fans as they board the bus on game day.

“We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” Mamdani said.

The Democrat, who took office in January, said the effort underscores how his administration is not simply focused on making everyday things like housing and groceries more affordable.

“It extends to making it possible for every New Yorker to take part in the things that make us human,” he said.

During his campaign, Mamdani had called on FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, to make it cheaper for New Yorkers to attend the games by setting aside 15% of tickets at discounted prices for residents. He'd also launched a petition calling on FIFA to reverse its plan to set ticket prices based on demand.

The $50 tickets don't come directly from FIFA, but from those allotted to New York and New Jersey’s joint host committee for the games, according to the mayor's office.

Previously, FIFA had made some $60 tickets available for every game at the tournament in North America after facing backlash for the exorbitant prices for tickets.

Those reduced price tickets, though, went to the national federations of the teams playing in the games, with those federations deciding how to distribute them to loyal fans who have attended previous games at home and on the road.

Besides the championship game, the home stadium for both the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets is set to host five group World Cup matches and two knockout stage games. Group stage matches for soccer powerhouses Brazil, France, Germany and England, along with other nations, begin June 13.

___

Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.51% from 6.36% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the sharp increase, the average rate remains below 6.86%, where it was a year ago.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has roiled energy markets, sending crude oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

Expectations of higher oil prices and worries about big and growing debts for the U.S. government and others have pushed up long-term bond yields, causing mortgage rates to head higher.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, which was at 4.6% in midday trading Thursday on the bond market. A week ago, it was at 4.47%. It was at just 3.97% in late February, before the war broke out.

Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week. That average rate climbed to 5.85% from 5.71% last week. A year ago, it was at 6.01%, Freddie Mac said.

When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power.

As recently as late February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage had slipped just under 6% for the first time since late 2022. It’s hasn’t fallen below that threshold since. It’s now at its highest level since August 28, when it was 6.56%.

While average long-term mortgage rates remain lower than they were at this time last year, their recent increase has helped dampen sales so far this spring homebuying season.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last month after declining from a year earlier in the first three months of the year, extending a nationwide housing slump that dates back to 2022 when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, fell 2.3% last week from a week earlier to their lowest level in five weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Much of the decline was caused by a sharp drop in home purchase applications.

The elevated mortgage rates are driving more prospective homebuyers to adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs. Such loans, which typically offer lower initial interest rates than traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, accounted for nearly 10% of all mortgage applications last week, the highest share since October, MBA said.

Home shoppers who are undeterred by rising mortgage rates are benefiting from buyer-friendly trends in many markets, including more properties on the market than a year ago and data showing home listing prices have started falling in many metro areas, especially in the South and Midwest.

"The spring season still offers real opportunity, though each uptick in rates narrows the pool of buyers who can make the numbers work,” said Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com.

“I was a newbie,” recalls Monroe. “I’m pretty sure I spent my 21st birthday here. I was like: ‘Well isn’t that exciting, to turn 21 in a country where I could have drank in for years.’”

“It Follows,” about a sexually transmitted curse, was part of a new wave of probing, atmospheric horror films. But then, it was a small $1.3 million indie movie that had little reason to expect a Cannes launch.

“It was surreal. You never expect going into making a film that this will happen,” Monroe said in an interview on the rooftop of Cannes' Palais des Festivals. “But especially for that film. It was such a tiny, indie horror film. At that point, there really wasn’t genre at this festival.”

That has changed, though. Horror, science fiction and even slasher films have increasingly shown up in Cannes. This year, that included Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” the Korean monster-sci-fi-mashup “Hope” and the gothic thriller “Victorian Psycho,” starring Monroe as an unhinged governess.

On the surface, “Victorian Psycho,” which premiered Thursday in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, appears to extend Monroe’s reputation as the preeminent “Scream Queen” of her generation. Along with “It Follows,” she’s been at the center of horror films like 2022’s “Watcher” and 2024’s “Longlegs.”

But Monroe’s range as an actor far exceeds any neat genre identification. She brought Hitchcockian depth to “Watcher” and psychological intensity to “Longlegs.” Bodies get bloody in “Victorian Psycho,” too, but Monroe’s deranged protagonist is archly hysterical. She’s a hoot.

As much as Monroe may be associated with horror, she might be even better at comedy. In the gleefully morbid “Victorian Psycho,” she finally turns the tables. After years spent fleeing serial killers and worse, Monroe is on the offensive.

“I didn’t know if I could pull it off. I decided to take the leap,” Monroe says. “Man, it was just so much fun. There’s so much freedom in this role. It will definitely be the character I’ll miss the most.”

In Zachary Wigon’s “Victorian Psycho,” which Bleecker Street will release Sept. 25 in theaters, Monroe plays Winifred Notty. In the 1850s, she arrives at the Ensor House, the grand manor of the Pounds family, to serve as the eager governess to two children.

It doesn’t take long for the children to realize she has a screw loose. But Winifred is comically chipper, even when deranged and over the top. As distant as the part might be from Monroe — a Santa Barbara, California, native here doing a British accent for the first time — it’s the first role to really capture Monroe’s natural comic energy.

“I’ve never done anything remotely close to a role like this,” Monroe says. “I’m usually more introverted and internal with my roles, and this is very outward.”

Almost always in “Victorian Psycho,” Winifred is grinning. That came from one of Monroe’s heroes.

“One of my favorite actors is Jack Nicholson. I think every project he does he’s fascinating,” Monroe says. “Of course in ‘The Shining,’ he’s pretty much smiling through the whole thing, through all the pain and the anguish. That was a huge influence.”

Monroe is also a professed fan of Olivia Colman’s. And it’s easy to see how wildly mischievous characters, like those often played by Colman or Nicholson, might be even more in Monroe’s wheelhouse than horror. It's enough to make you wonder: does she ever chafe at the term “Scream Queen?”

“Some of the films I’m most proud of are in this space of genre,” she says. “I can’t be mad at it. I’m so proud of ‘It Follows,’ ‘Longlegs,’ ‘Watcher.’ So, what can you do?”

But if a certain side of Monroe has been rarely seen on screen, “Victorian Psycho” lets it out.

“In the Victorian era, there was suppression. In this industry, I can find that I need to present a certain way or come across a certain way,” Monroe says. “You have to suppress certain things and not say certain things. That’s what was such a joy in this.”

Leer en español

Court documents state that Daniel Lozano, 33, was arrested following an FBI raid on Wednesday.

According to a federal criminal complaint, the investigation into Lozano began in 2025 after law enforcement learned that he had been in an “online relationship” with a teenage girl beginning in 2022 when she was 16.

Investigators said she told Lozano she was 18, but “continued to tell (him) she was in high school for most of their relationship, which lasted for approximately (three) years.”

Authorities said he paid her $1,000 during the course of the relationship and received explicit photos and videos from her and recorded them.

According to the complaint, in May 2025, a federal judge authorized a search warrant for Lozano’s Snapchat account, which revealed “multiple conversations containing images and videos which depicted child pornography, child erotica and age difficult sexually explicit videos and images.”

Of the 30 accounts agents identified, six had explicit images of children or “child erotica” and “had an exchange of goods for the images or videos and were minors at the time of the chats,” they said. Lozano additionally sent child sexual abuse material to another account, according to the complaint.

At least one of the six girls identified in the complaint told Lozano she was 16, after which he “told her to reply” by saying she was 18, authorities said.

Authorities said he would send money and goods in exchange for explicit content.

Authorities said they executed a search warrant at Lozano’s apartment in the 7900 block of Pasadena Boulevard on Tuesday.

They said a preliminary search of his electronic devices showed that he was distributing child sexual abuse videos online, including those depicting “prepubescent” girls.

Lozano now faces three charges related to the possession, distribution and production of child sexual abuse material, as well as a charge of coercion and enticement.

Records show he was scheduled to appear in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Thursday morning.

Según documentos judiciales, Daniel Lozano, de 33 años, fue arrestado tras una redada del FBI el miércoles.

Según una denuncia penal federal, la investigación contra Lozano comenzó en 2025 después de que las autoridades supieran que había mantenido una “relación en línea” con una adolescente desde 2022, cuando ella tenía 16 años.

Los investigadores dijeron que ella le dijo a Lozano que tenía 18 años, pero “continuó diciéndole que estaba en la escuela secundaria durante la mayor parte de su relación, que duró aproximadamente (tres) años”.

Las autoridades dijeron que él le pagó $1,000 USD durante el transcurso de la relación y que recibió fotos y videos explícitos de ella, los cuales grabó.

Según la denuncia, en mayo de 2025, un juez federal autorizó una orden de registro para la cuenta de Snapchat de Lozano, que reveló “múltiples conversaciones que contenían imágenes y vídeos que mostraban pornografía infantil, erotismo infantil y vídeos e imágenes sexualmente explícitos para mayores de edad”.

De las 30 cuentas que los agentes identificaron, seis contenían imágenes explícitas de niños o “erotismo infantil” y “se había intercambiado mercancía por las imágenes o videos, y los usuarios eran menores de edad en el momento de las conversaciones”, indicaron. Según la denuncia, Lozano también envió material de abuso sexual infantil a otra cuenta.

Al menos una de las seis chicas identificadas en la denuncia le dijo a Lozano que tenía 16 años, tras lo cual él “le dijo que respondiera” diciendo que tenía 18, según informaron las autoridades.

Las autoridades indicaron que enviaba dinero y bienes a cambio de contenido explícito.

Las autoridades informaron que el martes ejecutaron una orden de registro en el apartamento de Lozano, ubicado en la cuadra 7900 de Pasadena Boulevard.

Según las autoridades, una búsqueda preliminar en sus dispositivos electrónicos reveló que estaba distribuyendo vídeos de abuso sexual infantil en línea, incluidos aquellos que mostraban a niñas “prepúberes”.

Lozano se enfrenta ahora a tres cargos relacionados con la posesión, distribución y producción de material de abuso sexual infantil, así como a un cargo de coacción e incitación.

Según los registros, tenía previsto comparecer ante el tribunal federal de Fort Lauderdale el jueves por la mañana.

Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, who was charged with eight felony counts of child neglect.

“The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,” Robinson said.

The former assistant principal was charged in the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges issued in a grand jury indictment were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.

“We had hoped the community would have had the opportunity to weigh in through the full judicial process,” Hampton commonwealth's attorney Anton A. Bell said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the Court has now concluded the matter as it deemed appropriate under the law. Our office remains committed to pursuing justice with integrity, transparency, and fairness, while continuing to honor the role that citizens play in our criminal justice system.”

Parker lowered her head and cried when the judge announced her decision, then hugged her attorneys afterward.

Defense attorney Curtis Rogers told the judge in making his motion that Parker’s decision on the day of the shooting “wasn’t an act of neglect.”

“Her actions in no way indicated that she believed there was a firearm in the possession” of the child, Rogers said.

Another defense attorney, Stephen Teague, said outside court that “we believe that the right outcome was reached and we’re thrilled for Dr. Parker. It was a great relief for her and we’re just happy that we were part of her journey.”

Parker was not called to testify during the trial. On Wednesday, a video interview of Parker conducted three days after the shooting by a school district human resources officer was played in the courtroom for the jury.

Parker said she was told about reports that the student had a gun in his backpack, but said she could not leave her office due to ongoing testing. A reading specialist who first reported the concerns then searched the backpack, but no gun was found, Parker said.

Parker then said the student’s mother would arrive to pick him up and go through the rest of his belongings.

Zwerner testified earlier in the trial that during recess on the school playground, the student wore an oversized jacket and kept both of his hands in his pockets the entire time. Zwerner said she sent a text message with that observation to the reading specialist, who had been tipped off earlier by students about the gun and reported it to Parker.

After recess, the student continued to wear the jacket in the classroom, where Zwerner was shot at a reading table. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.

Criminal charges against school officials after a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. The shooting sent shock waves through this military shipbuilding community and the country at large, with many wondering how a child so young could gain access to a gun and shoot his teacher.

A jury awarded $10 million to Zwerner in a civil trial last November, where Parker, who no longer works at the school, was the only defendant.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.

But he is the kind of person who is constantly creating, if not movies, little sketches, doodles and paintings, often while he’s in conversation with someone else (including this reporter). That’s not to say he’s not engaged and present with whomever he’s talking to — his mind is just one where it can all happen simultaneously. If he were to describe himself in film editing terms, he’d be a montage of a human being, he said.

A post-Oscar creative paralysis

That’s why it was so alarming that not too long ago, sometime after he’d won the best documentary Oscar for “Navalny,” that tap turned off. He was 29 years old, had just won filmmaking’s top honor and was paralyzed by the question of what to do next.

“There’s a pattern of young people winning and then sort of struggling to figure out what’s next,” Roher told The Associated Press. “I was really scared about that and really anxious … about the sort of specter of this film looming over me like a giant monolith for the rest of my life: ‘Oh, he’ll never top this. He’ll never do anything better than this. Like this is it, you should just retire now.’”

But somewhere in his own creative depression, as he struggled with the possibility that he couldn’t make films anymore, an idea emerged that would become the basis for “Tuner”: What if you can no longer do the thing that makes you you? Who do you become?

“It could have been a chef who can’t smell or a painter who can't hold a brush anymore,” Roher said. “But I was drawn to this auditory world of the piano tuner who maybe can’t play for whatever reason.”

A chance meeting with a piano tuner

While he was on what he called the “new boyfriend tour” with his future wife, meeting all of her friends around Los Angeles, he came into the orbit of a piano tuner. He peppered him with questions, shadowed him at work and had an epiphany about safecracking. He’d always loved films with a criminal element and stories about good people who have to do bad things. His new piano tuner friend said it wasn't far-fetched: A lot of his peers dabble in locksmith work on the side.

“It was like OK, maybe this is like a, you know, a classic movie, movie conceit that I could turn into something really fun and propulsive and musical and romantic,” Roher said.

And he was off to the races. Though he had never written a narrative screenplay or directed an actor, he was motivated again. The tap was back on.

Directing Dustin Hoffman

“Tuner,” which premiered last year at the Telluride Film Festival, is the kind of movie people like to say isn’t made anymore, blending elements of crime thriller, romantic comedy and character drama into a clever, entertaining package — the spiritual descendent of a “Good Will Hunting.”

The piano tuner at the heart of the film is Niki, played by “The White Lotus” season two breakout Leo Woodall, who is apprenticing alongside Dustin Hoffman’s veteran Harry Horowitz. During a job tuning a piano in a mansion, Niki stumbles upon a robbery and, to save his own life, helps the criminals crack the safe. He doesn’t have any intention of making it a side hustle, but then Harry ends up in the hospital and suddenly there are bills to pay. He’s also just met a beguiling pianist played by Havana Rose Liu.

“It has what I want from a movie. It’s entertaining and it’s a simple story, well-told. And it’s plot-driven, but also very character-driven. And it’s fun and it’s quick and it is satisfying,” Woodall said. “I finished the script the first time and I was like, ‘oh, that was a perfectly packaged story.’”

When Roher and Woodall sat down for coffee for the first time, Roher asked his lead actor how he liked to be directed. It was a disarming moment for Woodall, something he’d never been asked outright before, but a gesture of trust and faith that would continue through the shoot. Hoffman, too, took to Roher immediately. There might have even been a Mike Nichols comparison or two thrown his way.

“Daniel, unlike most of us, myself included, wasn’t intimidated by Dustin. He has the most respect and love for him. But I loved, you know, if Dustin was going a little too far off piece improvising, he would go ‘Dustin, Dustin, let’s do the lines now,’” Woodall laughed. “And Dustin would respond perfectly, like ‘yes, sir.’” I was like these two are a good fit.”

A creative explosion

Roher already has several new films underway as well, including a project in Rome where he’s relocated temporarily with his wife and baby. And he's happy the creative funk is a thing of the past.

“The last few years have been an extraordinary creative renaissance, let’s say, or explosion for me, doing ‘Tuner’ simultaneously with this AI documentary,” Roher said. “Having to balance both of those films at the same time was a very profound creative challenge. And I’m really glad that I’m on the other side of it because it’s kind of overwhelming. I’m very proud of both of those films and they were really good counter programming to one another.”

The professional and personal contentedness exists in stark contrast to his worries about the state of the world over the past 18 months, but, he added: “I appreciate the fact that my own little teeny weeny pixel on the giant mosaic of existence is happy and busy and creative and fulfilled and optimistic and inspired and holding the multitudes of everything all at the same time.”

___

For more coverage of this summer’s upcoming films, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/movies

El grupo incluye el portaaviones USS Nimitz, el Carrier Air Wing 17 embarcado, el USS Gridley y el USNS Patuxent.

El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos informó que el USS Nimitz estuvo en Río de Janeiro, Brasil, “para realizar ejercicios navales conjuntos con la Marina de Brasil” del 11 al 14 de mayo.

Redes sociales relacionadas

Welcome to the Caribbean, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group!

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the embarked Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17), USS Gridley (DDG 101) and USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201) are the epitome of readiness and presence, unmatched reach and lethality, and strategic… pic.twitter.com/83mfzSIKzd

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 20, 2026

NOTICIAS RELACIONADAS

• Estados Unidos acusa a Raúl Castro por el derribo fatal de los aviones de Hermanos al Rescate en 1996.
• Vea los discursos durante el anuncio de la acusación contra Raúl Castro en la Torre de la Libertad.
• Exiliados cubanos en la Torre de la Libertad reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• Los exiliados cubanos en el Café Versailles de Miami reaccionan a la noticia de la acusación contra Raúl Castro: “Todos a favor “.
• Legisladores republicanos de Florida reaccionan a la acusación contra Raúl Castro.
• Trump y Rubio dan muestras de apoyo al cambio en Cuba en medio de declaraciones históricas sobre la acusación formal.
• Rubio publica un mensaje en español dirigido a los cubanos que sufren en la isla.
• El presidente cubano Miguel Díaz-Canel reacciona a la acusación de Raúl Castro

Interactivo: Acusación formal de 19 páginas

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued its seasonal outlook for the Atlantic, giving a 55% chance of a below-average season. The agency forecasts eight to 14 named storms, with three to six of them becoming strong enough to hit hurricane status and one to three of those intensifying to major hurricanes.

A normal hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven of them becoming hurricanes and three of them reaching major hurricane level, which is more than 110 mph (177 kph).

Eighteen other groups, private and academic, have also forecasted what they think the season will be like and most of them also call for a below average summer and fall. Those other forecasts average a dozen named storms, only five becoming hurricanes and two of those being major ones. Those forecasts also call for the Accumulated Cyclone Energy index, which takes into account strength and duration of storms, to be 80% of normal.

Colorado State University, which pioneered the science of hurricane seasonal forecasting in 1984, is predicting the lowest overall activity since 2015, which was the strongest El Nino in the last 75 years. And that forecast is likely to be revised to even lower numbers in June, said Colorado State's hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach.

This is after nine of the last 10 Atlantic hurricane seasons have been above normal or even hyperactive, Klotzbach said. Last year started slow, but then had a burst, producing a near-record total of three Category 5 hurricanes, including Melissa which devastated Jamaica and Cuba, said Suzana Camargo, a climate scientist and tropical weather expert at Columbia University.

Inflation-adjusted damage across the globe from tropical cyclones has increased from an average of $11.4 billion a year in the 1980s to $109.7 billion a year over the past 10 years, with three-quarters of the damage done in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, according to insurance giant Munich Re.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same weather event, with the different names being used in different parts of the world.

“We should expect a less active year than certainly what we’ve seen recently, and perhaps significantly so below average,” said University at Albany atmospheric scientist Kristen Corbosiero. “But again, it only takes one to cause real devastation and destruction in the mainland U.S. or even in Hawaii.”

El Nino decapitates Atlantic storms

It's mostly because of “the elephant in the room” which is an El Nino, Camargo said.

An El Nino is the natural and cyclic warming of parts of the central Pacific that warps weather patterns around the globe, especially during winter. Scientists for decades have found a correlation between an El Nino and below average Atlantic hurricane activity and stronger and more storms in the central and eastern Pacific. This year many forecasts are calling for a strong, super-strong or even record setting intense El Nino. During a La Nina, the cool flip side of El Nino, the Atlantic is generally busier with stronger storms.

There's a 98% chance that there will be an El Nino this summer and an 80% chance it will be moderate or strong, NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said Thursday.

Atlantic hurricane seasons when an El Nino reaches strong or very strong status have two-thirds the named storms and half the hurricanes of the 1991-2020 average, according to an Associated Press analysis of storm and El Nino statistics.

El Ninos fight Atlantic storm formation in several ways, especially with cross winds about 1 mile to 7 miles (1.5 to 11 kilometers) above the surface “which can basically blow apart the thunderstorms that make up” a hurricane, Corbosiero said.

“A stronger than normal wind shear tends to tilt storms as they try to develop,” said University at Albany atmospheric scientist Brian Tang. “It pushes dry air into storms. And prevents storms from developing in the first place. And if they do develop, it also prevents them from intensifying.”

El Nino reduces the number and intensity of weaker storms, but once a storm hits hurricane status with 74 mph winds, “they can be kind of like a self-feeding entity” and are less prone to being dampened by El Nino's wind shear, said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster with NOAA’s National Weather Service.

Forecasts for peak hurricane season show strong wind shear from the west in the main development region for the largest and long-lasting hurricanes that come off of Africa and develop as they head west over the Atlantic, Klotzbach said. Fewer of these type storms happen during El Ninos.

In the 15 strongest El Nino years since 1950, 37 named storms, 11 hurricanes and three major hurricanes made landfall on the continental United States, but in the 15 coldest La Nina years 61 named storms, 31 hurricanes and 10 major hurricanes hit America's Gulf and Atlantic coasts, according to Klotzbach. He said El Nino shrinks the number of hits on the Atlantic coast, but has less of an influence on the number of Gulf coast landfalls.

In addition to El Nino, dry conditions in Africa and water in the Atlantic being only slightly warmer than normal contribute to the forecast of a weaker season, Rosencrans said.

Opposite effect in the Pacific

El Ninos and La Ninas have the opposite effect on storms in the central and eastern Pacific as they do in the Atlantic, so experts are expecting a busier season in those regions. Jacobs said there's a 70% chance that the eastern Pacific will have an above normal season.

NOAA forecasts 15 to 22 named storms in the Pacific with nine to 14 becoming hurricanes and five to nine of those being major hurricanes. Average is 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes. Rosencrans said the main area of central Pacific storm development shifts closer to Hawaii during El Ninos.

Eastern Pacific storms near Baja Mexico tend to “go west, affect the fishies and little else,” Corbosiero said. But at times they can turn east or north and cause massive damage as in Hurricane Otis in 2023 that smashed into Mexico, or 1992's Hurricane Lester, which caused heavy rains in the U.S. Southwest, she said.

Hawaii is a small island chain in a big ocean that can be threatened. In 1992, an El Nino year when there were few Atlantic storms (though Miami was devastated by Hurricane Andrew ), Hawaii was hit by Hurricane Iniki.

Further west toward Asia and India, “your odds of any storm forming becoming a super typhoon go up significantly in El Nino,” Klotzbach said.

The eastern Pacific hurricane season started May 15 and the Atlantic season begins June 1 and both end November 30.

___

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.

Leer en español

Hialeah police officers took Jose Miguel Penenori into custody on Wednesday outside Larkin Community Hospital, located at 1475 W. 49th Pl., in South Miami.

According to Penenori’s arrest report, the hospital’s vice president of support services contacted police after noticing what officers described as a “misappropriation of company funds by employee Jose Penenori” involving a hospital issued Home Depot commercial credit card.

Over the course of their investigation, authorities said they reviewed copies of credit card statements, receipts, invoices, and other documents, as well as surveillance video, ultimately determining that over a period of several years, Penenori had used the credit card to purchase personal merchandise mixed with legitimate company-related purchases from Home Depot.

Police said some of the items Penenori, of Lehigh Acres, bought for himself were household items, gift cards and a barbecue grill.

Ultimately, authorities said Penenori “engaged in a continuing pattern of unauthorized purchases using company funds for personal benefit,” with the illegal transactions totalling approximately $24,000.

After being taken into custody, Penenori gave investigators a full confession, according to his arrest form.

Jail records show Penenori is facing felony charges of organized fraud of more than $20,000 but less than $50,000, second degree grand theft and fraudulent use of a credit card for more than $100.

As of Thursday morning, the Cuban national was behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set.”

Once released from jail, Penenori won’t be welcomed back to work, as authorities said the hospital issued a trespass order to keep him off the property.

Agentes de la policía de Hialeah arrestaron a Jose Miguel Penenori el miércoles afuera del Hospital Comunitario Larkin, ubicado en 1475 W. 49th Pl., en South Miami.

Según el informe de arresto de Penenori, el vicepresidente de servicios de apoyo del hospital contactó a la policía después de notar lo que los agentes describieron como una “apropiación indebida de fondos de la empresa por parte del empleado Jose Penenori”, relacionada con una tarjeta de crédito comercial de Home Depot emitida por el hospital.

Durante el curso de la investigación, las autoridades dijeron que revisaron copias de estados de cuenta de la tarjeta de crédito, recibos, facturas y otros documentos, así como videos de vigilancia, determinando finalmente que, durante un período de varios años, Penenori utilizó la tarjeta de crédito para comprar mercancía personal mezclada con compras legítimas relacionadas con la empresa en Home Depot.

La policía indicó que algunos de los artículos que Penenori, residente de Lehigh Acres, compró para sí mismo incluían artículos para el hogar, tarjetas de regalo y una parrilla para barbacoa.

Finalmente, las autoridades dijeron que Penenori “participó en un patrón continuo de compras no autorizadas utilizando fondos de la empresa para beneficio personal”, con transacciones ilegales que totalizaron aproximadamente $24,000 USD.

Después de ser arrestado, Penenori dio a los investigadores una confesión completa, según su informe de arresto.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que Penenori enfrenta cargos graves de fraude organizado por más de $20,000 USD pero menos de $50,000 USD, hurto mayor en segundo grado y uso fraudulento de una tarjeta de crédito por más de $100 USD.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, el ciudadano cubano permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight con una fianza “pendiente por establecer”.

Una vez que salga de la cárcel, Penenori no será bienvenido de regreso al trabajo, ya que las autoridades dijeron que el hospital emitió una orden de allanamiento para mantenerlo fuera de la propiedad.

The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.

On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."

Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him after he dropped out or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.

“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”

During a conversation with staff on Thursday, Martin announced that the report's primary author, consultant Paul Rivera, was no longer working with the DNC, according to a person on the call not authorized to speak publicly about the private discussion.

A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation. Some also raised fresh concerns about the impact on the party's next presidential nomination process, which the DNC is actively coordinating now.

"The execution, the roll out and the coverup are indicative of how Ken Martin is fundamentally not up to the task," said Amanda Litman, who leads the Democratic-allied organization Run For Something. “He will be incapable of rebuilding the trust necessary to facilitate a Democratic primary in 2027-2028.”

Report says Democrats don't ‘listen to all voters’

The postelection report calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”

“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.

The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”

Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.

Were Democrats too nice?

The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”

“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”

The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”

Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.

Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.

Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.

‘The math doesn’t work'

The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”

“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”

The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.

“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.

Leer en español

BSO deputies said they responded around 8:45 p.m. to a reported stabbing in the 200 block of Southwest Third Court in Deerfield Beach.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue said paramedics transported the victim to an area hospital for treatment.

Authorities said the victim’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Jail records show deputies arrested Michael Allen Stafford on one count of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the incident.

As of Wednesday, he was being held without bond at the Broward County Main Jail. He was also ordered to stay away from the victim, possess no weapons or ammunition, and undergo a mental health screening.

A motive for the stabbing remains unclear at this time.

Duggan, a longtime Democrat, was running as an independent to replace Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who can't run again due to term limits. He told The Associated Press that it was going to be “very hard to win” as the Democrats who would have supported him are galvanizing against what's going on in Washington.

“Democrat anger against Trump and Republicans is extremely high,” Duggan said. “In 60 days there’s been a huge change in the attitudes of this country. People are feeling the pain at the pump and are angry about it.”

An independent has never served as Michigan governor and third-party candidates typically don’t fare well in elections for the state’s top seat. To Duggan, who shunned partisan fighting while choosing to run as an independent, it was clear the odds were stacking against his campaign.

“As long as I knew there was a path for victory, I was going to fight,” he said. “I don’t see a likely path to win.”

Toxic partisan politics

Since the beginning of the war with Iran in late February, oil prices have spiked more than 50%. As of Thursday, the price of regular unleaded gas in Michigan averaged $4.74 per gallon, according to AAA Michigan. That's above the $4.56 national average. A year ago, the average in Michigan was $3.13. Nationally, it was $3.18.

Trump repeatedly has said gas prices will go down once the war ends without acknowledging when that might happen.

Nationally, Trump’s approval rating on the economy has dropped slightly since the start of the Iran war, according to AP-NORC polling. A recent AP-NORC poll conducted in May found that even Republicans are unhappier with Trump’s handling of the economy than they were a few months ago, even as they’re largely continuing to stand behind him. About 6 in 10 Republicans approve of how Trump is handling the economy, down from about 8 in 10 before the war began.

Duggan believed he was trailing Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican U.S. Rep. John James in the governor’s race. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson also is running as a Democrat, while millionaire businessman Perry Johnson is running as a Republican.

Michigan’s primary election will be held Aug. 4, while the general election is Nov. 3.

In December 2024, Duggan announced his pursuit of the state's top office surprising many when he also said he'd choose the independent route instead of sticking with the Democratic Party.

Duggan told The AP at that time that he wanted to offer Michigan voters “a choice.”

“It’s clear to me that there are a lot of people in this country who are tired of both parties and tired of the system,” Duggan said then. “You have a (state) legislature that’s almost evenly divided that makes the stakes of each issue become magnified. It has gotten harder and harder to address things as the partisan climate has gotten more toxic.”

His decision to run as an independent came as Michigan was one of a handful of swing states that helped Trump in November 2024 win a second term in the White House.

“I’ve done everything I know how to do for almost a year and a half,” Duggan said Thursday. “You could feel the mood of this state wanting the toxic partisanship to end. They wanted the parties to work together.”

Targeted by his former party

Duggan spent a dozen years as Detroit mayor. He first was elected in November 2013 as the city was going through its painful and historic bankruptcy while being run by a state-appointed emergency manager. The former county prosecutor and medical center executive became Detroit's first white mayor since Coleman A. Young was elected in the early 1970s as its first Black mayor.

Duggan is credited by many for leading Detroit after it emerged in December 2014 from bankruptcy to become a thriving, more vibrant city.

The city with a Black population hovering around 80% reelected Duggan twice. He announced in November 2024 that he would not seek a fourth term. He left the mayor’s office in January.

Duggan, who had been a Democrat for close to 40 years in a largely Democrat voting city, was targeted throughout the campaign by his former party, with many worried he would pull votes away from the Democratic Party's nominee.

“I was running to change politics, not to be a spoiler,” he said Thursday.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Thursday in a statement that there were “disagreements” with Duggan.

“The mayor brought crucial ideas to this race and we appreciate his commitment to bringing people together,” Hertel said. “As we look ahead, we welcome Mayor Duggan’s supporters into our growing coalition as we work to elect a Democratic governor this November who will continue to move Michigan forward.”

Following Duggan's announcement that he would run for governor, Republican and former Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said on X that Duggan checked the boxes of being a “credible, independent candidate with the ability to raise money.”

“But there are huge advantages of having a political party behind you,” Calley wrote. “And being a target of the left and the right will be intense.”

His family posted the news on social media and said he is currently undergoing treatment.

“We ask for understanding and privacy as our family navigates this situation,” the statement continued.

During a Cup Series race on May 10 at Watkins Glen, Busch radioed in to his crew requesting medical aid from Dr. Bill Heisel and a “shot” after the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the Upstate New York road course.

Busch continued to race and finished eighth.

Busch ranks 24th in the Cup Series standings, with two top-10 finishes in 12 races this season. The 41-year-old driver and Las Vegas native won championships in 2015 and 2019. Busch is in his fourth season at Richard Childress Racing after winning titles with Joe Gibbs Racing.

His last win came in 2023, his first with RCR.

One of NASCAR's most polarizing personalities, Busch has won 234 races across the sport's three national series, more than any driver in history.

He has won 63 Cup Series races, including the 2018 Coca-Cola 600.

This will be the first time in more than a decade that Busch has missed a Cup Series race.

In 2015, he missed the first 11 races of the season while recovering from a compound leg fracture and broken foot following a crash during the Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Austin Hill will replace Busch in the Coca-Cola 600.

“Kyle Busch’s health is our utmost priority and he and his family have the full resources of RCR behind them,” RCR said in a statement. “Kyle is an integral part of our organization and we wish him a safe and speedy recovery. His No. 8 Chevrolet will be ready and waiting for him. We’re thankful to Austin Hill for stepping in to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet this weekend. Please keep Kyle and the Busch family in your prayers, and help us respect the family’s privacy at this time.”

Busch has struggled to find consistency since leaving for RCR.

His lack of success led to a spat with former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who appeared to criticize Busch on the Actions Detrimental podcast. Hamlin said, “If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to Victory Lane on a regular basis, you are kidding yourselves.”

While Hamlin later said he meant no harm by the comments and was just making an observation, Busch took exception and said he could make Hamlin’s life “hell” on the racetrack.

While several laps down at last month’s race at Kansas, Busch raced Hamlin hard instead of allowing the race leader to pass. That decision held up Hamlin during a crucial stage of the race.

Tyler Reddick wound up winning the race after Hamlin faded late, finishing fourth despite a race-leading 131 laps.

After winning the Trucks race at Dover last week and showing an uptick in speed, Busch seemed to make a veiled jab at Hamlin, saying “I guess I just remembered how to drive.”

The two appear to have made amends since with Hamlin saying Busch is on the “Mount Rushmore” of racing.

After earning his 69th career Trucks Series race win at Dover, Busch was asked how many races he wants to win in his career before he stops racing.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Parados en una de las áreas afectadas, los daños se extienden a lo largo de filas de vehículos.

Los residentes describieron a los sospechosos como “piratas de bolsas de aire”.

“La bolsa de aire desapareció”, dijo el residente Alex Cernabas. “Es muy costosa. Fui a buscarla y la están vendiendo en eBay por $750 USD”.

El residente Mohammed Hussain dijo que su esposa lo llamó después de descubrir que su vehículo había sido violentado.

“Simplemente me sorprendió esta tarde y mi esposa me llamó y me preguntó si sabía lo que estaba pasando. Le dije que no”, dijo.

Los residentes dijeron que 19 vehículos en el área fueron afectados, con cinco vehículos dañados solo en una sección del estacionamiento.

La Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade está investigando.

Cernabas dijo que ahora está ayudando a su madre a llegar al trabajo porque su vehículo no puede conducirse legalmente sin una bolsa de aire.

“Mi mamá no pudo ir a trabajar. Estoy tratando de ayudarla con eso”, dijo.

Los residentes dicen que los robos traen más que solo la pérdida de una bolsa de aire, ya que también deben lidiar con deducibles de seguros, inconvenientes y frustración.

“Espero que vayan a la cárcel por mucho tiempo y consigan trabajo”, dijo Cernabas. “No le roben a personas que están trabajando”.

Hussain, quien posee el tipo de vehículo que los residentes creen que está siendo objetivo de los ladrones, dijo que planea vigilar de cerca su vehículo después de enterarse de que 19 autos fueron afectados.

No se han realizado arrestos.

Cualquier persona con información sobre los robos de bolsas de aire debe llamar a Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers al 305-471-8477.

The court's action leaves in place lower court rulings in favor of Joseph Clifton Smith, 55, who has been on death row roughly half his life after his conviction for beating a man to death in 1997.

The Supreme Court prohibited execution of intellectually disabled people in a landmark ruling in 2002. The justices, in cases in 2014 and 2017, held that states should consider other evidence of disability in borderline cases because of the margin of error in IQ tests.

The issue in Smith’s case is what happens when a person has multiple IQ scores that are slightly above 70, which has been widely accepted as a marker of intellectual disability. Smith’s five IQ tests produced scores ranging from 72 to 78. Smith had been placed in learning-disabled classes and dropped out of school after seventh grade, his lawyers said. At the time of the crime, he performed math at a kindergarten level, spelled at a third-grade level and read at a fourth-grade level.

The justices had taken up the case to consider how courts should handle such borderline cases of intellectual disability. Arguments took place in December.

Rather than issue a decision, though, the high court dismissed the appeal, an unusuaI action that leaves the last lower-court ruling in place.

The three liberal justices along with Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett formed the majority to dismiss the case.

The other four conservative justices dissented, faulting the federal appeals court in Atlanta for improperly analyzing the case and complaining that their colleagues should have ordered the appeals court to reexamine Smith's case.

The case is Hamm v. Smith, 24-872.

Leer en español

Gunther Manfred Jekschtat, 63, Laubach, Hesse, spoke exclusively to Local 10 News a day after he and fellow German tourist Christoph Rehak, 58, of Gedern, Hesse, were arrested on criminal mischief charges tied to the vandalism at Lummus Park.

Miami Beach police said the graffiti — which included a swastika and the phrase “Adolf was here” — was discovered Monday on an “LGBTQIA+ bench” near 12th Street and Ocean Drive.

As Jekschtat walked out of jail Wednesday, he stopped to answer questions from Local 10 News instead of avoiding cameras.

“I sit beside the other boy. I don’t know. I sit beside the other boy (who) wrote it down,” Jekschtat said.

When asked what he wanted to say to people offended by the graffiti, Jekschtat repeatedly apologized.

“Sorry, I can say sorry for this,” he said. “It’s not OK what they do, what we do. Sorry, sorry for this.”

Jekschtat also said, “It was a big mistake,” adding, “We are also no Nazi boys.”

Rehak, who bonded out Tuesday night, did not speak to Local 10 News and ran from cameras.

According to arrest reports, surveillance video showed Rehak borrowing a marker before the two men sat on the bench together. Police said Rehak wrote the graffiti while Jekschtat used his body to block others from seeing what was happening.

Investigators said both men later admitted involvement. Police said Rehak described the message as a “joke,” while Jekschtat said he was trying to “defend his friend.”

Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner condemned the vandalism, calling it “horrific” and saying there is “no place for hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism in our city.”

The bench has since been removed for repairs.

Authorities said both men remain charged with criminal mischief and were ordered to stay away from the area of 12th Street and Ocean Drive.

While it was learned in court that they have both been in the U.S. for 3 1/2 weeks on vacation, they will now need permission from the judge to leave the country. Their next court date has been scheduled for May 28.

Gunther Manfred Jekschtat, de 63 años y residente de Laubach, Hesse, habló en exclusiva con Local 10 News un día después de que él y otro turista alemán, Christoph Rehak, de 58 años y residente de Gedern, Hesse, fueran arrestados por cargos de daños criminales relacionados con el vandalismo en Lummus Park.

La policía de Miami Beach indicó que el grafiti, que incluía una esvástica y la frase “Adolf estuvo aquí”, fue descubierto el lunes en un “banco LGBTQIA+” cerca de 12th Street y Ocean Drive.

Mientras Jekschtat salía de la cárcel el miércoles, se detuvo para responder preguntas de Local 10 News en lugar de evitar las cámaras.

“Me senté al lado del otro muchacho. No sé. Me senté al lado del otro muchacho que lo escribió”, dijo Jekschtat.

Cuando se le preguntó qué quería decirle a las personas ofendidas por el grafiti, Jekschtat se disculpó repetidamente.

“Perdón, puedo decir perdón por esto”, dijo. “No está bien lo que ellos hacen, lo que nosotros hacemos. Perdón, perdón por esto”.

Jekschtat también dijo: “Fue un gran error”, y agregó: “Nosotros tampoco somos muchachos nazis”.

Rehak, quien salió bajo fianza el martes por la noche, no habló con Local 10 News y corrió para alejarse de las cámaras.

Según los informes de arresto, videos de vigilancia mostraron a Rehak pidiendo prestado un marcador antes de que los dos hombres se sentaran juntos en el banco. La policía indicó que Rehak escribió el grafiti mientras Jekschtat usaba su cuerpo para impedir que otros vieran lo que estaba ocurriendo.

Los investigadores dijeron que ambos hombres posteriormente admitieron su participación. La policía indicó que Rehak describió el mensaje como una “broma”, mientras que Jekschtat dijo que estaba tratando de “defender a su amigo”.

El alcalde de Miami Beach, Steven Meiner, condenó el vandalismo, calificándolo de “horrible” y afirmando que “no hay lugar para el odio, la intolerancia, el racismo ni el antisemitismo en nuestra ciudad”.

El banco ya fue retirado para reparaciones.

Las autoridades dijeron que ambos hombres continúan enfrentando cargos de daños criminales y recibieron la orden de mantenerse alejados del área de 12th Street y Ocean Drive.

Aunque en la corte se supo que ambos llevaban tres semanas y media en Estados Unidos de vacaciones, ahora necesitarán permiso del juez para salir del país. Su próxima audiencia judicial fue programada para el 28 de mayo.

Agentes del condado Miami-Dade realizaron un arresto tras un choque con fuga que involucró un vehículo robado.

Según la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade (MDSO), los agentes fueron alertados luego de que un lector de matrículas detectó un vehículo robado en el área de Northwest 79th Street y Seventh Avenue poco después de las 9:30 a.m. del miércoles.

La MDSO informó que un detective observó brevemente el vehículo, un Acura MDX blanco modelo 2024, cerca de Northwest 12th Street antes de perderlo de vista.

En ese momento, los agentes realizaron una búsqueda en el área y finalmente localizaron el SUV en el área de Northwest 57th Street y Eighth Avenue después de que estuvo involucrado en un choque con fuga, según la MDSO.

Los agentes dijeron que observaron al sospechoso que conducía el SUV robado huyendo de la escena del choque, lo que llevó al establecimiento de un perímetro.

Poco después, las autoridades informaron que detuvieron al sospechoso, cuya identidad no ha sido revelada, sin incidentes.

Los agentes indicaron que no se reportaron heridos.

Leer en español

According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded around 2:20 p.m. to the restaurant, located at 10855 Caribbean Blvd., after receiving reports of a stabbing.

Investigators identified the suspect in an arrest report as Jarvon Moreland, of West Perrine.

The report states that the victim was seated at a table inside the restaurant when Moreland approached him and stabbed him multiple times with a knife, causing “serious bodily injuries.”

According to detectives, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel transported the victim to Jackson South Medical Center for emergency treatment.

Investigators said Moreland fled before deputies arrived, but a be-on-the-lookout alert was issued shortly afterward, and he was later detained near a bus stop along Southwest 107th Avenue, less than a mile from the scene.

“The scene consisted of several blood spots located on the floor within the business,” deputies wrote in the report.

Detectives said surveillance video captured the entire attack and showed the suspect repeatedly stabbing the victim before running away.

According to the report, detectives later found a bloody knife near where Moreland was detained. A woman who was with him at the time gave a sworn statement and identified him as the attacker, investigators said.

Authorities said Moreland later waived his Miranda rights and provided a full confession regarding his involvement in the incident, admitting to stabbing the victim multiple times inside the restaurant.

Jail records show Moreland is facing one count of attempted second-degree murder.

As of Thursday morning, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set.”

Moreland’s arrest report did not state whether he knew the victim, and a motive for the stabbing remains unclear at this time.

Según un informe de arresto de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade, los agentes respondieron alrededor de las 2:20 p.m. al restaurante, ubicado en 10855 Caribbean Blvd., tras recibir reportes de un apuñalamiento.

Los investigadores identificaron al sospechoso en el informe de arresto como Jarvon Moreland, de West Perrine.

El informe indica que la víctima estaba sentada en una mesa dentro del restaurante cuando Moreland se le acercó y la apuñaló múltiples veces con un cuchillo, causándole “lesiones corporales graves”.

Según los detectives, personal de Miami-Dade Fire Rescue trasladó a la víctima al Jackson South Medical Center para recibir tratamiento de emergencia.

Los investigadores dijeron que Moreland huyó antes de que llegaran los agentes, pero poco después se emitió una alerta de búsqueda y posteriormente fue detenido cerca de una parada de autobús a lo largo de Southwest 107th Avenue, a menos de una milla de la escena.

“La escena consistía en varias manchas de sangre ubicadas en el piso dentro del negocio”, escribieron los agentes en el informe.

Los detectives dijeron que un video de vigilancia captó todo el ataque y mostró al sospechoso apuñalando repetidamente a la víctima antes de huir.

Según el informe, los detectives posteriormente encontraron un cuchillo ensangrentado cerca del lugar donde Moreland fue detenido. Una mujer que estaba con él en ese momento dio una declaración jurada y lo identificó como el atacante, dijeron los investigadores.

Las autoridades dijeron que Moreland posteriormente renunció a sus derechos Miranda y proporcionó una confesión completa sobre su participación en el incidente, admitiendo haber apuñalado múltiples veces a la víctima dentro del restaurante.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que Moreland enfrenta un cargo de intento de asesinato en segundo grado.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight, donde su fianza figuraba como “pendiente por establecer”.

El informe de arresto de Moreland no indicó si conocía a la víctima y el motivo del apuñalamiento sigue sin estar claro por el momento.

Leer en español

According the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, deputies were alerted after a license plate reader flagged a stolen vehicle in the area of Northwest 79th Street and Seventh Avenue just after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

A MDSO detective briefly observed the vehicle, a 2024 white Acura MDX, near Northwest 12th Street before losing sight of it, deputies said.

At that point, deputies conducted a canvass of the area and eventually located the SUV in the area of Northwest 57th Street and Eighth Avenue after it had been involved in a hit-and-run crash, according to MDSO.

Deputies said they observed the suspect who was driving the stolen SUV running away from the crash scene, leading to a perimeter being established.

Soon after, authorities said they took the subject, who been identified as 34-year-old Juan Luis Trinidad, into custody without incident.

Trinidad, who police listed as an unemployed homeless man, is facing charges of grand theft of a vehicle, burglary of an occupied dwelling, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and resisting arrest without violence.

As of Thursday morning, Trinidad was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set.”

There were no injuries reported, deputies said.

Trump said at a White House ceremony that the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Republican administration before pivotal elections in November to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living.

It is not clear how much or how quickly grocery prices could be impacted. Industry groups said it could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, amid price spikes caused by the Iran war and Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.

The regulation from the Democratic Biden administration was “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse,” Trump said at a ceremony joined by top executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains. He said the EPA action would protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could even raise prices.

“This rule works against basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out HFCs, the administration “is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall.”

The greenhouse gases are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

Trump once supported limits on refrigerant pollutant

It is a reversal after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of HFCs.

The EPA action highlights the second Trump administration’s drive to roll back regulations perceived as climate friendly. The plan is among a series of sweeping environmental changes that the agency's administrator, Lee Zeldin, has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”

Environmentalists criticized the administration’s actions, saying the new rule would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.

The law pushed industry toward less harmful alternatives

The 2020 law signed by Trump, known as the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phased out HFCs as part of an international agreement on ozone pollution. The law accelerated an industry shift to alternative refrigerants that use less harmful chemicals and are widely available.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council, the top lobbying group for the chemical industry, were among numerous business groups that supported the law and an international deal on pollutants, known as the Kigali Amendment, as victories for jobs and the environment. U.S. companies such as Chemours and Honeywell developed and produce the alternative refrigerants sold in the United States and around the world.

The 2023 rule now being relaxed imposed steep restrictions on HFCs starting in 2026. Zeldin said the rule from the Democratic Biden administration did not give companies enough time to comply and that the rapid switch to other refrigerants caused shortages and price increases last year. Some in the industry dispute this.

The Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores and suppliers, applauded the EPA action.

The earlier rule “imposed significant costs and unrealistic compliance requirements and timelines that threatened to drive up grocery prices and create substantial implementation challenges for food retailers,'' said Leslie Sarasin, the group's president and CEO.

New rule ensures an ‘orderly transition,’ grocer says

Kroger CEO Greg Foran, whose company operates 2,700 U.S. stores, told Trump the EPA action ensures “an orderly transition” that allows the company to update its equipment “in a way which keeps the price of groceries down. And that’s something that we’re desperately focusing on, Mr. President.”

Kevin McDaniel, whose company operates 14 Piggly Wiggly stores in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, said the Biden-era rule would have forced many independent grocers out of business.

“It was thrown together too fast,'' he said. ”The technology is not there yet. It’s just way too fast. That’s the problem. Good idea but it’s terrible."

David Doniger, a senior strategist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, called Trump's action “a lose-lose for the environment and the economy. It will harm consumers and the climate and reduce American competitiveness in the global markets emerging for environmentally-safer refrigerants.”

Rather than address affordability, Trump is imposing “thinly veiled environmental rollbacks that leave the United States stuck with outdated technologies of the past,” Doniger said.

But the mother of three is getting more daring as gas prices and other travel costs make vacations more expensive. Her family has traded pricier trips, such as long summer stays in Florida and an annual Disney World visit around her birthday, for local beaches, bike rides and hiking trails near their home in coastal Rhode Island.

“I’ve been trying to do more of that because one, it’s quality time. Two, it’s fresh air. And three, we’re not spending an arm and a leg,” Bernaba, 47, said.

That kind of calibration is shaping the summer travel season, which gets its traditional start in the U.S. with the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. Higher fuel prices resulting from the Iran war and other inflationary pressures are making most forms of travel costlier as people in many parts of the world form their plans.

The U.S. Travel Association expects annual travel spending to grow by a modest 1% this year, powered largely by domestic leisure travel despite the FIFA World Cup giving soccer fans from other countries a reason to visit the U.S. Airfares have climbed around the world along with the price of jet fuel as the war constrains global oil supplies.

Sticking closer to home may not cushion the sticker shock. The nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated Americans would collectively spend an extra $3.5 billion on gasoline over the holiday weekend. The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was $4.56 on Thursday compared to $3.18 a year ago, according to motor club AAA.

Other travel expenses have gone up too. The latest consumer price index showed airfares were 20.7% higher in April from a year earlier, the cost of intracity transit such as buses and subways rose 5.6%, lodging cost 4.3% more, and eating out got 3.6% pricier.

Changing travel patterns

Despite elevated prices, industry forecasts suggest Americans still want to get away, even if it means replacing long trips with long weekends, choosing destinations closer to home and finding ways to cut costs by cooking meals or using buses and trains instead of driving.

AAA predicted that 45 million U.S. residents would travel at least 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) from home between Thursday and Monday for the holiday. The Transportation Security Administration said it expects to screen 18.3 million passengers from Thursday to next Wednesday.

Many households are planning summer vacations but making tradeoffs such as shorter trips or cheaper lodging, according to Bank of America analysts. Mastercard said in a recent report that consumers appeared increasingly focused on value and were adjusting their destinations and timing instead of not going away at all.

“Generally, it’s certainly more of a demand reshuffling than a demand softening,” David Tinsley, a senior economist at Bank of America Institute, said.

For the Bernaba family, that has meant trading a big vacation for a shorter trip nearby this summer. Their scaled-back itinerary still is pricey: more than $400 for a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for their car and passengers, and about $800 a night for each of the two hotel rooms the family of five needs.

Another family that had planned to join them backed out after seeing the price tag.

“The pinch is being felt all the way around,” Bernaba said.

Analysts have increasingly described travel spending as “K-shaped,” with higher-income households continuing to spend while lower-income families pull back or opt out entirely. Bank of America said lower-income households were significantly more likely to report having no summer travel plans this year.

New polling of registered U.S. voters by Quinnipiac University found that 48% have cut back on vacation spending, 54% have reduced what they spend on dining out, and 36% have curbed their driving.

Travelers are confronting other stressors besides cost.

Airlines around the world have canceled flights and trimmed routes to save on fuel and operating costs, leaving passengers with fewer options. The conflict in the Middle East has complicated getting there and rerouted flights to and from Asia, adding another layer of concern on top of broader geopolitical tensions and the declining value of the dollar for people considering trips abroad.

Recent U.S. government shutdowns, which caused major flight disruptions and long security lines, also are likely still fresh in travelers’ minds.

The various factors impacting travel right now has made planning trips more mentally taxing and may be pushing people toward simpler and more accessible vacations that feel easier to manage, said Marta Soligo, a tourism sociologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“The key word here is unpredictability,” Soligo said. “Tourists don’t like unpredictability.”

Quality over quantity

Jim Wang, a personal finance blogger who lives in Maryland with his wife and four children, said his family’s original plan to travel to Spain to see a full solar eclipse in August began to unravel once they looked at the logistics.

Beyond thousands of dollars in airfare, the trip would have required multiple connecting flights, plus a car rental to reach northern Spain, where the path of totality is expected to pass.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I want to see the eclipse that much,’” Wang said.

Instead, Wang’s family plans to head this summer to the Lake Tahoe area straddling California and Nevada, where they can stay at a relative’s cabin for free, hike and enjoy a slower pace with limited cellphone service. His wife’s parents and sister expect to join them.

“We’re still going to travel. It’ll just be different,” Wang said. “The vacations are no longer as grand for the adults. But for our kids, it’s still exciting.”

Nancy McGehee, a Virginia Tech hospitality professor who studies consumer behavior, said travelers are increasingly focusing more on the “why than the where” when it comes to vacations.

“What we’re seeing is people are saying, ‘Alright, we can’t do that big splashy trip we wanted to do, but what else can we do?’” McGehee said. “It’s more quality over quantity that we’re seeing people go for.”

Back in Rhode Island, Bernaba has accepted that travel may look different for her family for a while.

“I think that’s probably why my mind has gone to doing more nature-y things,” she said. “Let’s learn how to use the earth to enjoy ourselves because that’s not going to cost as much money.”

En medio de las crecientes tensiones entre Cuba y Estados Unidos, el Departamento de Justicia anunció una acusación contra el líder comunista cubano Raúl Castro.

“Envía el mensaje correcto, no solo para nosotros, sino también para la oposición dentro de Cuba”, dijo el comisionado de Miami-Dade, Juan Carlos Bermudez.

La acusación está relacionada con el derribo fatal de los aviones de Hermanos al Rescate en 1996.

“Esa masacre es una herida abierta en esta comunidad porque cuatro jóvenes idealistas, conocidos por su arduo trabajo y seriedad, fueron asesinados por intentar salvar las vidas de otros”, dijo Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat, de la Asamblea de la Resistencia Cubana.

Según el fundador de Hermanos al Rescate, Jose Basulto, grabaciones de audio de Raúl Castro, quien entonces era jefe de las fuerzas armadas de Cuba, muestran que ordenó el ataque contra los aviones del grupo humanitario mientras buscaban ayudar a cubanos en el mar que huían de la isla comunista.

“Fuimos atacados por MiGs cubanos”, dijo Basulto.

Un MiG es un avión de combate Mikoyan-Gurevich de diseño soviético.

“Significa mucho para mí como cubanoestadounidense porque finalmente se hará justicia”, dijo Bermudez, quien era amigo de Mario De La Peña, uno de los cuatro hombres asesinados en el ataque cubano.

“Murió muy joven, a los 25 años”, dijo Bermudez. “Fue un crimen cometido por el gobierno cubano”.

La acusación surge mientras defensores de la democracia en Cuba continúan firmes en su lucha de décadas por una transición de la dictadura a la democracia en la isla.

“La acusación es un paso muy importante, pero por supuesto el objetivo final aquí es el regreso de la soberanía al pueblo cubano”, dijo Gutierrez-Boronat.

Leer en español

The county has been scrambling for long-term waste solutions since the Doral waste-to-energy facility caught fire in 2023.

Before the fire, the incinerator burned roughly 1 million tons of garbage each year. Now, with landfill space rapidly shrinking, county leaders are moving forward with plans for a new incinerator — a proposal that has sparked controversy, including concerns about potentially building near the Everglades.

Environmental advocates say the county cannot simply burn its way out of the crisis.

“If we want to fix our waste crisis, we must reduce and divert away from landfills and reclaim this really valuable material, like aluminum, like cardboard, like plastics,” said Dave Doebler, co-founder and president of VolunteerCleanup.org.

One material often overlooked in the conversation is glass.

According to the latest available data from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, less than 7% of glass in Miami-Dade County is recycled. Unlike plastic, however, glass can be recycled infinitely without losing quality.

“So to me, it’s mind blowing that we are sending this material that we need so much to a landfill, OK, without being recycled,” said Francisco Torres, founder of Glass for Life.

Torres launched Glass for Life after recognizing the untapped potential of discarded glass. The company grew out of Compost for Life, a compost pickup service he founded in 2020 to help residents and businesses reduce organic waste sent to landfills. Adding glass recycling became a natural next step.

“I understood that glass could be infinitely recycled and without losing its grade,” Torres said. “And it’s a material that we need very much.”

Glass for Life provides bins for homes, hotels and businesses to collect bottles, jars and other glass containers. Once collected, the glass is processed into sand-like material that can be reused in a variety of ways, including highway repairs, new bottles, construction materials and even emergency sandbags.

The effort addresses another growing global concern: sand depletion. Sand is the second most-used natural resource in the world after water, and experts estimate that humans extract about 50 billion tons of sand annually from the earth and oceans.

“Everywhere that you see a highway, that you see a building, that you see a construction, there is a lot of sand,” Torres explained.

Glass for Life transports the collected material to Sibelco, a large-scale recycling facility in Sarasota capable of processing up to 50 tons of glass per hour — roughly 10,000 tons each month.

Torres says the company’s mission is about more than recycling.

“We as a community movement, we’re taking action, we’re leading by example, and we’re welcoming properties, hotels (and) community members to become part of the solution,” he said.

Several South Florida hotels have already joined the initiative. Mr. C Miami in Coconut Grove became Glass for Life’s first customer and has diverted more than 20 tons of glass from landfills over the past two years.

The Palms Hotel & Spa in Miami Beach has also embraced the program as part of its sustainability efforts.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” said Tanja Morariu, the hotel’s director of marketing and head of sustainability. “We need to protect this wonderful place that we live in.”

The company also allows customers to track how much waste they divert from landfills. In just four months, The Palms recycled the equivalent of 4,000 glass bottles.

Residents are embracing the service as well.

“It feels amazing,” said customer Alessandra Calderin. “Every little piece of anything that we can keep out of the landfill is so important to me.”

For Torres, the effort represents a larger shift in how communities approach waste and sustainability.

“This needs to be part of our day-to-day life,” he said. “We are in an emergency. We are in the moment of truth that we need to make the right decisions today.”

El condado ha estado buscando soluciones a largo plazo para los desechos desde que la planta de conversión de basura en energía de Doral se incendió en 2023.

Antes del incendio, el incinerador quemaba aproximadamente 1 millón de toneladas de basura cada año. Ahora, con el espacio en los vertederos reduciéndose rápidamente, los líderes del condado avanzan con planes para un nuevo incinerador, una propuesta que ha generado controversia, incluyendo preocupaciones sobre la posibilidad de construir cerca de los Everglades.

Los defensores del medio ambiente dicen que el condado no puede simplemente salir de la crisis quemando basura.

“Si queremos resolver nuestra crisis de desechos, debemos reducir y desviar los residuos de los vertederos y recuperar este material realmente valioso, como el aluminio, el cartón y los plásticos”, dijo Dave Doebler, cofundador y presidente de VolunteerCleanup.org.

Un material que a menudo se pasa por alto en la conversación es el vidrio.

Según los datos más recientes disponibles del Departamento de Protección Ambiental de Florida, menos del 7% del vidrio en el condado Miami-Dade es reciclado. A diferencia del plástico, el vidrio puede reciclarse infinitamente sin perder calidad.

“Para mí es increíble que estemos enviando este material que necesitamos tanto a un vertedero, sin reciclarlo”, dijo Francisco Torres, fundador de Glass for Life.

Torres lanzó Glass for Life después de reconocer el potencial desaprovechado del vidrio desechado. La empresa surgió de Compost for Life, un servicio de recolección de composta que fundó en 2020 para ayudar a residentes y negocios a reducir los desechos orgánicos enviados a vertederos. Agregar el reciclaje de vidrio fue el siguiente paso natural.

“Entendí que el vidrio podía reciclarse infinitamente y sin perder su calidad”, dijo Torres. “Y es un material que necesitamos muchísimo”.

Glass for Life proporciona contenedores para hogares, hoteles y negocios para recolectar botellas, frascos y otros recipientes de vidrio. Una vez recolectado, el vidrio es procesado en un material similar a la arena que puede reutilizarse de varias maneras, incluyendo reparaciones de carreteras, nuevas botellas, materiales de construcción e incluso sacos de arena de emergencia.

El esfuerzo también aborda otra creciente preocupación global: el agotamiento de la arena. La arena es el segundo recurso natural más utilizado en el mundo después del agua, y los expertos estiman que los humanos extraen alrededor de 50 mil millones de toneladas de arena al año de la tierra y los océanos.

“En todos lados donde ves una carretera, un edificio o una construcción, hay mucha arena”, explicó Torres.

Glass for Life transporta el material recolectado a Sibelco, una instalación de reciclaje a gran escala en Sarasota capaz de procesar hasta 50 toneladas de vidrio por hora, aproximadamente 10,000 toneladas cada mes.

Torres dice que la misión de la empresa es más que reciclar.

“Nosotros, como movimiento comunitario, estamos tomando acción, liderando con el ejemplo y dando la bienvenida a propiedades, hoteles y miembros de la comunidad para que formen parte de la solución”, dijo.

Varios hoteles del sur de Florida ya se han unido a la iniciativa. Mr. C Miami en Coconut Grove se convirtió en el primer cliente de Glass for Life y ha desviado más de 20 toneladas de vidrio de los vertederos durante los últimos dos años.

The Palms Hotel & Spa en Miami Beach también ha adoptado el programa como parte de sus esfuerzos de sostenibilidad.

“Simplemente es lo correcto”, dijo Tanja Morariu, directora de mercadeo y jefa de sostenibilidad del hotel. “Necesitamos proteger este maravilloso lugar en el que vivimos”.

La empresa también permite a los clientes rastrear cuánto desperdicio desvían de los vertederos. En solo cuatro meses, The Palms recicló el equivalente a 4,000 botellas de vidrio.

Los residentes también están adoptando el servicio.

“Se siente increíble”, dijo la cliente Alessandra Calderin. “Cada pequeño pedazo de cualquier cosa que podamos mantener fuera del vertedero es muy importante para mí”.

Para Torres, el esfuerzo representa un cambio más amplio en la forma en que las comunidades abordan los desechos y la sostenibilidad.

“Esto necesita ser parte de nuestra vida diaria”, dijo. “Estamos en una emergencia. Estamos en el momento de la verdad en el que necesitamos tomar las decisiones correctas hoy”.

Trump habló el miércoles afuera del Air Force One, donde opinó sobre la histórica acusación y la calificó como un momento significativo para muchas personas.

“No será como la cosa más grande que hemos hecho, pero puedo decirles que para mucha gente será una de las más importantes”, dijo. “Han estado esperando este momento durante 65 años”.

Los comentarios surgieron mientras Rubio conmemoraba el Día de la Independencia de Cuba con un mensaje en video dirigido al pueblo cubano.

“En Estados Unidos, estamos listos para abrir un nuevo capítulo en la relación entre nuestros pueblos y nuestros países”, dijo. “Y actualmente, lo único que se interpone en el camino hacia un mejor futuro son quienes controlan su país”.

Rubio responsabilizó al liderazgo comunista de Cuba por privar al pueblo cubano de recursos como alimentos, gasolina y electricidad. Añadió que el embargo de Estados Unidos solo ha agravado el problema.

Trump también habló sobre el pueblo cubano y la gran comunidad cubanoestadounidense en Miami.

“No tienen energía en absoluto, pero sí tienen grandes personas, muchas grandes personas”, dijo. “Tengo muchos amigos cubanos, principalmente en Miami, en Florida, y son personas increíbles y quieren regresar. Esperemos que quieran vivir aquí, pero quieren regresar. Tal vez inviertan. Veremos qué pasa”.

Leer en español

The proposal calls for the building of Portofino Hollywood, a 27-story luxury high-rise.

The 3-and-a-half-acre site at 1301 S. Ocean Drive is currently home to a community center, park and public parking lot.

The resolution passed Wednesday in a 5-to-2 vote with city commissioners siding with developers, giving them a 99-year lease for a portion of the parcel to be developed.

Residents have been fighting the project for years, saying they want to keep the land for public use.

“It’s not your property to give it away,” Hollywood resident Mark Ross said.

City commissioners are now pushing the development forward using the state’s Live Local Act. The law limits local zoning rules as long as 40% of the units are set aside for affordable housing.

“My thoughts are …every step of the way something is happening -- somehow a few of the commissioners always managed to push for just a little bit more," resident Dennis Dimartino said.

“Back during the great recession of 2008, 2009, this city lost more than a third of its tax base,” City Manager Raelin Storey said.

Still, residents say they fear they will be priced out and continue to oppose the project despite the affordable housing requirement.

“With $75,000 a year, about $1,400 a month rent, but the estimates that I’m hearing, $2,600 is being cap for what people can reasonably afford on a low income salary is just absurd,” resident Melissa Sherman said.

La propuesta contempla la construcción de Portofino Hollywood, una torre de lujo de 27 pisos.

El terreno de tres acres y medio ubicado en 1301 S. Ocean Drive actualmente alberga un centro comunitario, un parque y un estacionamiento público.

La resolución fue aprobada el miércoles en una votación de 5 a 2, con los comisionados de la ciudad alineándose con los desarrolladores y otorgándoles un arrendamiento de 99 años para una parte del terreno que será desarrollada.

Los residentes han estado luchando contra el proyecto durante años, diciendo que quieren mantener el terreno para uso público.

“No es su propiedad para regalarla”, dijo el residente de Hollywood Mark Ross.

Los comisionados de la ciudad ahora están impulsando el desarrollo utilizando la Ley Live Local del estado. La ley limita las reglas locales de zonificación siempre que el 40% de las unidades sean destinadas a viviendas asequibles.

“Mis pensamientos son que… en cada paso del camino algo está ocurriendo, de alguna manera algunos de los comisionados siempre logran impulsar solo un poco más”, dijo el residente Dennis Dimartino.

“Durante la gran recesión de 2008 y 2009, esta ciudad perdió más de un tercio de su base tributaria”, dijo la administradora municipal Raelin Storey.

Aun así, los residentes dicen que temen ser desplazados por los costos y continúan oponiéndose al proyecto a pesar del requisito de viviendas asequibles.

“Con $75,000 USD al año, alrededor de $1,400 USD al mes de renta, pero las estimaciones que estoy escuchando, $2,600 USD como límite para lo que las personas pueden pagar razonablemente con un salario de bajos ingresos, es simplemente absurdo”, dijo la residente Melissa Sherman.

Sinner was on Thursday drawn a French opponent in the first round — Clement Tabur, ranked a career-high 165th. Tabur received the wild card vacated by former champion Stan Wawrinka, who gained a late automatic entry.

With two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz out injured, Sinner is the overwhelming men's favorite on the red clay of Roland Garros, where play starts on Sunday.

The Italian is unbeaten in three months. He's won 29 straight matches and dropped just three sets. The French Open is the only major Sinner hasn’t won. Sinner had three match points in last year's final but Alcaraz prevailed in an epic match.

In the women's draw, Coco Gauff is trying to become just the third woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title this century after Justine Henin and Iga Swiątek. Gauff will start her campaign against fellow American Taylor Townsend, a doubles specialist.

Gauff said at the draw she was “as ready as you can be.”

“I feel I had a good tournament in Rome, similar to the preparation I had last year, so I feel really ready.”

In the absence of Alcaraz, who will also miss Wimbledon, Sinner has claimed all three clay Masters trophies in Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. Sinner has the fifth longest winning run in the ATP Tour era (since 1990). Novak Djokovic has the record of 43 straight wins in 2010-11.

With his historic Rome title — first homegrown men's champion in 50 years — Sinner became the second man after Djokovic to win all nine Masters, the biggest tournaments outside the Grand Slams.

Djokovic continues to chase an unprecedented 25th major title. But the Roland Garros champion from 2016, 2021, and 2023 is in Paris with only one match on clay this season and only three tournaments all year because of a shoulder injury. The 38-year-old will take on Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round. Djokovic couldn't meet Sinner until the final.

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, still looking for his first major crown after making it to the 2024 final in Paris, will be up against another local player, Benjamin Bonzi.

Home favorite Arthur Fils, the highest-ranked French player at No. 19, opens against Wawrinka in a mouthwatering contest.

Gauff aiming for back to back

Gauff’s first Roland Garros title came with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final a year ago.

Just like last year, Gauff was the runner-up at the Italian Open, losing in the final to Elina Svitolina. She is No. 4 and seeded to meet No. 1 Sabalenka in the semifinals.

While Sabalenka remains unbeatable at times on hard courts, she is still perfecting her game on clay. She was upset by American Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid Open quarterfinals and lost in the third round at the Italian Open to 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea.

Sabalenka appeared visibly bothered by lower back pain in Rome. Her first-round opponent is Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a Spaniard ranked 51st.

Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 2 and this year’s Australian Open champion, is in the same half of the draw as No. 3 Swiątek.

Rybakina has mixed results on clay. She has reached the French quarterfinals twice. She starts against Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia.

Swiątek, the four-time French Open champion, lost to Svitolina in the Rome semifinals and is still reshaping her game under new coach Francisco Roig, who used to work with Rafael Nadal. Swiątek’s 26-match winning streak at Roland Garros ended in the semifinals last year with a loss to Sabalenka. She opens against Emerson Jones of Australia, a wild card.

Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, claimed the Rome title for her first WTA 1000 trophy in eight years — and is back in the top 10 after a maternity leave. But she’s never been past the semifinals of a Grand Slam, and never past the quarterfinals at the French Open. Svitolina takes on Anna Bondar in the first round.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the maneuvers in a video call with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

“The use of nuclear weapons is an extreme, exceptional measure for ensuring the national security of our states,” Putin said.

Lukashenko earlier inspected Russian short-range nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit involved in the drills and declared: “I dreamed about this machine a long time ago.”

The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes. including on Moscow's suburbs that killed three people and damaged several buildings and industrial facilities. The strikes made it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something so distant that it doesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians.

Drills involve wide array of nuclear weapons

Russia's Defense Ministry said the exercise involved 64,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped ICBMs. The drills focused on the “preparation and use of nuclear forces under the threat of aggression,” it said.

The maneuvers also practice cooperation with Belarus, an ally that hosts Russian nuclear weapons. Russian arsenals in Belarus include its latest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system.

Along with nuclear-tipped ground- and submarine-launched ICBMs, the maneuvers featured a broad assortment of short- and medium-range weapons.

Unlike the intercontinental missiles that can destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear weapons intended for use against troops on the battlefield are less powerful. They include aerial bombs and warheads for short- and medium-range missiles and artillery munitions.

The Defense Ministry said the Russian armed forces test-fired Yars and Sineva ICBMs, as well as medium-range sea-launched Zircon and air-launched Kinzhal missiles, noting that all missiles hit their designated practice targets. Belarusian troops test-fired a short-range Iskander ballistic missile inside Russia.

Kremlin nuclear messaging

Putin has repeatedly reminded the world about Moscow’s nuclear arsenals after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Kyiv.

In 2024, the Kremlin adopted a revised nuclear doctrine, noting that any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. That threat was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Moscow’s nuclear arsenal.

The revised doctrine also placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella. Putin has said that Moscow will retain control of its nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus, which borders Ukraine and NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, but would allow its ally to select the targets in case of conflict.

Drills come as Ukrainian drones spotted in the Baltics

The maneuvers are held amid an increase in drone activity in the Baltic nations. On Tuesday, a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.

On Wednesday, an emergency announcement about a drone flying over Belarus prompted residents of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, including top officials and lawmakers, to take shelter and led to a brief closure of its airport.

Ukrainian drones targeting Russia's Baltic ports and energy facilities have recently crossed or come down in NATO territory on several occasions. Western officials blame apparent Russian electronic jamming of the drones.

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said Tuesday, without providing evidence, that Ukraine is preparing drone attacks against Russia from the territory of the Baltic countries and warned of retaliation It alleged Ukrainian military personnel had been deployed to Latvia and warned that the country’s membership in NATO wouldn’t protect it from “just retribution.” Latvian authorities said the allegation was not true.

Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry published a list of factories in Europe that it said were involved in producing drones and their components for Ukraine. It warned that attacks on Russia involving drones manufactured in Europe are fraught with “unpredictable consequences.”

Some commentators interpreted the bellicose statements from Moscow and this week's exercise featuring short- and medium-range nuclear weapons capable of reaching targets in Europe as part of Kremlin efforts to discourage Western allies from bolstering support for Ukraine.

Asked what message the nuclear exercise was intended to send, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that “any drills are intended to send a signal,” but wouldn't elaborate.

While Sachs’ film, which is a competition entry at this year's Cannes Film Festival, likewise centers on a performer dying of AIDS, it’s otherwise an altogether different and dramatically more personal tale about art, love and death.

“It took me a minute to realize it was more about life,” Malek said in an interview alongside Sachs on a terrace in Cannes. “There’s a threat looming throughout, but it’s an undercurrent. Throughout the film there’s a cacophony of sound and imagery and beauty that is filling your soul.”

The film, which is for sale in Cannes, has earned Malek — an actor who has sometimes struggled to find well-suited roles since his breakout in “Mr. Robot” — some of the best reviews of his career.

Sachs, the New York indie filmmaker of “Passages” and “Love Is Strange,” knew he wanted an actor with an ineffable star quality.

“What I saw in ‘Mr. Robot’ was a very natural actor and someone who has an ability where you don’t know how they get from one word to the next.”

In “The Man I Love,” Malek plays Jimmy George, a New York performance artist who’s trying to continue performing despite his illness. His partner (Tom Sturridge) diligently cares for him while a man (Luke Ford) who moves into the same building immediately falls for Jimmy.

It’s not a movie filled with medication and hospital visits. Instead, it captures a performer desperately trying to continue on.

Sachs said he wanted “a rapturous film.”

“I wanted to make a film that contained all the things that I’ll miss when I’m gone,” said the filmmaker. “I wanted it to be suffused with emotion and pain and skin. It’s a sexy film. It has color and music. You could say it’s a list of pleasures or sins.”

Some of the movie’s most overwhelming scenes are of Jimmy rehearsing or performing. In a heartbreaking showstopper, he sings the 1970 Melanie hit “What Have They Done to My Song Ma” to his family.

“It came straight from my soul,” says Malek. “It’s a moment in the film when Jimmy has some sense of clarity as to what’s coming. There is this stubborn refusal to keep creating in the most desperate of times that emanates through this film. It imbued me with this sense of, ‘Oh, I can be dangerous. I can take things to a limit that I haven’t before.’”

The 1980s has deep importance to the 60-year-old Sachs, who began working in New York in 1984. He was inspired by the stories of performance artists like John Kelly and John Jesurun

“They’re the ones who told me about the last night that the comedian Frank Maya was on stage and he lost the ability to finish his act,” Sachs says. “John Kelly told me about Ethyl Eichelberger performing and having sweat drenching his face.”

Malek calls Sachs “a library,” whose connection to the time of “The Man I Love” fueled his curiosity.”.

“That confidence generated a performance in me that I didn’t know I was giving,” Malek says. “But I knew I was doing something unique. I didn’t know it would translate.”

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 213,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

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

Despite historically low layoffs, the labor market appears to be stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That’s kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.

Though U.S. employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs in April, the Iran war has injected a large degree of uncertainty about the broader U.S. economy and labor market.

The Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil travels through, remains closed. Since the beginning of the war in late February, oil prices have spiked more than 50% and the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. has climbed to $4.56 from less than $3. Besides hitting consumers’ pocketbooks, those higher costs can discourage businesses from hiring.

Data from the U.S. government last week revealed that inflation at the consumer level rose 3.8% from April 2025, the biggest jump in three years. Food prices are also up, but may not yet fully reflect rising energy costs due to the Iran war, analysts say.

Another report last week showed that wholesale prices shot up 6% from a year ago, the highest point in more than three years. The Labor Department’s producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% from March to April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years.

This comes at a time when U.S. inflation is already above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. At its most recent meeting, the Fed opted to leave its benchmark rate alone, citing economic uncertainty caused by instability in the Middle East and still-elevated inflation.

Lower interest rates can boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to stoke inflation, leading a number of Federal Reserve policymakers to say they are willing to consider an interest rate hike this year.

On top of that, the recent artificial intelligence boom and the investment required to develop it could alter or even replace some jobs.

A number of high-profile companies have cut jobs recently, including Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney and Walmart.

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

Employers added fewer than 200,000 jobs last year, compared with about 1.5 million in 2024, according to the data firm FactSet.

The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, inched down by 1,500 to 202,500.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending May 9 grew by 6,000 to 1.78 million.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and Trump’s ballroom on Thursday. And Trump's plan to build a triumphal arch in Washington is getting a second look from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency that suggested changes before it approved the concept last month.

The Latest:

Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump raises new threat of military action

Trump has again raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba.

The renewed threat Thursday takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro.

Trump said previous U.S. presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades, but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”

Rubio told reporters separately that the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully, but is doubtful the U.S. can reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.

The Castro indictment has led many to believe that the administration is following the same playbook it did when it ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

▶ Read more

Cuban government tightens control over telecommunications and tech equipment

The Cuban government on Thursday made regulatory changes that tightened its control over telecommunications and technological equipment, including routers, radios and drones.

The regulations published in the country’s Official Gazette now require prior “technical authorization” for the import, use and sale of a wide range of equipment such as Wi-Fi systems, walkie-talkies, doorbell cameras and baby monitors. Some equipment will also be subject to inspection.

In addition, “the use, import, export, manufacture, and sale” of drones requires prior authorization from the Ministry of Communications “regarding the use of frequencies and power levels.”

The rules maintain Cuba’s ban on the import of cellphone signal amplifiers, or repeaters.

Republican progress on immigration bill stalls out over Trump’s ballroom, DOJ settlement

Senate Republicans appear increasingly unlikely to meet their self-imposed deadline to pass a roughly $70 billion immigration enforcement bill this week as questions about security funding for the White House and the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion settlement fund effectively derailed progress.

Republicans were already expected to abandon $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party.

But then questions about the settlement fund added to some of the senator’s concerns. They are questioning the timing of the request and who would get the money.

Republican Senators who emerged from a meeting on Thursday with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to hash out the bill’s details were tight-lipped. They indicated that lawmakers would not hold a vote on the package before leaving Washington for a Memorial Day break, risking failure to meet Trump’s June 1 deadline.

▶ Read more

Companies join a deep-sea mining rush after Trump executive order, as regulators fast-track permits

In the year since Trump signed an executive order to create a deep-sea mining industry, businesses have raised millions from investors, stock prices have soared, and federal regulators have raced to fast-track a permitting process.

At least nine companies are in talks with the government for access to seabed minerals, according to an Associated Press review. Sections of the seafloor from American Samoa to Alaska could be auctioned for offshore mining this summer and through the fall.

But a close look at some of the companies involved reveals uncertain track records and histories spattered with legal disputes, while major questions about how the minerals would be processed and refined remain unanswered.

Environmental groups decried the order when Trump signed it in April 2025. They said it could irreparably harm marine ecosystems and ignores an ongoing process to adopt international rules for the practice.

▶ Read more

Trump, facing a Senate Republican mutiny, says, ‘I don’t need money for the ballroom’

Trump, facing a Senate Republican mutiny, says ‘I don’t need money for the ballroom’

Asked about Senate Republicans dropping a proposed $1 billion for White House security and his ballroom project, Trump said, “I’m making a gift of the ballroom.”

Trump says the ballroom will be paid for by himself and donors – though much about its financing remains mysterious.

Trump drew distinctions between the ballroom and proposed White House security improvements. He said the ballroom was being built “in conjunction” with the military and the Secret Service and that “a tremendous amount” of the project “is for national security.”

The president also said that the changes were “not for me because I’ll be gone,” even though he’s repeatedly mused about remaining in office after his term.

Trump says he hopes to finish his revamp of the Reflecting Pool by Independence Day

Trump says he hopes to finish his revamp of the Reflecting Pool by Independence Day

“The key is to have it done before July 4,” the president said. “We want to see if we can have it done before July 4.”

The president has spent weeks promising to improve the Reflecting Pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. He says the project has been delayed by rain and other factors, but when completed, “It will be something special.”

In the meantime, a Washington-based nonprofit has sued, attempting to force the Trump administration to stop work on the Reflecting Pool and restore historic elements.

Trump returns to more definitive tone on controlling Iran’s uranium

Last week, Trump suggested that he might be OK with some 970 pounds of highly enriched uranium believed to be buried beneath Iranian nuclear facilities that were targeted by U.S. military strikes last year remaining entombed under those sites.

But speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump reverted to a more definitive tone about the U.S. taking control of the uranium as part of any potential peace agreement with Iran.

“We will get it. We don’t need it. We don’t want it,” Trump said. “We’ll probably destroy it after we get it, but we’re not going to let them have it.”

Last week, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity he’d “just feel better if I got” the uranium, but that “it’s more for public relations than it is for anything else.”

Trump says he didn’t like the AI executive order he was supposed to sign

President Donald Trump called off a Thursday signing ceremony for a new order on artificial intelligence because he worried it could dull America’s edge on AI technology.

Trump said he was postponing the signing because he didn’t like what he saw in the order’s text. He announced the change hours before the event was scheduled to take place in the Oval Office.

“We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters at an unrelated Oval Office event.

Trump suggests U.S. presidents have mulled intervening in Cuba for decades but ‘it looks like I’ll be the one that does it’

“Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters during an unrelated environmental event in the Oval Office, when asked Thursday about Cuba. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.”

He added that the U.S. wants to open Cuba “up to Cuban Americans, where they can go back and help.”

Trump didn’t answer questions about the aircraft carrier Nimitz having reportedly entered the southern Caribbean on Wednesday. Nor did he clarify exactly what he meant.

Still, the president’s comments deviated from Wednesday, when the president was asked about a possible U.S. escalation in Cuba and suggested one wasn’t coming.

He called Cuba a failed country and said, “They don’t have electricity. They don’t have money. They don’t have really anything,” before adding, “We’re going to help them along.”

Trump falsely accuses Maryland of election fraud

Trump claimed that Maryland “got caught with 500,000 mail-in ballots that were corrupt,” an allegation he has repeated multiple times in recent days.

That’s not true. The Maryland State Board of Elections said some voters received a primary ballot for the wrong party ahead of the state’s 2026 gubernatorial primary due to a vendor error.

Voters who may have been affected will receive a replacement ballot and any original ballots already sent to election offices will be voided. Voters have been instructed to destroy their original ballots if they have not yet returned them. Safeguards such as unique identifiers on ballot envelopes ensure that each voter can only vote once.

Mark Lindeman, policy and strategy director at Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group focused on election technology, said the error isn’t expected to have much impact given how quickly it was discovered.

Trump begins Oval Office event as he loosens federal rules on grocery store cooling equipment

The president gathered leaders of grocery store chains and retail companies as he moved to loosen a federal rule requiring grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cooling equipment.

Trump said terminating regulations from former President Joe Biden’s administration will “lower costs for consumers, protect hundreds of thousands of jobs, and save Americans well over $2 billion a year.”

Rubio says Trump’s preference is a diplomatic solution with Cuba, but US must preserve its interests

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration is keen to find a diplomatic solution to its differences with the Cuban government, but is not particularly optimistic that one can be achieved.

His comments leave open the option of military action against Cuba, particularly after the indictment this week of former President Raúl Castro on terrorism charges.

“The president’s preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful,” Rubio told reporters before leaving Miami for a trip to Sweden and India. “That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba. I’m just being honest with you. You know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high.”

He added that “our preference in Cuba and anywhere in the world is a negotiated diplomatic settlement.”

US Commission of Fine Arts approves Trump’s Washington arch design

The commissioners, all appointed by Trump, approved the triumphal arch design despite overwhelming opposition from the public.

It is one of several projects Trump is pursuing, along with a huge new White House ballroom, to leave his imprint on Washington. The arch itself would stand 250 feet tall (76 meters) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top, flanked by two eagles, all gilded. A proposal for gilded lions to guard the base was dropped.

The vast majority of people submitting public comment complained about the design. The arch would dwarf the nearby Lincoln Memorial.

▶ Read more:

UN council is urged ‘to use every means at its disposal’ to press Hamas to disarm

Nickolay Mladenov, who is overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, warned the Security Council Thursday that every act of violence there risks “unraveling” the ceasefire. He said Hamas must accept the roadmap to peace and Israel must uphold its obligations.

The high representative for the Board of Peace said the choice before Hamas and Israel is “a deteriorating status quo” or a new beginning for two million Palestinians, now waiting “in desperate conditions.”

“There is no third option,” Mladenov stressed. “There never was, and the people of Gaza should not be made to wait while some pretend there is.”

He went through the 15 points in the roadmap, stressing that the board is not a substitute for Palestinian governance of Gaza.

Rubio says despite ‘good signs’ in Iran talks, ‘other options’ remain on the table

Being careful not to sound overtly optimistic, Rubio told reporters Thursday that while Pakistan and other regional allies are hard at work to bring a diplomatic resolution on Iran, with some officials traveling to Tehran today, Washington remains ready with alternative plans.

“The president’s preference is to do a good deal. That’s his preference. It’s always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great,” he said. “But if we can’t get a good deal, the president’s been clear he has other options.”

Rubio says Iran’s plan to toll Strait of Hormuz would make deal ‘unfeasible’

Talking to reporters on the tarmac in Florida, Rubio once again blasted Tehran’s effort to financially benefit from its chokehold on the critical waterway.

“No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen. It would be unacceptable,” he said. “It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that.”

But the secretary of state added that there were “good signs” in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran despite weeks of back-and-forth on a sustainable end to the war between the longtime adversaries.

“I don’t want to get ahead of it ... I think we’ve made some progress,” Rubio said. “But obviously we’re dealing with a system that itself is a little fractured.”

GOP senators huddling with Blanche on Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Republican senators have some questions for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as they finalize the text of a $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. The Trump administration wants it to include a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as part of a settlement that also absolves Trump and his family from any potential tax law violations.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before their meeting with Blanche began Thursday that his fellow Republicans want to make sure the fund is “fenced in appropriately.”

Democrats have an opening because Republicans are trying to pass the bill through a complicated budget process that requires a long series of amendment votes. Among other things, Democrats want to ban any payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

▶ Read more:

Rubio says Cuba has ‘always’ been a national security threat

The U.S. secretary of state says Cuba has “always” been a national security threat to the United States.

“Cuba hosts a Russia and Chinese intelligence presence in their country,” Marco Rubio told reporters before leaving Miami for a trip to a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden and then India.

Rubio would not discuss how the U.S. might move to implement the indictment against Castro, which has led many to believe that military action against the island is potentially imminent, after similar charges against former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro were invoked to justify his ouster in a military operation in January.

Facing intense internal pressure, DNC releases post-election autopsy

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a critical study of the party’s performance in the 2024 campaign on Thursday after frustrated party operatives publicly demanded the release of the post-election autopsy.

The 192-page report was concluded last December and authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera. It calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South.”

“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.

Martin is confronting a crisis of confidence among party officials amid increasing concerns about the health of their political machine. “Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote in response.

▶ Read more

Democrats rally at Capitol against GOP funding bill

House and Senate Democrats gathered on the Capitol steps in opposition to Republicans’ funding bill for immigration enforcement.

Democrats are trying to draw a sharp contrast with the upcoming votes by highlighting how the White House has proposed including $1 billion for security for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom. Republicans are abandoning that proposal, but Democrats said Congress should be focused instead on making life affordable for everyday Americans.

“Ballroom Republicans are not working for you, they are busy fighting for Trump,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. “The American people are watching and in November, they will be watching.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, for his part, said “immigration enforcement in this country should be fair. It should be just, and it should be humane.”

▶ Read more

Cuban government points to US airstrikes on boats in Latin American waters

Cuba is accusing the Trump administration of hypocrisy for indicting former President Raul Castro in the downing of civilian planes near its coast 30 years ago, noting that the U.S. president is responsible for many more killings of civilians in international waters this year.

“It is highly cynical that this accusation is made by the same government that has murdered nearly 200 people and destroyed 57 vessels in international waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific, far from the territory of the United States,” the Cuban government response said, adding that the killings “qualify as extrajudicial executions, in accordance with International Law, and murders, according to US laws.”

Trump has justified the attacks as necessary to stem the flow of drugs, while offering little evidence that “narcoterrorists” are in the boats.

The Pentagon inspector general announced a review of whether the attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats followed an established targeting framework, but said it would not probe the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny.

▶ Read more:

Trump will ease refrigerant rule in effort to address surging grocery costs

The Trump administration is set to loosen a federal rule that requires grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, said American families will see lower grocery prices as a result. Trump is scheduled to be joined by executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains for Thursday’s announcement.

Just how much or how quickly loosening the refrigerant rule might ease grocery prices is unclear. The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

▶ Read more:

Timeline of relations between the US and Cuba

Trump has been escalating talk about regime change in Cuba ever since he sent the U.S. military to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. Now a federal indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro is raising questions about whether Trump might try something similar in Havana.

Here’s a timeline of U.S. relations with the communist-run island, including repeated meetings with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Castro known as “Raúlito.”

China opposes US sanctions and pressure on Cuba

“China always firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and have no authorization from the United Nations Security Council and the abuse of judicial measures, and we also oppose external forces exerting pressure on Cuba under any pretext,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiankun said Thursday.

The U.S. should “stop wielding the stick of sanctions and judicial measures” against the country, Guo added. “China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference.”

Trump’s proposed Washington arch gets another review

Trump’s plan to build a triumphal arch in Washington is getting a second look from a federal agency that suggested changes before it approved the concept last month.

The proposed 250-foot (76 meter) arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington. Critics of the project, including an overwhelming number of people who submitted public comment in April, said the arch would be taller than any other monument in the capital city and dominate the skyline.

He has said some of his other projects, such as adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump, approved the concept for the arch at its monthly meeting in April. Commissioners are set to consider and possibly vote on updated plans when they meet again on Thursday.

▶ Read more

Young Republicans wrestle with their disappointment in Trump and their party

The more than a dozen young Republicans who gathered with beers and brightly colored cocktails at a bar called dEcORa in Kentucky this week were picking apart the presidential administration they welcomed with high hopes last year.

By now, their enthusiasm for Trump had curdled into frustration. What poured out at the bar was a sense that the Republican establishment — which they initially applauded Trump for disrupting, but which some now see him sustaining — had forsaken them.

That festering feeling has widened a generational gap between younger and older conservatives as the party slowly begins to consider a future without Trump in charge.

The Republican primary defeat of Rep. Thomas Massie — who had earned a younger and anti-establishment following while feuding with Trump — cost them one of their strongest allies in Congress.

▶ Read more

“Our bid is a genuine promise for future generations,” Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said during the 90-minute debate that preceded the vote Thursday. “We want positive development for Berlin.”

Wegner’s CDU political party received support from rival SPD members and the far-right AfD for the Berlin Olympic and Paralympic plans that he first presented in May last year in the same stadium where Jesse Owens defied Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Games.

Berlin’s state government approved the concept this month for a bid that relies mostly on existing sports facilities and envisages using city landmarks such as the city park at the former airport Tempelhof.

It estimated the cost at 4.82 billion euros ($5.6 billion), with revenue of 5.24 billion euros projected, giving a net profit of around 420 million euros, with a quarter of that going to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“If we put on a summer fairy tale for the world, then it’s a chance for the world,” Wegner said.

The plans were opposed by politicians from the Left party and Greens who referred to the financial risks of hosting the Olympics and criticized what they called “empty promises” and “castles in the air,” news agency DPA reported.

Tobias Schulze of the Left party said the last three Olympic Games were more than twice as expensive as initially planned, and he pointed out that many of the proposed venues need renovation.

The bid organizers decided not to hold a referendum in contrast to organizers of three other bids from Germany.

Bids from Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia were approved in referendums, while vote-eligible people in Hamburg will have their say on that city's proposed bid on May 31.

If Hamburg's bid survives, one of the four will be selected by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on Sep. 26 for submission to the IOC.

“On behalf of the entire German sporting community, I congratulate Berlin on this decision, which was supported by a large majority,” DOSB president Thomas Weikert said.

"The bid has already garnered significant attention and sparked new enthusiasm for sport in the capital.”

However, many Berliners are against the idea of staging the Olympics at all, regardless of them potentially taking place on the 100th anniversary of the Games already hosted by the Nazis. An initiative called “ NOlympia Berlin ” is collecting signatures in an effort to force a referendum.

Germany wants to host the Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

The gala raises money for AIDS research, and this year's extravaganza is being hosted by Geena Davis, with Robbie Williams, Lizzo and Zara Larsson expected to perform. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $950 million (841 million euros) in support of its programs and has awarded more than 3,800 grants to research teams worldwide.

The Associated Press has covered the event for more than a decade, and the AP will be offering a livestream of stars arriving for the gala Thursday beginning at 1600GMT on YouTube and APNews.com.

Here’s an insider’s look at how the evening plays out.

How stars arrive at the amfAR gala

A special car pass is required to get anywhere near the exclusive Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc hotel, and taxis and limos wind their way up narrow French roads through a one-way system to reach the venue.

They then sit in a long line waiting to drop off guests at the famous gates. Signs along the route remind any impatient guests that they must not get out and attempt to walk the last 50 meters (164 feet) to the hotel.

Once inside, wristbands are assigned with a table number attached for the exclusive dinner. Guests then queue again for their moment on the red carpet with celebrities and regular guests posing shoulder to shoulder in front of branded boards. Meanwhile, the shy and thirsty sneak around the back of the red carpet and enter without fanfare or delay.

After dodging the gantlet of elaborate dress trains and those posing for selfies, guests are ushered through to the back lawn which stretches all the way down to the sea, yachts bobbing in the distance as the sun starts to go down. Bars line the route, serving cocktails, Champagne and wines whilst servers wander with trays of canapés and the DJ pumps out some chilled tunes.

The celebrity spotting at the bars is always top notch, with Spike Lee and Adrien Brody having an animated chat over a glass of Champagne last year.

Inside the gala and its famous auction

Various works of art add to the impressive backdrop, to be admired before they are sold off at the auction later in the night.

At 8 p.m. the first announcement is made telling guests to head to the tent for dinner. These announcements continue for some time, sounding more urgent as guests continue their chitchat and pose for photos with no desire to be the first to take their seats.

Once inside guests continue to mingle. Jeff Bezos was one of last year's dinner guests who attracted attention as he moved between tables.

The dinner runs long into the night, interspersed with the auction.

This year guests can bid for a walk-on part in season 6 of the hit show “Emily in Paris,” a seven-day Arctic expedition with explorer Inge Solheim, as well as artwork by Tracey Emin and Andy Warhol.

Last year's top items for sale included a Dodge Charger driven by Vin Diesel in “Fast X" that raised 475,000 euros ($536,843.)

Guests are entertained with musical performances during the meal. Last year Ciara opened the night and Adam Lambert headlined with Duran Duran, getting guests to sing along to hits like “Notorious” and “View to a Kill.”

A fashion show is a regular feature of the auction. Last year, a James Bond-inspired collection curated by Carine Roitfeld made 450,000 euros ($508,505) for the charity.

After the meal, auction and entertainment, it's time to leave the tent and head to the after-party at the hotel's swimming pool and dance into the early hours.

___

Louise Dixon has covered the amfAR gala for more than a decade. Among the most memorable items she’s seen sold at auction are a game of soccer with David Beckham and his friends, a private dinner performance from Andrea Bocelli at his family home and lunch with Robert De Niro that combined have raised more than 2 million euros.

___

For more coverage of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

The Communications and Multimedia Commission said the move followed the circulation of “grossly offensive, false, menacing and insulting” content, including AI-generated videos and manipulated images linked to an account falsely claiming association with king Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar.

Such matters fall within the sensitive issues of race, religion and royalty “which are highly sensitive and may undermine public order, national harmony and respect for constitutional institutions,” the regulator said in a statement.

Despite prior notifications and engagements, it said TikTok’s moderation response especially in ensuring the prompt removal of such content and preventing further dissemination was unsatisfactory.

It said TikTok — which has not publicly commented on the case — has been issued a legal notice that requires it to explain its moderation failures and undertake immediate remedial measures, including strengthening its content moderation mechanisms and improving enforcement against content that violates Malaysian laws and community standards.

The commission said social media platforms operating in Malaysia are expected to exercise greater responsibility in preventing unlawful and harmful activities on their services.

It warned it would continue to take “firm and proportionate action” to ensure digital platforms comply with their responsibilities in maintaining a safe and respectful online environment.

The move comes amid Malaysia’ s broader push to tighten oversight of digital platforms, with authorities in recent years stepping up enforcement against social media companies over harmful content, scams, online gambling and material deemed offensive or threatening to public order.

TikTok did not respond to a request by The Associated Press for comment.

What’s included in the guide:

• Hurricane Family Plan
• Supply Kit Checklist
• Are You In A Storm Surge Area?
• Tri-County Evacuation Zones
• Tri-County Shelters, including Pet Friendly Shelters
• Special Needs Shelters
• Plan Ahead For Your Pets
• Emergency Transportation Information
• What to Keep and What to Throw Out If the Electricity Goes Out

and more ...

Click here for information on how to be prepared if you’re a caregiver to someone with dementia.

Leer en español

Amid rising tensions between Cuba and the United States, the Department of Justice announced an indictment against former Cuban communist leader Raul Castro.

“It sends the right message, not only to us, but to the opposition inside Cuba,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez.

The indictment comes in connection with the deadly Brothers to the Rescue plane shootdown in 1996.

“That massacre is an open wound in this community because four young, idealistic men who were known for their hard work and their seriousness were killed for trying to save the lives of others,” said Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat, with the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.

According to Brothers to the Rescue founder Jose Basulto, audio recordings of Castro, who was then head of Cuba’s military, show him ordering the attack on the humanitarian group’s planes as they searched to help Cubans at sea fleeing the communist island.

“We were attacked by Cuban MiGs,” said Basulto.

A MiG is a Soviet-designed Mikoyan-Gurevich fighter jet.

“It means a lot to me as a Cuban American because justice will finally be done,” said Bermudez, who was friends with Mario De La Pena, one of the four men killed in the Cuban attack.

“Died at a very young age, 25 years old,” said Bermudez. “It was a crime committed by the Cuban government.”

The indictment comes as Cuban democracy advocates remain steadfast in their decades-long quest for transition in Cuba from dictatorship to democracy.

“The indictment is a very important step, but of course the end goal here is the return of sovereignty to the Cuban people,” said Gutierrez-Boronat.

Leer en español

“This should have been done at the moment they shot down two humanitarian planes over international waters with two fighter jets,” said Adrian Rodriguez, who came to the U.S. from Cuba 12 years ago. “That’s an act of terrorism.”

In South Florida, Café Versailles in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood has been an unofficial headquarters for Cuban-Americans and Cuban exiles.

It was the scene of a massive series of demonstrations following the death of Fidel Castro.

“Definitely, I would like to see that,” Cuban-American Roberto Somoza said when asked about Raul Castro’s indictment. “He’s a murderer. He’s been killing Cubans since 1959 and before that.”

One couple who came from Cuba to South Florida as children in 1961 spoke about what it would mean to see Raul Castro held accountable for his actions.

“I will be here celebrating that day, here at the Versailles, which is the historic capital of the exile people,” said Ana Maria Hernandez.

“I’m all for it,” added Luis Hernandez. “Especially because he’s the one that gave the order for the Brothers to the Rescue airplanes to be shot down. Two civil airplanes that were just trying to help people. He deserves the maximum penalty.”

Local 10 News reached out to the Miami Police Department for information on whether they have a plan for any large gatherings or demonstrations that may occur in the coming hours and days.

“We are not expecting any large crowds to gather at Versailles at this time, however the Miami Police Department remains prepared to ensure the safety of all participants, residents and visitors. Increased police presence will be deployed, along with traffic management measures, if needed if any affected areas.”

Miami Police Department

“We are older people now, but we were exiles when we were children,” said Ana Maria Hernandez. “In 1961, we were one of the first refugees and exiles, and we have never gone back to Cuba, never.”

Added Luis Hernandez: “It’s time for them to go to the trash can of history.”

Leer en español

The reckless events, often involving drivers spinning donuts and blocking intersections across South Florida, have become a growing problem in recent years. Now, local agencies are launching a zero-tolerance enforcement campaign to stop the chaos.

“Over the past several years, we have seen several reckless driving behaviors escalate into crashes, injuries, intimidation of motorists, assaults on officers, property damage, dangerous disruptions to traffic flows,” said Fort Lauderdale police Chief Bill Schultz.

During a multi-agency news conference Wednesday, officials showed video of a recent arrest in Fort Lauderdale involving a man accused of fleeing from police and driving recklessly. Authorities said he is one of thousands of people arrested or cited across Florida this year.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said residents have been frustrated with the issue for years.

“This has been an issue close to my heart for many years because I’ve heard directly from neighbors throughout Fort Lauderdale,” Trantalis said.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there were 13,835 citations issued for street racing or stunt driving between 2020 and 2026. Officials said most participants are between 16 and 29 years old.

Fort Lauderdale police said since January 2022, officers have made 118 arrests connected to takeovers and reckless driving, along with filing 343 misdemeanor charges and 149 felony charges.

Police say they’ll continue stepping up enforcement throughout the holiday weekend, with a clear warning for anyone planning to participate.

“The message today is clear: reckless ATV, automobile, motorcycle and e-bike driving will not be tolerated in Fort Lauderdale or any of our jurisdictions in Broward County,” Schultz said.

Officials also reminded the public that even watching a street takeover as a spectator can result in a non-criminal traffic citation.

Leer en español

Trump spoke outside Air Force One on Wednesday, as he weighed in on the historic indictment, calling it a significant moment for many people.

“It’s not going to be like the biggest thing we’ve ever done, but I can tell you to a lot of people, it’s going to be one of the most important,” he said. “They have been looking for this moment for 65 years.”

The comments came as Rubio marked Cuban Independence Day with a video message directed at the people of Cuba.

“In the U.S., we are ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries,” he said. “And, currently, the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country.”

Rubio blamed Cuba’s communist leadership for keeping resources such as food, gas and electricity from the Cuban people. He said the U.S. blockade has only exaggerated the problem.

Trump also spoke about the Cuban people and the large Cuban-American community in Miami.

“No energy at all, but they do have great people, a lot of great people,” he said. “I have so many Cuban friends, mostly in Miami in Florida, and they are unbelievable people and they want to go back. Hopefully they’re going to want to live here, but they want to go back. Maybe they’ll invest. We’ll see what happens.”

On Capitol Hill, South Florida Republicans reacted strongly to the federal indictment, with U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, (R-Florida), saying, “We’ve been waiting for this day.”

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, (R-Florida), called the case “premeditated murder.”

“We have a different president now -- we have a president who is not willing to look the other way,” he said.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott also weighed in.

“What they started in Venezuela, and now they’re doing here, to make sure we starve the regime of resources,” he said.

Yet like other major retailers posting financial results this week, Walmart was cautious about the rest of the year given the current economic uncertainty. On Thursday, it issued a forecast for the current quarter that was weaker than what Wall Street had been expecting.

Shares slipped about 7% Thursday.

Walmart has resonated with many Americans who are increasingly careful about where they spend their money as inflation takes a bigger bite out of paychecks, notably gasoline which has soared since the start of the Iran war in late February. Walmart can serve as a barometer of consumer spending given its vast customer base. More than 150 million customers are on its website or in its stores every week, according to Walmart.

One telling shift during the quarter that captures the stress many Americans are feeling: The number of gallons that customers put in their cars during visits to U.S. Walmart and Sam’s Club gas stations fell below 10 for the first time since 2022, which was the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s an indication of stress,” said Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey.

Walmart touted strong sales that were fueled by online shopping on Thursday.

Comparable sales at U.S. Walmart stores rose 4.1% during the three-month period ended April 30. Walmart’s U.S online sales rose 26%, the company said.

Walmart’s promise of lower prices, faster delivery and a refresh of its merchandise has attracted wealthier shoppers. The biggest gains in market share for Walmart are coming from households with annual income over $100,000. That shift is taking place as lower-income shoppers become more entrenched in what economists collectively call a K-shaped economy.

“We see with our customers that the high-income customer is spending with confidence into many categories, while the lower income consumer is more budget conscious and perhaps navigating financial distress,” Rainey told analysts on Thursday.

Rainey told analysts that higher fuel prices took a bite out of profits as it was forced to absorb higher transportation costs. And while the company is focused on offering low prices, Walmart may raise prices later if fuel costs remain high, he said.

U.S. retailers have spent months navigating an uncertain economic environment, from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the impact of soaring gasoline prices due to the war. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline raced higher this week and did so again overnight. Gasoline prices are about 45% above where they were at this time last year.

Based on quarterly financial reports from Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's and TJX, shoppers are cautious but still spending, helped by more generous tax refunds. Yet there is a widespread belief among economists that once those refunds dry up, shoppers will pull back on spending. Consumer spending is the dominant economic engine for the U.S., and retreat would have broad implications for the U.S.

Target reported the largest jump in comparable sales in four years Wednesday, but a cautious outlook overshadowed rather convincing evidence that changes under the company’s new CEO are landing solidly with customers. Target raised its annual revenue outlook Wednesday, but it was still below the pace of its first quarter this year.

The nation’s two largest home improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s reported strong sales, but both companies said that customers are putting off larger home projects.

“I think, overall, this has been the most difficult housing market that I’ve faced in this business since the financial crisis,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said this week.

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas reported first-quarter earnings of $5.33 billion, or 67 cents, for the quarter ended April 30. Adjusted per-share results were 66 cents, matching the 66 cents that analysts expected, according to FactSet.

For the year-ago quarter, the company reported net income of $4.48 billion, or 56 cents per share.

Sales rose 7.3% to $177.75 billion in the fiscal first quarter, above the $174.84 billion that analysts predicted.

Walmart said higher fuel prices took a bite out of profits as it was forced to absorb higher transportation costs.

The company highlighted its speedier deliveries, which is driving more shoppers to buy more often. Rainey said that roughly 60% of U.S. online deliveries arrive at customers' homes in 30 minutes or less.

For the second quarter, Walmart expects sales to be 4% to 5% higher than the same period a year ago. It also expects per-share profit to be between 72 cents and 74 cents. Analysts had been projecting per-share earns of 75 cents on sales of $186.2 billion, according to FactSet.

Walmart stuck to the annual guidance that it issued in February.

Leer en español

The charges stem from the Cuban Air Force shooting down two Brothers to the Rescue airplanes in February of 1996, an operation that Castro is accused of ordering.

RELATED VIDEOS: Watch the speeches during Raul Castro indictment announcement at Freedom Tower

There are also ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Cuba, which some fear could lead to military action.

Joining Local 10 News to discuss the indictment and continuing unrest between the nations was John Suarez, the Executive Director at the Center for Free Cuba.

Suarez spoke to Local 10’s Kristi Krueger and Eric Yutzy, and their full conversation can be seen at the top of this page.

RELATED STORIES

Cuban exiles calling for Raúl Castro to be brought to justice arrive at Miami’s Freedom Tower

Rubio releases message in Spanish to Cubans suffering on the island

U.S. indicts former Cuban president Raúl Castro

Commissioners, all appointed by Trump, acted despite overwhelming public opposition to the 250-foot arch, one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington.

At the White House, Trump told reporters he thought the vote was “fantastic" adding that “we’re the only important and major city that doesn’t have one."

The commission only oversees designs and has no role in the actual construction or funding of the arch or any other project it considers. Preliminary surveys and testing of the arch site began last week. The National Capital Planning Commission, a separate federal agency that approves construction on federal land, has the arch on the agenda at its June meeting.

Trump had said last year that the arch could be paid for with private donations left over from the ballroom project. A cost estimate for the arch is still being calculated, but a mix of taxpayer and private money is expected to be used to pay for it, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president has not publicly discussed the project's cost.

“The building is beautiful,” said the commission's chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., shortly before the vote on the slightly revised design. Commissioners had suggested several changes when they first reviewed the design in April. Some were made by the Harrison Design architecture firm and approved on Thursday.

Trump keeps statue but removes the lions

The arch would stand 250 feet tall (76 meters) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top of the structure, flanked by two gilded eagles. But four lions envisioned as guarding the base were removed. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.

A public observation deck on top would provide 360-degree views of the region. The arch would have an exterior made of granite.

The commission’s vice chairperson, architect James McCrery II, said in April that he preferred the arch without the figures on top, which would have reduced the height by about 80 feet (24.4 meters). Critics argue that the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt carefully designed views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

It would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet (30 meters) tall, and close to half the height of the Washington Monument, at about 555 feet (169 meters) tall.

Nicolas Charbonneau, a director at Harrison Design, told commissioners that Trump considered their recommendation to remove the statue “but elected not to pursue such an option" because he wants the arch to celebrate America and the living.

“This makes it distinct from monuments like the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials,” Charbonneau said.

McCrery had also recommended nixing the ground-level lion statues along with an underground tunnel for pedestrians to get to the arch, which would be built on a busy traffic circle. The design approved Thursday has no lions and incorporates pedestrian crosswalks.

Public opposition doesn't sway the commission

Ten people who testified Thursday, including on behalf of organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the DC Preservation League, opposed the arch on grounds that it is too big. They said the project needed to be approved by Congress because it would be built on federal land and that it would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery that was created to symbolize reunification after the Civil War.

A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block the arch construction over concerns about disruptions to the sightline.

Despite the arguments by preservationists, historians and others, Trump asserted Thursday that he does not need Congress to approve the arch. It’s the same justification he’s given for moving ahead quickly with the ballroom project last year.

Cook, the commission chairman, pushed back after listening to the testimony and noted the limitations of building anything new on the National Mall.

“Washington is not a static city. It must grow,” Cook said.

Trump's work on the Lincoln Memorial

The president has said some of his other projects, including adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.

That project is also the subject of a court challenge brought by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which said repainting the bottom of the Reflecting Pool blue without first undergoing relevant reviews runs afoul of federal preservation laws governing historic sites.

The nonprofit group argued in a lawsuit filed last week that the changes at the memorial to Abraham Lincoln are part of Trump’s broader effort to push through dramatic renovations in Washington without proper reviews and undermine the tone of the area.

A hearing in the case was underway Thursday in federal court in Washington.

The vote is the latest effort by Democrats to rein in Trump's military campaigns by using the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Previous votes on similar resolutions have failed, but Democrats are hoping that Thursday could be a turning point.

One by one, a small but potentially crucial number of Republicans have sided with Democrats to check Trump's power to continue the conflict. On Tuesday, the Senate advanced another war powers resolution on the Iran war when four GOP senators supported the resolution and three others were absent from the vote.

A final vote on the Senate resolution could also come Thursday, though Republican leaders expect they'll be able to block it once every GOP senator is present.

Frustration with Iran war grows on Capitol Hill

On Capitol Hill, patience with the war has grown thin as the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz disrupts global shipping and elevates gas prices in the U.S. Another House war powers resolution nearly passed last week, falling on a tie vote as three Republicans voted in favor.

Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, who sponsored the war powers resolution, has said he expects to have the votes this time around.

“Congress has a constitutional duty. It has a duty to act, not to cheerlead, especially not to cheerlead an open-ended war of choice,” Meeks said.

The lone Democrat who voted against the war powers resolution last week, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, has said he will vote in favor of the legislation this time. Meanwhile, leaders of both parties have been dealing with several absences that could shift the vote either way in the closely divided chamber.

Republicans have been broadly supportive of Trump's efforts to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, but some are now saying that the president's legal timeline to wage a war without congressional approval has expired. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, presidents have 60 days to engage in a military conflict before Congress must either declare war or authorize the use of military force.

“We have to follow the law,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican shortly after he voted for an Iran war powers resolution for the first time last week.

The dispute over war powers

The White House argues that the requirements of the War Powers Resolution no longer apply because of the ceasefire with Iran. At the same time, Trump has said he was just an hour away from ordering another strike on Iran earlier this week, but held off because Gulf allies said they were engaged in negotiations to end the war.

Still, Trump said on social media that military leaders should “be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.” Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who has so far voted against the war powers resolutions, expressed frustration with the Trump administration's stance, especially from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The current status quo, Pete Hegseth demonstrates how incompetent he is,” Tillis told reporters, adding that he would be willing to vote for an authorization for use of military force.

Meanwhile, Democratic senators rallied outside the Capitol Wednesday alongside VoteVets, a left-leaning veterans’ advocacy group. They placed signs on the Capitol lawn noting that the nationwide average price of gasoline had risen to $4.53.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who served in the Iraq War with the Air National Guard, argued that the Iran war has amounted to a strategic blunder for Trump.

“Trump started a war, and he’s made things worse than before,” Duckworth said, pointing to Iran's new leadership and the country's willingness to put a chokehold on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Republican leaders praised Trump for taking what they said was bold action to directly confront Iran, a nation that has been a U.S. adversary for decades.

“I’m an American. I don’t believe in getting hit and walking away and pretending as though it didn’t happen,” said Rep. Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

For Congress, the growing momentum to pass a war powers resolution could eventually lead to a legal showdown over who has the final authority over military conflicts.

The legislation before the House Thursday is a concurrent resolution that lawmakers say would take effect without Trump's signature if it passes both chambers of Congress.

But Trump has also argued that the 1973 law — passed by Congress during the Vietnam War era in an attempt to take back its power over foreign conflicts — is unconstitutional.

___

Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

The arson attack in Rwampara reflects the challenges of health workers trying to curb a rare Ebola virus by using stringent measures that might clash with local customs, such as burial rites. The disease has been spreading for weeks in a region lacking in adequate health facilities and where many people are on the move to escape armed conflicts.

The bodies of those who die from Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when people prepare bodies for burial and gather for funerals. The dangerous work of burying suspected victims is being managed wherever possible by authorities, which can be met by protests from victims' families and friends.

Fear and anger grow

The center in Rwampara was burned by local youths who became angry while trying to retrieve the body of a friend who had apparently died of Ebola, according to a witness who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.

“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” said Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area. "The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.”

An AP journalist saw people break into the center and set fire to objects inside and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment center in vehicles.

Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said the youths had not understood the protocols for burying a suspected Ebola victim.

“His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear," Mukendi said. “All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.”

Hama Amadou, field coordinator for the humanitarian organization ALIMA, which had teams working at the center, said later that calm had been restored and that aid teams were continuing their work at the center.

The flash of anger underlined the complications faced by both Congolese authorities and an array of aid agencies trying to stem an outbreak that the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

The outbreak is bigger than official figures show, WHO says

There were 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected cases in Congo's two provinces, Congolese authorities said on Thursday. Earlier in the week, the U.N. said there were two cases including one death in neighboring Uganda.

But the WHO has said the outbreak is almost certainly much larger and has also expressed concern over the speed of the spread.

“We are still in the phase where we are intensifying the investigation, searching for cases," said Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I expect the number of cases to increase as surveillance becomes more and more rigorous.”

The risk of the outbreak spreading globally is low, the WHO has said, but high regionally with the Ituri Province at the center of the outbreak bordering Uganda and South Sudan.

Early detection of the virus is key in saving lives, but the region’s already weak health infrastructure and surveillance capacity has been further weakened by international aid cuts, experts say. There are over 920,000 internally displaced people in Ituri Province, according to the U.N.

Armed conflict in the region further complicates efforts to handle the crisis. Local leaders said an attack by militants linked to the Islamic State group killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in Alima, a village in Ituri.

Health workers and aid groups have said they are in dire need of more supplies and staff to respond. Also, there is no available vaccine or medicine for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak.

An expert said this week it would be at least six to nine months before one would be available.

“The priority now is to act quickly and work closely with communities, as the coming days are critical,” said Ariel Kestens, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Congo.

Ebola is highly contagious and spreads in people through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, feces or semen. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.

It has spread to a new province

On Thursday, the M23 rebel group that controls parts of eastern Congo reported that a person had died of the disease near the city of Bukavu, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the outbreak's epicenter in Ituri Province.

It was the first case confirmed in South Kivu Province, and another case was reported there later in the day. Previously, cases had been reported only in Ituri and North Kivu provinces and in neighboring Uganda.

The virus spread undetected for weeks following the first known death in late April as Congolese health authorities tested for a different Ebola virus more commonly responsible for outbreaks in the country. Health officials have not yet found “patient zero,” according to the WHO.

The scale of the outbreak so far suggests it "started probably a couple of months ago,” said Anaïs Legand, a viral hemorrhagic fevers expert at the WHO.

The outbreak has had international repercussions

India and ​the ⁠African Union said Thursday that the ⁠India-Africa ⁠Forum Summit, scheduled to be held next week in ‌New ​Delhi, had been postponed due to ⁠the “evolving health situation in parts of Africa.”

On Wednesday, Congo’s soccer team canceled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned farewell to fans in the capital Kinshasa because of the Ebola outbreak.

The U.S. government has placed restrictions on any travelers who have visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, barring foreign visitors among them from entering the U.S. and requiring U.S. citizens and permanent residents to be diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport for screening.

___

Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal and Imray from Cape Town, South Africa. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Jean Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo; and Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

___

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

___

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The 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 government released confidential papers related to the appointment in response to legislation passed by Parliament after lawmakers accused the king’s brother of putting his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein ahead of the nation. The former prince was stripped of his royal titles, including Duke of York, last year and is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests,” the head of Britain’s trade body wrote to two senior cabinet ministers on Feb. 25, 2000.

The queen worried about her son

The involvement of the late queen confirms previously held beliefs that the monarch had a soft spot for her second son, which may have influenced her lack of decisiveness in dealing with allegations about his links to Epstein. Royal commentators have for years suggested that the queen should have moved quicker to remove her son from royal duties, and her failure to do so tarnished the monarchy.

Mountbatten-Windsor served as Britain’s special envoy for international trade from 2001 to 2011, when he was forced to give up the role because of concerns about his links to questionable figures in Libya and Azerbaijan.

If nothing else, the documents suggest Elizabeth worried about him, said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.

“It's like, in a sense, if the queen makes it clear that that’s her wish, that’s the end of the argument,'' Prescott said. "Her Majesty’s civil service, as it was then, would have to deal with it on that basis.”

Lawmakers approved a motion in February demanding publication of the documents after the former prince was arrested and questioned for several hours on allegations he shared government reports with Epstein while he was trade envoy.

Documents suggest Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed with little due diligence

Trade Minister Chris Bryant said in a written statement to lawmakers that “we have found no evidence that a formal due diligence or vetting process was undertaken” before Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed to the role of special trade envoy.

“There is also no evidence that this was considered. This is understandable since this new appointment was a continuation of the royal family’s involvement in trade and investment promotion work following the Duke of Kent’s decision to relinquish his duties as Vice-Chairman of the Overseas Trade Board,” he said.

He said that the government was cooperating with Thames Valley Police on their investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor and possible misconduct in public office.

Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles late last year as the U.S. Justice Department prepared to release millions of pages of documents related to its investigation of Epstein. Those files showed how the wealthy financier used an international web of rich, powerful friends to gain influence and sexually exploit young women and girls.

Nowhere has the fallout from the document release been felt more strongly than in the U.K., where the scandal has raised questions about the way power is wielded by the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential business owners, known collectively as “the Establishment.”

Mountbatten-Windsor has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Officials did suggest not offering the former prince golf trips

There were hints, however, that some had misgivings about giving Mountbatten-Windsor the high-profile trade role, where his effectiveness relied on his credibility. The back and forth suggested that while officials may not have questioned his appointment, they were involved in making suggestions about what he shouldn't be allowed to do in the role.

Kathryn Colvin, head of protocol at the Foreign Office, wrote in a January 2000 memo that Andrew’s private secretary “asked that the Duke of York should not be offered golfing functions abroad. This was a private activity and if he took his clubs with him he would not play in any public sense.”

Another document, a government memo sent to U.K. trade staff around the world, warned that Mountbatten-Windsor’s “high public profile” will require “careful and sometimes strict media management.”

“As a net energy importer, the EU’s economy is highly susceptible to the energy shock caused by the conflict in the Middle East,” the commission said in a statement Thursday. The rising cost of fuel "means higher household bills and surging business costs that reduce profits for many industries.”

The commission’s spring forecast lowered the outlook for growth in the 21 countries that use the euro to 0.9% for this year, from 1.2% in its autumn forecast, and to 1.2% from 1.4% for 2027. Inflation is now expected to reach 3.0% for 2026, up from the earlier forecast of 1.9%.

The new inflation figure exceeds the inflation goal of 2% set by the European Central Bank, and higher inflation expectations have led to predictions the ECB will raise its interest rate benchmarks this year to combat inflation.

Oil prices rose sharply after risk of Iranian drone and speedboat attacks closed off most ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the sea passage for about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas. On top of that, news of the war has shaken consumer confidence, which fell to a 40-month low amid mounting fears of job losses and higher inflation.

Still, the commission said the economy will continue to show modest growth and avoid an outright recession.

It warned however that a downside scenario of a prolonged period of higher energy prices would push growth lower and inflation higher.

The new inflation figure exceeds the inflation goal of 2% set by the European Central Bank, and higher inflation expectations have led to predictions the ECB will raise its interest rate benchmarks this year to combat inflation.

The drones targeted the Syzran oil refinery more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) inside Russia, Zelenskyy said on social media, where he posted a video of the aftermath.

It was impossible to verify the video or independently confirm the attack. The governor of Russia’s Samara region, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said two people were killed by Ukrainian drones in Syzran, but he did not mention the refinery. Russia’s Astra news outlet said Ukrainian drones struck the Syzran refinery owned by oil and gas giant Rosneft.

Ukraine has expanded its mid- and long-range strike capabilities, deploying drone and missile technology that it has developed domestically to battle Russia’s 4-year-old invasion. Ukrainian weaponry and expertise are now sought by other countries, whereas earlier in the war Kyiv had to plead for massive foreign military aid.

Ukrainian drones hit another refinery the previous day, Zelenskyy said, as attacks on Russian oil assets that play a key part in funding the invasion have become almost daily occurrences.

“Overall, our long-range plan for May is being carried out largely in full,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post late Wednesday. “The key targets are Russian oil refineries, storage facilities, and other infrastructure tied to these oil revenues.”

The escalating attacks have hurt Moscow’s revenue at the same time as the economic pinch of international sanctions. With some attacks reaching more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) into Russia, the strikes have contributed to some Russians feeling unsafe and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine reportedly makes battlefield gains

Ukraine’s new reach has also helped it push back Russian troops along parts of the front line, with Ukrainian forces making their most significant battlefield gains since 2024, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Ukraine’s “intensified midrange strike campaign” since early 2026 "has also degraded Russian forces’ ability to conduct offensive operations across the theater and has also likely supported recent Ukrainian advances,” the Washington-based think tank said in an assessment late Wednesday.

Ukraine has slowed Russia’s battlefield advance and is gradually regaining the initiative along the front line, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said, partly due to Russian forces being denied access to Starlink satellite services to steer drones toward targets.

“Russia has since not been able to find a full replacement (for Starlink), giving Ukraine a critical battlefield advantage,” Fedorov told reporters. He spoke on Saturday, but his comments were embargoed until Thursday.

Fedorov said in February that he had asked Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help deny Russia use of the service in Ukraine. Starlink is a global internet network that relies on around 10,000 satellites orbiting Earth.

Fedorov said midsize drones have become a key technological advantage for Ukraine on the front line and claimed that Ukrainian forces have doubled their interception rate of Russian drones over the past four months.

In other developments, Ukraine is also preparing changes to military pay and contract terms, he said.

Drone attacks claim victims in Ukraine and Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 121 Ukrainian drones between late Wednesday and early Thursday.

In the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, eight people were wounded by Ukrainian drones, according to the regional governor, Alexander Shuvayev.

Russia has also invested heavily in drones, using them to bombard civilian areas of Ukraine throughout the war and killing more than 15,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.

Ukraine’s air force said Thursday it shot down 109 out of 116 drones that Russia launched overnight.

One civilian was killed and at least six others were wounded in the strikes in the north, south and east of the country, emergency services said.

Russia holds nuclear drills

Elsewhere, Russia and neighboring Belarus held the final stage of their joint nuclear drills. As part of the exercises, trucks carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbled over forest roads, atomic-powered submarines set sail from Arctic and Pacific ports, and crews scrambled into warplanes.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko inspected Russian short-range, nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit.

The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid the surge in Ukrainian drone strikes, which make it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine as something so distant that it does not affect Russian civilians.

___

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press writer Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

___

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

During Trump’s visit, China sought to stabilize ties with the United States, while Putin’s trip served to deepen its strategic partnership with Russia.

Xi emphasized ceremonial hospitality during Trump’s visit, including a rare tour of Zhongnanhai, a former imperial garden that now serves as headquarters of China’s top leadership. Beijing understood Trump valued highly visible displays of respect, said George Chen, partner for Greater China practice for The Asia Group. “Xi knows this is what Trump values: being treated like a VIP, respected in front of the cameras.”

With Putin, Chen said, Xi switched to substance. “Reaffirming the friendship treaty, signing new energy deals, and re-emphasizing their ‘no limits’ partnership,” he added.

The similarities and contrasts began with the schedule

The differences between the two visits began with their length: The U.S. president stayed in China for three days, while Putin’s visit lasted two.

Both leaders were welcomed at Tiananmen Square with ceremonial guards, a military band and children waving flags.

Both also held closed-door meetings with Xi at the Great Hall of the People, next to the square.

Trump also received a private tour of the Temple of Heaven and walked through the imperial gardens of Zhongnanhai.

Putin, instead, spent much of his time with Xi inside the Great Hall of the People, where the two presidents toured a photo exhibition on China-Russia relations and later had tea.

Last week’s trip was Trump’s second visit to China as president. For Putin, it was his 25th visit to the country.

The clearest divide came in the messaging

The main contrast between the two summits was in their messaging.

With Trump, Xi focused on the need to maintain a relatively stable relationship after months of tensions and a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. He urged the U.S. president to see China as a partner rather than a rival, and both leaders agreed to work toward what they described as “a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.”

With Putin, Xi sought to reinforce and deepen a longstanding partnership that is both strategic and economically important for the two countries.

While the U.S. and China are still trying to stabilize their trade ties, Moscow and Beijing reaffirmed their relationship as essential partners. Putin said the “driving force” of the relationship was the energy sector, particularly oil and gas.

Xi signed agreements with only one of the presidents

China and Russia reached more than 40 cooperation agreements covering areas including trade, technology and media exchanges. The two leaders also signed a joint declaration describing Russia and China as “important centers of power in a multipolar world.”

Trump and Xi, by contrast, did not sign a joint declaration or oversee the signing of any agreements publicly during the visit. It was only after the U.S. president left Beijing that the two countries announced the details of several accords, with Washington saying China had agreed to buy U.S. agricultural products at an annualized rate of $17 billion and purchase 200 Boeing jets.

“China and Russia reached more agreements, and with China and the U.S., what are the agreements? Even that is not very clear,” said Claus Soong, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

But Lyle Morris, senior fellow on Chinese national security and foreign policy at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, said the biggest surprise from the Xi-Putin meetings was that it appears no formal deal was signed for the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline plan, which could send gas from Russia to China through Mongolia.

“This is a huge setback for Russia and Putin,” he said.

Putin and Trump have different stances on Taiwan

Moscow is closely aligned with Beijing on the issue of Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its own. Meanwhile, the U.S. maintains an intentionally ambiguous stance on the island and serves as its main informal backer and arms provider.

Xi made it clear to Trump that Taiwan is the most important issue in the bilateral relationship and warned that mishandling U.S. ties with the self-governing island could lead to confrontation between the two countries.

Trump did not publicly address Taiwan during the visit. But on his way back to the United States, he described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China, comments that stirred anxieties on the island.

With Putin, there was no sign of disagreement over the issue.

In the joint declaration signed by Xi and Putin, Russia reiterated its opposition to Taiwanese independence “in any form” and voiced support for what it described as China’s efforts to defend its sovereignty and achieve “national unification.”

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, both sides also raised concerns over what they called “accelerated remilitarization” of Japan, against the backdrop of strained China-Japan ties over Taiwan.

____

Leung reported from Hong Kong, and Mistreanu from Bangkok.

About 420 activists departed Israel on planes bound for Turkey, where they landed Thursday evening in Istanbul. Wearing grey sweatsuits and Arab keffiyehs, they descended stairs to the runaway flashing two-fingered salutes and chanting “Free Palestine.” Some appeared to be limping.

All of the activists were expected to be taken for a medical checkup, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “all foreign activists” from the flotilla had been deported.

The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said one participant who holds Israeli citizenship, Zohar Regev, was released following a court hearing on charges of illegal entry into Israel and unlawful stay. Regev has taken part in previous flotillas to Gaza.

Netanyahu calls for quick deportation after rebuking security minister

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he instructed that the activists be deported “as soon as possible,” after sharply rebuking Israel’s national security minister for provocative videos showing the minister taunting detained flotilla activists who were handcuffed and kneeling.

Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” the way National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Ben-Gvir released videos Wednesday showing him walking among some of the detainees. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area on the deck of a ship.

Several countries, including Britain, France and Portugal, summoned Israeli envoys on Thursday over concerns about the treatment of flotilla activists and in protest of Ben-Gvir’s actions.

“The actions of Mr. Ben-Gvir toward the passengers of the Global Sumud flotilla, condemned even by his own colleagues in the Israeli government, are unacceptable,” French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. Turkey, Greece, Italy and Indonesia also condemned Israel for Ben-Gvir's comments and the treatment of flotilla activists.

Italian detainees describe abuses by Israeli forces

Two Italian citizens who had been detained by Israel returned home Thursday, saying they had been beaten and mistreated — allegations that were denied by Israeli prison officials

Dario Carotenuto, an Italian lawmaker, said he experienced the “longest seconds” of his life when Israeli forces pointed rifles at activists inside a detention facility.

“They kicked me in the legs and punched me in the face,” said Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian newspaper journalist.

The allegations were “false and entirely without factual basis,” said Zivan Freidin, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service.

Dozens of the activists' boats began setting sail from Spain to Gaza in April. Israel stopped 20 vessels from the group on April 30 near the southern Greek island of Crete and forced most of its activists to disembark.

Israel took two high profile activists — Spanish-Swedish citizen Saif Abukeshek and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila — back to Israel where they were interrogated and detained for around a week before being deported.

The activists accused Israel of torture, claims Israel denies. Brazil and Spain condemned Israel for “kidnapping” their citizens.

Participants then regrouped and more than 50 boats departed from the Turkish port of Marmaris on May 14. Israeli forces began stopping the boats about 268 kilometers (167 miles) from the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website.

Israel has repeatedly blocked similar attempts

Israel's Foreign Ministry has called the flotilla “a PR stunt at the service of Hamas.” The boats carry a tiny, symbolic amount of aid.

This week, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against several European activists aboard the flotilla, which U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called “pro-terror.”

Last year, Israeli authorities blocked a similar attempt involving some 500 activists.

Israel arrested, detained and later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities abused them. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.

Blockade of Gaza in place since 2007

Israel has maintained a sea blockade of Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Israeli authorities intensified it after the Hamas-led militant attacks on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.

Critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment. Israel says it’s intended to prevent Hamas from arming itself.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive following the Oct. 7 attacks that started the war has killed more than 72,700 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t give a breakdown between civilians and combatants. It is staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. ___ AP journalists Andrew Wilks in Istanbul; Silvia Stellacci in Rome; Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Lawmakers approved a motion in February demanding publication of the documents after the one-time prince, now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on charges related to allegations that he shared government reports with Epstein while he was trade envoy.

The move followed the U.S. Justice Department’s release of millions of pages of documents related to Epstein. Those files showed how the wealthy financier used an international web of rich, powerful friends to gain influence and sexually exploit young women and girls.

Nowhere has the fallout from the document release been felt more strongly than in the U.K., where the scandal has raised questions about the way power is wielded by the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential businessmen, known collectively as “the Establishment.”

During the parliamentary debate on Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Epstein, government ministers and other lawmakers demanded more accountability from the royal family.

Trade Minister Chris Bryant said Mountbatten-Windsor was engaged in a constant “self-enriching hustle’’ during his time as a working member of the royal family.

Mountbatten-Windsor was a “rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest, which he said he served, and his own private interest,” Bryant said at the time.

Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal title last year as King Charles III tried to insulate the monarchy from the growing fallout from the Epstein scandal. The former prince served as a special envoy for international trade from 2001 to 2011, when he was forced to give up the role because of concerns about his links to questionable figures in Libya and Azerbaijan.

___

This version corrects that the release is set to happen Thursday, not Wednesday.