Deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said they responded to reports of a shooting at about 1:29 a.m. in the 2000 block of Northwest 63rd Street, where they found a man with apparent gunshot wounds.

They said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medics transported the man to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. His age, identity and condition have not been disclosed.

Deputies said an occupied vehicle parked nearby was also struck by gunfire, but no occupants were injured.

Authorities have not identified any suspects or any person of interest at this time.

Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

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At 1 year and 2 months old and about 27 pounds, Gianna is playful, affectionate and vocal, according to HSBC’s Cherie Wachter.

Wachter said Gianna was surrendered after her family’s apartment landlord said she could no longer stay because of her barking. She gets along well with other dogs and would thrive with an active family that can provide daily walks, playtime and plenty of chew toys. Her compatibility with cats and young children is unknown.

Gianna is also a star, having appeared in a Halloween fashion show airing Saturday at 8 p.m. on Local 10. She is one of Benny’s Buddies, meaning Florida Panthers player Sam Bennett has covered her adoption fee.

To learn more about Gianna or other adoptable pets, visit humanebroward.com. The shelter’s adoption kennels open at 11 a.m.

Con un año y dos meses de edad y un peso aproximado de 27 libras, Gianna es juguetona, cariñosa y muy vocal, según Cherie Wachter, de la Sociedad Protectora de Animales del Condado Broward (HSBC).

Wachter dijo que Gianna fue entregada al refugio después de que el propietario del apartamento donde vivía su familia les dijera que ya no podía quedarse debido a sus ladridos. Se lleva bien con otros perros y se adaptaría muy bien a una familia activa que pueda ofrecerle paseos diarios, tiempo para jugar y muchos juguetes para morder. Se desconoce si es compatible con gatos y niños pequeños.

Gianna también es una estrella, ya que participó en un desfile de moda de Halloween que se transmitirá el sábado a las 8 p.m. por Local 10. Es una de las mascotas de Benny’s Buddies, lo que significa que el jugador de los Florida Panthers, Sam Bennett, ha cubierto su tarifa de adopción.

Para obtener más información sobre Gianna u otras mascotas disponibles para adopción, visite humanebroward.com. Las instalaciones de adopción del refugio abren a las 11 a.m.

Lula, que a sus 80 años es uno de los jefes de Estado de mayor edad del mundo, es el presidente número 35 y 39 de Brasil; gobernó de 2003 a 2010 y nuevamente desde 2023. Bolsonaro, de 45 años, busca devolver el apellido de su familia al poder mientras su padre cumple condena por intentar un golpe de Estado para impedir el fin de su presidencia de 2019-2022.

Bolsonaro hijo superó a Lula por más de 2,2 millones de votos en la primera vuelta de este mes, pero ninguno de los dos candidatos obtuvo una mayoría absoluta, lo que prepara el escenario para la segunda vuelta del domingo. Bolsonaro obtuvo el 47% de los votos frente al 45% de Lula, y las encuestas muestran que la contienda sigue muy cerrada mientras los votantes regresan a las urnas.

Esto es lo que hay que saber sobre la segunda vuelta en Brasil.

De obrero sindical a presidente elegido tres veces

Lula, que comenzó como obrero sindical y perdió el meñique en un accidente en una fábrica a los 19 años, inspiró una devoción casi de culto durante su primer y segundo mandato, cuando la economía de Brasil se expandió con ayuda del auge de las materias primas y de la asistencia directa en efectivo que sacó a millones de brasileños de la pobreza.

Más tarde pasó más de un año en prisión por condenas por corrupción que finalmente fueron anuladas, antes de ganar un tercer mandato en 2022.

El expresidente de Estados Unidos Barack Obama llegó a llamar a Lula “el político más popular del mundo”, pero sus índices de aprobación han caído hasta el 24% en este mandato, mientras los votantes expresan preocupación por la delincuencia y el costo de vida. Él ha respondido con promesas de compartir los beneficios de la extracción de los minerales raros de Brasil y otros recursos, y aumentó en un 15% los pagos de su emblemático programa Bolsa Familia.

Entre las medidas que el mandatario ha tomado para apuntalar el apoyo antes de la segunda vuelta están recortar impuestos a los combustibles, condonar las deudas que 3,6 millones de pequeñas empresas mantienen con el gobierno, avanzar para bloquear las señales de telefonía celular alrededor de las prisiones y proponer un aumento de los pagos de asistencia a estudiantes universitarios.

Y, a pocos días de esta votación, el Senado de Brasil aprobó normas respaldadas por el gobierno de Lula para reducir la semana laboral máxima de 44 a 40 horas, al tiempo que consagra dos días de descanso sin recorte salarial.

Un abogado que sigue los pasos de su padre

El senador Bolsonaro comenzó su carrera política a los 21 años, cuando se convirtió en el legislador estatal electo más joven de Río.

El expresidente Jair Bolsonaro no puede postularse debido a que cumple una condena de 27 años bajo detención domiciliaria, por lo que su hijo mayor ha adoptado en gran medida la agenda ultraconservadora de su padre, al tiempo que intenta moderar su estilo de comunicación para atraer a votantes centristas.

Sus políticas de seguridad de línea dura han sido un pilar de su campaña, y las encuestas muestran que estas propuestas son populares. El senador se ha comprometido a combatir a los grupos criminales construyendo megaprisiones al estilo de El Salvador, a seguir el ejemplo del gobierno de Trump al designar a las pandillas transnacionales como organizaciones terroristas y a juzgar como adultos a acusados desde los 16 años.

Brasil desempeña un papel vital para mitigar el calentamiento global al proteger la selva amazónica, pero la deforestación alcanzó un máximo histórico durante la presidencia de Bolsonaro, y su hijo también ha negado el cambio climático causado por el ser humano, comprometiéndose únicamente a frenar la deforestación ilegal.

El senador Bolsonaro admitió haber aceptado millones de dólares del desacreditado banquero Daniel Vorcaro para producir una película sobre la vida de su padre, lo cual ha proyectado una sombra sobre su campaña. Es investigado por corrupción, lavado de dinero y evasión fiscal en relación con el caso.

Trump se perfila como un factor clave

Lula ha advertido repetidamente a Estados Unidos que no se entrometa en las elecciones de Brasil y ha convertido la defensa de la soberanía brasileña en un tema central de campaña. El gobierno de Trump no respondió a una solicitud de comentarios sobre si busca influir en el resultado, pero ha hecho gestos en repetidas ocasiones a favor de su aliado.

Trump anunció aranceles del 50% a los productos brasileños el año pasado, citando, entre otras razones, el juicio a Jair Bolsonaro. Este año impuso una nueva ronda de aranceles, alegando prácticas comerciales desleales pese a que Estados Unidos registra un superávit. Trump también clasificó a los mayores grupos de narcotráfico de Brasil como organizaciones terroristas extranjeras poco después de recibir al senador Bolsonaro en la Casa Blanca, una medida a la que se opuso el gobierno de Lula por considerarla un pretexto para intervenir.

Una victoria del senador Bolsonaro sumaría a Brasil a una lista de países latinoamericanos —entre ellos, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica y Perú— que han elegido gobiernos afines a Trump en los últimos años.

Votar en Brasil es obligatorio

Brasil también celebró su primera vuelta de votación para legisladores estatales y federales el 4 de octubre, y quedaron confirmados los candidatos que obtuvieron más del 50% de los votos válidos, que excluyen los votos en blanco y nulos. Junto con Lula y Bolsonaro, en las papeletas de segunda vuelta figuran gobernadores en cinco estados y en el distrito federal.

Votar en Brasil es obligatorio, y casi 160 millones de brasileños están convocados a las urnas. Pero más de 33 millones, o el 21% del electorado, no votaron a comienzos de este mes, y podrían enfrentar una pequeña multa por no emitir su voto sin justificación. Quienes se ausentaron en la primera vuelta pueden votar en la segunda.

Los brasileños votan mediante urnas electrónicas, introduciendo dígitos que corresponden a sus candidatos. Los resultados se informan a las pocas horas del cierre de las urnas.

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

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From fresh fruits and vegetables to pizza, pasta, tacos, sushi and desserts, the choices are endless. But for some food lovers, one dish stands out above the rest.

Local 10’s Michaila Hightower made the case for a California-style breakfast burrito, saying the iconic meal has to be made in California to get it right.

Local 10’s Liane Morejon favored a classic steakhouse dinner, complete with a good cut of steak, potatoes and vegetables.

The conversation also turned to memorable meals and favorite dining experiences, proving that the best food can be a matter of personal taste and nostalgia.

Now, the question is going to viewers: What dish would you choose as the best food of all time?

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

From fresh fruits and vegetables to pizza, pasta, tacos, sushi and desserts, the choices are endless. But for some food lovers, one dish stands out above the rest.

Local 10’s Michaila Hightower made the case for a California-style breakfast burrito, saying the iconic meal has to be made in California to get it right.

Local 10’s Liane Morejon favored a classic steakhouse dinner, complete with a good cut of steak, potatoes and vegetables.

The conversation also turned to memorable meals and favorite dining experiences, proving that the best food can be a matter of personal taste and nostalgia.

Now, the question is going to viewers: What dish would you choose as the best food of all time?

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Ryan was found guilty last month in the case involving Cavett, a young mother who disappeared about six years ago. Her body has never been found.

Cavett’s young son was found wandering alone the day she went missing.

Ryan has maintained his innocence. His defense attorney, Dameka Davis, criticized prosecutors’ portrayal of her client as a witch doctor, arguing that the characterization unfairly influenced the case against him.

Before sentencing, Ryan listened as Cavett’s family members delivered victim impact statements describing the lasting pain of her disappearance and death.

Cavett’s sister, Tyuania Cavett, spoke about the emotional toll of being reminded of her sister through her name and the songs she loved.

“There are days I can’t even talk about it because of the pain I feel,” she said, in part.

Davis rejected the prosecution’s characterization of Ryan and the suggestion that Cavett was portrayed as evil as part of a narrative used to justify her killing.

Ryan showed little visible reaction during the sentencing hearing.

Davis said she plans to appeal the conviction.

Authorities said Cavett’s body has not been recovered, leaving her family without the opportunity to lay her to rest.

Ryan fue declarado culpable el mes pasado en el caso de Cavett, una joven madre que desapareció hace aproximadamente seis años. Su cuerpo nunca ha sido encontrado.

El pequeño hijo de Cavett fue encontrado deambulando solo el día de su desaparición.

Ryan ha mantenido su inocencia. Su abogada defensora, Dameka Davis, criticó la manera en que los fiscales presentaron a su cliente como un curandero, argumentando que esa caracterización influyó injustamente en el caso en su contra.

Antes de recibir su sentencia, Ryan escuchó mientras los familiares de Cavett ofrecían declaraciones sobre el impacto en las víctimas, describiendo el dolor persistente causado por su desaparición y muerte.

La hermana de Cavett, Tyuania Cavett, habló sobre el impacto emocional de recordar a su hermana a través de su nombre y las canciones que le gustaban.

“Hay días en los que ni siquiera puedo hablar de ello debido al dolor que siento”, dijo, en parte.

Davis rechazó la caracterización de Ryan presentada por la fiscalía y la sugerencia de que Cavett fue retratada como una persona malvada como parte de una narrativa utilizada para justificar su asesinato.

Ryan mostró poca reacción visible durante la audiencia de sentencia.

Davis dijo que planea apelar la condena.

Las autoridades indicaron que el cuerpo de Cavett no ha sido recuperado, lo que ha dejado a su familia sin la oportunidad de darle sepultura.

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The event, held to support individuals and families affected by autoimmune conditions, has grown beyond its original mission of providing wigs for people experiencing hair loss. Organizers now help families with medical expenses, transportation and other costs associated with their conditions.

Tonya Mahome Simmons, an ambassador for the Hair Peace & Hope 5K, said living with an autoimmune disease can be challenging because of its unpredictable nature and the fact that symptoms are not always visible.

“It’s very unpredictable. For me, that’s the worst thing about this disease. I could wake up doing great, and then next thing you know, I cannot walk, I cannot do anything. So, it’s the unpredictability and the fact that it’s invisible,” she said.

The event also brought together community members to learn more about the challenges faced by people living with autoimmune conditions.

Local 10 News reporter Magdala Louissant, who served as emcee for the event, said meeting people affected by the diseases underscored the importance of raising awareness.

“It’s been great to be here. I mean, not just a part of the community, but meeting people who live with autoimmune disease. It’s a silent disease that you, I mean, you can’t see at face value. It’s been a great morning,” Louissant said.

Participants ran or walked the 5-kilometer course as the event celebrated a decade of supporting those affected by autoimmune diseases. The morning also featured a Zumba warm-up, bringing energy to the gathering before and during the race.

El evento, realizado para apoyar a personas y familias afectadas por enfermedades autoinmunes, ha ampliado su misión original de proporcionar pelucas a personas que sufren pérdida de cabello. Los organizadores ahora ayudan a las familias con gastos médicos, transporte y otros costos relacionados con sus enfermedades.

Tonya Mahome Simmons, embajadora de la carrera 5K Hair Peace & Hope, dijo que vivir con una enfermedad autoinmune puede ser difícil debido a su naturaleza impredecible y al hecho de que los síntomas no siempre son visibles.

“Es muy impredecible. Para mí, eso es lo peor de esta enfermedad. Puedo despertarme sintiéndome muy bien y, de repente, no puedo caminar, no puedo hacer nada. Así que es la imprevisibilidad y el hecho de que es invisible”, dijo.

El evento también reunió a miembros de la comunidad para conocer más sobre los desafíos que enfrentan las personas que viven con enfermedades autoinmunes.

Magdala Louissant, reportera de Local 10 News, quien se desempeñó como maestra de ceremonias del evento, dijo que conocer a personas afectadas por estas enfermedades destacó la importancia de crear conciencia.

“Ha sido maravilloso estar aquí. Quiero decir, no solo ser parte de la comunidad, sino también conocer a personas que viven con enfermedades autoinmunes. Es una enfermedad silenciosa que, quiero decir, no se puede ver a simple vista. Ha sido una gran mañana”, dijo Louissant.

Los participantes corrieron o caminaron el recorrido de 5 kilómetros mientras el evento celebraba una década de apoyo a las personas afectadas por enfermedades autoinmunes. La jornada también incluyó una sesión de calentamiento de zumba, que aportó energía a los asistentes antes y durante la carrera.

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In Hollywood, crews have installed orange, water-filled barriers known as a tiger dam system along the beach boardwalk to help reduce the risk of flooding.

Some nearby businesses have also placed sandbags outside their storefronts in preparation for rising water levels.

The preparations come as king tide season reaches its peak, raising concerns about flooding in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale Beach.

High tide at Hollywood Beach was expected between 8:30 and 9 a.m., with the potential for flooding in surrounding areas. Officials have warned that coastal roadways and neighborhood streets could be affected.

Flooding was reported in parts of Fort Lauderdale Beach on Friday, where water collected on roadways before eventually receding without causing major traffic problems.

Rain and wind could worsen conditions, particularly when combined with rising sea levels and unusually high tides.

Some Hollywood residents say they are familiar with the recurring high tides, while others question why certain streets continue to flood.

Andy Hoffman, a longtime Hollywood resident who lives farther inland, said he has seen the effects of king tides over the years.

“No, thank God, goodness. I live a little bit inland, but I know what’s going on,” Hoffman said. “Happens four times a year, and I’m a longtime resident of Hollywood, so I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen a lot worse. High tides, east wind, it gets crazy.”

Brady McFarley, another Hollywood resident, pointed to the city’s drainage system as a possible factor in the flooding.

“It’s a lot got to do with the pipes in the ground in the city of Hollywood,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense that these streets are flooded like that.”

While temporary barriers and sandbags may help protect some properties, surrounding streets and low-lying neighborhoods remain vulnerable to flooding.

Residents and business owners are being urged to take precautions throughout the weekend as high tides threaten coastal communities across South Florida.

En Hollywood, las cuadrillas han instalado barreras naranjas llenas de agua, conocidas como sistema Tiger Dam, a lo largo del paseo marítimo de la playa para ayudar a reducir el riesgo de inundaciones.

Algunos negocios cercanos también han colocado sacos de arena afuera de sus locales en preparación para el aumento del nivel del agua.

Las preparaciones ocurren mientras la temporada de mareas vivas alcanza su punto máximo, lo que genera preocupaciones sobre inundaciones en Hollywood y Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Se esperaba que la marea alta en Hollywood Beach ocurriera entre las 8:30 y las 9 a.m., con potencial de inundaciones en áreas circundantes. Las autoridades han advertido que las carreteras costeras y las calles de los vecindarios podrían verse afectadas.

Se reportaron inundaciones en partes de Fort Lauderdale Beach el viernes, donde el agua se acumuló en las carreteras antes de eventualmente retirarse sin causar problemas graves de tráfico.

La lluvia y el viento podrían empeorar las condiciones, particularmente cuando se combinan con el aumento del nivel del mar y mareas inusualmente altas.

Algunos residentes de Hollywood dicen que están familiarizados con las mareas altas recurrentes, mientras que otros se preguntan por qué ciertas calles continúan inundándose.

Andy Hoffman, un residente de Hollywood de larga data que vive más tierra adentro, dijo que ha visto los efectos de las mareas vivas a lo largo de los años.

“No, gracias a Dios. Vivo un poco tierra adentro, pero sé lo que está pasando”, dijo Hoffman. “Sucede cuatro veces al año, y soy residente de Hollywood desde hace mucho tiempo, así que lo he visto ocurrir. He visto cosas mucho peores. Mareas altas, viento del este, se pone loco”.

Brady McFarley, otro residente de Hollywood, señaló el sistema de drenaje de la ciudad como un posible factor en las inundaciones.

“Tiene mucho que ver con los tubos bajo tierra en la ciudad de Hollywood”, dijo. “No tiene sentido que estas calles estén inundadas así”.

Si bien las barreras temporales y los sacos de arena pueden ayudar a proteger algunas propiedades, las calles circundantes y los vecindarios en zonas bajas siguen siendo vulnerables a las inundaciones.

Se insta a residentes y dueños de negocios a tomar precauciones durante todo el fin de semana, mientras las mareas altas amenazan a las comunidades costeras de todo el sur de Florida.

Nicolas Jackson scored both goals for Villa against Enzo Maresca's City, which was aiming for an eighth straight win in the league.

It also extended Villa's outstanding recent run to six wins from seven games in all competitions.

“It is incredible. It was difficult but we got the win and that is the most important thing," Jackson said. “We know City are a strong team and now we can focus on the next one.”

Jackson is up to seven goals for the season in all competitions. He fired the opener inside six minutes at Villa Park.

Erling Haaland headed City level in the second half, but Jackson got his second and the winner with a first-time finish that squirmed under goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Villa resurgence

Villa is rapidly climbing the standings after a desperate start to the campaign saw it fail to win any of its opening four games in the league, picking up just one point during that run.

Such a difficult start was understandable after a hugely disruptive offseason, which saw a raft of star players leave the club, including Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Emi Martinez and Youri Tielemans.

Unai Emery, who transformed the club from relegation battler to Champions League contender, was forced to rebuild a team that won the Europa League last season and has done that in double-quick time.

Villa's last defeat was a 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sept. 12. Since then Emery's team has gone from strength to strength with six wins and one draw in all.

City fell to a fourth defeat at Villa Park in as many seasons.

“Emery is just a tactical genius. Especially against Man City at our place we have been really good," said Villa defender Matty Cash. “He always has a plan for something and is always coming up with new ideas. When you play against top teams you have to adapt and I think we did that today.”

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

¿Qué causa las mareas?

Estas mareas más altas de lo normal ocurren durante la primavera y el otoño por la alineación de la Tierra, el Sol y la Luna. Esto, junto con vientos constantes del mar que empujan el agua hacia la costa, provocará inundaciones costeras de una a dos horas antes y después de los ciclos de marea alta de la mañana y la tarde.

Advertencia de inundación costera en vigor

Hay una Advertencia de Inundación Costera en vigor para las zonas costeras de Broward y Miami-Dade, y una Advertencia de Inundación Costera (más severa) en vigor para los Cayos Altos (Upper Keys).

Se espera que el agua suba brevemente sobre vías bajas, entradas de vehículos y aceras cerca de la orilla.

Se esperan inundaciones moderadas a importantes hasta el lunes, a medida que los vientos aumentan y las lluvias intermitentes afectan la región.

Esto podría empeorar las inundaciones en las calles, ya que el agua salada en los drenes pluviales impide que el agua dulce despeje las vías.

Nunca conduzca por calles inundadas. El agua puede ser más profunda de lo que parece y puede dañar o inmovilizar los vehículos.

Aquí tiene un vistazo más cercano a los horarios previstos de marea alta:

King tides will impact South Florida over the next few days, water levels during this time are higher than on any average day.

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What causes tides?

These higher-than-normal tides occur during the spring and fall by the Earth, Sun, and Moon alignment. This paired with steady onshore winds pushing water toward the coast will cause coastal flooding about one to two hours before and after the morning and evening high tide cycles.

Coastal Flood Advisory in effect

There is a Coastal Flood Advisory in effect for the coastal Broward and Miami-Dade, with a Coastal Flood Warning in effect for the Upper Keys.

Expect water to briefly rise onto low-lying rods, driveways, and sidewalks near the shore.

Moderate to major flooding is expected into Monday as winds increase and on and off downpours impact the region.

This could worsen street flooding as saltwater in storm drains prevent freshwater from clearing roads.

Never drive through flooded roads. Water may be deeper than it appears and can damage or disable vehicles.

Here is a closer look at the expected times of high tide:

Halloween candy sales fell 6.7% in the month ending Oct. 17 compared to the same period last year, according to NielsenIQ, a market research firm. Nielsen also noted an 11.7% decline in candy sales in mid-September, erasing the preseason gains that Halloween candy enjoyed the previous two years.

Chris Costagli, a vice president and food thought leader at NielsenIQ, said high gas prices have worsened Americans’ concerns about affordability, and that's dampening demand for Halloween treats. As of Friday, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. was $4.29, up nearly 40% from the prior year.

“I think what you’re seeing now is a consumer that’s spending so much additional money on fuel and housing and clothing and food,” Costagli said. “Some of the decisions they're making about Halloween candy, it’s not necessarily because, 'I notice it's more expensive than last year,' it's, ‘I can’t afford it this year because I've paid so much more for so many other things. I just don’t have the financial means to buy it this year.’”

Small bags of candy were the only sizes seeing sales growth through mid-October, Costagli noted. Large and extra-large bags were seeing the biggest declines.

U.S. candy prices have been climbing faster than the rate of inflation for several years. As of September, candy and gum prices were up 44% over a five-year period, according to government data. Prices for all food eaten at home rose 22.5% in the same period.

This week, discount grocer Aldi was advertising a 135-piece variety pack of Mars Inc. chocolate bars – including Milky Way, Trix and Snickers – for $19.87. That’s almost the same price consumers paid for a 250-piece variety pack five years ago.

Cocoa prices are the main culprit. Global cocoa prices reached a record high of $10,710 per metric ton in January 2025 because of poor weather in West Africa – which supplies 70% of the world’s chocolate -- and speculative trading in the cocoa futures market, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Cocoa prices had been falling steadily since then, and hit $3,241 per metric ton in March. But they began climbing again in the spring as the Iran war disrupted Africa’s fertilizer supplies. The El Niño weather pattern is also expected to hurt production, with hot, dry conditions expected through February.

But Costagli noted that even in cases where prices are lower than last year, consumer demand is muted. The average price of non-chocolate Halloween candies, like gummies and lollipops, was $6.08 per pound in the nine weeks ending Oct. 17, which was about 3% lower than last year, according to Nielsen data. But that didn't lead to a bump in sales.

Sally Lyons Wyatt, a global executive vice president and food industry adviser for the market research company Circana, said one way U.S. consumers have been handling higher grocery prices is by making smaller and more frequent trips to the supermarket and buying products right before they intend to use them. That makes her wonder if shoppers are waiting until closer to Halloween to buy candy this year.

“People are very intentional and thoughtful about what they want to consume, not just for holidays, but in general,” she said. “I do believe we will still see softness overall with candy, but I don’t think Halloween is doomed.”

The National Confectioners Association, a trade group that represents candy makers like Mars, Smarties Candy Co. and Ferrara Candy Co., said it remains optimistic about Halloween sales.

“We are just now entering the peak period for Halloween and consumer enthusiasm remains incredibly strong,” the group said Friday in a statement.

In a final campaign swing with progressive candidates across the country, the Democratic congresswoman from New York packed rooms in Michigan’s deeply Republican Upper Peninsula, where chants of “AOC” broke out.

In Ohio and Maine, hundreds of students turned out to catch a glimpse of her as she campaigned alongside Democrats in competitive races in the Nov. 3 midterms. On Friday night, she was in California’s Central Valley, lending support to a progressive seeking to unseat a House Republican.

Ocasio-Cortez has built a national following that few other members of Congress can match. Her tens of millions of social media followers give her a platform far beyond her New York district, and her nickname, AOC, has become one of the most recognizable in American politics.

Now, as she contemplates a next move, including a possible run for the White House or the Senate, she is also offering a largely untested proposition: that her brand of progressive politics can appeal beyond the Democratic base and help the party win those competitive elections.

“We have written a check on the left, saying if you champion these policies that have popular support, we can win,” Ocasio-Cortez told a recent fundraiser. “Now it is time to cash in. Now it is time to go out and show what we are capable of.”

At 37, she is the natural heir to the political movement fostered by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that has had striking appeal for young voters. It also offers a stark contrast to the roles that the superrich like Elon Musk are trying to play in influencing elections.

“You have to be the right person at the right place at the right time,” said Doug Sosnik, who was a senior adviser to Democratic President Bill Clinton. “The year that Jimmy Carter ran and got elected president is the only year I think he could have run and gotten elected.”

The progressive brand is on the line in Maine and Michigan Senate races

In a historic concert hall in Portland, Maine, filled with college students, retirees and others, Ocasio-Cortez looked to Senate nominee Troy Jackson and acknowledged the political calculation of his appearance alongside her.

“There are a lot of consultants out here in Washington that would tell him, ‘Do not sit on a stage next to her,’” she said.

Minutes later, Ocasio-Cortez received rousing applause after an emphatic response to a question about putting “America first or Israel first." She argued that the United States should question how it can afford wars rather than programs such as “Medicare for All.”

“Going back to her previous comment, why wouldn’t I want to sit alongside someone who just talked like that?” Jackson asked.

Maine, where Jackson is trying to defeat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, will be pivotal in determining which party controls the Senate. So will Michigan, where Ocasio-Cortez recently appeared with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Upper Peninsula.

In Iron Mountain, a town near the Wisconsin line in a county that President Donald Trump won by more than 30 percentage points, Ocasio-Cortez made the case for the progressive movement.

“Our problems are less left and right," she said. “They’re top and bottom.”

Isabella Pruter, a junior at the University of Michigan, said Ocasio-Cortez has a certain star power among younger voters.

“I remember in 2020 and hearing about her name and thinking she was so cool,” Pruter said. “She really clicks with anyone who’s younger, especially for college students.”

At the New York fundraiser for El-Sayed this month, Ocasio-Cortez made clear how much she believes is at stake in Michigan. “If Abdul can win in Michigan, anybody can win anywhere,” she said.

But not everyone agrees that enthusiasm for progressive candidates will translate into victories in competitive states.

Former Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who retired from Congress after voting to impeach Trump in 2021, said winning swing states requires appealing beyond a party’s base to independent voters.

“There's a place in the party for her but I don't think it's a majority," said Upton, who served with Ocasio-Cortez. “She'll win New York and California, but not in other states they'd need to get to 270” electoral votes to win the White House.

Heading west to help House candidates

The next stretch of Ocasio-Cortez's swing took her west to gauge her appeal in closely contested House districts and spend time in a state important to a potential 2028 presidential run.

In California’s Central Valley on Friday night, she rallied with Randy Villegas, a young progressive who defeated a rival backed by Democratic Party leaders in the primary.

The race against Republican Rep. David Valadao is one of the most competitive in the country. The district is nearly 75% Hispanic, though Democrats have long struggled to turn out working-class Latino voters there.

On Saturday, she planned to campaign in Nevada, the second state on the 2028 political calendar and one that would be crucial to her path to the nomination. Nevada, where working-class Latinos are a major force in Democratic politics, has been friendly to her brand of progressivism and overwhelmingly backed Sanders in the 2020 caucuses.

She came to support Rep. Steven Horsford, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, near Las Vegas’ historic westside neighborhood, the cultural and historical heart of the city’s Black community.

A presidential run would require more than a theory of the case

Even if the progressive candidates Ocasio-Cortez is backing succeed on Election Day, a presidential run would present a different challenge.

South Carolina is first on the Democrats’ new early primary calendar, and Black voters make up a significant share of the state’s Democratic electorate. Sanders lost the state by wide margins in 2016 and 2020.

Jaime Harrison, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee and a South Carolina native, said Sanders’ struggles in the state were not because of his progressive politics, but because he did not put in the time needed to connect with voters.

To win South Carolina, Harrison said, “you better go to churches, you better go to union halls, you got to go to HBCUs" — historically Black colleges and universities.

“She has the talent,” Harrison said. “The question is, will you utilize that talent and focus it to do what is necessary to win on the biggest stage?”

At a rally in Columbus, Mississippi, that featured former Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate candidate Scott Colom, some voters waiting in line expressed interest in an Ocasio-Cortez presidential run, though they were not ready to commit their support.

Paula Small, a 58-year-old Democrat from Columbus, said she likes Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas but would need to learn more about her background.

“We are ready for a change. We are tired of the same politics,” Small said, adding that she believes it’s time for younger people with fresh ideas to get involved in politics.

Sosnik, the former Clinton adviser who considers himself more moderate than Ocasio-Cortez, called her an “unbelievable political talent” and described her as having at her fingertips “the zeitgeist of our times.”

But he questioned whether her appeal could extend beyond the Democratic primary electorate.

“I think she would be an extremely powerful force in the Democratic primary,” Sosnik said. “I’m skeptical that a majority of people in America would vote for her for president.”

___

Associated Press journalists Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix, Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, Mike Householder in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Sophia Bates in Columbus, Miss., contributed to this report.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que Avery Terrill Yarber fue detenido el jueves por detectives de la policía de Hialeah y enfrenta un cargo de robo mayor en tercer grado y otro de robo de correspondencia.

Los investigadores estimaron el valor de los tres teléfonos y el anillo en $6,597 USD, antes de los impuestos aplicables a los teléfonos, según el informe.

De acuerdo con el informe, un agente especial del Servicio de Inspección Postal de Estados Unidos instaló dos cámaras de vigilancia dentro de un vehículo de la compañía el 9 de octubre. Una cámara grababa el área del conductor, mientras que la otra captaba el interior de la parte trasera del vehículo.

Un sargento de la Sección de Investigaciones Especiales del Departamento de Policía de Hialeah supervisó las grabaciones de las rutas de entrega de Yarber durante varios días, indicaron las autoridades.

El 14 de octubre, los datos del GPS mostraron que Yarber había estacionado el vehículo postal en 1555 W. 37th St., en Hialeah, según el informe.

La policía indicó que entre las 11:50 a.m. y las 12:10 p.m., un sargento observó a Yarber abriendo cuatro paquetes: tres que contenían cajas de iPhone y un paquete de Priority Mail que contenía un anillo.

“El sargento observó al acusado sacar los tres teléfonos y colocarlos dentro de una bolsa”, señala el informe.

Aproximadamente a las 12:30 p.m., Yarber fue visto presuntamente colocando etiquetas de envío dentro de una lata de refresco Fanta Ghost Face Punch, según el informe. Detectives de la Sección de Investigaciones Especiales recuperaron posteriormente los paquetes abiertos y las etiquetas desechadas alrededor de la 1:27 p.m., indicaron las autoridades.

Teléfonos y anillo valorados en casi $6,600 USD

Los tres teléfonos fueron identificados como dos dispositivos iPhone 18 Pro con 512 gigabytes de almacenamiento y un iPhone 18 Pro Max con 256 gigabytes de almacenamiento, según el informe.

Los investigadores indicaron que valoraron los dos iPhone 18 Pro en aproximadamente $1,399 USD cada uno y el iPhone 18 Pro Max en $1,299 USD, para un valor combinado de $4,097 USD antes de impuestos.

El anillo fue valorado en aproximadamente $2,549 USD, según el informe.

Un investigador que examinó los artículos recuperados describió una caja negra para anillos que contenía un anillo marcado con “14K”. El informe también describió un grabado en el interior del anillo que decía “M-[símbolo de infinito]-A” y “Smiling Rocks”.

La policía indicó que los empaques abiertos y dañados, las etiquetas de envío y las pruebas relacionadas fueron almacenados en la sala de evidencias del Departamento de Policía de Hialeah.

Investigadores afirman que los paquetes estaban fuera de la ruta asignada al sospechoso

Según el informe, los investigadores postales determinaron que Yarber trabajaba en la oficina Promenade Postal Store, ubicada en 3690 W. 18th Ave., en Hialeah.

Yarber viajaba a un centro de procesamiento y distribución en Doral para recoger correspondencia de Priority Mail y entregarla en la oficina de Promenade, donde se asignaba a los carteros para su distribución, señala el informe.

Un investigador postal informó a la policía de Hialeah que Yarber no estaba autorizado a llevarse los paquetes involucrados en la investigación porque estaban “fuera de su ruta habitual de trabajo diario”, según el informe. Tampoco estaba autorizado a abrir los paquetes ni a quedarse con su contenido, señala el documento.

La policía indicó que Yarber fue trasladado el jueves a la sede del Departamento de Policía de Hialeah para una entrevista, donde se le leyeron sus derechos Miranda, renunció a esos derechos y continuó hablando con los detectives.

La policía señaló que Yarber proporcionó una declaración, pero su contenido fue censurado en el informe de arresto divulgado públicamente.

USPS responde

En una declaración proporcionada a Local 10 News, un portavoz de USPS indicó que su Oficina del Inspector General generalmente no confirma ni niega información sobre investigaciones en curso, a menos que los detalles pasen a formar parte del registro público.

“La Oficina del Inspector General de USPS considera que las acusaciones de robo de correspondencia de Estados Unidos por parte de cualquier empleado del Servicio Postal son un asunto muy grave”, señala la declaración. “Cuando se presentan este tipo de acusaciones, los agentes especiales de la Oficina del Inspector General de USPS las investigan rigurosamente”.

La agencia también alentó a los clientes que sospechen de robo de correspondencia por parte de un empleado postal a reportar sus inquietudes a través de la línea de denuncias de la Oficina del Inspector General de USPS en https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline.

Hasta el viernes, Yarber permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight bajo una fianza de $3,500 USD.

Personal de los Bomberos de Miami-Dade y oficiales del Departamento de Policía de North Miami respondieron al accidente poco después de las 12:40 p.m., cerca de Northeast Eighth Avenue y 125th Street.

Los bomberos informaron que trasladaron a dos pacientes a un hospital de la zona, mientras que los oficiales de policía indicaron que los heridos se encontraban entre las tres personas que viajaban en la camioneta de jardinería.

La causa del accidente continúa bajo investigación, informó la policía.

La editora de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Sofia Mendez, y la editora sénior de asignaciones, Frine Gomez, contribuyeron a este informe.

And rather than wait for a reason to smile, just making the physical change of literally turning that frown upside down could impact emotions, according to experts.

Research backs up the fact that smiling goes a long way.

Some older research has focused on this “facial feedback hypothesis,” according to Jeanne Tsai, a longtime psychology professor at Stanford University who runs the Culture and Emotion Lab. In one often replicated experiment, researchers would have subjects put a pencil between their lips and adopt a smile or a frown while viewing a positive movie clip like a cartoon. Some subjects who smiled would feel the sensation of the smile more and be more amused.

“When we’ve done that demonstration in classes, it works,” Tsai said. “When you’re doing it in a room by yourself, you’re not doing it in a social interaction, maybe it’s making you remember, or it’s an effect of remembering some good thing that happened and that would put you in a better mood.”

At the Orange County Academy of Sciences and Arts in Southern California, the power of a smile is taken very seriously. An entire section on the charter school group’s website is dedicated to its philosophy that a smile can make a difference.

“Smiling creates a supportive classroom culture that makes students relaxed, active, and motivated,” according to the website. “It increases emotional well-being, lowers stress, and gives students confidence.”

How smiling can benefit health

Dr. Judy Ho, a Los Angeles clinical and forensic neuropsychologist who also teaches at Pepperdine University, discusses smiling as a coping strategy with some patients suffering depression or anxiety.

“I'm not suggesting that that's the only way they can fix things,” Ho said. “It's just like another thing that you can add to your toolbox.”

Smiling can affect one's level of cortisol, a hormone the body releases partly to help regulate stress and mood, according to Ho. Smiling can affect brain chemicals that are associated with positive feelings including endorphins, dopamine and serotonin.

“People who smile during stressful tasks generally demonstrated lower heart rates during recovery than those maintaining neutral expressions,” Ho said. “Smiling also reduced aspects of the body's physiological stress response.”

The hope is if you smile enough, you will start feeling it emotionally.

“In some ways it's like a mediating effect,” she added.

The value of a smile varies culture to culture

How smiling and even the openness of a smile are perceived are not universal. Tsai, the Stanford professor, has conducted research on how emotion in American culture puts value on trying to always feel positive and minimizing negativity and sadness. In East Asian cultures, emotion is more about balance.

“It’s like the positive and the negative emotions are braided together, and so you don’t want to feel too positive or too negative,” Tsai said. “You want more of a balance between the two.”

Her past studies also examined how European Americans and East Asians — including Taiwanese, South Koreans, Japanese and Hong Kong Chinese — look at a “neutral or a calm” smile versus a full-on grin. Subjects rated the differing facial expressions on warmth and trustworthiness. While some Americans saw the excited smiles as friendlier, some East Asians characterized those facial expressions as “emotionally unstable” or “unreliable."

“What kind of smile matters — whether it’s a calm, closed mouth smile more like the Dalai Lama or a big toothy excited smile like Julia Roberts,” Tsai said. “We’ve done some series of studies in Taiwan and other East Asian contexts. They don’t like the big, toothy, excited smile unless it’s really situationally appropriate.”

In Thailand — known as “The Land of Smiles” — smiling is embedded in the culture. There are nearly 30 Thai words for “smile.” Many teach-abroad programs where people can teach English as a foreign language in Thailand cite that smiling often with children and colleagues is key to showing respect, good manners and calmness.

At the OCASA charter schools, smiling is part of an effort to make children feel seen.

“I’ve always believed in wanting school to be a happy place for kids,” said RaNae Posey, principal of OCASA Capistrano Elementary School. “To actually help them form habits of looking at the bright side of things.”

Mandating smiles may lead to more frowns

Women in recent years have smacked down the idea that they have to smile in the workplace while men do not. Smiling can feel like a Catch-22 for some women and sometimes for people of color who may be stereotyped as unapproachable or cold if they don’t smile enough.

Last year, retailer Target was ridiculed across social media for instituting a smiling policy. Workers had to smile and make eye contact if a customer was within 10 feet (3 meters) and personally greet them if they were within 4 feet (1.2 meters).

People do not like feeling like they have no “emotional autonomy,” according to Nicholas Coles, an assistant professor who runs the Social Science Collaboratory at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

“In those scenarios, what we find is that it’s more that you’re smiling your way to misery,” Coles said. “It’s only when it feels authentic and voluntary that I think it’ll have any real effect.”

With the holidays approaching, more people may have to muster smiles with family if sensitive topics like politics and religion come up. Those could be good times to see if smiling helps.

“If we were able to just smile and be like ’Look, this is somebody that historically cares about you and loves you,' maybe that would change the way that we respond to them even in a moment of tough conversation,” Ho said.

Officials in Washington, D.C., recently advanced a plan that could let computers fully control one of its subways, and Los Angeles is seeking to build a new, completely automated line. Honolulu already has one.

The Washington and LA projects, which would take years to implement and still face financial and technical hurdles, come amid an already fierce debate over the safety risks and benefits of automated trains and whether the substantial upfront expense is worth the long-term savings in labor costs.

Supporters call the push long overdue, pointing out that American cities lag far behind numerous places across the world that run unattended subways, metros or buses, including several cities in Europe and Asia, as well as major systems in Canada, Australia, South America and the Middle East.

“It should be much harder to automate something that’s on-road, that has all of these various obstacles coming at it, compared to a fixed-rail system,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank that has advocated for transit automation. “I don’t know a nice way to say this, but basically the transit world is where innovation goes to die.”

Wide-scale transit automation has been slow to develop in the US

Only in recent years have on-road vehicles from such companies as Waymo,Tesla and Zoox taken the automation lead in the U.S. ahead of transit systems using a track. In fact, although operators have always been part of the Metro subway system in Washington, D.C., trains ran with some automated features when it opened 50 years ago. After a 2009 fatal crash, those were turned off, then restored over the past two years.

Now, officials in the nation's capital have renewed their push for automation on Metro's Red Line. And an environmental review is underway in Los Angeles for an automated track for a new underground line of its heavy-rail system that would cut through the rough terrain of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Honolulu is already running an elevated driverless line — the most expansive automated transit system in the U.S. It'll stretch 19 miles when completed, surpassing the elevated driverless trains Detroit and Miami opened as pilot projects in the 1980s, a monorail connecting hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, and smaller systems that carry passengers between airport terminals.

An automated monorail that once ran in Memphis, Tennessee, closed down years ago. And the driverless Jacksonville Skyway will indefinitely halt operations soon due to budget cuts, despite initial plans for an even larger automated system.

Crash slams the brakes on automation efforts

After nine people were killed and many others injured in the 2009 train collision near the Fort Totten station on the D.C. Red Line, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the crash on a maintenance problem in the automated signaling system that separates trains from one another.

Randy Clarke, CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, pointed out in an interview with The Associated Press that the issue in Fort Totten had nothing to do with the cruise control-like system that was restored on the Red Line in 2024 and the other Metro lines last year. Still, he acknowledged that for many years the crash “paralyzed” Metro's plans for further automation.

“That was a big failure, there’s no question. We do not do anything like that now,” said Clarke, who called the current system “highly regulated, highly documented, very proficient.”

Trains could conceivably run without a human worker inside the cab as early as 2033 under the nearly $1 billion plan Metro's Board of Directors backed in April to upgrade the Red Line with safety features including protective barriers that prevent passengers from getting onto the tracks.

Clarke said that even if workers aren't needed to physically run the trains, they will be needed to maintain the tracks and respond to emergencies.

Unions have been critics of automation. John Samuelsen, a former worker in the New York subway system who now serves as international president of the Transport Workers Union, said unions have fought off automation efforts in New York and elsewhere, calling them “a catastrophe waiting to happen.”

“Passengers will be left dealing with a self-evacuation, which is a disaster in a system which runs on a third rail,” Samuelsen said.

Honolulu touts unblemished record with its automated Skyline

To alleviate massive traffic bottlenecks for commuters, Honolulu opened its Skyline automated light metro transit system three years ago and expanded it last year.

Vance Tsuda, the system's project director, said there hasn't been a single crash or injury associated with automation. Even hybrid systems are less safe than a completely automated one, he said, arguing that a human is far more likely to overlook something like an open door and prematurely clear a train for departure.

“If you have somebody making that decision, they could make a wrong decision,” Tsuda said.

But David King, an associate professor of urban planning at Arizona State University who has researched automated transportation, said the success rate has to remain perfect to keep the public trust. That's why the Fort Totten crash and others involving automation put the technology so far behind, he said.

“We allow a certain amount of failure with private industry that we don’t tolerate when the state does it,” said King, citing the several rockets blown up by Elon Musk's SpaceX — a record he argues would cripple NASA's budget if it happened in the public sector.

LA rolls out safety plans for a subway beneath the mountains

Perhaps the most ambitious transit automation effort being pursued in the U.S. is the subway line Los Angeles officials voted to recommend beneath the Santa Monica Mountains. The area is one of the most notorious traffic headaches in the country, with the mountains dividing the bustling Westside employment hub from the San Fernando Valley.

There's already a subway system under the same mountain range near Hollywood, but that one has a driver onboard. The new proposal, which is undergoing an environmental review, would use shorter, more frequent trains, said Cecily Way, who oversees planning for the Sepulveda Project for LA Metro.

Like the project in Washington, the new line in Los Angeles would feature station doors to protect passengers on the platform from oncoming trains.

Feigenbaum with the Reason Foundation said that automation of a major transit line such as in Los Angeles or Washington could open the floodgates for other cities to follow.

“It sends a signal that this is technologically doable and this is something that maybe other systems are going to want to strive for,” he said.

They “came out of the woodwork” she said, and had stayed silent because it was well established that coming forward would be the end of a career they had worked so hard to achieve.

“Those were some of the hardest conversations to have," Cammack said. "And the stories were gut-wrenching."

This year's spike in House Ethics Committee investigations related to sexual misconduct prompted congressional leaders to set up a working group led by Cammack and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M. What they have found is disturbing, Cammack said.

Victims are unclear about where they can go for help. They do not trust there will be repercussions for the perpetrator. And the current requirements for reporting harassment can work against them, such as a 180-day “shot clock” for filing a claim after an alleged violation.

“It's a disaster," Cammack said. “The entire system on Capitol Hill is really designed to create a chilling effect for victims."

The task force is expected to release recommended changes after the Nov. 3 elections with a goal of taking action before the end of the year.

A deluge of ethics cases led to this moment

In a Congress that has generally struggled this year to do more than keep the federal government running, the House Ethics Committee has been caught in the middle of the some of the biggest stories coming out of Washington.

Three lawmakers resigned this year rather than face the prospect of an expulsion vote. Two of those cases involved alleged sexual misconduct. Another member was censured for his interactions with two female aides on his staff. Other investigations are ongoing.

Those stories emerged at a time when Congress was confronted by public outrage over the government's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. In the previous months, members of the Democratic Women's Caucus had multiple meetings with survivors who were pushing for the release of Epstein-related files at the Department of Justice.

In April, the Ethics Committee began an investigation into whether then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee working under his supervision. Swalwell would soon resign as colleagues called for his expulsion.

Similarly, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, resigned as the committee investigated whether he had engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee in his office. Gonzales had acknowledged an affair with a staff member who later died by suicide.

Most recently, the committee recommended the censure of Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., following an investigation that concluded he engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female staffers in his office. The House went along with the recommendation by a vote of 413-2.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., is also the subject of a committee investigation that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct with a House staffer. Gomez said he would cooperate with the investigation but also stressed that his actions were consensual in nature and did not violate the law or House Ethics rules. He also apologized to his family and constituents.

The committee is also investigating whether Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence, among other allegations. Mills has denied the allegations and recently lost a Republican primary.

Lawmakers felt called to action

Cammack said that as stories began to surface about some of the cases before the committee, she and colleagues began talking about what they could do to “clean up the House.” She approached Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about getting on board.

Johnson’s response, she said, was: “Well, good timing, because I was going to come to you and ask you to take this effort up.”

Leger Fernandez was also talking with Democratic leadership about reforms when Cammack reached out to her about working together.

“What was neat is on both sides of the aisle, the Democratic Women's Caucus and the Republican Women's Caucus were both saying there needs to be structural changes. We need to work together,” Leger Fernandez said.

The working group started with listening sessions that included lawmakers and staff. They also reached out to people in the military, corporate America and victims advocacy groups for advice on best practices. Cammack and Leger Fernandez held a packed-room meeting with staff in July.

Several ideas for reform are on the table

Congress has tried to address the issue of sexual harassment before.

It passed legislation in 2018 that among other things required lawmakers to reimburse the Treasury Department for awards and settlements related to sexual harassment cases. It also required that staff have access to a dedicated advocate who can guide them through the process of filing a claim with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.

Some recommendations from the task force will involve changing House rules. Lawmakers are already banned from having sexual relationships with members of their own staff or their committees' staff. But the task force wants to expand the ban to include all congressional staff.

“If you are looking to advance your love life on Capitol Hill, you're there for the wrong reason, in my opinion,” said Cammack, who served as a congressional aide for several years before winning election to the House.

The working group is also seeking to streamline the reporting system for staff to report harassment. Many simply do not know where to go with a complaint.

“I call it a 911 for sexual harassment line that you can make one call and find out what all the alternative options might be for somebody,” Leger Fernandez said.

Another change could be to give alleged victims more time to file a complaint. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces antidiscrimination laws, also enforces a 180-day window for filing a complaint, but that can be extended to 300 days in cases covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law.

Increasing the time for filing a complaint would be an update to the Congressional Accountability Act, which requires Congress to follow many of the same employment laws that apply to the private sector. Updating current law would also require Senate buy-in, complicating prospects.

The working group is also looking to increase accountability for lawmakers and senior members of their staff who engage in harassment.

“The fact that we're still trying to insist that it is not OK to sexually abuse or harass women in 2026 is outrageous, and if you're a woman, is so incredibly frustrating and sad," Leger Fernandez said.

Voters didn't change their minds. Politicians changed their voters.

The Republican-controlled legislature redrew the state's congressional map to transform what was one of the last remaining swing districts in the South to a safe GOP seat. Lawmakers split the rectangular 13th District into an hourglass shape that carved out Democratic voters in Raleigh and replaced them with a swath of rural counties reaching up to the Virginia border.

Swing seats, meaning a district that a presidential candidate won by 5 percentage points or fewer in the previous election, are disappearing from the national map. For decades after World War II, the number of competitive seats in the House slowly eroded as the United States grew more polarized, voters were less likely to split their ticket between parties and people moved closer to like-minded neighbors, creating Democratic strongholds in urban areas and Republicans ones across rural America.

That decline accelerated over the past year after Republican President Donald Trump sparked a partisan redistricting battle. The number of swing districts fell from 45 to 37. There were 96 House seats that fit the modern definition of a swing seat in 1964, according to one count from the 1970s, when the shrinking number of such districts was first noted.

That means the overwhelming majority of House seats are effectively won in primaries, with the support of only a fraction of voters who usually are at the extreme ideological end of their party.

Nickel saw the impact firsthand during his lone term in Washington.

“The biggest divide I found in Congress wasn’t Democrat versus Republican, it was safe seats versus competitive seats,” Nickel said. “When your focus is on running a campaign where you talk to every single voter, you look at things differently and your focus is on solving problems.”

Unite America, an organization pushing alternatives to party primaries, calculated that 87% of the representatives elected to the House in 2024 were chosen by 7% of the country’s voters.

“Voters don’t have any way of holding Congress responsible, except for a narrow window of swing districts,” Nick Troiano, the group's executive director, said in an interview, adding that he expects things to get worse in November. “The least competitive election of our lifetimes will lead to the least accountable and least representative Congress of our lifetimes.”

A narrow battlefield expands slightly in unpredictable midterm year

Republicans are hoping the smaller number of competitive seats puts a low ceiling on what Democrats can win on Nov. 3.

“Both sides are fighting over a narrow House battlefield,” said Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Campaign. “It's a knife fight in a dark alley.”

The alley may be widening this year, but it still is an alley.

Democrats have expanded their political targets, given the unpopular war with Iran and voters angry about high prices. Both parties are spending on campaigns in Republican area that normally would not be competitive.

Even in what is shaping up as a difficult political environment, however, Republicans are protected by the limited number of seats in play.

“Even if there's the kind of swing we got in 2006, there's not going to be 40 seats changing hands. There's going to be 20 seats changing hands,” said Ian Shapiro, a Yale political scientist.

There is a long-standing debate among academics as to how much of the decline can be blamed on partisan-motivated redistricting, known as gerrymandering, and how much on Americans' increasing proclivity to live among like-minded people who vote the same way. Multiple studieshave found that without partisan gerrymandering, the House would have about double the number of competitive seats it has now.

One thing most agree on is that the diminishment of competitive seats leads to greater polarization because legislators are only beholden to primary voters.

“It produces more alienation because Congress doesn’t do anything besides investigations and positioning,” Shapiro said.

Studying the math and making a decision

Nickel decided not to run for reelection after studying election returns going back to 2016 and finding that no Democratic incumbent had held on in a seat where Trump took 55% or more of the vote. Trump received 58% of the vote in the new district.

Nickel, who had introduced a bill to require all states to use a nonpartisan redistricting system, said at first he would run for U.S. Senate because statewide seats cannot be gerrymandered. But when former Gov. Roy Cooper announced he was running for the Democratic nomination, Nickel switched to run for district attorney of Wake County, the deeply Democratic county that was largely cut out of the 13th District.

Nickel won the Democratic primary and will take office in January. No Republican ran.

That highlights how North Carolina, and the country, have effectively become segregated by political party.

“If you just draw big blocks around a state, you're going to get noncompetitive districts because we are so polarized,” said Joshua Huder, a political scientist at Georgetown University.

An hour away, a very different state

Only 15% of North Carolina's voting precincts could be classified as politically competitive, according to Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College in North Carolina.

“For the average North Carolinian, depending on where they live, if they drive an hour in any direction they will be in a very different North Carolina than they live in,” he said.

That certainly is the case traversing from the old 13th District to the new one. From the office towers, cafes and gourmet restaurants of central Raleigh that were part of the competitive 13th District, it is about a 90-minute drive north through the subdivisions and soybean and tobacco farms that are the heart of the new, conservative one.

Here, few are talking about the congressional race. While plenty express dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, they see no reason to vote for anyone other than a Republican.

“It's just what I've always been,” said Linda Long, 62, a Republican in the town of Roxboro who works at the local Walmart.

George Scott, a retired architectural engineer in Franklinton, viscerally dislikes Trump but also is a lifelong Republican and expects to keep voting that way.

“It's just one person,” Scott 75, said of the president.

Democrats make a play in a long-shot district

This is what Paul Barringer is up against.

The Democratic nominee against Knott hopes for an upset in a year when even Republican members in safe seats like the 13th District are running scared. Neither Knott's office nor his campaign responded to a request for an interview.

On a recent evening, Barringer drove his 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser, with his two dogs in back, to the home of Mary Blank, who heads the chapter of the liberal group Indivisible in Johnston County, a fast-growing, conservative-leaning area just outside Raleigh.

Barringer, a former healthcare lawyer who returned from Maryland to the tree farm in the district where he grew up to care for his ailing mother, said he was previously a Republican but switched parties to run, hoping he could attract voters of all stripes.

“I think people are disgruntled about things that are happening,” Barringer said. “They want people who will find ways to work together.”

On the house's back porch, he was greeted rapturously by a self-admitted political minority of liberals in the conservative area. At one point, Barringer reminisced about the grueling task of curing tobacco and asked everyone who had undergone that rural North Carolina rite of passage to raise a hand. No one did.

“We're all transplants!” one woman called out.

There was palpable excitement, especially after Barringer noted that national Democrats had put the seat on a list of ones to watch for a possible upset. Blank, a retired 73-year-old social studies teacher from New Jersey, said that gave her hope, but she was realistic about the local dynamic.

“I've been saying all along I don't think Paul can win,” Blank said.

Linwood Parker agrees. “They're blowing smoke,” Parker, the 78-year-old mayor of Four Oaks, a town 26 miles south of Blank's house, said of Democrats' hopes they could win the district.

Parker is a lifelong Republican who knows well that gerrymandering is a decades-old tradition in North Carolina. Democrats used to do it ruthlessly to maintain their control of the legislature and the congressional delegation until they lost power in the 2010 wave. Now Republicans are the ones who bend the maps to benefit their party.

Parker approves even though he said he is no fan of gerrymandering, or the polarization that has eaten away at bipartisan trust in society.

“Redistricting is just one of the levers that when Republicans, when they are in control, have to touch,” Parker said. “Otherwise it's like saying, when we play this baseball game, we're going to have three outs, we'll give you two.”

Infantino is seeking re-election next year as the head of soccer’s world governing body in the face of attempts to force him to stand down in the wake of the divisive plan.

He infuriated soccer leaders in Europe, North America and Asia over the proposal to sell profits in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary.

But in an interview released Saturday with the BBC at the Under-15 World Cup in Azerbaijan, Infantino brushed off doubts about him being able to continue as president.

“Well you know I was elected by 211 member associations from all over the world," Infantino said. "I think what is important is that in an organization like FIFA, there can be different views, different points of view.

“But if we are serious about democracy, about the democratic process, about believing that everyone has the same vote and the same voice all over the world, that football belongs to everyone, if we are serious about that, then we need, to respect as well the views of the vast, vast majority.”

Infantino is standing for a final term in office in March. The deadline for potential candidates to come forward to stand against him is Nov. 18.

His latest comments came after he apologized to FIFA’s ruling council last week for “mistakes” in his secretive investment plan for the World Cup.

Despite his apology, European delegates said they left the meeting disappointed about what they saw as a lack of clarity.

On Friday, the Asian Football Confederation endorsed Infantino for another term as FIFA president in an apparent turnaround in its stance from two months ago when it criticized him for a breach of trust.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

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Jail records show Avery Terrill Yarber was taken into custody Thursday by Hialeah police detectives and faces one count of third-degree grand theft and one count of mail theft.

Investigators estimated the value of the three phones and the ring at $6,597, before applicable taxes on the phones, the report states.

According to the report, a U.S. Postal Inspection Service special agent installed two surveillance cameras inside a company vehicle on Oct. 9. One camera recorded the driver’s area, while the other captured the rear interior of the vehicle.

A Hialeah Police Department Special Investigations Section sergeant monitored footage of Yarber’s delivery routes over multiple days, authorities said.

On Oct. 14, GPS data showed Yarber had parked the postal vehicle at 1555 W. 37th St. in Hialeah, according to the report.

Police said between 11:50 a.m. and 12:10 p.m., a sergeant observed Yarber opening four packages — three containing iPhone boxes and one Priority Mail package containing a ring.

“The sergeant observed the defendant remove the three phones and place them inside a bag,” the report states.

Local 10 News on Friday exclusively obtained video of the alleged crime.

At approximately 12:30 p.m., Yarber was allegedly seen placing shipping labels inside a Fanta Ghost Face Punch soda can, according to the report. Special Investigations Section detectives later retrieved the opened packages and discarded labels at approximately 1:27 p.m., authorities said.

Phones, ring valued at nearly $6,600

The three phones were identified as two iPhone 18 Pro devices with 512 gigabytes of storage and one iPhone 18 Pro Max with 256 gigabytes of storage, the report states.

Investigators said they valued the two iPhone 18 Pro devices at approximately $1,399 each and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,299, for a combined phone value of $4,097 before taxes.

The ring was valued at approximately $2,549, according to the report.

An investigator who examined the recovered property described a black ring box containing a ring marked “14K.” The report also described an engraving inside the ring that read “M-[infinity symbol]-A” and “Smiling Rocks.”

Police said the opened and damaged packaging, shipping labels and related evidence were impounded in the Hialeah Police Department property room.

Investigators say packages were outside suspect’s assigned route

According to the report, postal investigators determined that Yarber worked out of the Promenade Postal Store at 3690 W. 18th Ave. in Hialeah.

He would travel to a processing and distribution center in Doral to collect Priority Mail for delivery to the Promenade location, where the mail would be assigned to delivery carriers, the report states.

A postal investigator told Hialeah police that Yarber was not authorized to take the packages involved in the investigation because they were “out of his normal daily work route,” according to the report. He also was not authorized to open the packages or keep their contents, the report states.

Police said Yarber was transported to HPD headquarters on Thursday for an interview, where he was read his Miranda rights, waived those rights and continued speaking with detectives.

Police said Yarber provided a statement, but that statement was redacted in his publicly released arrest report.

USPS responds

In a statement provided to Local 10 News, A USPS spokesperson said its Office of Inspector General generally does not confirm or deny information about ongoing investigations unless the details become public record.

“The USPS OIG considers the allegations of theft of U.S. Mail by any Postal Service employee to be a very serious issue,” the statement said. “When such allegations are made, USPS OIG special agents vigorously investigate those allegations.”

The agency also encouraged customers who suspect mail theft by a postal employee to report their concerns through the USPS Office of Inspector General hotline at https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline.

As of Friday, Yarber was being held on a $3,500 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

The league announced the closure to fans on Saturday morning through its “OnePass” app and it came a day after it said its pop-up NFL shop would also be shut Saturday — in both cases citing “potential accessibility issues.”

Security concerns have overshadowed the NFL's debut in Paris. The New Orleans Saints will play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Stade de France in the league's first-ever regular-season game in France.

Also Saturday, the Saints announced that “ Saints House has been postponed until Sunday.”

Events planned Saturday at NFL House included “French Athletes in Football” and “From the Field to the Community.”

“I was looking forward to just checking out some of the installations they had — they were going to have the Lombardi Trophy,” fan Nick Paiva said.

Museums closed

Major museums including the Louvre and Orsay Museum are closed Saturday, though tourists were lined up to enter Notre Dame Cathedral. French authorities are intent on preventing a repeat of recent violent unrest.

The U.S. State Department this week issued a security alert that cautioned “Americans in Paris for the NFL game” to “exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings” because of protests.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week that preparations were made in consultation with U.S. and French authorities. Street protests, he said, “are not unusual in France.”

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Goodell along with Saints owner Gayle Benson and Steelers owners Art Rooney II at the Élysée Palace to “discuss Sunday’s game and the long-term future of the NFL in Paris.”

The NFL said Friday that its pop-up shop in the city center would be closed Saturday but that fans could use an alternative shop set up at Stade de France, located north of the city in Saint-Denis.

A weekend event for Steelers fans was canceled Thursday because of security concerns.

Fans react in Paris

Paiva, an American who lives in France, wanted to visit NFL House, where his partner, who is French, could learn more about the sport.

He had also expected to participate in the league’s activation called “Hail Mary over the Seine” in which you try to throw a football across the famed waterway, at a location near Notre Dame. Despite having registered, Paiva was told at the site that he needed to also have made a time-slot reservation.

“That was not communicated very well,” he said after being turned away. “C’est comme ca — it’s the way it is.”

French teenager Oskar Le Gall, wearing a Bryce Young jersey, was able to give it a shot. His throw came up a bit short. A worker on the other side stayed busy scooping balls out of the river using a long pole with a net attached.

Le Gall, who is from the Brittany region, said “the atmosphere of the NFL in Paris is amazing,” noting that French sports leagues and teams typically don't promote themselves that much.

Le Gall and his brother were keeping an eye on the planned path of the protests Saturday.

“It doesn't feel calm and good to be a tourist in Paris,” he said. “It's not good for the NFL.”

At one point during the Hail Mary event, 11 national police vans with their emergency lights flashing drove past on the street above as a fan got ready to throw a ball.

Fan groups staying informed

Steelers fan Monika Allen was able to avoid any protests thanks to advice posted on fan-led Facebook groups.

“The fans are doing a good job keeping each other informed of where to be and where not to be,” Allen said by the ‘Hail Mary’ event.

Her cousin, Viktor Toth, was wearing her Terry Bradshaw black-colored Steelers jersey.

“We're not worried,” she said. "My cousin is Hungarian, so he knows that the protests happen regularly in Paris."

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

“The speeds are now where they need to be,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that restoration began overnight and were sufficient by Saturday morning, improving front-line logistics and defense against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones.

The restoration follows a new U.S. diplomatic push to end the war. Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv next month. On Friday, Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to a localized ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump around Oleshky, a war-ravaged, Russian-occupied town in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

Restrictions imposed last week on Starshield — SpaceX’s military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service and the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communication — alarmed the country’s military and government officials, with commanders reporting lost drones and disrupted missions.

The episode added to tensions between Kyiv and Washington, a relationship already strained by President Donald Trump’s reported deal with Moscow on Russian diesel imports, which Ukraine viewed as a betrayal.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara credited “direct dialogue” and Zelenskyy’s diplomacy with Washington, adding that the outcome mattered most “for our front, for the military, the work of drones, logistics and communications.”

Zelenskyy on Friday said Ukraine was still experiencing Starlink and Starshield speed limits.

Questions have persisted since last week about who ordered the interruptions to the Elon Musk-made satellite internet system that Ukraine has relied on for years to counter Moscow’s attacks.

Trump has maintained that he didn’t make the call, while also saying Musk should not be blamed. Vice President JD Vance has hinted at White House coordination with Musk, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have denied any administration involvement.

Meanwhile, a man was killed and two others wounded in a missile attack on the city of Lozova in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, local officials said Saturday.

Moscow-installed authorities in cities across Russia-occupied Crimea reported power blackouts Saturday following overnight Ukrainian attacks.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Saturday that its forces hit a chemical plant in the Russian city of Tolyatti, which produces materials used in rocket fuel. Tolyatti Mayor Ilya Sukhikh said the overnight attack damaged industrial facilities in the city.

Ukrainian forces also hit an electronics plant in the city of Oryol, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed Saturday. Local officials in Oryol said Saturday that three people were killed in Friday’s attack. The General Staff said the plant makes components for the cruise and ballistic missiles Russia fires at Ukrainian cities.

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Morton reported from London.

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

Shiffrin led after the first run in Sölden, Austria, on the Rettenbach glacier. But her second run wasn't good enough and sent the Olympic slalom champion down to seventh.

When Shiffrin crossed the line, it was Moltzan who was left celebrating her first World Cup win at age 32.

“It feels like a fairy tale right now, pretty unreal,” Moltzan said.

For years Moltzan has been considered the second-best technical skier on the American team behind Shiffrin.

The Minnesota native grew up idolizing Lindsey Vonn, skiing on the same hill in Minnesota where Vonn learned to race. Both of her parents were ski instructors at Buck Hill, and Moltzan moved into the elite program led by Vonn’s former coach, Erich Sailer, when she was 12.

In February, Moltzan won an Olympic bronze medal in team combined at last season’s Milan Cortina Games with teammate Jacqueline Wiles. A year before that, Moltzan won bronze in giant slalom at the world championships. Otherwise, her career had been marked by near misses.

Lara Colturi of Albania was second on Saturday. Germany's Emma Aicher, who last season finished second to Shiffrin in the overall title standings, was third.

Shiffrin shifts focus this season

Shiffrin’s sixth World Cup overall title last season equaled the women’s record set in the 1970s by Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Pröll. But Shiffrin has called this campaign an “exploration season” in which she will reduce her slalom races and focus more on giant slalom and super-G.

The 31-year-old hasn’t won a giant slalom race in nearly three years, going back to December 2023, while her last super-G victory was in 2022.

Shiffrin used to race and win in all disciplines, but she had reduced her schedule in recent years after she endured terrifying crashes in a downhill in Cortina in early 2024 and a GS in Killington 10 months later. Her 22 career victories in giant slalom remain the women’s record, as are her 73 wins in slalom and 110 wins overall.

A men's giant slalom will be held at Sölden on Sunday.

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See AP’s full Alpine skiing coverage here

Premier Giorgia Meloni announced a raft of measures, including sending an additional 500 soldiers to Milan and tougher penalties for minors, who police said made up a large part of the violent protesters last week.

While protests in France have claimed most international attention, large demonstrations are also rocking many European cities Saturday from Milan to Madrid, Lisbon and Tirana.

The protests encompass a broad range of issues from pensions and housing to anti-war movements, education and corruption.

Army vehicles and boarded-up luxury stores in Milan

The 500 soldiers deployed to Milan come in addition to hundreds already stationed there, and will support about 5,000 police and other law enforcement personnel. Authorities are using drone surveillance, checks at railway stations, rapid-response units and online monitoring for potential calls to violence. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala has said he is concerned about a repeat of violence this weekend and expressed support for the deployment of more soldiers.

Many stores, particularly luxury boutiques within Milan's fashion district including Omega, Tiffany and Gucci, boarded up their front windows.

Rioters last weekend smashed their way into stores, targeting sneakers, athletic wear and sporting goods on streets that run off the city’s central Duomo square.

Officials said security measures on Saturday would extend beyond the city center amid concerns protesters could move into other neighborhoods.

Valter Mazzetti, secretary-general of the Fsp police union, told The Associated Press that soldiers could provide immediate reinforcements but not resolve police staffing shortages.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said in a social media post that the soldiers were only recently allowed to use plastic restraint ties and only in areas around train stations, not throughout the city. They are not authorized to carry pepper spray or tasers, he said.

Milan police say last week's violence and looting involved about 2,000 very young protesters, a large number of whom were “naturalized, second-generation Italians,” alongside foreign nationals. Over two days, police arrested 45 people, including 34 minors.

Milan’s welfare councilor, Lamberto Bertolé, told the AP that more investigation is needed to understand the backgrounds and motives of the young people who joined the looting.

“Many young people increasingly lack a sense of belonging and prospects for the future. Part of our society feels excluded, amid social and economic inequalities,” said Bertolé, of the center-left Democratic Party.

Shopping streets locked down in Rome

Security was also heightened in Rome, where authorities locked down luxury shopping streets and stepped up controls around the Circus Maximus and Piazza del Popolo.

Several hundred students demonstrated peacefully to stress they were not rioters.

“I think the images from last week were truly something terrible, especially for the young people, for the students, for the vast majority of the younger generations who want to study, want to make proposals, and do not accept being represented by those who use issues and needs to devastate entire cities,” said Riccardo Ponzio, national president of an Italian far-right student association.

A separate anti-war march took off in central Rome, and there are concerns over possible infiltration by violent groups.

Organizers sought to distance themselves from potential unrest, urging participants to keep their faces uncovered and hands visible.

Aside from Rome and Milan, demonstrations have been called in at least seven other cities. The newly formed “Oct. 17 Movement” has been the main driver alongside student federations, grassroots trade unions, and anti-war coalitions.

Students and opposition gather in Albania

In Albania's capital Tirana, riot police used water cannons on large groups of protesters, some of whom threw projectiles at police. Authorities said 2,500 police officers are patrolling the streets Saturday.

For over a week, protesters have hurled rocks, flares, firebombs and fireworks at police who have used batons and tear gas in clashes in the city center.

High school and university students are demanding lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and protesting corruption in the education system. Some have joined a broader anti-government movement calling for the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.

A separate protest organized by the opposition outside the prime minister's office turned violent earlier, with some activists lighting fires on the street.

Rama said Saturday his government was preparing a response to the students' demands and called them to a dialogue. He warned that violent protesters will face penalties.

Retirees march in Madrid over pensions

Thousands of retirees and others marched in Spain's capital Saturday to demand public pensions aren’t meddled with.

Large crowds marched peacefully down streets in central Madrid, waving colorful flags and banners reading “protect pensions” and “decent pensions for today and the future."

“They are threatening us with privatizing pensions. It’s just another thing they want to profit from," said Maria José Benito, 68.

The protests came ahead of next month’s snap election as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party criticized the conservative opposition Popular Party for making overtures about privatizing public pensions.

Spain has been roiled by protests this fall around the issue of housing, as rental and home costs have risen in recent years beyond what many Spaniards can afford.

In Spanish cities, a housing supply shortage has worsened thanks to population growth driven by immigration and a proliferation of short-term rentals. The September eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her rented apartment in Madrid triggered huge street protests.

A tent camp protest has remained in the capital’s Puerta del Sol square for almost a month.

Affordable housing is main theme in Lisbon protests

Taking their cue from Spaniards, protesters in Lisbon who have been gathering to demand affordable housing are expected to march across the city on Saturday.

They have also targeted recent measures announced by the government of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro that include easing the cap on yearly rent increases and facilitating the eviction of tenants who fail to pay rent.

Montenegro defends the measures saying that it aims at reinforcing trust between tenants and landlords and boosting the rentals market. Protesters claim that the measures are not balanced and put tenants in a more vulnerable position.

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Associated Press writers Sylvia Hui in London, Demetris Nellas in Athens, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Giada Zampano in Rome; and videojournalists Niccolò Lupone in Milan, Veronica Sauchelli in Rome, Alicia León in Madrid and Helena Alves in Lisbon contributed to this report.

At a time when some Democratic leaders nationwide are recalibrating their approach to transgender issues, particularly sports, and polls show Americans generally back the bans, supporters are optimistic they will pass and open the door to similar efforts in other places where lawmakers have blocked bans.

Though the issue has been debated in many legislatures, this is the first time it's going to voters.

“What is happening in 2026 is a testing ground for the future,” said Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which supports LGBTQ+ rights.

Twenty-seven states — including all where Republicans control both the legislature and governor’s office — already have such laws.

The efforts are billed as a way to protect women and girls and keep separate spaces for them, tapping into a concern that’s gained momentum. President Donald Trump has taken steps to roll back transgender rights. The Supreme Court has upheld state sports bans.

A June poll from Quinnipiac University found that about 7 in 10 registered voters think transgender women and girls should not be allowed to play on female sports teams. About one-quarter think they should. Democrats are divided, with about half saying transgender women and girls should be allowed and about half saying they should not.

Robert Preuhs, a professor of political science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, said the absence of public polls on Colorado's ballot measure, which also covers college sports, makes it hard to predict whether it will pass. “It’s probably going to get more support than some of the Republican candidates that will run,” he said.

Since transgender restrictions gained traction this decade, states with Democratic-led governors' offices and legislatures generally have rejected proposals such as banning transgender people from the bathrooms that match their gender identity and restricting gender-affirming care. Most Republican-led states have adopted those policies.

In addition to the two blue-state questions, a measure in Arizona would broaden an existing ban to include private schools, and one in Nebraska would add an existing state law to the state constitution.

The argument has been framed around fairness

There’s not a clear consensus on whether transgender women and girls have a competitive advantage. Factors include the age of the athlete, the sport, whether the athlete went through male puberty and how long they’ve received hormone therapy.

But the idea that girls are being cheated is personal for some athletes.

Ahnaleigh Wilson, a 17-year-old junior at Eastmont High School, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Seattle, has been speaking out against allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports since she was in junior high. She said she’d won all her 1,600-meter races in seventh and eighth grade — until she finished second to a transgender athlete in a major meet.

“I knew it wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair,” she said.

Wilson said three other transgender athletes she's competed against since then placed better in girls races than they would have with the same times against boys.

“Women have fought for Title IX and our own categories and it’s very important that we keep the dignity of that, and let women have their own sports and their own spaces to be safe and completely fair,” she said, referencing the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities, including athletics.

Opponents say excluding transgender girls is also unfair.

“They will say that they want to protect kids and in particular, young girls,” said Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, which is leading the opposition to the measure there, “but I don’t understand how you can protect kids and discriminate against kids at the same time.”

The number of transgender girls in school sports is believed to be a sliver of the total participants. Neither Colorado nor Washington has an official count.

Let's Go Washington, which is behind the measure in that state, says it’s counted 16 such athletes and that there could be more. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has counted about 101,000 girls in sports that it oversees — a figure that double-counts girls who play in multiple sports.

The issue crosses party lines — and that may be the idea

Imara Jones, an advocate who runs a website that features the stories of transgender people, said the issue is attractive for conservatives because some Democrats agree with them.

Hedge fund manager Brian Heywood is funding Let's Go Washington, which is also behind two other measures. One would expand parent access to school social work and counseling records for their children and one would repeal a newly adopted tax on incomes over $1 million.

Western Washington University political scientist Todd Donovan said Let's Go is hoping that voters supporting the transgender sports ban would also favor overturning the tax.

Tracy Flint of Ridgefield, Washington, a Democrat and former graphic artist, said she’s wrestling with how to vote.

“It’s new to my brain, so it’s a really tough one for me,” she said.

Her husband, Dave Flint, 60, a former Republican who opposes Trump and now votes for Democrats, lamented that an issue affecting so few people has become such a national controversy. “But I guess you still have to address it,” he said.

One Colorado's Bridges said she believes that many voters can be persuaded to oppose the measure there, though the challenge is reaching them. Groups registered as opposing the transgender-related measures in Colorado have raised nearly $4 million — more than 20 times what proponents have brought in, but not a lot for a statewide campaign.

In Washington, Let's Go has raised more than $7.8 million to campaign for the three measures — nearly twice as much as the ban opponents.

One key question is how to enforce the ban

The Washington measure would require that a healthcare provider verify the student's “biological sex, relying only on one or more of the following: The student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.”

“We see that as being as simple as a checkbox,” said Let's Go Washington spokesperson Hallie Herzberg. “Doctors can use the history of the patient from treating them all their lives or their medical history forms.”

But Dr. Libby Loft, who opposes the measure, says the language calls for a genital inspection as part of a physical, or expensive testing.

“I think it doesn't make any sense to force the working families of … girl sports players in Washington to pay for unnecessary medical tests to be able to weed out an estimated five or 10 girls in the state of Washington, trans girls,” Loft said.

She fears the verification requirement will lead to fewer girls — trans or not — playing sports.

The idea of exams bothers some voters.

“I’m voting against it primarily because I think medical exams of girls’ genitalia is, like, Middle Ages,” said Rosemary Kacorozki of Renton, Washington, 63, a language interpreter.

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Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.

The new diplomatic push comes after more than 4½ years of fighting, bringing with it a surprise announcement on Friday: Kyiv and Moscow have agreed to a local ceasefire to allow aid next week into a stranded town in Ukraine's southern war-divided region of Kherson, following secret consultations between Melania Trump and civilian negotiators from Russia and Ukraine.

While the initiative raised hopes of similar humanitarian missions in the future, there were few indications that any of the key positions have shifted. Russia continues to demand Ukrainian territory it does not fully control, while Kyiv insists any agreement must include ironclad guarantees against another invasion.

Within hours of Russian President Vladimir Putin saying he agreed “in principle” to restart talks, Russia launched a deadly barrage of ballistic missiles and drones on Kyiv. Moscow on the same day said it had destroyed more than 800 Ukrainian drones heading toward its cities.

Here’s a look at where the two countries stand as potential negotiations loom.

Peace talks likely in mid-November

U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff secured the latest commitment to talks after shuttling between Oslo, Norway, and St. Petersburg, Russia, this week to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin.

A new round of negotiations would be the fourth brokered by the Trump administration, following the most recent round in Geneva in February.

A Kremlin spokesman said that the next round of talks is likely to be held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, around mid-November. Western governments backing the peace initiative are seeking a new formula to break the impasse while acknowledging that territorial and security questions remain unresolved.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s ties with Zelenskyy, meanwhile, have sunk to a new low. Moscow has been bolstered by Trump’s deal for Russia to supply the U.S. with diesel and his recent rejection of new Russia sanctions.

Kyiv has been undermined by disruptions in satellite support for its drones after rejecting a call by the U.S. president to halt strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. Ukrainian leaders fear the moves will embolden Putin, giving him little incentive to compromise at the negotiating table.

As Trump increased pressure on Zelenskyy, accusing him of being an obstacle to peace, Witkoff secured the release of an American who had been jailed for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. The envoy described the Russian leader as a “humanitarian” at their meeting in St. Petersburg — a remark met with consternation in Ukraine.

The two sides are still far apart

While both sides back calls for new talks, Russia and Ukraine are still far apart on their terms for a settlement, while their armies remain locked on the battlefield and they pummel each other with daily long-range strikes.

Central to Russia’s demands is full control of four Ukrainian regions it illegally annexed months after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in addition to Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.

Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine but has failed to capture all the territory in the regions over which it claims sovereignty.

In a long list of demands, Moscow also wants Ukraine to withdraw forces from all four annexed regions, renounce its bid to join NATO, reduce the size of its military and drop restrictions against the Russian language and a Moscow-affiliated branch of the Orthodox Church.

Speaking on state television late Thursday, Putin said Moscow remains "ready to negotiate and seek solutions to this difficult, complex situation,” before adding: “But if some prefer a different path, so be it. In any case, all the objectives of the special military operation will be achieved.”

Zelenskyy — who for months has publicly advocated for peace talks — argues that giving up land would leave Ukraine more vulnerable to future attacks. Kyiv views security guarantees as essential to prevent Russia from restarting the war in the future.

The Ukrainian president has reaffirmed support for a ceasefire that would freeze front-line positions, followed by talks on conditions for ending the war. Moscow has rejected a break in hostilities until a comprehensive agreement on its terms is reached.

Security guarantees remain unresolved

While Kyiv and Moscow have maintained limited contact to organize prisoner exchanges and the return of fallen soldiers, previous talks have made no progress on the security arrangements needed to sustain a peace deal.

Ukraine believes security guarantees backed by Western allies are essential to any future settlement, ideally in the form of NATO membership — an option Vladimir Putin has rejected. Ukraine expects to heavily rely on its own army as the main security guarantee with financial backing from its allies.

Other elements of security guarantees being discussed range from NATO membership, which the U.S. administration has currently ruled out, direct guarantees from the United States in what Zelenskyy has described as an “Article 5-like format” and backing by the European-led 30-country alliance known as the Coalition of the Willing.

Article 5 of the NATO charter contains the alliance's mutual-defense guarantee, which establishes that an attack on one is an attack on all.

“All of these guarantees are possible on the basis of a strong Ukrainian army — in terms of both numbers and quality — with clear funding, and not a small amount. Our colleagues in Europe and America know this,” Zelenskyy told reporters Thursday at a briefing.

Following the massive attacks on Kyiv and other cities this week, he argued that only increased Western pressure on Moscow would change its calculations about future peace talks.

“It is important to keep trying to find the right solutions to end this war,” Zelenskyy wrote in an online post. “But when Russia responds to negotiations with ballistic missiles, real pressure on Russia is needed to bring about different steps — steps toward ending the killing.”

The Atch Academy in Aubervilliers, north of Paris, identified him as Pengo Bossio Wangi, 26, and paid tribute to him in an Instagram statement. French authorities have not publicly identified the victim.

“Pengo was one of us,” the club wrote, remembering his smile, energy and generosity. “Nothing justifies a life being taken like this.”

At least five other people, including a 12-year-old girl, were wounded when a gunman fired from a vehicle at three locations in Trappes and La Verrière, authorities said.

President Emmanuel Macron said Friday it was “a racist terror attack” and that the victims were targeted because of their “skin color or perceived religion.”

A suspect was arrested soon after the shooting, and France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office took charge of the case.

Emergency services in the Berchtesgaden district, in the Bavarian Alps in Germany's southeastern corner, were alerted to the fire by an alarm at about 9:15 p.m. Friday. Firefighters and police rushed to the scene — located at the end of a narrow road that winds up the mountain, in part through a series of tunnels — and could see the flames as they approached.

They stopped and arrested a man on a motorcycle driving the other way down the road.

Prosecutors said the 33-year-old suspect, a German citizen who has ties to the Berchtesgaden area but doesn't currently live there, was questioned. They said he showed signs of mental illness and he was being set to a psychiatric facility, but they also would look into the possibility of a political motive in view of the building's history. Police said there were no current indications that anyone else was involved.

Rain that turned into the season's first significant snow, accompanied by strong wind, complicated the already difficult task of tackling the blaze and firefighters had to pull out overnight after several hours, officials said. No one was injured in the fire, and firefighters hoped to finish their work on Saturday though they weren't able to enter the building because of a danger of falling material.

The building, known in German as the Kehlsteinhaus, is located on a cliff 1,834 meters (6,017 feet) above sea level. It is reachable by an elevator built inside the rock from the end of the mountain road, which is closed to public traffic but used during the day by buses for visitors.

It has been operated as a cafe and restaurant since 1952 and contains an exhibition on its history. The Nazi dictator himself rarely used the Kehlsteinhaus — unlike the Berghof residence, also in the Berchtesgaden area, the ruins of which were blown up in 1952.

The Obersalzberg Documentation Center, further down the mountain, is home to the area's main historical exhibition and was unaffected by the fire.

Officials indicated that the Eagle's Nest would be restored, though they were vague so soon after the blaze about how exactly that would be done.

“We're not going to leave a ruin there,” Bavaria's interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, told reporters in Berchtesgaden. But what the site will look like in the future will be a matter for discussions with local officials, historians, preservationists and others.

“I think we will be able to find a sensible solution,” Herrmann added. Bavaria's state government owns the building.

The minister stressed that “it is important that we continue to do the work of remembrance.”

Meanwhile, the death toll rose from Friday's attack on a church in Jordan. And an Iranian military commander said his country will not allow U.S. warships to enter the Persian Gulf. The comment followed increased attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, raising fears of a return to all-out war.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here.

Israel imposes closures across Hebron

Taxis piled up behind gates controlled by Israel's military outside Hebron, waiting for Palestinians forced to cross on foot. All gates leading in and out of the city were closed to vehicles, according to Basma Radio, a Telegram channel Palestinians use to monitor checkpoints and road closures.

Palestinian news outlet WAFA said Israeli troops forced dozens of residents to evacuate their homes. Up to 300 families left Deir Baha, an area on one of the city’s hillsides, and the two adjacent neighborhoods, according to a tally from Hebron’s municipality. Associated Press reporters saw Israeli flags draped over a home seized for military use in Deir Baha.

Israel's army didn't respond to questions about the operation. On Friday, it said that in response to the attacks, its forces had begun “conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches” in the area from where the gunmen had operated.

Death toll from church attack in Jordan rises to 9

An ninth person has died after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan, state television reported. More than two dozen people were receiving treatment in hospitals.

Gunmen on Friday opened fire at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, south of Jordan's capital, Amman. Footage broadcast on state television showed a crowd fleeing in panic. Karak is home to a minority Christian population.

Airstrikes kill 14 people in Yemen, including a child

Two strikes killed 14 people, including a woman and child, in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, according to the Health Ministry run by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. A strike on a cement factory killed seven and a strike on a home killed three.

And an airstrike hit homes in Hodeida province on the Red Sea, killing at least four people, Houthi health authorities said.

The Houthi media center said a wave of strikes hit the coastal city of Mokha in Taiz province, which the rebels captured in September. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claims.

The Houthis blamed neighboring Saudi Arabia as fighting has escalated. Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment.

At least two explosions were heard near the international airport in Yemen’s southern city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government, residents and an AP journalist said. The Houthi military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed responsibility, saying the strikes targeted a military camp and a naval base.

The interior ministry of the internationally recognized government said the Houthis attacked the coast guard headquarters at its complex with two ballistic missiles.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it intercepted three ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and Taif and Yanbu cities. It also said it destroyed a drone over the country’s eastern region.

The UAE closes beaches after oil spill from tanker

The United Arab Emirates closed beaches and warned fishermen to avoid parts of its Gulf shores after an oil spill from a tanker. Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah announced that all beaches across the emirate would remain closed until further notice.

The spill impacted the beaches of Umm Al Quwain, one of the seven emirates making up the federation, and cleanup efforts were underway, the Climate Change and Environment Ministry said. Images obtained by the AP showed oil washing up along the beach.

The ministry said the spill poses no health risks but did not provide details about its scale. It came two weeks after Iran’s state-run broadcaster reported an oil tanker had struck a naval mine and caught fire while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz without coordinating with Tehran.

Iran says it will not allow US warships to enter Persian Gulf

An Iranian military commander said Iran will not allow U.S. warships to enter the Persian Gulf or approach Iran’s territorial waters, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Gen. Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces and commander of its joint military command, also warned U.S. President Donald Trump that U.S. forces would never return to the Strait of Hormuz.

US reissues Mideast travel warnings over Houthi threats

The State Department reissued travel advisories for Americans in or traveling to the Middle East, citing threats posed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are covered by the warnings and have appeared in previous travel alerts since the start of the Iran war.

The alerts follow the department reducing staffing at four U.S. embassies in the Middle East after receiving intelligence that Iran has stepped-up efforts to target American personnel.

Israeli strikes kill at least 1 in Gaza

Israeli strikes killed at least one person in Gaza City and injured others, health officials at Shifa Hospital said. Israel's army said it struck a military operative.

More than 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in October 2025, according to the territory’s health ministry. The ministry maintains detailed records and is regarded as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Part of the Hamas-run government, the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up nearly half of those killed.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Kim’s visit to China is his latest move in an increasingly assertive foreign policy as he seeks to align Pyongyang with Beijing and Moscow in a united front against the United States under what he portrays as a “new Cold War.” It's his first visit in a year.

Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong Saturday after crossing the newly opened bridge, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea, and China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Both sides promised to strengthen cooperation

He met with Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of China’s Communist Party. The two toured a car factory, and promised to strengthen the bilateral relationship.

Kim said his country “stands ready to work with China to carry forward their historical friendship and expand practical cooperation, thereby delivering tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries,” Xinhua said.

Wang then accompanied Kim to the bridge to send him off, according to Xinhua. North Korean state media did not immediately report on Kim’s visit.

New bridge was built to help expand trade between the countries

Experts said the opening of the New Yalu River Bridge this month was a key symbol of strengthening ties between North Korea and China and reflected their intent to expand trade, as it is expected to accommodate two-way traffic around the clock, including container shipments and heavy cargo trucks.

Kim has recently sought to strengthen ties with China, the North’s traditional main ally and economic lifeline, after years of prioritizing ties with Russia. He sent thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for military and economic assistance.

Kim's visit timed to key battle anniversary in Korean War with China

Kim’s latest visit to China is his sixth since taking power in late 2011 following the death of his father. The visit appears to be timed to underscore the strength of his ties with Beijing ahead of the Oct. 25 anniversary of China’s first major victory in the Korean War, which was days after Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River into North Korea in October 1950.

The war began with North Korea’s surprise attack on the South in June 1950, prompting a U.N.-led coalition headed by the United States to intervene and push back the offensive. North Korea was backed primarily by Chinese forces, with assistance from the then-Soviet Union’s air force, before fighting ended with a 1953 armistice that left the peninsula technically at war.

Kim said his visit on Saturday was also to memorialize those killed in the war, according to Xinhua.

Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Pyongyang in June for a meeting with Kim. During their summit, Xi expressed Beijing’s willingness to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction and technology, while Kim described ties with China as a top strategic priority.

Kim last visited Beijing in September 2025, when he met with Xi and watched a military parade alongside Putin and other foreign leaders.

Kim has maintained a hard line toward Seoul and has so far rebuffed a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump to revive their diplomacy, which broke down in 2019 during Trump’s first term. Kim’s government has called for Washington to abandon its “hostile policy” and drop demands for the North’s denuclearization as a precondition for renewed talks.

South Korea’s liberal government, which favors engagement with the North, hopes renewed talks between Washington and Pyongyang will thaw inter-Korean relations, and has also urged China to play a “constructive” role in resolving the standoff. Seoul's spy agency told lawmakers last month that it saw a 50% possibility of a meeting between Trump and Kim on the sidelines of next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit in Shenzhen, China.

“From Seoul’s perspective, if North Korea focuses more on economic development than military buildup and threats, that would be positive for diplomacy and security,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“But if Kim can extract ever more benefits from China and Russia, it is unclear what Seoul could offer that would be worth the political risks Pyongyang attaches to exchanges with a more prosperous, globalized, and free Korea.”

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Wu reported from Bangkok. AP video journalist Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Mesa and Jonathan Aranda were caught stealing in consecutive innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers scored twice in a two-pitch span when hard-hit balls deflected off the gloves of center fielder Jonny DeLuca and shortstop Taylor Walls in the first.

Milwaukee came away with a 3-2 victory Friday night, winning on the margins and taking advantage of the types of mistakes the Rays usually pounce on to beat opponents.

“Definitely have to be smart. We talked about that coming in,” Tampa Bay outfielder Chandler Simpson said. “They just played the game better than us today.”

DeLuca missed his attempt at a diving catch on Christian Yelich’s one-out drive in the first inning with Jackson Chourio on first base. Yelich hit an 0-2 cutter to the right-center gap and DeLuca sprinted 85 feet and sprawled. The ball bounced off his glove in front of the warning track and rolled away for a go-ahead triple.

“You can’t be perfect in this game,” DeLuca said. “You’re going to fail a lot more than you’re going to succeed.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash didn't view it as a failure.

“Jonny covered a lot of ground right there to even make that play close," he said. “Highlight-reel play.”

With the infield in, William Contreras lined the next pitch at 108.4 mph. The ball glanced off the webbing of Walls' glove and into left field for an RBI single and a 2-0 lead.

“We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities, put ourselves in really good positions to score runs, to prevent runs,” Walls said. “We had some good plays where we did prevent some, and then we had some that we were inches away from maybe saving a couple more.”

With the Rays trailing 2-1 after Liam Hicks' RBI groundout in the fourth, Mesa was caught stealing third for the final out of the fifth with slugger Yandy Díaz at the plate.

“Victor is really competing, trying to do something to make something happen, put a little pressure on the defense,” Cash said, “and it didn’t work in our favor.”

One inning later, Aranda was thrown out trying to swipe second as Simpson struck out on a low slider for an inning-ending double play.

“That’s on me, ultimately. So much trust in Chandler putting the ball in play,” Cash said. “But he had a pretty nasty pitch.”

Brewers catcher William Contreras had an excellent 1.49-second pop time in throwing out Mesa.

“Not surprised by anything that he did, but that’s not going to change our aggressive approach, certainly on the bases,” Cash said.

In the seventh, reliever Steven Matz issued a leadoff walk to Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt after getting ahead 1-2 in the count. Pratt eventually came around to score a critical insurance run.

Tampa Bay went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position while Milwaukee was 2 for 8. The Rays led the major leagues with a .283 RISP average during the season and the Brewers were second at .276.

“They play the same type of game we play, so we know it’s going to be close, like today was, and we're expecting that all throughout the Series,” Simpson said. “We've got to continue to play our game the best that we can and we should come out on top most of the time.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The turnout for the protest for more school funding and against soaring living costs was a show of strength against the government of President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters mobilized despite official restrictions that limited them to a route away from the city center and rain that dampened the protest at the end.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Tens of thousands of students and workers marched in Paris and other French cities Saturday over school funding and soaring living costs, putting President Emmanuel Macron under pressure to answer demands for better living standards and prevent more violence after protests last weekend degenerated into rioting and looting.

Police used tear gas in Lyon, where the rally had been banned, on Saturday morning. In Clermont-Ferrand, officers used tear gas and stun grenades to push back demonstrators trying to reach the city center, French media reported.

In the southwestern city of Toulouse, 26,500 people joined the protests, according to local authorities.

The unrest is shaking Macron's authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May. The stakes are high: the far-right National Rally has accused his government of failing to protect the public and urged people to channel their anger into votes.

Authorities had confined the Paris march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the center. An Associated Press journalist saw tens of thousands of people marching from Porte d’Italie early in the afternoon, but it appeared to be a smaller crowd than a week earlier. Trade unions led the procession, followed by protesters in raincoats carrying flags and handmade placards.

Camille Chesnier, 27, said she had been unable to find work despite having an engineering degree and a master’s degree.

“There are enormous numbers of people in the same situation as me but who aren’t privileged and who find themselves living on the streets and in squats and, frankly, it’s very tough,” she said.

France's interior minister said there were 35,000 demonstrators nationwide by 1 p.m., compared with 60,000 at the same time a week earlier.

Up to 70,000 officers would be deployed nationwide, backed by helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons, he said.

Authorities sought to prevent another weekend of looting, burned cars and attacks on public buildings.

A small protest became a national movement

What began last month as a protest over staff shortages at one high school southeast of Paris has spread nationwide, drawing students demanding better schools and workers seeking higher wages and pensions.

Energy prices in France were 21.3% higher in September than a year earlier, helping drive overall inflation to 3.1%, according to the national statistics agency, INSEE.

Macron met high school representatives Friday. They said he had promised to overhaul university admissions, but called for protests to continue until concrete measures are announced.

More than half a million people took to the streets last Saturday. Some 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted over the weekend.

Shops board up and museums close

Gendarmes stood guard beneath the Arc de Triomphe as shopkeepers boarded up storefronts across Paris. Near the Saint-Lazare train station Saturday, Akram Ahmed, a 34-year-old contractor, was boarding up an optician’s shop.

“I got the call last night,” he said. “The owner seemed desperate. He said I was saving his life.”

Major museums, including the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais — where a major Cézanne exhibit is on display — were shuttered Saturday.

Art Basel, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art fairs, opened to the public Friday, but only for the day, with the threat of unrest prompting organizers to cancel the weekend program.

Some protests have been banned

Police changed the Paris route Friday. At Bastille, the original starting point, police used a megaphone to tell people to leave or face a 135-euro ($150) fine.

Soumaya Abed, a 58-year-old nurse wearing a red CGT union vest, said she had been joining protests for more than 30 years but had never seen a march start at Porte d’Italie.

“They are using what happened last week as an excuse to quiet protesters,” she said. “But it won’t stop the movement. It won’t stop students from demanding better conditions in schools.”

A protest march was also scheduled in Marseille, but in cities including Nice and Montpellier, as well as Lyon, rallies were banned by the local authorities.

Thousands also marched Saturday in Orléans, south of Paris, in a separate peaceful protest against the far right as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally held a two-day congress in the city.

Trade unions have criticized the bans, calling them violations of freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution.

Macron, a centrist, has entered the crisis in the final stretches of his term with his popularity at its lowest since he took office in 2017. He has said that the measures are needed to protect city centers, businesses and public buildings.

Nuñez acknowledged Monday that police had lost control in some cities during last weekend’s unrest. He offered to resign, but Macron refused the offer.

Students and workers are angry

Student groups want 250,000 more places in higher education and an end to selection through Parcoursup, the national admissions system.

Their joint 10-point plan also calls for more teachers and repairs to schools and universities.

Public middle and high schools lost 15.4 million teaching hours in the 2024-25 school year because absent teachers were not replaced, according to Education Ministry figures. That amounted to 7.5% of scheduled teaching time.

They are also seeking help with everyday costs: an extra 200 euros ($224) a month in student grants and a rent freeze in public student housing.

Paris protester Louis Ledoux--Xatard voiced frustration over inequality.

“Looking at countries like the United States, we don’t want to end up like them, where part of the population has everything and the others have nothing,” he said.

“I never imagined that I’d be taking to the streets so much before my thirties.”

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Associated Press writers John Leicester, Samuel Petrequin and Sylvie Corbet contributed

Instead he spent most of his postgame news conference on Friday night addressing Jaylen Brown's social media response that took issue with Tatum saying in a video on his YouTube channel that he was “just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world” by Brown's trade to the Philadelphia 76ers this summer.

Brown responded on his Instagram account with a baseball cap emoji. “Cap” is slang for something that is not true. Asked if he had any response, Tatum sighed before expressing his frustrations with the entire situation for several minutes.

“I don’t have any animosity or beef, or ill will towards him. I think the toughest part is since he's not on the Celtics anymore, the narrative or the conversations haven't been enough about what we accomplished — all the games we won, winning a championship, how we've grown together. It's turned into this drama type of thing."

Tatum said while he understands there is an entertainment aspect to professional sports and that speculation about their off-court relationship is part of that, he was exasperated with how everything has lingered in recent months.

“I'm not blaming anybody for how they feel,” Tatum said. “We all go through different things in our lives. ... People play this game and never got the finals. We did it twice and won a championship. It should be more about that. This ain't no Shaq and Kobe. There's no beef.”

Both players have spoken glowingly at times about how they grew and thrived together during their nine years together as teammates.

But it's morphed into something else since the Celtics chose Tatum as the player they want to build around after trading Brown in what amounted to a move to cut one of the two players with $300 million contracts from the payroll.

“It’s turned into this drama type of thing,” Tatum said. "I've got two kids. I reached out the day he got traded. I called, I texted. And I understand, people process things differently. So, for me at this point in our lives, we are too old to be having our relationship discussed and X, Y and Z on the internet. There's a conversation to be had and we can definitely have that conversation. I welcome that, right?

“I've always wanted the best for him and wished the best for him. I've always publicly said those things.”

Tatum also lamented how social media has fueled it.

“I've seen all these things like, ‘Get your popcorn ready when they play.’ This ain't no (expletive) boxing match. Play basketball. There's no animosity. There's no beef. I just hate the way the conversation and narrative around it inflamed it. There's not enough communication. I think conversation would solve and put out a lot of fires."

Tatum also doesn't believe the conversation — if there is one — would be negative.

“He's just turned 30. I'm 28. I've got two kids. As adults, it's a conversation. I'm not saying it's a bad one or anything like that. Just communication usually gets to right (or) wrong, you'll understand the other side.”

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

The debate on TV Globo, Brazil's most popular broadcaster, lasted two hours and offered candidates a chance to talk about their plans in front of each other. Five days ago, the two exchanged barbs and accusations in a debate on TV Band.

Friday's debate in Rio de Janeiro had three tense moments.

Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, called Lula “nine fingers,” a pejorative nickname used by many of his supporters which references an accident the Brazilian president suffered during his time as a metal worker. The 80-year-old leader demanded an apology, which Bolsonaro gave him.

“He will have to apologize. Because the working people are watching. Millions of workers suffer accidents due to employer irresponsibility. (They are) being forced to work shifts that we shouldn’t have to work,” said Lula. “I was underage and I worked at night (when the accident happened).”

The 45-year-old Bolsonaro replied: “Lula, if I offended you by calling you ‘nine-fingers,’ I truly apologize. I didn’t mean to offend you."

The second was when Lula, in response, called Flávio Bolsonaro a vigilante, in a reference to groups linked to policemen that are operating in poor communities in Rio de Janeiro. Bolsonaro said he would rename those groups, called militias, as narcoterrorists.

“I will not allow a vigilante to call me nine fingers,” Lula said. Bolsonaro was awarded more time by mediators to respond to the insult. But instead of answering the president's accusation, he chose to talk about a different subject.

The third tense exchange was between Flávio Bolsonaro and the mother of a 5-year-old girl who was killed in a shootout that involved a policeman who had the presidential candidate as his lawyer. Bolsonaro said he doesn't believe his client was guilty.

“I am confident that it was not this police officer who fired that shot,” Bolsonaro said.

The child's mother, who was brought by Lula's campaign to the TV Globo studios, yelled from the stands in response: “She is dead.”

Lula and Bolsonaro discussed the value of the minimum wage, public security policies, Brazil's free healthcare system initiatives and incentives for agribusiness.

On Saturday, both are expected to take tens of thousands of supporters to the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in their last effort before the runoff.

Flávio Bolsonaro won the first round of voting in the presidential election by 47% to 45%, and recent polls suggest he and Lula, who is seeking his fourth nonconsecutive term, are in a very close race.

The winner will be in charge of Latin America’s biggest economy and a population of 214 million. A win for Bolsonaro would increase U.S. influence in Latin America, as he is an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. If Lula wins, Brazil will keep its distance from Washington and continue to deepen its relationship with China.

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

Obama's first event is in Cleveland with former three-term Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is looking to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted. Amy Acton, a Democrat running for governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, will also appear at the rally.

Although Ohio has become more reliably Republican, it's been a hotly contested battleground this year.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both visited the state in recent weeks to drum up support for Husted and Ramaswamy.

Obama then heads to a rally in Detroit for Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who is working to unite the Democratic base in Michigan after winning a divisive primary by less than a percentage point. El-Sayed is running against former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican.

Obama’s appearance in the city, which is three-quarters Black, could bolster support for El-Sayed among Black voters. In the primary, his opponent Haley Stevens won Wayne County, which includes Detroit, by about 6 percentage points. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black and South Asian vice president, campaigned for El-Sayed in September.

El-Sayed criticized Obama after his 2012 reelection for not following through on all of his progressive campaign promises, writing that Obama “was not the right choice — he just wasn’t the wrong one.”

El-Sayed told reporters earlier this month he appreciated the former president, calling him “foundational” to his ability to run for office, but there were still elements of Obama's presidency he disagreed with.

“It’s a normal thing to love somebody, to really appreciate all that they’ve done, and to say, ‘Hey, here are some things I would have done differently,’” El-Sayed said. “But they still did some important things to create opportunity for you.”

El-Sayed spoke with Obama on the phone shortly after his primary win in August.

Michigan also has open races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state. Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor, is slated to appear along with others down the ballot. Benson is running against Republican Rep. John James.

Obama will headline a rally in Georgia next week with Sen. Jon Ossoff and candidate for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Trump is slated to speak in Georgia Saturday.

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GaNun is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

In Evanston, Illinois, she helped turn that question into a $25,000 housing grant for Black residents whose families were harmed by discriminatory housing policies. Now, Rue Simmons is spreading the nation’s first municipal reparations program to more than 100 communities across the country.

But as America celebrates its 250th anniversary, there is a formidable hurdle: President Donald Trump's administration.

The administration’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and its broader efforts to curtail federal support for race-based initiatives and Black history, have prompted some institutions to reconsider or quietly scale back reparations work.

Those reversals come while at least part of the world community is reexamining the past. In March the U.N. General Assembly issued a resolution declaring the trafficking of millions of enslaved Africans “the gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations. More than 120 countries supported the resolution — only three voted against it — Argentina, Israel and the U.S. Fifty-two, including England and 27 members of the European Union, abstained.

“Under this administration, of course, there are many barriers to achieving that, but we still stand on federal redress as our collective north star,” Rue Simmons, the chairman of Evanston’s Reparations Committee and a former city councilwoman, told The Associated Press.

A city pushes forward

For more than three and half centuries, the trans-Atlantic slave trade forced an estimated 12.5 million Africans aboard ships bound for the Americas; some 1.8 million didn't survive the journey. Roughly 388,000 enslaved people were taken to what is now the U.S. and their enslavers maintained a system of chattel slavery, treating the enslaved and their children as property, until abolition in 1865.

Enslavement deprived generations of Black Americans their freedom and any meaningful share of the fruits of their labor. Jim Crow segregation, discrimination and systemic racism further depressed the Black population's ability to build wealth that is still largely concentrated among white families.

From the unfulfilled promise of 40 acres and a mule, to modern day reparations proposals, initiatives to address the legacy of slavery are entering a new era of political uncertainty.

“I don’t think that there’s been any president who’s been supportive of comprehensive Black reparations — for a long time it was just taboo to even speak the word," said William Darity, who wrote a book on reparations with A. Kirsten Mullen.

"Now, Trump will speak the word, but with hostility,” he added.

“They want to steal your money for reparations,” Trump told his supporters during a speech in September. "Our country doesn’t have that kind of money. ... The people that hate our country are asking for it, but it’s going nowhere.”

Marcus Anthony Hunter, a sociologist in African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, said reparations are about atoning for the past crime of chattel slavery, even if some programs come in the form of housing grants or college scholarships instead of direct cash payments.

"It's not even a lot of money that they are given. But it comes back to the recognition, the acknowledgment, responsibility and remedy,” he said.

The Trump administration disagrees and has entered the legal fight in Evanston to stop it from happening.

Stopping plans before they start

The Republican administration's attacks on modern-day repayment efforts include a lawsuit in Evanston, which was initially filed by Judicial Watch.

Michael Bekesha, who represents the plaintiffs, says the Evanston program distributes funds based on race without specific harm identification. He argues the city's program is unlike historical reparations programs.

“The Constitution prohibits governments from picking winners and losers based entirely on race," Beshka told the AP.

The Justice Department this month received a federal judge's permission to intervene in the case, alleging that the city’s actions violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the Fair Housing Act.

Last year, the Justice Department sent a letter of warning to leaders in Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina, contemplating creating their own programs.

Kiersten Pels, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said in a statement to the AP that “race-based government benefit programs are both unconstitutional and often violate federal civil rights laws."

"Those implementing these programs do so in violation of federal law and the federal government has an obligation to stop them,” she said.

The White House referred questions to the Justice Department.

What institutions are doing, and no longer doing

Georgetown University was one of the leaders, offering admission consideration for the descendants of enslaved people tied to the campus’ past, an effort that has continued despite Trump’s crackdown on campus DEI efforts.

But across higher education, new efforts have come to a standstill, said Richard Cellini, who previously led a Harvard University project to identify descendants of people enslaved by Harvard’s past leaders.

“People don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want to hear about it, they’re not hiring for it,” Cellini said.

At Harvard, Cellini's team identified nearly 500 living descendants of enslaved people tied to Harvard’s past. But just days after Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 and signed an anti-DEI order aimed at U.S. universities, Harvard fired the entire team.

Research by an outside company, American Ancestors, has continued. But Harvard has yet to provide redress to living descendants.

Harvard declined to comment for this story. The Education Department referred questions to the Justice Department.

Some Virginia universities have quietly been taking steps to provide scholarships to descendants, as required under a 2021 state law. But otherwise there has been no sign of new scholarship programs being started since Trump returned to office, said Kirt von Daacke, a University of Virginia historian who leads a consortium of colleges studying slavery.

“I don’t think there is any will to do anything that would threaten federal research dollars,” he said.

How descendants are using reparations

The Georgetown initiative focuses on descendants of slaves sold by Georgetown's Jesuit priests to slaveholders in Louisiana.

Juan Woolfolk, 36, one of the Georgetown descendants, is using the $10,000 scholarship he has received indirectly through a foundation set up for descendants to pursue a degree in museum studies at Southern University at New Orleans. He called it a “tremendous opportunity,” especially with the seeming attack on presenting the nation’s past accurately.

The Virginia Theological Seminary makes annual cash payments to the descendants whose family members labored on its campus during slavery and Jim Crow eras. The private institution's program is funded by an endowment started in 2019 that has grown from $1.7 million to $2.8 million. Payments to individuals vary based on the closest lineage to the family members and continue into perpetuity.

“We believe we’re the only educational institution in the United States which makes annual cash reparations payments” with no strings attached, said Nicky Burridge, the seminary’s spokeswoman.

“The moral repair, the healing aspect is as great as the monetary one,” said Ebonee Davis-Hayes, director of reparations.

In Evanston, Joe Martin, a 46-year-old reparations recipient who works as a Delta flight attendant, said he was pleasantly surprised with the program. The nation’s history has been to ignore the contributions of Black Americans helping “build America” or the terror they endured, he said.

Now, the Trump administration supports stopping the program he benefits from.

"We all know the history, 40 acres and a mule didn’t go down the way it was supposed to,” he said, and so someone establishes a program that’s legitimate and “the government’s like, naw.”

Aunque Taiwán no recibió el impacto directo del tifón, el alcance de la tormenta fue lo suficientemente grande como para afectar a la mayor parte de la isla. Las autoridades meteorológicas indicaron que el sistema perdía fuerza la mañana del sábado mientras se desplazaba hacia Japón y que todas las advertencias relacionadas con el tifón se levantarían en el transcurso de la jornada.

El Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia de Taiwán informó que, hasta la noche del viernes, había 350 personas heridas. El único deceso reportado fue el de un hombre que fue arrastrado por las olas en el condado de Pingtung, en el extremo sur de la isla.

La tormenta dejó sin electricidad a 280.000 hogares, según autoridades eléctricas de la isla en declaraciones al periódico local United Daily News. Para la mañana del sábado el 80% de los hogares ya contaban con servicio eléctrico.

En el principal aeropuerto internacional de Taiwán, en Taoyuan, se cancelaron 563 vuelos el viernes. Otros 261 vuelos fueron cancelados el sábado, según la Agencia Central de Noticias.

La tormenta derribó árboles y letreros en toda la isla, así como estructuras más pequeñas e incluso el techo de una residencia universitaria en Taipéi.

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

The British Embassy in Washington dispelled rumors Thursday about a campaign to return the collection of stuffed animals including the “willy nilly silly old bear" to the United Kingdom. The toys were owned by English author A.A. Milne's son — the real-life Christopher Robin — in the 1920s and served as the inspiration for the characters in the writer's beloved children’s books.

“There’s an open invite if Pooh ever wants to make a temporary visit to the UK, but we have no doubt that Pooh and his pals are in excellent hands with the New York Public Library," the embassy said in a post on social media.

Rumors began swirling about a change of scenery for Pooh after The Washington Post reported last week about a push to bring the teddy bear back home as the famed character turns 100 this year.

Milne bought Pooh for his son's first birthday in 1921 from Harrods department store in London. Decades later, the collection of dolls came to the U.S. for a national tour before publisher Dutton Children’s Books donated them to the library in 1987.

When asked about the British Embassy’s statement, Melissa Grace, director of communications at the library, said they’re excited to celebrate Winnie-the-Pooh’s anniversary and invite the public to their exhibit for free.

“Christopher Robin’s childhood toys are a cornerstone of our renowned children’s literature collection,” she said in a statement, adding that the library has plenty planned for the anniversary, including giving away 3,000 copies of the books.

Last week's Post story reported that Gyles Brandreth, an author and friend of the late Christopher Robin Milne, went to New York two years ago for Queen Camilla to try to bring Pooh to Buckingham Palace. But, he said, the library wasn't interested.

Camilla visited the library herself in April, and rather than try to make off with the plump bear, she delivered a new Roo doll to add to the library’s collection that also includes Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Kanga. Roo, in the books, was a small brown kangaroo and the son of Kanga.

This is far from the first time there has been talk of relocation.

In the late 1990s, then Labour Party lawmaker Gwyneth Dunwoody introduced a question in Parliament to ask what plans Britain’s culture secretary had to arrange for the collection's return.

“Just like the Greeks want their Elgin Marbles back — so we want our Winnie-the-Pooh back, along with all his splendid friends,” she had told a reporter.

A New York congresswoman introduced a resolution condemning the attempt to remove the bear.

“The Brits have their head in a honey jar if they think they are taking Pooh out of New York City,” then U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey said.

And unlike plundered antiquities, there's no doubt that Pooh and his friends were freely given to the library. So it would seem once again that children looking to catch a glimpse of the honey-loving bear who inspired such fantastical stories have nothing to worry about.

Besides, New Yorkers would never give up their stuffed friend without a fight. As Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said when he reposted the embassy’s statement Friday: “You come at the bear, you best not miss.”

Inique Hinton, of Douglasville, Georgia, was charged with attempted arson of a federal building and depredation of government property, according to U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.

Security cameras allegedly caught Hinton igniting an item and then throwing it toward the multistory brick building Tuesday night, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. It hit the fence and caused flames to spread, the statement said.

Investigators later found burned cloth, lighter fluid, a glass bottle and a lighter at the scene, the office said.

Court records don’t list an attorney for Hinton. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and a public defender’s office did not immediately respond to emails asking if he had an attorney.

Hertzberg described law enforcement’s quick work to find the suspect as “exemplary.”

“We are going to respond with extreme severity when it comes to prosecuting this conduct because we need to send a message that this is not OK," he said during a news conference.

Hinton was arrested at a home in a suburb of Atlanta and was taken into custody peacefully, according to officials.

Hertzberg said he was not aware of Hinton having a history of criminal convictions.

If convicted, Hinton faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the arson charge and up to 10 years for the depredation charge, according to Hertzberg.

The building is surrounded by a metal fence and contains offices for ICE as well as an immigration court.

La fiscalía confirmó la detención de los policías la noche del viernes, mientras la Policía Nacional Civil señaló en un comunicado que puso a disposición a un comisario, un inspector, un oficial tercero y cuatro agentes, por “presuntas irregularidades en el procedimiento de detención de los hermanos Choc Toz, ocurrido el 17 de octubre”. No identificó a los señalados por su nombre.

Hombres armados ingresaron el pasado 17 de octubre a un campo de fútbol de la capital guatemalteca para asesinar al abogado Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, quién murió de varios disparos. El ataque también cobró la vida de Gustavo Aguilar, mientras que otras cinco personas resultaron heridas.

La policía detuvo poco después a Rigoberto y Daniel Zaqueo Choc Toz, dos hermanos de origen indígena —uno de los cuales no hablaba español—, y los presentó ante la prensa como presuntos responsables, además de informar que se les había incautado un arma de fuego.

Los hombres aseguraron que eran inocentes y trabajaban como repartidores de comida. Su detención desató protestas frente a los tribunales para exigir su liberación. Luego de una audiencia frente a un juez, la fiscalía solicitó que fueran puestos en libertad debido a que, tras realizarse los peritajes al arma, se determinó que hasta el momento no había evidencia que los vinculara al crimen.

El asesinato de Solórzano Foppa conmocionó al país ya que la víctima contaba con seguridad proporcionada por el Estado debido a que había recibido amenazas y era reconocido por sus constantes críticas al expresidente Alejandro Giammattei y la exfiscal general Consuelo Porras.

Al haberse desempeñado como fiscal antipandillas, Solórzano Foppa obtenía constantemente información relacionada a acciones de pandilleros. Cuestionó públicamente la relación de la ex primera dama Sandra Torres —quien desde hace años intenta llegar a la presidencia— y su familia con líderes de la pandilla Barrio 18.

Como abogado defendió en una fase del proceso al reconocido periodista José Ruben Zamora y también fungió como Superintendente de Administración Tributaria.

En un video difundido días antes de su muerte, el abogado habló sobre la posibilidad que la Agencia Central de Inteligencia de Estados Unidos (CIA, por sus siglas en inglés) estuviera involucrada en un operativo militar en el municipio de Huité, en el este del país, donde ocho civiles murieron en varios tiroteos a finales del mes pasado, en los que se investiga la presunta participación de más de 100 militares guatemaltecos.

Not quite yet.

What initially was ruled a game-ending double play got overturned after a video review showed Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt’s right foot was slightly off the bag when he reached to catch a high throw from second baseman Brice Turang.

No problem.

Megill regrouped and struck out Jonny DeLuca with two runners in scoring position as Milwaukee edged the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Friday night.

“It's good to get the first win out of the way,” Megill said. “That's where all the nerves are at. First game, a lot of anticipation and build-up to where we are right now."

The ninth inning was particularly nerve-racking for the Brewers and the sellout crowd attending Milwaukee’s first World Series game since 1982.

“You have a big range of emotions,” said team captain Christian Yelich, whose RBI triple in the first put the Brewers ahead for good. “It’s a big credit to Trev for locking back in right there and making some huge pitches after you have that emotional dump and then have to get back on it.”

Tampa Bay trailed 3-1 and hadn’t put a runner on since the sixth until it mounted its comeback attempt against Megill.

Jonathan Aranda, who went 3 for 3 with a walk, and Chandler Simpson hit consecutive one-out singles. A double steal involving pinch-runner Jorge Mateo and Simpson put runners on second and third before Junior Caminero walked on a 3-2 pitch in the dirt to load the bases.

Liam Hicks hit a grounder to the right side, and Turang ranged well to his left to field the ball before throwing to Pratt to start what initially was called a 4-6-3 double play.

Fireworks went off, players poured onto the field and Milwaukee fans roared. But then the crowd hushed as it watched the play again on the videoboard.

“You've got to think worst-case scenario there,” Megill said. “I thought the challenge was at first base, maybe a bobble or something. But it was pretty clear once the replay went up that it was on the play at second base. Zoomed in and it didn't look good. It's all right. We picked up Cooper there. He'll pick us up tomorrow.”

The out call at second was changed to safe by umpire Alfonso Márquez at the MLB Replay Center, which caught Pratt by surprise.

“Obviously, it was close,” the 22-year-old rookie said. “I just didn't think it was enough to overturn, so I wasn't thinking anything of it. The video I saw, thought my cleat was dragging. ... There must have been some other angles that I haven't seen. It ultimately didn't matter because we won.”

The Brewers won because Megill got DeLuca to swing and miss at a 2-2 pitch, capping a night in which Tampa Bay went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

“This is an extremely confident group,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You know that. We know that. They’re going to be fine. I think the frustration comes from we were one swing of the bat away right at the end of potentially taking the lead.”

The Game 1 winner has gone on to win the World Series 62.8% of the time.

This marks the first World Series featuring two teams seeking their first championship since 1980, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in six games. The only other major league clubs without a World Series title are the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.

Milwaukee took a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Nick Martinez. NL Cy Young Award favorite Jacob Misiorowski allowed one run and four hits over five innings to help the Brewers stay in front before relievers Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby shut down the Rays through the eighth.

Misiorowski, who had a season-low three strikeouts, opened the game with a 103.5 mph fastball — the fastest pitch ever thrown in a World Series.

“The adrenaline kind of took over, and I tensed up and threw it hard,” said Misiorowski, who earned the win. “Then I settled down, and that was the game plan, to settle in and do me. Don’t try and overdo it.”

Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio and William Contreras each had two hits, including an RBI single. Contreras also threw out two runners trying to steal.

Tampa Bay managed to hang around thanks in part to Martinez, who gave up those two runs in the first but held Milwaukee scoreless through the rest of his five-inning stint. The Brewers added an insurance run in the seventh when Chourio singled home Pratt.

Then came all the action in the ninth, with the Brewers' premature celebration followed by a team-wide sigh of relief as Pratt offered some parting words to Megill.

“I just said, ‘Thank you, man. Thanks for picking me up,’” Pratt said. “That’s what this game is. It's a game of pick-me-up. He picked me up today.”

Up next

Drew Rasmussen (16-5, 2.67 ERA) pitches for Tampa Bay and Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47) starts for Milwaukee in Game 2 on Saturday night. In this postseason, Rasmussen is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and Henderson is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The shooting happened March 11 at a home on Southwest Seventh Terrace, just before 6:30 p.m., as officers responded to a domestic violence situation.

Body camera footage shows officers approaching the backyard from two directions. Two officers approached through a fence and came face-to-face with Díaz, while two others entered through the house and approached from behind.

“Put the knife down,” an officer can be heard saying.

Three of the four officers fired their guns, with a total of seven shots fired, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. Díaz died at the scene.

Before the shooting, body camera footage shows an officer speaking with two people who briefed him on what was happening in the backyard.

“Who’s inside? The father? Who has the knife?” the officer asks.

After the shooting, an officer can be heard preparing to render aid, saying, “I’m going to start the chest compressions.”

Investigators recovered two knives at the scene, according to the State Attorney’s Office: a 7-inch kitchen knife near Díaz’s body and an 8-inch bread knife on a table.

Prosecutors reviewed the body camera footage, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s investigation and reports detailing how Díaz attacked his pregnant wife, cutting her hand and foot. They determined the officers were justified in using deadly force.

Local 10 went to the home to speak with the victim, but neighbors said she had moved. The house is now up for rent.

The hit-and-run happened around 8 p.m. in the 1300 block of West Sunrise Boulevard. Police say the woman was crossing the westbound lanes when a black Mercedes-AMG struck her.

The driver did not stop or try to help, police said.

Rescue crews rushed the woman to Broward Health Medical Center, where she died from her injuries. Police have not released her name.

Investigators describe the vehicle as a newer-model black Mercedes-AMG, possibly from 2021 to 2023. It may have damage to the front right headlight, front grille and right side of the windshield.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Fort Lauderdale police or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

Former Heat guard Duncan Robinson scored 17 and Cade Cunningham finished with 16 for the Pistons, who led wire-to-wire and are 2-0 for the first time since 2018-19.

The Pistons lost Ausar Thompson in the third quarter after taking an awkward fall, and Jalen Duren played only 10 first-half minutes before leaving with a right thigh issue.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, while Davion Mitchell scored 18 points. Bobby Portis Jr. added 11 off the bench for Miami, which has allowed a franchise-worst 259 points through the season’s first two games and been outscored by a combined 42 points in those contests.

The Heat are 0-2 for only the eighth time in their 39-year history. It’s also the first time Antetokounmpo played in the season’s first two games and his team went 0-2; Milwaukee started 0-2 in 2015-16, but Antetokounmpo was suspended for the opener that season.

Detroit opened on a 17-2 run and led 65-53 at the break, with Miami’s Bam Adebayo finishing the half with no points, one shot and three fouls in seven minutes and Klay Thompson missing all five of his shots, all from 3-point range. Adebayo finished with four points and Thompson had six on 2-for-11 shooting.

Friday was the start of a three-game swing for Detroit, which visits LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday before continuing north to meet the defending NBA champion New York Knicks on Tuesday.

Up next

Pistons: Visit Philadelphia on Sunday.

Heat: Visit Charlotte on Saturday.

El anuncio se produce una semana después de la detención del exfiscal César Jáuregui, quien enfrenta un proceso federal por el delito de traición a la patria luego de que presuntamente autorizó la participación de agentes de la CIA en una operación para desmantelar un laboratorio de drogas sintéticas en territorio mexicano sin la autorización del gobierno federal. Una audiencia por ese caso está programada para el sábado.

La fiscal general Ernestina Godoy señaló el viernes en un comunicado que Campos le compartió información sobre “actos de corrupción” del exfiscal relacionados con “la presencia de casinos y prestanombres”, añadiendo que la gobernadora se comprometió a facilitar más información al respecto.

Añadió que Campos “responsabilizó al exfiscal” de los hechos ocurridos en abril pasado, cuando se llevó a cabo la operación para desmantelar el laboratorio.

La presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum confirmó horas antes que sostuvo un tenso encuentro con Campos en el aeropuerto de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, donde ambas se alzaron la voz mientras discutían el caso de los agentes de la CIA. La mandataria indicó que la gobernadora le informó que al momento de remover a Jáuregui del cargo se descubrieron actos de corrupción, y le aseguró que “el exfiscal tiene casinos”.

Ante los datos aportados por la gobernadora, la Fiscalía General decidió abrir una nueva investigación contra Jáuregui, quien permanece detenido en el penal de máxima seguridad del Altiplano, Estado de México.

Además, Jáuregui también tiene pendiente un proceso de la Fiscalía de Chihuahua por presuntas omisiones en la cadena de mando y en los protocolos internos de la operación en la que intervinieron los agentes de la CIA.

Un juez de Chihuahua decidió el jueves vincular a proceso al exfuncionario por el delito de “ejercicio ilegal del servicio público”, informó la fiscalía estatal.

Dos agentes de la CIA y dos funcionarios de la fiscalía de Chihuahua fallecieron el 19 de abril cuando la camioneta en la que viajaban se despistó y cayó por un barranco en las escarpadas montañas que unen al estado de Chihuahua —fronterizo con Texas—y Sinaloa, donde se había desmantelado un laboratorio clandestino de drogas sintéticas.

Tras el incidente, el gobierno de Sheinbaum protestó el operativo, argumentando que no fue informado de la presencia de los dos agentes de la CIA en el país, además de aclarar que no tenían autorización para actuar en el territorio mexicano, lo que generó fricciones entre México y Washington.

In a memo sent Friday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said his teams “have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel.”

“The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,” Clayton wrote.

The memo was obtained by The Associated Press and reported earlier by Axios. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed that the memo was sent to Rubio in his capacity as secretary of state and national security adviser.

The memo emerged shortly after the State Department announced it is reducing staff at the U.S. embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The three officials said the threats from Iran and Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are related to the staffing changes.

The embassies involved are all under what is known as “restricted operations” status that has already reduced the size of their personnel footprints. The embassies will remain open.

However, unlike in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential U.S. personnel and their families were ordered Wednesday to leave the country, staff in the other four countries are not compelled to depart.

In announcing the staffing drawdowns this week, the State Department pointed specifically to increased threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels and did not mention threats to U.S. personnel directly from Iran. There has been a resurgence of fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, with the militant group launching missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia.

U.S. officials have adamantly denied the drawdowns are tied to any potential new U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The unpopular war has spiked energy costs for Americans and posed political problems for President Donald Trump and Republicans, who are trying to keep control of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Trump, speaking at a rally Friday in Florida, touted the U.S. military operations in Iran, which were dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” and said that “we may do another little Epic Fury, or they’ll agree. If they’re smart, they’ll just say, ‘Let’s get down to business.’”

Mediators have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal talks as the war has reached a stalemate.

According to Iranian state television, the Revolutionary Guard navy this week again threatened to strike U.S. military bases in the region if the United States keeps helping guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global energy trade.

“Any further escalation around the Strait of Hormuz or elsewhere in the region will put civilian lives and the well-being of all regional states and the global economy at great risk,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an opinion column in the Financial Times this week.

Now it's unclear whether the Dallas star will miss any more time.

Last season's NBA Rookie of the Year did not play in the second half of Dallas' 121-105 victory Friday night over the Indiana Pacers after landing hard on his left shoulder after Aaron Nesmith tried to block his shot from behind to prevent a breakaway dunk.

Instead, Flagg landed hard on his shoulder.

“Cooper has left shoulder soreness, he'll be evaluated in the next couple of days,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said before addressing whether Flagg needed an MRI. “I really don't know. I saw him in the locker room, he's in good spirits. We'll know in the next couple days what's next.”

Flagg did not speak to reporters following the game.

He was off to a fast start in his second pro season. Two days after scoring 32 points to become the highest scoring teenager in a season opener in league history, Flagg was on pace for his first triple double of the season. He finished with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists in 17 minutes.

But it was how he left that had everyone talking and scuffling as Mavericks players came to the defense of their hurting teammate.

Forward Naji Marshall confronted Nesmith under the basket, drawing players from both teams into a brief fray. After a replay review, the refs assessed double technical fouls to Nesmith and Marshall. Flagg then made 1 of 2 free throws and continued to rub his shoulder as he walked toward the locker room.

Two Mavericks players also appeared to leave the bench though May said he thought both went to check on Flagg, perhaps avoiding any disciplinary action from the league.

“Look, Nesmith is a great guy, a heck of a player. I've known him since he was in high school," said May, who reached two NCAA Final Fours and won last year's national championship just a few blocks away from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “Obviously, an unfortunate play. Hopefully, Coop's fine.”

Another brief scuffle broke out between the teams near midcourt in the second half though it led to technicals or flagrant fouls. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle noted that Indiana has now played two games that have resulted in multiple scuffles.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Uecker’s presence also was all over the radio broadcast room that’s been named in his honor as the Brewers played their first World Series game since 1982.

Each member of the Brewers radio crew — Lane Grindle, Jeff Levering, Josh Maurer and engineer/producer Kent Sommerfeld — also wore a plaid blazer that had been part of Uecker’s wardrobe. Uecker died in January 2025 at the age of 90 after broadcasting Brewers games for 54 years.

Yount wore the sportcoat as he headed toward the mound. Before throwing the first pitch, Yount took off the jacket to reveal a Brewers jersey that included “Ueck” and Yount's No. 19 on the back

Grindle said Yount came up with the idea after the two-time MVP learned he would be throwing out the first pitch at the World Series opener. Yount and former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig each threw out a ceremonial first pitch.

“He said, ‘Do you think it would be appropriate if I wore a plaid jacket in honor of Ueck?'" Grindle said. “I was like, ‘I think that would be incredible if you did that.'"

Grindle considered the possibility of wearing sport coats that actually belonged to Uecker and brought it up to Uecker’s family.

“They were very quick to say, ‘Absolutely, that’s incredible, that you could have a piece of Bob with you in the radio booth, where he called home, and for his best friend Robin Yount to wear it when he goes out to the mound,'" Grindle said.

Maurer wore the same blazer Uecker wore while appearing in a Miller Lite commercial alongside Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford and actor John Goodman. Uecker also wore that sport coat on the cover of his book, “Catcher in the Wry: Outrageous but True Stories of Baseball.”

Sommerfeld wore a blazer Uecker had sported in a Miller Lite commercial with John Madden.

Uecker’s decision to stay in his hometown and continue broadcasting Milwaukee games even as he became a national celebrity from his appearances in movies, television sitcoms and beer commercials made him as synonymous with the Brewers as anyone who has actually played for the team.

There are two statues of Uecker at American Family Field — one outside the stadium and one in the back row of an upper level to pay tribute to the Miller Lite commercial in which Uecker says, “Must be in the front row!”

Fans placed plenty of Miller Lite beer cans at Uecker's feet on the statue outside the stadium before Friday's game. Former Brewers slugger and 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun shouted, “Let's do it for Ueck!” while firing up the crowd just before the start of the game.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

“I had so much adrenaline built up,” he said.

He threw a pitch the likes of which had never been seen in the Fall Classic.

The Miz broke the World Series velocity record with his very first delivery, a 103.5 mph fastball to the Tampa Bay Rays’ Yandy Díaz that was taken high out of the strike zone for a ball. He allowed one run over five innings to get his first postseason win as a starter, helping the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 victory in Friday night’s opener.

“I don’t even know how to tell you how I felt,” the 24-year-old right-hander said a half-hour after the end of a crazy ninth inning, prolonged by a game-extending video review. “I still don’t know how I felt. I feel like I’m still trying to take everything in and understand what happened.”

Misiorowski gave up four hits and one walk, striking out a season-low three.

Aroldis Chapman of the Chicago Cubs had the previous mark for fastest Series pitch at 103.2 mph in the ninth inning of Game 2 in 2016, an offering that resulted in a groundout to second by Cleveland’s Coco Crisp. The previous high by a Series starting pitcher since tracking began in 2008 was 101.1 mph by the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard to Kansas City’s Ben Zobrist that was taken for a ball in the first inning of Game 3 in 2015.

Miz reached 100 mph with 38 pitches, topping the previous Series high of 24 by Chapman in Game 5 of 2016. The most by a starting pitcher in the Series had been six by Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow in the 2020 opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Tampa Bay scored in the fourth when Jonathan Aranda walked, took third on Junior Caminero’s double over center fielder Garrett Mitchell and came around on Liam Hicks’ grounder to first baseman Jake Bauers.

Nearing the end of his first full major league season, Misiorowski has reached 100 mph with 134 of 260 postseason pitches. But his spin rate was down, a sign of a season in which he has pitched 188 innings — up from 141 1/3 innings last year. And he got just seven swings and misses, five on his fastball.

Tampa Bay batters fouled off 20 of his 78 pitches and tipped another.

During the regular season, Misiorowski reached 100 mph with 1,115 pitches, including a high of 105.5 mph to the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong on June 27.

“What we’re used to seeing in the regular season was Miz just mow through people and have two strikeouts an inning. That’s unrealistic,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “This is the best team in the American League.”

Miz's first pitch was so fast the scoreboard at American Family Field couldn't keep up, flashing 103.4 mph — one-tenth of a mile less than it registered on MLB’s Statcast system.

“He’s such a special pitcher,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I felt like for him to be out of the game at five innings, there’s a small win in that.”

Misiorowski threw fastballs on 10 of his first 12 pitches, then mixed in more offspeed stuff. In all he tossed 48 fastballs, 17 cutters, seven sliders and six curveballs.

Miz finished with 30 pitches at 101 mph or higher, 11 of 102 mph or more and three at 103-plus mph.

Warming up in the bullpen, he couldn't take in the introductions before Milwaukee's first World Series game in 44 years. He thought about how far he had come, how he was at Double-A Biloxi two years ago.

“It was crazy," he said. “It’s everything I dreamed of.”

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk had different accounts about the restrictions, and Trump was frustrated that the system’s speeds remained capped at around 100 miles an hour, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Elon will never do anything wrong,” Trump told reporters Friday. “I know him very well. He’s a fair person.”

Musk wrote on X that the Starshield systems were owned and controlled by the U.S. government.

“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS. Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company,” Musk wrote on Oct. 14.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded on Tuesday.

“There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to,” Hegseth told reporters.

On Wednesday, State Secretary Marco Rubio said neither Trump nor his administration had “ever requested that any changes to that system be made.”

Also on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to restart talks to end the war with Ukraine after Nov. 10.

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• Lawmakers demand answers after reported Starlink slowdown in Ukraine
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• Russia says it has detained a German who faces charges for serving in Ukrainian army
• Sister of American Stephen Hubbard says he’s in disbelief following release by Russia

Related social media post

The speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still there. The speed has not been restored. And the delivery of interceptors to protect us against Russian ballistic missiles is still delayed. We’re waiting for interceptors that were already agreed on. But they are still not… pic.twitter.com/LeP1kBkpYw

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 23, 2026

Shortly before the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays opened the first World Series in 35 years between small-payroll teams in the bottom half of big league spending, players' association head Bruce Meyer and Manfred held separate media sessions Friday near the first base dugout at American Family Field.

Baseball's labor contract expires Dec. 1, and management is expected to immediately lock out the players. That work stoppage could threaten the start of spring training workouts on Feb. 9 and opening day on March 24.

“It is kind of sad that the league and the owners have once again been focusing not on the greatness of the game, not on the greatness of the players, not on the greatness of the playoffs, but they’ve been focusing on basically telling the consumers of their product that their product is broken,” Meyer said.

Milwaukee ranked 19th in payroll as of Aug. 31 and Tampa Bay 25th. The Brewers, in the Series for the first time since 1982, are seeking their first title, as are the Rays.

“It’s been 40 years since we’re here. Once every 40 years is not enough," Manfred said. “It’s not that no small market can win, it's just that it’s pretty rare.”

Three low-payroll teams reached the League Championship Series this year: Tampa Bay eliminated Cleveland, which has the smallest payroll, in the ALCS. Milwaukee eliminated the deep-pocketed, two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Meyer said the success of these teams shows the current economic system works.

“There’s no reason whatsoever that the Pirates can’t do what the Brewers have done or what the Rays have done. None whatsoever, right?” he said.

Milwaukee is ranked 30th among MLB teams in market size and Tampa Bay 15th. While the union points to this as evidence the current system is working, Manfred claimed the matchups showed why change is needed.

“No one ever said that differences in economics are perfectly outcome-determined," he said. “If you look at the data, our larger markets have a very statistically significant advantage in terms of making the playoffs and going deeper into the playoffs.”

MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million using figures for luxury tax payrolls, and limit a player to 15% of a team’s payroll. Free agents would be capped at $265 million over six seasons — far under Juan Soto’s record $765 million, 15-year deal with the New York Mets.

Because all of management's proposals are tied to a cap, Meyer claimed “the rest of it is a charade.” Those proposals have included granting some players free agency a year sooner, shortening seasons to 154 games and adding postseason games.

“This would be a tough negotiation even without their demand for the nuclear bomb of the salary cap,” Meyer said.

“This notion that the owners need a cap and that a cap would somehow guarantee this utopia of competitive balance and fan engagement, it’s just not true. It makes no sense at all,” he added. “We should be appreciating and promoting the things that we have now instead of trying to tear it down.”

MLB proposed a salary cap in 1994, and it led to a 7 1/2-month strike that caused the World Series to be canceled for the first time in 90 years.

“Number one, we have an unprecedented level of unanimity among ownership that this is something that we need to do, that we need to get ourselves in a position to operate like all the other major professional sports in North America,” Manfred said. “Secondly, and even more importantly to me, our fan polling, and we do it regularly, has moved hard in the direction of the fact that we have a problem and that our fans see a salary cap as the answer to that problem.”

Meyer dismissed the argument that a cap would benefit competitive balance.

"All of this is really about their desire to make more money in the form of profits and increased franchise values, which they don’t have to share with players," he said. “It’s not about competitive balance. It’s not about teams not having hope. It’s about, again, their desire, which they’ve had for decades, to have a system that artificially suppresses player salaries and player freedom of movement, removes player guarantees and limits flexibility in all different areas, guts the amateur entry system. The rest of it is a charade.”

Extending the current contract for a year?

Meyer said it would be complicated to extend the expiring five-year contract for another season.

“I suppose anything’s possible. There’s been no discussion about that,” he said. “They don’t seem to like the current system, so I’m not sure why they would agree to continue that. Even, theoretically, if the parties agree, let’s continue some version of the status quo, it’s easier said than done. What happens to the minimum salary? What happens to the luxury tax proceeds? What happens for the pre-arb pool?”

Players have proposed expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum salary and increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs.

“Bruce Meyer’s not prepared to do a status-quo deal and the fact of the matter is he’s made a lot of demands about improvements that they want," Manfred said.

Negotiations for baseball in 2028 Olympics appear stalled

The sides have been discussing the possibility for big league players to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

“There are certain things that we believe players should be entitled to, things that they expect as the level of athlete that they are,” Meyer said. “As of now, we’re not getting satisfaction.”

Manfred said work on the 2028 schedule typically would start in January. An extended All-Star break is envisioned to allow big league players to appear in the Olympics.

MLB monitoring federal probe of Dodgers owner Mark Walter

Manfred said the sport is paying attention to an investigation into Dodgers owner Mark Walter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission following a whistleblower complaint regarding alleged misrepresented loans made between companies within his business portfolio.

“As always when we have an investigation, external law enforcement, whatever, we monitor that and that’s where we are right now,” Manfred said.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Saturday will feature a mix of clouds and sunshine, with the chance of a hit-or-miss shower. The rain chance will increase Sunday, with the potential for off-and-on downpours.

The weekend will also be breezy, with northeast winds sustained at 10 to 15 mph or higher and gusts reaching 25 to 30 mph.

King tides are likely to bring major saltwater flooding along the east coast Sunday and Monday. The highest water levels generally will occur between 5 and 8 a.m. and 5 and 8 p.m. each day.

Gray, gloomy skies hung over São Paulo as Brazil braced for a political showdown that could reshape the country’s future.

“Democracy is something really important and very fragile, especially in the times we live in today,” one voter said.

With just two days until the runoff, Brazilians face a stark choice: Lula, the leftist leader promising to protect social programs and working families, or conservative Bolsonaro, who is campaigning on tougher crime policies, smaller government and closer ties with President Donald Trump.

For voters, the choice is personal.

“If Lula wins, we will still have some of our rights, freedom of expression, freedom to come and go, and he will watch out for those in need,” one man said.

Another voter said she supported Bolsonaro because she believes Brazil needs change.

As Sunday’s runoff approaches, both candidates are making a final push on the campaign trail, rallying supporters and trying to win over undecided voters.

“Both have negative points. Neither of these two convinced me, and I don’t think either will have a good government,” one woman said.

At stake is the future of Latin America’s largest economy, from the cost of living and public safety to the protection of the Amazon and Brazil’s relationship with the United States.

For many Brazilians, the choice comes down to affordability, including food prices, everyday expenses and the struggle to make ends meet.

“The economy and interest rates,” one woman said when asked about her biggest concern.

Another voter said things have become increasingly difficult.

But for others, the concerns go beyond the economy to the future of the country itself.

“There are difficulties for everyone — the economy, public safety, health, education, everything that affects the Brazilian people,” one man said. “But these are problems we’ve been fighting over the past few decades.”

Another voter said the stakes include protecting people’s rights, workers’ rights, public schools and the country’s health care system.

In a country deeply divided politically, uncertainty over Sunday’s outcome has many voters on edge, caught between hope and fear.

“I vote for both things,” one man said. “We have hope for a better country. Fear because this is a really tight election.”

The United States is also keeping a close eye on the runoff.

Since Trump returned to the White House, right-wing candidates have won the last seven presidential elections in Latin America. The Trump administration is now hoping Bolsonaro will unseat Lula.

Earlier this month, Bolsonaro received the most votes in the first round, forcing the election into a runoff.

“I think it’s going to be a very close election,” Trump said. “That will be a very close — I think Brazil will be a very close election.”

For the Trump administration, a Bolsonaro victory would advance U.S. dominance in Latin America through a reimagining of the Monroe Doctrine, which the White House has dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine.”

It would also strengthen trade ties involving oil and minerals, security and computing infrastructure, including chips, data centers and artificial intelligence.

Lula supporters have accused the United States of election interference. Crowds have protested outside Meta’s headquarters in São Paulo, claiming its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, have not represented the candidates equally.

“We have seen Mark Zuckerberg promising since 2018 to properly safeguard our electoral process,” one protester said. “This started at the U.S. Senate, and these promises have repeatedly failed.”

Unlike during the U.S. midterm elections, Trump has backed off public support for a candidate in Brazil’s presidential election.

Trump welcomed Bolsonaro to the White House ahead of the first round. After Lula visited in May, the United States imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods, with another 25% imposed over the handling of Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction for plotting a coup after losing the previous presidential election.

During a debate, Lula criticized the Bolsonaro family’s ties to the United States.

“The Bolsonaro family is subordinate to American interests. It is notable. Your brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, is there putting on pressure, instigating the coup against Brazil,” Lula said. He also discussed Brazil’s efforts to become a leading country in rare earths after China.

Bolsonaro, meanwhile, accused Lula of being focused on holding onto power.

“Lula is fighting for power. He has already contested seven presidential elections. He is concerned about power; I am concerned about Brazil’s future,” Bolsonaro said.

With days before a close election in Israel in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lose power, and before next month’s U.S. midterm election in which war-linked high prices have sparked voter anger, there are concerns that U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran could resume.

“Netanyahu wants to attack Iran, that’s not even a question,” Danny Citrinowicz, a researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies and a former Iran specialist in Israel’s military and intelligence services, told The Associated Press.

He accused Israel of rushing into another round with Iran without revamping its strategy. A clear Netanyahu victory in the Oct. 27 election means an attack is almost guaranteed, he said.

Main opposition candidates are likely to focus on domestic issues first, but Citrinowicz said he believed the region is on the way toward “another kinetic escalation.”

Iran repeats threat to attack U.S. bases in the region

Iranian state television reported the claims about the latest attacks on ships, which the AP couldn’t independently confirm. The report cited the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, which again threatened to strike U.S. military bases in the region if the U.S. keeps helping to guide commercial ships through the strait.

The report didn’t mention casualties. Iran still asserts control over the waterway, a central point of leverage in any talks with the U.S. over the war.

October has had the most reported attacks on commercial shipping since March in the war’s opening weeks, according to a British military monitor, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. UKMTO didn’t report the latest attacks, but it has noted new reluctance by some shippers to report incidents.

Oil producers have found ways to keep crude flowing, experts say, but at a mounting cost.

Tankers continue moving through Strait of Hormuz despite attacks

Oil tankers are still moving oil through the strait under U.S. military protection despite the recent upsurge in attacks, according to shipping data and analysis company Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

Tanker operators willing to risk the voyage have been shuttling oil from Gulf producers through the strait at night with their location systems and mobile phones turned off using a U.S.-protected lane near the coast of Oman. Those tankers transfer oil to other tankers waiting in the Gulf of Oman for shipment to customers in Asia.

Those “active Gulf operators show little sign of retreating” despite 28 attacks on ships in October, the highest since the start of the war, Lloyd’s said in an online webinar Thursday.

The so-called “dark shuttle” overseen by U.S. Central Command has helped return oil shipments from the Gulf at roughly prewar levels, but at high costs in time, money and sailors’ lives. Spot charter rates for tankers have soared into the hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, while the ship-to-ship transfers can take several days.

UN urges US and Iran to return to diplomacy to end conflict, reopen strait

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said no commercial ships should be attacked and called for diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran to reopen the strait.

“For the sake of the people of the region and for the broader world, we need to see that waterway reopen, and we need to see tensions go down,” he told reporters Thursday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday said Tehran remains open to diplomacy, but is ready to defend itself.

Iran has warned that it learned important military lessons from the war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28, indicating in recent days that it could expand targets to include infrastructure such as undersea cables and data centers.

The United States, for its part, is sending more military assets to the region, including a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops, to join the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.

Mediators, meanwhile, have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal talks.

Iran still promotes its latest proposal to end the war and fully open the strait within a week if the U.S. meets several conditions, including ending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. It echoes conditions in the deal that fell apart within days of both sides signing it in June.

U.S. President Donald Trump rejected the latest proposal last month, but both sides acknowledged that indirect discussions have continued.

The stakes are even higher if all-out war resumes

A return to full fighting would again endanger civilians throughout the region and complicate global deliveries of oil, natural gas and related products like fertilizer from the region and likely bring another spike in prices.

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, this week acknowledged that the Islamic Republic will suffer under a prolonged U.S. blockade. But economic pain and strategic collapse are not the same thing, he added, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

Now the conflict has widened with the recent surge in fighting between Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi kingdom backs a coalition of forces with Yemen’s internationally recognized government that is fighting the rebels.

The Houthis’ repeated deadly attacks on airports and other facilities inside Saudi Arabia have pressured the close U.S. ally, which has sought military aid.

The escalation also has threatened a crucial shipping corridor, the Bab el-Mandeb at the southern end of the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, the president of Saudi oil company Aramco, whose sites have been targeted by the Houthis, said the amount of oil moving through a pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz has increased threefold in light of the global energy crisis.

The East-West pipeline’s capacity has surged from two million to seven million barrels each day, Amin Nasser said in an interview with Saudi-owned television Al Arabiya Business. He said the company has been using drones to assess any damage to the pipeline and help with firefighting.

The NFL franchise has agreed to recognize the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association as the collective bargaining representative for one of the most famous cheer squads in professional sports, both sides said in a joint statement Friday. The move follows years of the cheerleaders fighting for pay increases.

“The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are an esteemed part of the Cowboys organization, deeply respected for the talent and dedication they exhibit,” the statement said. "They remain one of the most sought-after opportunities for talented dancers worldwide.”

During the second season of the Netflix series “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,” which aired last year, one of the cheerleaders said that the members were getting a 400% boost in pay.

The Cowboys settled a lawsuit with a former cheerleader in 2019 that led to the squad doubling the per-game pay for members to $400.

The first cheerleading squad to unionize was the Buffalo Jills, the squad for the Buffalo Bills. The Jills won a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board in 1995 allowing them to form the National Football League Cheerleaders Association, and they then voted to join it. The squad later disbanded following a 2014 lawsuit filed by former Jills who said they worked hundreds of hours for free and were subjected to groping and sexual comments.

Virginia Commonwealth University professor Victor Chen, who studies labor issues as a sociologist, said Friday that the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders were likely helped by having such a high profile and the Netflix show.

Chen said that without that notoriety, the team may have just tried to replace the cheerleaders because there are so many people willing to take jobs in the entertainment industry at low pay.

“So you see a lot of that inequality of compensation in any sort of artistic or entertainment field where you have lots of people clamoring to get into it and maybe being unpaid or very poorly paid to do so,” Chen said.

The Cowboys are the most valuable pro sports team in the world, according to Forbes magazine.

___

Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.

___

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

Rafael Grossi said in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s annual report to the U.N. General Assembly that this will be driven by electrification, data centers powered by artificial intelligence and "technology companies’ appetite for reliable, carbon-free power.”

Nuclear energy is seen by a growing number of countries as key to improving their energy security, he said, stressing that it is on par with solar energy and "safer than every other option.”

“In 2025, more than 400 operating reactors in more than 30 countries produced 10% of global electricity and a quarter of its low-carbon electricity,” the IAEA director-general said. “More than 60 new reactors are under construction and the projections for future nuclear capacity have shifted dramatically upward.”

In addition to the growing use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Grossi spoke about the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, the “unprecedented threats to nuclear safety” from the war in Ukraine, and worrying reports that other countries he didn’t name are talking about acquiring nuclear weapons.

On Iran, whose nuclear sites were struck by the U.S. last year before the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28, Grossi told U.N. member nations that the necessary technical work for a diplomatic agreement has been done.

“I call on the parties to redouble their efforts towards agreeing a diplomatic solution that includes the IAEA's indispensable verification role, without which no agreement can be sustainable,” he said. “IAEA inspectors must be able to return to Iran expeditiously. That requires a return to the negotiating table.”

In North Korea, where leader Kim Jong Un has a growing nuclear program without any IAEA oversight, Grossi warned that it “stands as a stark reminder of the consequences when red lines are crossed” in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning nuclear weapons production.

In Ukraine, he singled out the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, saying it remains “in a precarious position” with frequent power losses, limited back-up diesel supplies “and military activity threatening the plant and the people who work there.”

On a positive note, Grossi said the IAEA has made “significant progress” in clarifying and resolving outstanding questions regarding Syria's nuclear activities after nearly two decades of uncertainty. That's as a result of engaging with the government of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, he said.

He reported in September that the Bashar Assad-era government — which was ousted in December 2024 by opposition forces led by al-Sharaa — was constructing a nuclear reactor that was configured to produce fissile material for possible use in nuclear weapons.

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Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel and North Miami Police Department officers responded shortly after 12:40 p.m. to the crash near Northeast Eighth Avenue and 125th Street.

Fire rescue reported transporting two patients to a local area hospital, and police officers reported the injured were among the three in the landscaping truck.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation on Friday afternoon, police said. A witness said the driver told him he had lost control and did his best not to run over anyone.

Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Sofia Mendez and Senior Assignment Editor Frine Gomez contributed to this report.

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Trump spoke at a rally at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. The rally drew long lines hours before doors even opened.

It was a “who’s who” of the Florida GOP. No kumbaya, no reaching across the aisle. It was red meat for Republicans.

“Florida, we are going to elect Byron Donalds as your next governor, and we’re going to elect Ashley Moody to the United States Senate and we’re going to defeat the radical left Democrats all across the country,” Trump said.

Trump’s pitch for Donalds and Moody comes in a state that’s been reliably red, but getting heated competition.

“The one endorsement we need now is from the people of the great state of Florida, because because in 11 days we are going to tell the Democrats one more time that they will not have power in Florida,” Donalds said at the rally.

Gov. Ron DeSantis greeted Trump on the tarmac.

There is data showing candidates this midterm aren’t mentioning Trump as much in ads as his poll numbers sink. You wouldn’t have known it at FGCU on Friday.

The Republican National Committee said about 4,000 people attended Friday’s rally.

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Miami-Dade court records show Lazo, 41, filed a request for a restraining order in April against Granado, 53, a “former live-in boyfriend,” claiming he owned a gun, had served in the U.S. military, abused alcohol and cocaine, and had been without stable employment for over two years.

A Miami-Dade County Circuit judge with the domestic violence division dismissed her request for the court’s protection, citing “no just cause” and “insufficient evidence” on Sept. 30.

“I fear for my life and for the safety of my parents,” Lazo wrote in a sworn statement, reporting “ongoing threats, harassment, coercion, and intimidation,” court records show.

On Friday afternoon, Lazo’s condition was critical, but improving, at the Jackson South Medical Center, according to the MDSO deputy.

Hector Rodriguez and Cecilia Delfino were among the concerned neighbors after deputies surrounded the home and closed Southwest 148th Street between 155th Avenue and 154th Court on Thursday in the Oak Creek community.

“Very sweet, really very sweet, a quiet person,” Rodriguez told Local 10 News about Lazo, who he also described as a “lovely person.”

Delfino, Lazo’s next-door neighbor, told Local 10 News that she heard someone shout and three gunshots. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel and deputies responded to the shooting at about 11 a.m. on Thursday at 15472 SW 148 St.

“They discovered a male and a female who suffered gunshot wounds,” Deputy Danny Castillo, a MDSO spokesman, said during a news conference on Thursday.

MDFR personnel pronounced the man dead and took the woman to Jackson South, according to Castillo.

“It appears, after discharging his firearm, he turned the firearm onto himself and committed suicide,” Castillo said.

Detectives with the MDSO’s homicide bureau were investigating the case.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideations, call, text, or chat at the 24/7 suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.

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

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En una carta enviada el jueves, Cordero-Stutz notificó a la alcaldesa del condado Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, y a la Junta de Comisionados del Condado que su oficina suspenderá el Programa de Sargento de Armas a partir del 9 de noviembre, señalando que la medida forma parte de un esfuerzo para redirigir recursos ante lo que describe como un “déficit presupuestario”.

Levine Cava respondió en una carta fechada el mismo día, advirtiendo que poner fin al programa con menos de tres semanas de aviso representa un importante desafío de seguridad en el Centro Gubernamental Stephen P. Clark, que alberga oficinas del gobierno del condado, atiende a residentes que buscan servicios públicos y funciona como un importante centro de transporte. El edificio también está siendo utilizado como centro de votación.

Levine Cava reconoció la autoridad de la sheriff, como funcionaria constitucional independiente, para establecer las prioridades de su oficina, pero afirmó que el condado tiene la responsabilidad de proteger a los empleados, funcionarios electos y miembros del público que visitan las instalaciones gubernamentales.

“Ninguna de las dos responsabilidades debería verse disminuida por los desacuerdos entre nuestras oficinas”, escribió Levine Cava, refiriéndose a la seguridad pública y la rendición de cuentas sobre el dinero de los contribuyentes.

Solicitó a la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade que proporcione un plan de transición detallado antes del 9 de noviembre, en el que se especifique qué cobertura de seguridad permanecerá vigente, cómo se coordinarán las responsabilidades y cómo se compartirán y abordarán las evaluaciones de amenazas existentes y las futuras preocupaciones de seguridad relacionadas con funcionarios electos, empleados del condado y el Centro Gubernamental.

La disputa surge mientras han aparecido cuestionamientos sobre los gastos de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade (MDSO), incluido un gasto reportado de más de $132,000 USD en nuevos sombreros de vaquero para los agentes.

En su carta, Levine Cava también cuestionó la descripción de la sheriff sobre la situación presupuestaria de su oficina, señalando el presupuesto aprobado por el condado de $1,230 millones USD para la Oficina del Sheriff correspondiente al año fiscal 2026-27.

Según la alcaldesa, la asignación es la más grande en la historia de la oficina y supera la solicitud de presupuesto certificada por la sheriff en más de $186 millones USD.

Levine Cava indicó que la apelación presentada por la sheriff contra el presupuesto aprobado sigue pendiente. También criticó a la oficina por no proporcionar toda la información presupuestaria solicitada por la administración durante el proceso presupuestario, incluida la información requerida mediante solicitudes de registros públicos.

“Durante todo el proceso presupuestario, mi administración dio prioridad a la seguridad pública mientras equilibraba las necesidades de otros servicios esenciales de los que dependen nuestros residentes”, escribió Levine Cava.

Levine Cava también indicó que su administración trabajará con el presidente de la Comisión, Anthony Rodriguez, la comisión y los departamentos del condado para identificar las medidas necesarias para mantener la seguridad en todo el Centro Gubernamental durante la transición.

Instó a ambas oficinas a mantener este asunto separado de su disputa presupuestaria más amplia, enfatizando que proteger a los servidores públicos y a los residentes debe seguir siendo una responsabilidad compartida.

Los registros judiciales del condado Miami-Dade muestran que Lazo, de 41 años, había presentado en abril una solicitud de orden de restricción contra Granado, de 53 años, un “ex novio con quien convivía”, alegando que poseía un arma de fuego, había servido en las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos y abusaba del alcohol y la cocaína.

Un juez del Tribunal de Circuito del condado Miami-Dade desestimó la solicitud el 30 de septiembre por “falta de causa justificada” y “pruebas insuficientes”.

“Temo por mi vida”, escribió Lazo en una declaración jurada, según muestran los registros judiciales.

El estado de Lazo era crítico, pero mostraba mejoría la tarde del viernes en el Jackson South Medical Center, según un agente de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade (MDSO).

Hector Rodriguez y Cecilia Delfino se encontraban entre los vecinos preocupados después de que los agentes rodearan la vivienda y cerraran Southwest 148th Street, entre 155th Avenue y 154th Court, el jueves en la comunidad Oak Creek.

“Muy dulce, realmente muy dulce, una persona tranquila”, dijo Rodriguez a Local 10 News sobre Lazo, a quien también describió como una “persona encantadora”.

Delfino, vecina de Lazo, dijo a Local 10 News que escuchó a alguien gritar y tres disparos. Personal de los Bomberos de Miami-Dade y agentes respondieron a la balacera alrededor de las 11 a.m. del jueves en 15472 SW 148 St.

“Descubrieron a un hombre y una mujer que habían sufrido heridas de bala”, dijo el agente Danny Castillo, portavoz de la MDSO, durante una conferencia de prensa el jueves.

El personal de los Bomberos de Miami-Dade (MDFR) declaró muerto al hombre y trasladó a la mujer al Jackson South, según Castillo.

“Parece que, después de disparar su arma de fuego, la apuntó contra sí mismo y se suicidó”, dijo Castillo.

Los agentes de la unidad de homicidios de la MDSO estaban llevando a cabo una investigación sobre la muerte.

Si usted o alguien que conoce está luchando con pensamientos suicidas, puede llamar, enviar un mensaje de texto o comunicarse por chat con la Línea de Prevención del Suicidio y Crisis al 988, disponible las 24 horas del día, los siete días de la semana.

La editora de asignaciones de Local 10 News, Mercedes Cevallos, contribuyó a este informe.

Noticias relacionadas

• Mujer “encantadora” había recibido negativa a orden de restricción antes de intento de asesinato y suicidio en su casa de Miami-Dade, según registros.
• Hombre muerto y mujer en estado crítico tras aparente intento de asesinato y suicidio en Country Walk: MDSO.

Administrator Jared Isaacman said Friday that the space agency is still on track to launch Artemis III next summer on a docking exercise with Elon Musk's and Jeff Bezos' lunar landers. The two-week mission featuring four astronauts will be confined to orbit around Earth — no moon trip this time.

The all-important Artemis IV — NASA's first moon landing by astronauts since Apollo — remains scheduled for 2028, Isaacman said. His update came six months after the successful Artemis II flight around the moon by four astronauts, humanity's first lunar trip in more than half a century.

NASA will keep its options open as long as possible before choosing between SpaceX and Blue Origin for the Artemis IV lunar lander, according to officials.

Isaacman said the “new space race” to land astronauts on the moon — racing against China now versus the Soviet Union during the Apollo era — will be “much closer than it ever needed to be” because of slow going in past years.

But the space agency is now accelerating its pace, he noted, eliminating endless meetings and bureaucratic inertia, as SpaceX, Blue Origin and other companies scramble around the clock to meet the deadlines and NASA bolsters its workforce.

Adopting Apollo's urgent and intense approach from 1968 through 1972, a period which saw 24 astronauts fly to the moon and 12 land on it, is not “tech industry pixie dust or some new management philosophy,” Isaacman said.

“It's about our own history. It's a playbook this agency knows really well, the same playbook that went from Apollo 7 splashdown to Apollo 11 in just nine months,” he said during a news conference at Kennedy Space Center.

Both landers will be launched next summer for docking practice by the three NASA astronauts and one Italian who will blast into orbit aboard NASA's Orion capsule. The mission will require three launches in quick succession from Cape Canaveral. Orion will dock first with Blue Origin's Blue Ghost about 270 miles (435 kilometers) above Earth, then with SpaceX's Starship in a slightly lower orbit.

“As a rocket nerd, it's going to be pretty awesome,” said Amit Kshatriya, NASA's associate administrator.

NASA's planned moon base near the moon's south pole — nowhere near Apollo's more equatorial locales — should see its first launch by year's end. The Pittsburgh company whose first lunar landing mission fizzled in 2024 will attempt a “take two,” this time aiming for the moon's south polar region with a rover and other experiments. More landers, rovers and orbiters will follow, so many that by the time the first Artemis moonwalkers arrive, their moon car will already be there waiting for them, according to officials.

To speed up and reduce risk, the initial moonwalkers will wear a lighter, less complex spacesuit than the one still under development by Axiom Space for longer, later excursions. Axiom will test these new so-called “sortie suits” on the International Space Station next year.

Setting up a long-term presence is what makes this so much more challenging than the Apollo-style commuter flights, said NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who is part of the Artemis III crew.

“It is incredibly ambitious,” Rubio told The Associated Press earlier this month. “One thing I’ve always believed and learned is don’t bet against America.”

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

In her first season with Atlanta, she's already become the team's emotional leader and now has the Dream two wins away from the first WNBA championship in franchise history. Game 4 is Saturday.

“I just want to be able to come in every day and just pour into everybody, bring energy, bring the morale because I think it’s contagious,” Reese said after the 97-71 victory on Wednesday night over Golden State. “I’m hype all the time and bringing confidence into everybody. Like, you’re not taking this from us. In my heart, I’m not letting you take this from us, and I think it becomes contagious within the team. They feel that confidence, too.

“So that’s kind of been my mindset throughout the entire season. Just being able to want it more than anybody else.”

Reese, who came to Atlanta from Chicago in an offseason trade, has made the most of her first postseason appearance since coming into the league three years ago. She became only the second player in finals history with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games, joining A'ja Wilson.

At 24 years old, she also became the youngest with three straight double-doubles in the finals.

“Angel shows up in every game,” said point guard Jordin Canada, a two-time champion. “Some people only show up at big games, but she’s consistent with that, and she brings her teammates along.”

Reese has raised her game offensively this postseason and is averaging 21.7 points and 13.7 rebounds in the WNBA Finals to help the Dream take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. She always has had an incredible motor where she has been able to outwork people on both ends of the court. Now her offensive game has caught up.

“It’s really hard to match Angel’s energy, but we just try to do our part … just doing the little things to get into it. She brings a ton of energy. It’s very infectious,” Dream forward Naz Hillmon said. “She brings her teammates with her, as (everyone) can see. So just continuing to beat into it and go along with what she’s got going on.”

Reese entered the WNBA with criticism of her offensive game. She didn't shoot much outside of the lane and detractors said many of her rebounds came from her own misses. Now she is hitting 3-pointers at 47% in the postseason and shooting about the same from the field overall thanks to the trust she had in Atlanta coach Karl Smesko to change her shot.

Now she's only two wins away from adding a WNBA title to her ever-growing resume. She won an NCAA championship at LSU and a World Cup title this past September. When asked after the Game 3 win if she belonged in the conversation with other Atlanta sports greats like Hank Aaron, Dominique Wilkins and Deion Sanders, Reese deflected the notion.

“I’ve only been here six months, so I don’t know how y’all can give me that yet,” she said. “My goal was to come to Atlanta and win a championship. And I think you become one of the greats and you come one of the best when you can win and impact winning. And that’s all I wanted to do coming here. Everything else really doesn’t matter to me.”

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

“I’m focused on the finals," Atlanta guard Allisha Gray said Friday at the Dream's practice ahead of Saturday's Game 4. ”I am not really on social media and listening to what people are saying."

Basketball has recently been a focus of the president.

Trump spoke at a rally on Thursday in Iowa and criticized WNBA players for leaving the court before the national anthem is played, and called for a boycott of the league. He had lashed out on social media at the WNBA, along with NBA icon LeBron James for his actions during the anthem, but also called for fans to not watch the WNBA.

Several of Gray's Atlanta teammates and Golden State players shared her sentiments, saying they were tuning out anything that didn't have to do with game preparations.

“For me it's staying off social media. It's just going inward with our teammates and staff,” Valkyries forward Kiah Stokes said. “Staying together. That's been one of our keys all season.”

Trump mentioned at the Iowa rally that WNBA players have been leaving the court before the national anthem is played. Leaving the court before the anthem is not a recent development in the WNBA. It has been part of many teams' pregame routine for years, dating back to at least when the league played the entire 2020 season in Florida because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“By the way, what’s going on with the women’s NBA? What’s that all about?" the president said at the rally. “You know, they’ll destroy themselves before they get started, because they just started to do good.”

Trump went on to say that fans should stop viewing WNBA games because the players don't stay for the anthem. which is played 10 minutes before the end of pregame warmups. Teams have left the court to raise awareness for social justice issues or simply to continue to prepare for the game.

“You know the NFL did that for a while and they stopped because people stopped watching the games,” Trump said. “I think you should do the same thing with women’s basketball.”

The WNBA had no comment on Trump's speech.

As for James, a four-time Olympic medalist, the president said the 76ers forward disrespected the United States after he appeared to continue his warmups while the national anthem was performed before Philadelphia’s season opener on Tuesday.

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

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In a letter on Thursday, Cordero-Stutz notified Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the Board of County Commissioners that her office would discontinue the Sergeant-at-Arms Program effective Nov. 9, saying the move is part of an effort to redirect resources amid what she describes as a “budget shortfall.”

Levine Cava pushed back in a response dated the same day, warning that ending the program with less than three weeks’ notice creates a significant security challenge at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, which houses county government offices, serves residents seeking public services and functions as a major transit hub. The building is also being used as a polling location.

Levine Cava acknowledged the sheriff’s authority as an independent constitutional officer to set her office’s priorities but said the county has a responsibility to protect employees, elected officials and members of the public who visit government facilities.

“Neither responsibility should be diminished by disagreements between our offices,” Levine Cava wrote, referring to public safety and accountability for taxpayer dollars.

She asked the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office to provide a detailed transition plan before Nov. 9 outlining what security coverage will remain, how responsibilities will be coordinated and how existing threat assessments and future security concerns involving elected officials, county employees and the Government Center will be shared and addressed.

The dispute comes as questions have emerged about spending by MDSO, including a reported expenditure of more than $132,000 on new cowboy hats for deputies.

In her letter, Levine Cava also challenged the sheriff’s characterization of the office’s budget situation, pointing to the county’s adopted $1.23 billion budget for the Sheriff’s Office for fiscal year 2026-27.

According to the mayor, the allocation is the largest in the office’s history and exceeds the sheriff’s certified budget request by more than $186 million.

Levine Cava said the sheriff’s appeal of the adopted budget remains pending. She also criticized the office for not providing all the budget information requested by the administration during the budget process, including information sought through public records requests.

“Throughout the budget process, my administration prioritized public safety while balancing the needs of other essential services our residents depend on,” Levine Cava wrote.

Levine Cava also said her administration would work with Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, the commission and county departments to identify measures needed to maintain security throughout the Government Center during the transition.

She urged both offices to keep the issue separate from their broader budget disagreement, emphasizing that protecting public servants and residents must remain a shared responsibility.

Read the full letter here:

Miami-Dade Sheriff: “the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office (MDSO) will discontinue the Sergeant-at-Arms Program effective November 9, 2026.”

Miami-Dade Mayor: “Your decision to discontinue the program with less than three weeks' notice presents a significant security challenge.” pic.twitter.com/0pgcFL6pOz

— Christina Boomer Vazquez, M.S. (@CBoomerVazquez) October 23, 2026

The parts of the law in question prevent public schools from requiring diversity training and maintaining DEI-related programs, courses and offices. It also bans public schools from discussing a list of “divisive concepts” related to race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity and national origin. Public schools that violate the law could lose state funding.

The ban passed in April 2025 and is being challenged by a group of educators, students, parents and activists who say the law violates their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The plaintiffs have several weeks to file a petition for rehearing with the Fifth Circuit. The law would take effect seven days after the petition deadline passes or if a petition is denied, according to McKenna Raney, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.

The Fifth Circuit also ordered that the case be reassigned to a different district court judge after U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate issued a “botch job” temporary restraining order that contained artificial intelligence hallucinations, according to the Thursday ruling. The TRO predates Wingate's August 2025 preliminary injunction, which the Fifth Circuit overturned.

Additionally, the ruling provides clarity on the scope of the law, which opponents have criticized as overly vague.

The law does not apply to scholarly activities, student activities and groups or creative engagements, according to the Fifth Circuit. The court also said concerns raised by the plaintiffs that the law would ban discussions of civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Ku Klux Klan, the Fourteenth Amendment, Juneteenth and “Of Mice and Men” are incorrect.

“It is heartening to know that at the very least these specific iterations of classroom discussions that have been happening for years in Mississippi are exempted and they can continue unimpeded," said Raney, an LGBTQ Justice Project staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi. However, Raney said the types of discussions allowed under the law are still “murky.”

The Mississippi Attorney General's Office, which represents the defendants, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on the court's ruling. The office's attorneys have previously argued that public employees do not have First Amendment rights when acting in a professional capacity.

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Thomas Kendall Jr., living in Deerfield Beach at the time of his arrest, was originally convicted of child molestation and possession of child sexual abuse material.

A November 2023 Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest report details horrifying allegations that led to his incarceration: Deputies said Kendall, then 41, took photos of himself sexually abusing a relative and paid $40 to someone in another country, believed to be the Philippines, to sexually abuse a 4-to-6-year-old girl during a nearly 25-minute live video chat.

Now 44, Kendall is serving a 25-year sentence at the Martin Correctional Institution following his 2024 conviction and authorities said he was caught in the act again.

Investigators said they received an online tip and traced it back to his prison cell.

When they searched his cell, investigators said they found an illegal phone filled with thousands of child sexual abuse images, including some depicting his original victim that were generated with artificial intelligence.

Investigators said Kendall also used the phone to send an AI-generated picture of a naked man to hundreds of young girls on Snapchat.

“I believe in rehabilitation. I believe in second chances. This guy is not that guy. This guy deserves to get the ultimate penalty,” Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said. “If I had my way, he would get the death penalty. He is victimizing and continuing to victimize our youth while he sits in our prison.”

Kendall is being transferred to a different jail in Martin County and will be booked on additional charges.

It is still unclear how he obtained a cellphone while behind bars.

The sheriff said contraband is sometimes brought into Florida prisons and that smuggling tactics are only getting more creative over time.

Trump first floated this idea earlier this year, but has not mentioned it in recent months. But he revived it in response to a shouted question from the crowd about the island nation. He was campaigning just days ahead of midterm elections in which voters have expressed concern about the impact the U.S. war on Iran has had on prices of goods from gas to groceries.

“We’ll do a little stopover,” Trump said. “Actually, what we’re going to do with Cuba is, we’re going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We’ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They’ll raise up their hands. And then we’re going to send (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.”

Both Rubio and Trump have been bullish on action in Cuba, with Trump previously suggesting the country would "be next” in terms of intervention abroad, following the winding down of the Iran war he has long forecast but which has not yet happened.

In May, he and Rubio raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that took on greater weight after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”

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. While saying the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully, Rubio voiced doubts that the U.S. could reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.

Moments after Trump spoke at the rally, Rubio posted on social media that “now is the time” for action on Cuba, addressing his post “to those who seek to create positive change” and urging them “to seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.”

Rubio has not addressed Cuba in depth in public for several weeks, with his last comments coming in a Sept. 29 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“The truth is Cuba has already fallen. It doesn’t have a functional economy and it’s governed by people who continue to preach about some revolution that has been dead for 20 years that’s never worked,” Rubio said, without alluding to any CIA operation.

“We are hopeful that Cuba will choose a different path. We are hopeful … that there will be some people in there that open their eyes to the reality of what they’re facing,” he said. “We’re never going to allow Cuba to become a base of operation against American interests or pose a threat to our national security. On that we are abundantly clear.”

Rubio and other top Trump aides 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.

During his address to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said Rubio — son of Cuban immigrants, who has long taken a hard line against Cuba’s socialist leadership — was “deep into negotiations with Cuba,” saying he would “not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep.”

Days later, Trump told reporters that he anticipated that the two countries “will make a deal,” adding, “I don’t think we’ll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly.”

Earlier this week, the two countries clashed at the United Nations as the Trump administration sought once again to build opposition for an upcoming annual vote condemning Washington’s decades-long economic embargo against Havana.

Cuba has struggled since 2020 with an economic and energy crisis. Its gross domestic product has shrunk, and its 10 million residents have endured blackouts, food shortages and inflation. There have been waves of protests, and hundreds of thousands of Cubans have migrated, many to the United States.

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Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C., and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

Thomas Kendall Jr., quien residía en Deerfield Beach al momento de su arresto, fue condenado originalmente por abuso sexual de menores y posesión de material de abuso sexual infantil.

Un informe de arresto de noviembre de 2023 de la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward detalla las horribles acusaciones que llevaron a su encarcelamiento: los agentes indicaron que Kendall, quien entonces tenía 41 años, tomó fotografías de sí mismo abusando sexualmente de un familiar y pagó $40 USD a una persona en otro país, que se cree era Filipinas, para que abusara sexualmente de una niña de entre 4 y 6 años durante una videollamada en vivo de casi 25 minutos.

Ahora, a sus 44 años, Kendall cumple una condena de 25 años en el condado Martin tras ser declarado culpable en 2024, y las autoridades indicaron que fue descubierto nuevamente cometiendo delitos similares.

Los investigadores señalaron que recibieron una denuncia por internet y lograron rastrearla hasta su celda en prisión.

Cuando registraron su celda, los investigadores indicaron que encontraron un teléfono ilegal que contenía miles de imágenes de abuso sexual infantil, incluidas algunas que mostraban a su víctima original y que habían sido generadas con inteligencia artificial.

Los investigadores señalaron que Kendall también utilizó el teléfono para enviar una imagen generada con inteligencia artificial de un hombre desnudo a cientos de niñas en Snapchat.

“Creo en la rehabilitación. Creo en las segundas oportunidades. Este hombre no es uno de esos casos. Este hombre merece recibir la pena máxima”, dijo el sheriff del condado Martin, John Budensiek. “Si fuera por mí, recibiría la pena de muerte. Está victimizando y continúa victimizando a nuestros jóvenes mientras permanece en nuestra prisión”.

Kendall está siendo trasladado a otra cárcel en el condado Martin y será ingresado bajo cargos adicionales.

Todavía no está claro cómo obtuvo un teléfono celular mientras estaba tras las rejas.

El sheriff indicó que en ocasiones se introducen artículos de contrabando en las prisiones de Florida y que los métodos utilizados para ingresarlos se vuelven cada vez más creativos con el paso del tiempo.

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Court records show Lazo, 41, had filed a restraining order in April against Ivan Granado, a “former live-in boyfriend,” claiming he owned a gun, had served in the U.S. military, and abused alcohol and cocaine. A judge dismissed it over “no just cause” and “insufficient evidence” on Sept. 30.

Hector Rodriguez and Cecilia Delfino were among the concerned neighbors after deputies surrounded the home and closed Southwest 148th Street, between 155th Avenue and 154th Court in the Oak Creek community.

“Very sweet, really very sweet, a quiet person,” Rodriguez said about Lazo, who he also described as a “lovely person.”

Delfino, Lazo’s next-door neighbor, said she heard someone shout and three gunshots. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel and Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the shooting at about 11 a.m. on Thursday at 15472 SW 148 St.

“They discovered a male and a female who suffered gunshot wounds,” Deputy Danny Castillo, a MDSO spokesman, said during a news conference on Thursday.

MDFR personnel pronounced the man dead and took the woman, whose condition was critical, to the Jackson South Medical Center, according to Castillo.

“It appears, after discharging his firearm, he turned the firearm onto himself and committed suicide,” Castillo said.

Deputies had yet to confirm the identities of the man and the woman. Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 to remain anonymous.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideations, call, text, or chat at the 24/7 suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.

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

Marva Cook was adopted as a toddler and had always assumed she was a U.S. citizen, she told Homeland Security investigators earlier this month, according to the criminal complaint.

But in searching for her biological mother, the 66-year-old Syracuse resident, who starred on Syracuse University’s women’s basketball team decades ago, said she discovered she had a German birth certificate.

Federal prosecutors say Cook has had a green card for several years now, but she still cast ballots in recent elections despite not having citizenship.

She faces a single federal charge of voting by an alien stemming from her vote in the 2022 midterms.

The misdemeanor offense carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine up to $100,000, if convicted. Cook can also face deportation, under federal law.

Cook says she has faith in God and support from community

Reached by phone Friday, Cook declined to discuss the criminal case, her voting record or her past efforts at becoming a citizen.

But she said she was “not thrilled” by her court appearance Wednesday as she was placed in shackles despite having voluntarily turned herself in just hours earlier.

“It was a difficult time,” Cook said. “I’m about kindness and service and doing for others as I want to be treated.”

She also said she appreciated the outpouring of support of community members, a number of whom accompanied her to court Wednesday.

“The prayers and the support is a big part of how I will get through this,” Cook said. “I have a deep faith that God will get me through it.”

Cook’s lawyer, Paul Tuck, also declined to discuss details of the criminal case Friday other than to say there are no upcoming hearings or filing deadlines. There are no pending immigration proceedings, he added, but Cook has an immigration lawyer in the event that changes.

Spokespersons for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Cook is latest arrest in Trump’s nationwide crackdown on noncitizen voting

First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III, whose upstate New York office is prosecuting the case, said Cook's arrest showed “voter fraud is rampant” in the state.

Other federal agencies amplified the statement on social media, even as the administration’s own investigations have demonstrated that such instances are incredibly rare and been shown not to change the outcome of elections.

“We cannot and will not allow the votes of American citizens to be canceled out by noncitizens illegally voting in our elections,” the Homeland Security wrote in a post on X that included Sarcone's statement.

In California, federal authorities on Monday charged more than two dozen legal permanent residents with illegally casting ballots or registering to vote. Weeks earlier, 10 people were charged in Minnesota with illegally voting over the last three elections.

Supporters say Cook is a valuable member of the community

Cook’s supporters, meanwhile, described her as a vital part of the local community where she had lived nearly all of her life and had starred in college basketball.

The Syracuse University athletics department confirmed Cook was the team’s leading scorer in the 1979-80 season, averaging 15 points per game. She also holds the school record for most steals in a single season.

Fred Daley, pastor at All Saints Church, said Cook is an active member of the parish who for years has been the church’s go-to Easter Bunny, decked out in full costume during the spring holiday season.

“If the government wanted to make a case, they chose the wrong person,” he said. “She’s a poster child of an amazing person. She’s highly respected throughout the community.”

Dale Avers, a parishioner who has known Cook for almost 20 years, described her as a “person of service” who “never sought limelight.” She said Cook supports low-income families and youth as the YMCA’s community school program director.

“I’m in total shock that they’re putting this much effort into this,” Avers said. “They understood the story. There was no intent. There’s no malice. There was no deception involved.”

The woman began showing symptoms 10 days ago and began receiving supportive care at an infectious disease unit in the capital, Nairobi.

The ministry said medical personnel “did everything possible to save her life,” but she died Friday evening.

Her family was notified, and the ministry said it would arrange a safe and dignified burial in consultation with relatives.

The remaining seven Ebola patients were receiving treatment at two isolation facilities. No new infections were reported.

Kenya announced its first ever Ebola case on Oct. 6 after a 40-year-old Kenyan man who was living in Congo travelled to Kenya via Uganda, arriving on Oct. 3. He was driven by a relative to Nairobi Hospital, where he tested positive for Ebola on Oct. 5 and died the same day.

Authorities have identified some 135 contacts of the first patient, placing 118 in quarantine. Eight tested positive while in quarantine, including four health workers and four close family members.

The health ministry said some contacts who completed the 21-day quarantine period without developing symptoms would be released starting Saturday.

'Nigerian patient did not travel to Congo'

In Nigeria, authorities said Friday that they were yet to verify how the country’s first Ebola patient contracted the disease. The woman tested positive for the virus upon her return to Nigeria's capital of Abuja from Uganda.

The woman — married to a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria whom she had been traveling with — did not visit Congo and “is believed to have contracted the virus whilst travelling to Uganda,” Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, or FDFA, told The Associated Press on Friday.

Her husband has not shown any symptoms and remains in isolation, the FDFA added.

Nigeria's Health Minister Muhammad Pate told reporters on Friday that the Nigerian patient “appears to be closely related" to the first case in Kenya in terms of the nature of their infection. "That may or may not change the understanding of the route of transmission given that the virus itself takes time to change,” Pate said.

The Africa CDC earlier said the first patients in Nigeria and Kenya had traveled through Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport on Oct. 3.

US introduces new protocol for all travelers

United States health officials this week said that all passengers boarding an international flight to the U.S. — no matter from where — must sign a statement attesting that they've not been in Congo in the previous 21 days. The U.S. has been screening travelers from Ebola-affected countries during the current outbreak.

Travelers who were in Congo in the three weeks leading to their trip will not be allowed to board flights with U.S. destinations, including Americans, the U.S. CDC said Thursday.

Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, including blood and vomit, or through contact with contaminated materials and surfaces, such as bedding and clothing. Congo is experiencing its deadliest outbreak, with at least 4,000 deaths since May.

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Dyepkazah Shibayan in Abuja, Nigeria and Mike Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.

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AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

The company added Friday that more than 275 players and employees will still be getting rings as planned.

Knicks players received the rings they earned by winning the NBA championship on Tuesday night before their season-opening loss to Philadelphia. On Thursday, The Athletic reported that assistant coaches did not get rings that night.

The report also stated that in September, MSG employees received an email reading: “Congratulations, your Employee Championship Ring is here.” It showed a graphic with two ring styles that could be selected, but those who clicked on the link at the bottom of the email were forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class.

“The company had previously sent out an email to its corporate team as a simulation of a phishing attack designed to strengthen our security against hackers. MSG was recently hacked and extorted using an employee login and password obtained through a similar phishing attack. Using the rings as a lure to gain employees attention was an unfortunate mistake," a Madison Square Garden spokesperson said in a statement.

"The company is gifting more than 275 championship rings and jewelry to players, coaches, employees and other members of the Knicks family, worth more than $3.7 million, in recognition of their contributions and celebrating this achievement.”

___

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

The American gymnast never gave up on herself, not after her dreams of Olympic glory ended one step short of a lifelong goal not once, but twice. Not after “shutting down” at times mentally as she wondered if it was all worth it.

The 21-year-old from Dallas kept faith in herself and in the process. She took two years off from competing in the all-around at the elite level after tearing her right Achilles at the 2024 Olympic trials, opting to patiently and painstakingly rebuild her body and her routines until she felt they were ready, and not a moment before.

That moment arrived on Friday at the 2026 world gymnastics championships, when Blakely put together four polished and confident routines that ended with happy tears and an all-around gold medal around her neck that even she didn't see coming.

“Throughout the meet, I was telling myself ‘Do it for the girl in 2021 and the girl in 2024 who couldn’t do everything, just fight for her,'” Blakely told reporters after posting a total of 55.733, more than a half-point ahead of silver medalist Liudmila Roschina of Russia and bronze medalist Ke Qinqin of China. "That’s what I kept telling myself: ‘I am capable, I am ready’ and I made every version of myself extremely proud.”

And maybe a bit surprised. Blakely was a prodigy in 2021 when she injured her elbow at Olympic trials. She was a semi-longshot then to make the team. She wasn't in 2024. Blakely was in excellent position to head to Paris before shredding her Achilles during training the day before the start of the competition.

Rather than rush back, Blakely took her time, competing usually as an event specialist at the University of Florida. She did the all-around for the first time in two years at the U.S. championships in August but ran out of gas on the final day of the meet.

Not this time.

Two days after the U.S. saw its long run of gold medals in the team finals at worlds end with a second-place finish to resurgent China, Blakely became the ninth American woman to win her sport's biggest annual title.

“It truly means the world to me, knowing how much I have overcome, all of the hardship that I faced and the days that I wanted to give up or didn’t think it was possible,” Blakely said. "To see it really come to be tonight, is just, it makes me so proud of myself and makes me reflect on little me who would dream of this.”

Taking the floor two nights after the U.S.'s long gold-medal run in the team finals ended for a variety of reasons — from China's brilliance on beam to some uncharacteristic miscues on the same event by the Americans, Blakely included — she responded with the best meet of her life. So far, anyway.

When Blakely headed to beam on Friday for the third rotation, she was atop the leaderboard after an excellent start on vault followed by a bars routine that's as good as anything done by an American at the moment.

Still, beam is different, a 75-second test of nerves. There were no missed connections this time, as there were in the team final. There were rarely any wobbles either. Blakely's score of 14.200 kept her in front and turned her floor exercise largely into a victory lap.

The tears after she saluted the judges following a routine set to music personally curated by Blakely — including the instrumental from “Show Me What You Got” by rap icon Jay-Z — were real. So were the ones when her spot atop the sport became official about 15 minutes later.

Blakely then draped the American flag over her back while posing for the cameras, drinking in a moment a long time coming in more ways than one.

Algerian Kaylia Nemour's bid to become the first gymnast from Africa to win an all-around title at worlds ended with a fourth-place finish. The 19-year-old's finals got off to a rough start in her first rotation when her feet didn't land squarely on the springboard while vaulting, forcing her to do a simpler vault that cost her valuable points.

While Nemour recovered spectacularly thanks in large part to an uneven bars routine that is one of the hardest routines done on any apparatus by any gymnast — male or female — in the world, it wasn't quite enough to reach the podium.

American Claire Pease's hopes of joining Blakely on the medal stand ended when she hopped off beam on her way to a seventh-place finish.

While the picture figures to get considerably more crowded in the next two years ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Blakely's perseverance and talent have thrust her into the conversation once again.

“I think it for sure sets me up and boosts my confidence for sure,” she said. "Especially knowing I have more to give.”

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See AP’s full sports coverage here

Faith Hedgepeth was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when she was beaten to death in her off-campus apartment in September 2012. Miguel Salguero Olivares was arrested nine years later after being pulled over for driving while intoxicated and providing a DNA sample that prosecutors say matched evidence from the crime scene.

Salguero Olivares, 33, did not testify during the trial, and his attorneys rested their case without calling any witnesses. Jurors deliberated for six hours over two days before convicting him of murder, rape, sexual offense and burglary. He was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the murder charge plus 45-65 years on the other charges.

Hedgepeth’s mother, Connie Hedgepeth, told the judge that she forgave her daughter’s killer long ago.

“It was just three weeks after her death. It didn’t matter who done it, I knew that I had to forgive, and I do forgive, but my heart aches for his family,” she said. “It was just such a senseless and cruel act, but we have to go on, and we just have to trust God and go on with our lives.”

Roland Hedgepeth, Faith’s father, said losing his daughter was like having his heart ripped out. He called her a beacon of hope who was born at a low point in his life and admitted it had been easier over the past 5,158 days to say he forgave someone he didn’t know.

“Today it got very real,” he said. “Nevertheless, I say it without reservation, I forgive Miguel for what he did.”

Calling those statements “powerful and kind,” defense attorney James Rainsford said he also could speak about his client and his client's family but decided not to. “For me to try to blend the two things, I don't think that's what everybody needs at this point.”

Defense argued the client was falsely accused

In closing arguments Thursday, defense attorneys accused investigators of having “tunnel vision” in assuming that their client was a monster and not a “19-year-old boy” who had consensual sex with the victim days before her death. Prosecutors, meanwhile, urged jurors to rely on DNA evidence instead of distractions from the defense team.

“We know who did it. The forensic evidence is screaming his name,” said prosecutor Angela Garcia-Lamarca, who described the “uncurable agony” Hedgepeth's family has endured.

“When the defendant brought that bottle down on her head and she started to bleed, that was the start of a bleeding that still hasn’t stopped,” she said. “He sentenced her to death. He sentenced everybody else who loved her to life. There was no one there to protect her. There was no one there to stop him — until now. Y’all are here. You’re here now, and you can stop him.”

Prosecution suggests victim spurned defendant's advances

Nearly two dozen witnesses testified for the prosecution, including crime scene technicians, state and local law enforcement, a DNA expert and Hedgepeth's friends.

Hedgepeth's roommate, Karena Rosario, testified that she was drunk and sick when Hedgepeth drove them home from a club around 2 a.m. that Sept. 7. She said she later called a friend to pick her up, leaving Hedgepeth in the apartment alone. She returned hours later to find her roommate’s body.

Though no witnesses corroborated the theory, prosecutors suggested Salguero Olivares may have attended a barbecue hosted by Hedgepeth’s neighbor that night, unsuccessfully hit on the young women in the parking lot and then returned, embarrassed and angry, after Rosario left.

Forensic evidence was a focus

Experts testified that the defendant’s fingerprints and palm print were found on a wine bottle at the scene and that his DNA was found in Hedgepeth’s body, on a note written on a fast-food bag found at the scene and on a rum bottle covered in blood that investigators identified as the weapon in the killing.

Defense attorneys questioned Rosario’s account of that night, the processing of the crime scene and the reliability of some DNA evidence. They pointed out that police failed to search some areas of the apartment and later lost some possible blood evidence and emphasized that DNA from sexual intercourse can remain for days afterward.

“Maybe he was living the same life as other 19- and 20-year-old children that we’ve heard about in this case,” defense attorney Jason Murphy said. “Maybe he had too much to drink, maybe he forgot about an encounter.”

But special prosecutor Lisa Coltrane dismissed that as “noise.”

“No matter what kind of mistakes were made or things that were missed, it doesn’t erase the palm print; it doesn’t somehow lift the DNA out of Faith,” she said. “They didn’t talk to every single person in Chapel Hill, and it doesn’t matter. They still got the guy because he left his DNA like confetti all over that room.”

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According to the Miami Beach Fire Department, three workers fell “approximately 20 feet from a cherry picker” just before 2:50 p.m. at the Perigon Miami Beach site.

The under-construction 17-floor condominium tower is located at 5333 Collins Ave. on Mid-Beach.

The injured workers were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, an MBFD spokesperson said.

Video from Sky 10 showed Miami Beach police at the scene.

Officials haven’t provided additional details about their conditions or said whether they’ve determined what led to the fall.

Según el Departamento de Bomberos de Miami Beach, tres trabajadores cayeron “aproximadamente 20 pies desde una plataforma elevadora” poco antes de las 2:50 p.m. en la obra de Perigon Miami Beach.

La torre de condominios de 17 pisos, actualmente en construcción, está ubicada en 5333 Collins Ave., en Mid-Beach.

Los trabajadores heridos fueron trasladados al Ryder Trauma Center del Jackson Memorial Hospital, informó un portavoz del Departamento de Bomberos de Miami Beach (MBFD).

Un video de Sky 10 mostró a la policía de Miami Beach en el lugar.

Las autoridades no han proporcionado detalles adicionales sobre el estado de los trabajadores ni han indicado si determinaron qué provocó la caída.

The force of the helicopter blades pummeled the water, whipping up spray and turbulence. The Coast Guard rescue swimmer couldn’t hear anything over the noise or see anything in the darkness. Waves of 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters) hit him.

All he could do was follow the searchlight from the helicopter with the hope it would lead him to the more than two dozen people flung into the cold waters some 140 miles (225 kilometers) off the coast of Mexico’s Baja peninsula. He would personally rescue 16 of them.

“I was experiencing exhaustion at that point," Law, 24, told The Associated Press in his first interview since the rescue. "We had very little sleep. But what I was experiencing was nothing compared to what they were at that point ... I just had to keep that in mind.”

Over the next two hours in the predawn hours of Oct. 16, Law was the sole person in the water who would get the people whose boat had capsized to safety. Eleven others were never found. The Coast Guard called off its search late Sunday.

Law described the dramatic operation to save lives along a remote route frequented by migrant smuggling boats. What the boat was doing out there and where it originated from are part of a federal investigation. It was unclear if the vessel got lost, had engine failure, was swept out to sea or meant to go that far. Only pieces of the boat were found. All who were rescued are Mexican, the Mexican consulate said.

The Coast Guard said U.S. Customs and Border Protection was investigating and interviewing the survivors, but the agency did not respond to multiple inquiries on whether the vessel was a migrant smuggling boat.

The alarm sounded, awakening the Coast Guard crew

The mayday call came in around 1 a.m.

Someone said their boat was sinking in the middle of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico.

Within minutes, the alarm sounded at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Ventura, northwest of Los Angeles, rousing Law and his colleagues from their sleep.

Helicopter pilot Lt. Miyako Miller checked flying conditions and planned the flight route that would take the crew of four over the vast ocean south of the U.S. border.

Law prepared his dry suit, fins and medical items, then put on a harness that would be hooked onto a cable to lower him down from the aircraft into the ocean.

By 2 a.m., they were taking off from the Coast Guard station in Ventura.

Pilot says she was guided by the stars

Miller wore night vision goggles to help her fly in the dark. She said she relied on the stars, with no moonlight that night.

As the crew approached the reported location of the sinking, Miller spotted a tiny flicker of light in the distance.

Then she spotted what looked like debris floating in the water, but it was difficult to distinguish what it was. Miller carefully navigated the helicopter over the area, lowering the aircraft until it was hovering about 40 feet (12 meters) above the water.

“I’m doing my best to maintain my references externally by looking outside through the night vision goggles," Miller said, adding that meanwhile “the flight mechanic is telling me where to position the helicopter.”

Some 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of Ensenada, Mexico, is Guadalupe Island, a biosphere reserve that is well known as a place brimming with great white sharks.

Law said he didn’t think about what was in the water as he hooked himself to a cable and zipped into the ocean, strapped in a harness.

There was no time to waste. While Law’s dry suit provided some warmth, he knew the others had already spent hours in hypothermic temperature waters.

Law said he was guided by a searchlight from the crew, which allowed him to catch a glimpse of the people in the water.

They were scattered across a wide area. Some were wearing life vests that had tiny lights that produced the flicker first spotted by Miller. Others clung onto one another, buoys and pieces of wreckage, shivering and treading water to stay afloat.

Law said he swam to them, flipped them on their backs, put his arm over them and pulled them up using the “buddy tow” technique. Kicking his legs to swim, he carried them to the spot where he could signal the flight mechanic to lower a basket for them to be picked up.

“With one hand, I’m holding the survivor. With the other, I am signaling to the helicopter and working with the device,” he said.

He placed them into the basket, one by one. Then it was hoisted up repeatedly to the helicopter where the crew got each person into the aircraft before lowering the basket again.

Law’s dry suit slowly filled up to his knees with water, feeling like weights pulling on him as he battled heavy waves while swimming back and forth.

With little fuel, the crew flew to San Diego where ambulances waited

With a packed helicopter and dwindling fuel, the crew decided to head to the Coast Guard station in San Diego where ambulances were waiting.

On the flight, Law treated three people with what he described as “bad” wounds, staunching the bleeding. Several of the injuries were “consistent with shark bites" and the Coast Guard provided life-saving first aid, the agency said in a statement Saturday.

Customs and Border Protection officers went to a hospital and said they would process the survivors according to immigration laws after they were medically cleared. Nearly half of those rescued have since been returned to Mexico, U.S. officials said.

Law and his crew returned to Ventura that morning — it was by far the longest rescue operation he had ever done, he said.

The search for the 11 others continued for another two days to no avail. The Coast Guard, alongside Mexico and the U.S. Navy, searched more than 2,441 square miles (6,322 square kilometers) for a combined 89 hours.

Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders. Small boats called pangas leave Baja at night and sometimes travel hundreds of miles (kilometers) north.

The White House said the president was seeking to offset "the burden to U.S. commerce while better serving the public interest.''

Collins, locked in a tight race with Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, issued a statement saying she'd spoken with Trump's top trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick "about the toll tariffs are taking on Maine families, businesses, farmers, and growers.''

"Many of our farmers and growers rely on specialized equipment, packaging materials, and other products from Canada that are either unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense,” Collins said.

She said she asked for tariff relief for such products “and stressed the burdens additional costs impose on Maine businesses and families.”

Collins said she'd seek "additional relief from tariffs and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbor, ally, and largest trading partner.”

Trump started a trade war with America’s longstanding ally and northern neighbor, reaching back to a Depression-era trade law to impose tariffs on Canadian imports. He charged that Canada discriminates against U.S. dairy, auto and alcoholic beverage producers. Canada promptly lashed back with tariffs of 15% to 50% on American products, matching Trump’s import taxes dollar for dollar.

Trump ratcheted the dispute up from there last month by imposing a flat-out ban on $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles.

The U.S. president has claimed that foreign countries pay his tariffs. In fact, U.S. importers do. And they often face the tough choice of having to pass along the higher costs to their customers or absorb them.

As the Nov. 3 midterm elections approach, many Americans are furious about the cost of living. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll of 2,140 U.S. adults, conducted Sept. 24-28, found that 65% now blame Trump’s policies for persistently high prices more than factors outside of his control, signaling weariness over his aggressive use of tariffs and unhappiness with the war with Iran, which has driven up the price of gasoline.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement, “Trump’s desperate, 11th hour attempt to save Susan Collins’ political career is an admission that American voters are rejecting his toxic tariff policies.”

Collins complained that Trump’s levies were hurting Maine farms and businesses that rely on Canadian imports when U.S.-made alternatives are not available. Her office cited the example of Maine wild blueberry growers who need specialized harvesting boxes from Canada that work with their processing equipment.

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A Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office undercover deputy saw Brenton Burke in a silver Chevrolet Silverado 1500 at about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday at Dadeland Mall in Kendall, according to a deputy’s arrest report.

“I then passed the truck, made a U-turn within the parking lot, and as I was passing by the truck for a second time, I observed [Burke] kneeling on the ground,” the undercover deputy wrote, according to the report.

Burke, of Miami Gardens, was at the parking lot of Saks Fifth Avenue, “underneath the steering column, pulling wires,” the deputy wrote, according to the report.

Burke got into the Chevrolet, which did not have a tag, and while leaving the mall at 7573 North Kendall Drive, turned westbound into North Kendall Drive, according to the report.

“I proceeded to engage my emergency equipment, attempting to conduct a traffic stop at which point, he refused to stop,” the deputy wrote, according to the report.

Burke continued fleeing southbound on Southwest 77th Avenue, and the pursuit ended after he crashed into a fence at about 8:50 p.m. on Thursday at Northwest 42nd Court and 18th Street in the area of the Miami International Airport, according to the report.

The Chevrolet Silverado had been stolen from Bomnin Chevrolet at Dadeland, the 5th-floor parking garage, and Burke “had disconnected the LoJack within the vehicle” at the mall’s west parking lot

Deputies took Burke to the MDSO Kendall District Station for an interview. He refused to answer questions, so deputies arrested him. Broward County court records showed Burke has a felony case pending.

Miami-Dade corrections booked Burke shortly after 2:45 a.m. on Friday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center near Doral, according to inmate records.

In Miami-Dade, Burke faced four charges in two new cases and a warrant case.

In one case, he faced a charge of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding police, and criminal mischief of $1,000 or more. In a second case, he faced a charge of grand theft vehicle. The warrant case was for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.

In Broward, Burke, also known as Kareem Bell and Kareem Orien Bell, faced seven charges in a Hollywood Police Department case that remained active on Friday morning.

“Burke was found to be driving an altered vehicle bearing a Florida dealer tag registered to R.A. B. Auto ... That vehicle was revealed to be stolen out of West Palm Beach ... There were two or more stolen vehicles present,” a police officer wrote about Feb. 1, 2024, in Hollywood, according to an arrest affidavit on Aug. 16, 2024, in a chop shop case.

Burke faced five counts of dealing in stolen property, a second-degree felony; one count of operating a chop shop, a third-degree felony; and one count of possession of a major component of a motor vehicle with an altered vehicle identification number.

Broward court records show there had been a warrant out for his arrest since Feb. 7, 2025. He was arrested on Feb. 20 during a burglary at the Infinity Dealership in Tamarac, according to the arrest report. He was released on Feb. 21 on a $17,500 bond. His next hearing in the case is at 9 a.m. on Oct. 16 before Broward County Circuit Judge George Odom Jr.

Location: Deputies arrest Burke after a crash at Northwest 42nd Court and 18th Street

La medida fue dispuesta por el juez federal Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi “en razón de que los sucesos denunciados no encuadran en una figura legal” de estafa, según el fallo al que tuvo acceso The Associated Press.

Milei había difundido en su cuenta de X una criptomoneda con el nombre de su signo del zodíaco que iba a “incentivar el crecimiento de la economía argentina fondeando emprendimientos”. El valor de $LIBRA se disparó rápidamente, casi quintuplicándose.

Pero horas después los primeros poseedores de la divisa digital que aparentemente accedieron a información privilegiada sobre el lanzamiento comenzaron a retirar sus inversiones y el precio se desplomó. Se retiraron aproximadamente 100 millones de dólares por parte de unas pocas billeteras, que son una suerte de cuentas bancarias en ese ecosistema digital.

La difusión de $LIBRA con un tuit que estuvo varias horas fijado en la cuenta de Milei —con 3,8 millones de seguidores—, terminó derivando en una investigación judicial por presunta estafa en perjuicio de más de 40.000 inversionistas y puso al mandatario bajo la lupa de la justicia argentina y de las autoridades de Estados Unidos.

Cuando el caso estalló, Milei se apresuró a afirmar que había actuado de buena fe y sostuvo que quienes invirtieron su dinero sabían que era una operación con riesgo.

La resolución judicial del viernes también favoreció a Karina Milei, hermana del presidente y secretaria general de la Presidencia; a Hayden Mark Davis, un emprendedor estadounidense que proveyó la infraestructura tecnológica para la creación de $LIBRA, y a dos empresarios argentinos que habrían participado en la creación de la moneda e intermediado entre Milei y el estadounidense.

Kaylub Giamanco, whose two daughters attend Silver Rail Elementary, where the Oct. 15 attack occurred, said he feels like he failed the families of those who died.

“I want to apologize for not saving their babies, that’s probably the biggest thing for me right now,” Giamanco told Oregon Public Broadcasting in an interview published Friday. “The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome. But there were ones that I didn’t save.”

Three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — and a teacher were killed at the school in Bend, Oregon, last week when a former student there, 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, blasted his way through locked doors with a shotgun and attacked a special needs classroom. Another student was critically injured and a teacher was injured and hospitalized.

Police say another teacher threw her phone at the attacker and wrestled with him before Giamanco shot and killed him after following the gunman into the building.

Giamanco said he dropped off his daughters at the school that morning before driving to work. A few hours later, the 36-year-old carpenter was passing the school again as he was heading home for lunch.

He said he spotted someone wearing black and carrying a long gun fire shots into a pickup truck and at a person mowing the school's lawn before the shooter climbed a fence and headed toward the school building.

Giamanco said “panic fled into my brain.” He grabbed a .40-caliber handgun from his truck's center console and went after the gunman as he dialed 911. He asked the dispatcher to send help before hanging up his phone.

“I said 'I’m sorry I have to go in. People are going to die,'” Giamanco said in the interview.

`This is probably the last thing that I'm ever going to do'

As he got closer to the building, Giamanco said, he lay on his stomach and used his elbows to crawl across the ground.

“That’s when I started hearing children pleading for their lives,” he said. “And then I started hearing gunfire and I just started army crawling faster and faster. And I told myself: 'This is probably the last thing that I’m ever going to do.'”

Giamanco said he entered the school through a window that had been shot out. Peeking into a nearby classroom, he saw a teacher grappling with the shooter. He said he faced them both in profile, giving him an open shot.

“I felt like I was the last line of defense between him and the rest of the children,” Giamanco said.

He swung the door open, stepped into the room and fired his gun.

Both the gunman and the teacher dropped to the floor. The teacher bolted from the room as the shooter reached for his shotgun.

“He was scrambling for his weapon,” Giamanco said. “I looked at him and I shot him two more times to make sure that he couldn’t move, because I was afraid of him shooting anybody else.”

'I was supposed to be there'

Police have said Giamanco was carrying his gun legally in his truck and have credited him and the unarmed teacher who confronted the gunman with saving lives. A day after the shootings, President Donald Trump said that Giamanco was a “great hero” who “took care of business.”

A second teacher in the classroom, Becky Drury, said in a statement Wednesday that she lay on the floor, helplessly playing dead, after being struck at close range by a shotgun blast that nearly severed her left hand.

The teacher who struggled with the shooter hasn't been publicly identified. Giamanco told the public broadcaster that she's “a real true hero” whose actions gave him an opening to kill the attacker.

“I can’t tell you what it feels like to take a life … but I can tell you that I genuinely feel like I was supposed to be there,” Giamanco said. “If I wasn’t there, I just don’t know what would have happened.”

___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

16 ounces spaghetti

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pound large shrimp (16/20 or U 10 size), peeled and deveined

3 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 pint very small cherry or grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon calabrian chili spread (available to purchase in most stores)

Picked basil leaves, torn into smaller pieces

¼ cup chopped Italian parsley leaves

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season it with salt. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and garlic to the skillet and cook until the shrimp are almost cooked through and the garlic is golden, remove the shrimp and garlic from the skillet and onto a plate. Heat the skillet up again and add the rest of the oil over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, shaking the pan, until they begin to caramelize. Add the chilied spread and 4 ounces of pasta water from cooking the pasta. When the pasta is very al dente, remove from the pot and add to the skillet. Add the shrimp and garlic back into the skillet and heat everything through for 2 minutes. Toss in the basil and parsley. Taste for salt and pepper.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons minced shallots

3 tablespoons minced garlic

Heavy pinch red pepper flakes

zest and juice of 1 lemon

4-5 pounds fresh live mussels, cleaned, beards removed

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken stock

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup chopped Italian parsley leaves

salt and pepper, to taste

for serving, crusty bread

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, warm the oil over medium heat.

Add the shallots and garlic, stirring until soft. Add the pepper flakes, lemon zest and the mussels.

Add the white wine, chicken stock and raise the heat to medium high and cover the pot. Cook, making sure you remove the cover as soon as the mussels have opened, discard any mussels that are unopened. Reduce the heat and remove all the mussels and place them in a serving bowl. Add the butter and heavy cream to the pot, mixing. Add salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Pour the sauce over your mussels and serve immediately with fresh crusty bread.

4 Salmon steaks, skin on (will have a few bones, be aware when eating)

salt and pepper, to taste

¼ teaspoon fennel seed, ground

¼ teaspoon caraway seed

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 leeks, white and green parts, cut in quarters lengthwise, then sliced thin crosswise

1 teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ tablespoon butter

¼ cup cilantro leaves

¼ cup dill leaves

¼ cup Italian parsley leaves

juice and zest from 1 lemon

extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 300˚F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the salmon to the prepared baking sheet and season with the salt, pepper, fennel seed, caraway and lemon zest.

Place the salmon in the oven and cook for about 10-12 minutes depending on how you like your fish cooked.

Heat a pan with olive oil and the butter over medium heat. When hot, add the leeks and cook, stirring, until tender. Add the curry powder and turmeric, season with salt and pepper.

When you remove the salmon from the oven, squeeze half a lemon over the top.

Toss the herbs with the juice from the other half of lemon, a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place the salmon next to the leeks and top with the herb salad.

El hallazgo fue producto de las excavaciones arqueológicas que viene realizando el Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense (EAAF) desde septiembre de 2025 en la guarnición militar La Calera, perteneciente al Tercer Cuerpo del Ejército, en las afueras de la capital provincial ubicada a unos 800 kilómetros al norte de Buenos Aires.

Tras los análisis genéticos a cargo del propio EAAF, la justicia de Córdoba confirmó el viernes la identificación de Néstor Albino Acosta, Pascual Delfín Ludueña, Claudio Nardini, Cecilia Alicia Pessina de Ávila, Mónica Protti de Guillén, Mercedes del Valle Ramírez, María Luisa Salto y Juan Carlos Soulier y Alejandro Jesús Jerez Boderau.

Los nueve se encontraban desaparecidos desde 1976 y estuvieron cautivos en el centro clandestino de detención La Perla, que funcionó en el mismo predio donde fueron hallados sus restos 50 años después del golpe militar que instauró una de las dictaduras más sangrientas de Latinoamérica en la década de 1970.

El régimen dejó 30.000 desaparecidos, según organismos de derechos humanos, y cerca de 8.000, de acuerdo con las cifras oficiales. La mayoría continúa en esa condición.

La Perla funcionó entre 1976 y 1978 como uno de los centros de detención y tortura más grandes del país. Se estima que por allí pasaron unos 2.500 prisioneros políticos, de los cuales unos pocos lograron sobrevivir. Sus testimonios ante estrados judiciales fueron fundamentales para las investigaciones posteriores que permitieron dar con los restos óseos de los detenidos y condenar a los militares responsables por crímenes de lesa humanidad.

Con estas nuevas identificaciones, son 38 las personas desaparecidas halladas e identificadas en La Perla.

“Después de 50 años la tierra nos los empieza a devolver. Son 38 identidades que vuelven a las familias. Encontrarlos es como una caricia al alma en estos tiempos tan duros”, expresó Sebastián Soulier, hijo de Juan Carlos, en rueda de prensa.

Tras el retorno de la democracia en 1983, el Estado argentino asumió la responsabilidad de juzgar a los responsables de los crímenes, pero no puso el mismo empeño en buscar los cuerpos de las víctimas. A eso se sumó la negativa de los militares a brindar información sobre su paradero.

Desde 1984, cuando el EAAF empezó a participar en las excavaciones en todo el país a pedido de las familias de desaparecidos, la institución ha localizado más de 1.600 cuerpos, de los cuales poco más de la mitad fueron identificados.

Las inundaciones se dieron tras dos meses de fuertes lluvias que pusieron fin a un verano de sequía en la región de Four Corners (Cuatro Esquinas), donde confluyen los límites de Arizona, Colorado, Nuevo México y Utah. Desde el miércoles, habían caído en total 10 centímetros (4 pulgadas) en la zona ya saturada, y se pronosticaban más lluvias para el fin de semana.

A lo largo del río San Juan, en la ciudad más grande de la zona: Farmington, Nuevo México, a cientos de personas se les indicó evacuar. Río abajo, residentes de la vasta Nación Navajo se preparaban para una crecida que alcanzará su punto máximo la noche del viernes o la madrugada del sábado.

“No esperen para hacer sus evacuaciones. Hagan sus preparativos para ustedes, sus familias, así como para sus animales”, instó el subjefe de policía de la Nación Navajo, Donnie Kee, durante una conferencia de prensa.

La crisis culminó una semana de clima tempestuoso en la que las lluvias anegaron decenas de viviendas en Utah y tornados arrancaron techos, derribaron árboles y tumbaron líneas eléctricas en Arizona.

En Nuevo México, más inundaciones “de una vez en una generación” por delante

Rescatistas utilizaron balsas, helicópteros y vehículos anfibios de la Guardia Nacional de Nuevo México la noche del jueves y hasta el viernes para intentar llegar a residentes varados, informó el portavoz del condado de San Juan, Devin Neeley.

“Estamos sacando a la gente de los techos y sacando a personas de casas que tienen 3 o 4 pies (1-1,2 metros) de agua dentro, y viene más agua”, informó Neeley.

Las lluvias se detuvieron —al menos temporalmente—, pero los ríos seguían creciendo.

“Esto es grave. Seguimos enviando agentes para sacar a la gente de sus casas ahora mismo. De hecho, nuestro jefe de policía está a punto de perder su casa hoy”, declaró Neeley.

A unas 600 viviendas se les indicó evacuar en Farmington, informó la portavoz de la ciudad, Gina Intoppa.

Aún venía más agua alta a través del río Animas, un afluente del San Juan que también fluye hacia el sur desde el empapado Colorado, dijo el jefe de policía de Farmington, Steve Hebbe, en la conferencia de prensa .

“La gente no cree que vaya a ser tan malo como es. Pero se puede ver cómo viene el flujo de agua, se puede ver cómo viene la crecida”, dijo Hebbe, calificándolo como un evento “de una vez en una generación”.

Peor que las históricas inundaciones del sur de Colorado de hace un año

En el sur de Colorado, las inundaciones fueron incluso peores de lo previsto y alcanzaron 1 metro (3 pies) más que la histórica crecida del río San Juan ocurrida apenas un año atrás. Las precipitaciones superaron los 12,7 centímetros (5 pulgadas) en el área de Pagosa Springs, en el centro-sur de Colorado, según Frank Pereira, meteorólogo del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional en College Park, Maryland.

Rescatistas de la Guardia Nacional de Colorado usaron un helicóptero para llevar a dos personas y a sus tres perros a un lugar seguro desde un vehículo recreativo parcialmente sumergido. Habían conducido por un camino inundado mientras intentaban escapar y fueron arrastrados a un río, informaron funcionarios de la oficina del sheriff del condado Archuleta.

Mientras tanto, las autoridades evaluaban quién más necesitaba ayuda, incluidas muchos cuyas viviendas no se inundaron, pero quedaron aisladas por las aguas.

El sheriff Mike Le Roux dijo que la cantidad de agua era “sin precedentes” y que había causado muchos daños, pero que no tenía conocimiento de muertes ni de lesiones graves.

Entre los evacuados estaba la esposa y los tres hijos de Tyler Scartaccini, quien se quedó atrás para vigilar su propiedad mientras el agua llegaba a su porche y entraba en sus garajes.

“Sentí que estábamos en un lugar muy seguro y ahora no lo siento tanto”, comentó Scartaccini.

En el cercano condado Río Grande, remolques en un campamento quedaron rodeados por agua. Había camiones parcialmente sumergidos en otras zonas.

Entre las carreteras de Colorado cerradas debido a daños por escorrentía estaba la U.S. 550 entre Silverton y Ouray, una ruta escénica de gran altitud conocida como la “Million Dollar Highway”.

El gobernador de Colorado, Jared Polis, declaró una emergencia por desastre en 11 condados.

En Utah, es posible que haya más inundaciones mientras otras zonas se secan

En la ciudad de Hurricane, en el extremo suroeste de Utah, había lodo y escombros que debía limpiarse, mientras personas que habían evacuado hace unos días regresaban a casa.

El peligro se trasladó al sureste de Utah, donde los arroyos corrían rápidos y crecidos. Había avisos de inundación vigentes hasta el fin de semana, dijo Alex DeSmet, meteorólogo del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional en Salt Lake City.

Aun así, la región de Four Corners podría recibir más lluvias intensas este fin de semana, con pronósticos de hasta 1,25 centímetros (media pulgada) para el noroeste de Nuevo México.

Aunque partes del suroeste son rocosas, con poca vegetación, y por naturaleza son propensas a inundaciones repentinas, las lluvias recientes habían saturado el suelo y generado una mayor probabilidad de inundaciones generalizadas. Los meteorólogos dijeron que la humedad provenía de los remanentes de sistemas tropicales del Pacífico que habían tocado tierra.

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McCormack reportó desde Concord, Nueva Hampshire. Los periodistas de The Associated Press Dave Collins en Hartford, Connecticut, y Wufei Yu y Josh Kelety en Phoenix contribuyeron a este despacho.

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

The storm named Vance that strengthened into a hurricane on Friday is not actually named after the vice president, despite a flurry of social media comments linking the two.

Vance just happened to be next on a list of Pacific storm names devised by the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations' weather agency. It follows Trudy, which also reached hurricane strength off Mexico last week.

Storm systems are named by procedures set by the WMO, and the lists of names are reused every six years. For the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific regions, the lists are alphabetical and alternate male and female names.

Representatives from the vice president's office, the WMO and the National Hurricane Center did not immediately respond to email messages Friday.

Social media commenters joked about the hurricane and vice president having the same name. Many of the posts included photos showing the vice president's face in the eye of the storm.

When Tropical Storm Dolly formed in the Atlantic in August, online reaction was swift and voluminous as it came two days after Dolly Parton's death. It also was the case that the storm was not named after the country music icon.

The WMO manages the naming of tropical storms worldwide. The names come from a set of pre-agreed alphabetical lists decided by five tropical cyclone regional bodies. Some of the lists are in a rotation, with the same roster of names being used every few years, while others start a new list every year.

The WMO says naming storms is important because it’s been proven “the fastest way to communicate warnings and raise public awareness and preparedness,” as well as limit confusion when more than one cyclone is moving through. They can also help with research and record-keeping. (The WMO’s Hurricane Committee does not use less common names beginning with Q and U for storms in the eastern North Pacific.)

If any other storms form in the eastern North Pacific this year, they would be named Winnie, Xavier, Yolanda and Zeke.

The next chance for another storm to be named Vance will come in 2032.

The last Hurricane Vance came in 2014, also off Mexico's Pacific Coast. The National Hurricane Center called it a rare November Category 2 storm that dissipated before making landfall. Another Hurricane Vance developed in the same area in 1990 but didn't hit land, the center said.

If storms are particularly devastating, either by death toll or damage, their names can be retired and replaced with new ones on the lists.

“She sounds like herself, and still sounds strong,” said Kim Aris, adding that her voice was a bit croaky, like she had a cold.

Myanmar’s military government on Thursday allowed Aris a 20-minute phone call with his 81-year-old mother, one of the world’s most famous political prisoners. He spoke from Myanmar’s embassy in London to Suu Kyi in her country’s capital, Naypyitaw, where she's serving an 18-year sentence under house arrest.

Suu Kyi has been detained since February 2021, when Myanmar’s army ousted her elected government. Held mostly incommunicado, she's serving an 18-year prison term on charges that supporters and rights groups say are bogus and politically inspired. It’s not the first time she has been kept as a prisoner — she spent almost 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010.

Despite her ordeal and her son’s worry for her well-being, Suu Kyi opened their conversation with a typical mother’s concern for her child, Aris told The Associated Press. Kim is one of two sons Suu Kyi had with her late husband, British academic Michael Aris.

“The first thing my mother asked me was if I was looking after myself, so I reassured her on that, somewhat,” the 49-year-old Kim Aris told The Associated Press on Friday.

Aris has been campaigning vigorously for his mother’s release, calling even for proof of life since information about her was so inaccessible. He completed an 81-kilometer (50-mile) skateboarding marathon in London this past June to mark his mother’s birthday, highlight his campaign for her release and raise funds for humanitarian aid to Myanmar.

“I don’t think she thought that skateboarding was the best way for her to stay fit, but anyway,” Aris said, in apparent reference to their conversation.

Suu Kyi’s health remains an ongoing concern for Aris, and details about her condition left him unsatisfied.

“She said that her hand was in a lot of pain. I think she’s got tendonitis in her right hand, so at points she’s unable to use it,” he said. “Otherwise, she says she’s in good health, but she gets six-month checkups from military doctors, and I’m not sure how far I trust them.”

It’s not even very clear how and where she's being held. She was held in prison for much of her detention before being officially moved to house arrest this past April.

“She’s essentially been held in solitary confinement from what I can gather. People call it house arrest, but it comes with very few privileges,” Aris said, describing her presumed residence as having “a bit of scrubland which calls itself a garden. I don’t know how much she goes out in it.”

On Monday, Myanmar’s military-backed government said that it had delivered two books concerning gardening sent by U.K. King Charles III to Suu Kyi, along with a sealed envelope and diplomatic correspondence. That announcement and Thursday’s phone call appear to be part of a charm offensive aimed at building diplomatic legitimacy.

President Min Aung Hlaing, who led the army’s 2021 takeover, has sought to end Myanmar’s international isolation, imposed after Suu Kyi was ousted, by trying to project a return to normalcy after holding an election earlier this year.

Although critics judged the election as neither free nor fair, Min Aung Hlaing’s government seems to be making progress in restoring warmer relations with neighboring countries and even the United States, which had been a leading critic of military rule. At the same time, Myanmar’s army remains engaged in a civil war against pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic rebel groups.

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Grant Peck contributed to this report.

Brown, whose death Friday was announced by LSU, was just over a week away from what would have been his 91st birthday. On Wednesday, Brown was announced as the 2027 recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award.

“We have lost the most loving and most loved man any of us has ever known," Brown's family said in a statement. "Dale Brown always put others first. He always led with the heart. He was always a great humanitarian before anything else. Dale long ago fell in love with Louisiana. And the people of Louisiana loved him right back. We are forever grateful for that.”

Brown was named AP Coach of the Year in 1981, was a four-time SEC Coach of the Year and has the most wins of a coach in program history. The panache with which his teams played and the rate at which they won packed LSU’s dome-shaped Pete Maravich Assembly Center with crowds so wild that the stadium took on the nickname, “Deaf Dome.”

The highlights of his 25 years as LSU’s coach included two trips to the NCAA Final Four with his 1981 and 1986 teams.

He coached O’Neal for three seasons, from the 1989-90 campaign until the charismatic, 7-foot-1 superstar entered the 1992 NBA draft and was selected first overall by Orlando. LSU earned bids to the NCAA Tournament during all three of O’Neal’s seasons, the first with Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, then known as Chris Jackson, also an All-American, but did not advance past the second round.

The final years of Brown’s career were marred by an NCAA investigation over alleged recruiting tactics that now are permitted.

During the 1996-97 season, the NCAA concluded that a booster had paid one of Brown’s former players, Lester Earl, about $5,000 while he played for the Tigers.

Brown retired in 1997 and LSU was placed on probation in 1998.

Still, Brown remained popular in Louisiana, where his enthusiastic, gregarious and expressive manner had long captivated fans. Many LSU fans also appeared to subscribe to a storyline — espoused in no small part by Brown — that he was unfairly singled out and persecuted by the NCAA.

Brown later was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and LSU’s home basketball court was named for him in 2022 (and also subsequently for late women’s coach Sue Gunter in 2024).

When Brown’s name was unveiled on the court during a halftime ceremony, Brown credited his former players and assistant coaches, many of whom were in attendance that night.

“The best potential of me is we,” Brown said. “This is an example.”

The late former Temple coach John Chaney called Brown “one of the true statesmen of college basketball,” according to a profile of Brown on LSU’s website.

That same profile also quoted Hall of Fame UCLA coach John Wooden saying he will “always remember Dale for his enthusiasm.”

“There are those who say he is a put-on — they just can’t believe that he can be what he professes,” Wooden said then. “But I never questioned that. He amazed me because there is a lot more depth to the man. He was much more than a basketball coach.”

Brown was a native of Minot, North Dakota, and was a three-sport varsity athlete in basketball, football and track at Minot State.

After college, he spent a little more than half a decade as a high school coach in North Dakota and California before taking college assistant posts Utah State in 1966 and Washington State in 1971.

When he was hired by LSU in 1972, few Tigers fans had previously heard of him. His name recognition and popularity began surging after LSU knocked off then-third-ranked Memphis State in the home opener of Brown’s first season.

Brown went on to coach an LSU squad forecast to finish last in the SEC to a 9-9 league record, resulting in his first SEC Coach of the Year honor.

Brown went on to post a career 448-301 record at LSU. Following his retirement, Brown became a motivational speaker, a basketball analyst for television broadcasts and started the charitable Dale Brown Foundation, which aims to promote educational opportunities for students who have physical disabilities or come from families who’ve struggled financially.

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For Keely Copeland, that opportunity became the inspiration for Her Second Chance, a Boca Raton-based nonprofit social enterprise that provides women in recovery with paid employment in a safe, supportive environment.

Copeland’s struggles with alcohol began when she was a teenager.

By the time she graduated from college, she had a DUI on her record, a criminal conviction that she said made it difficult to find work.

“I was applying to everything. But on every application then and now there’s a box that asks if you have a criminal record,” Copeland said. “I couldn’t even get an interview to get someone to give me a chance.”

Eventually, someone did giver her that chance.

At 22, Copeland began her journey toward an alcohol-free life. She went on to build a career in hospitality marketing and now lives in Hong Kong with her husband and their 1-year-old daughter, Winnie.

“I am really, really grateful for my sobriety and that it stuck, but it took me a few years to get there. And that’s where Second Chance comes into the picture,” she said.

Copeland founded Her Second Chance to help other women in recovery find the kind of opportunity that helped her rebuild her own life.

The organization operates as a social enterprise, employing women in recovery for one year while providing a supportive setting where they can develop skills, earn income and work toward greater self-sufficiency.

For Christina Betrus, the program offered a path forward after she entered sober living.

“When I went into sober living, they had a connection with Her Second Chance, and I applied and got the job,” Betrus said.

Betrus, who has been sober for nine months, works alongside other women to produce items such as beaded bracelets and custom mugs. The products are sold to the public, and the proceeds go back into the organization to support its mission.

The work provides more than a paycheck. It also offers a chance to build connections with other women who understand the challenges of recovery.

Asked what she had gained through the program, Betrus pointed to one thing: “I think, community.”

Sarah Lucas, a member of the organization’s board, knows firsthand that addiction can affect people regardless of their professional accomplishments or circumstances.

“I didn’t know that someone like me who had an MBA from Harvard Business School could also be a person who was an alcoholic and actively drinking herself to death,” Lucas said.

Lucas has been sober for nearly 19 years and has made supporting others in recovery a central part of her life.

“And, to the extent that I can be an example of how to do that for the women here, I’m happy to do so,” she said.

For Lucas, the organization’s work depends on community members who choose to support its mission, including by purchasing its products.

“It’s through the orders that people place that we are able to exist and continue to grow,” she said.

Each mug sold by Her Second Chance creates 22 minutes of paid work, according to the organization.

Betrus said the program offers women an opportunity to envision a future beyond addiction.

“There is hope that there is a place where women can feel empowered, where we can change, where we can grow,” she said. “We’re here to help.”

For Copeland, the mission reflects a lesson from her own recovery: lasting sobriety is about creating a life worth staying present for.

“You stay sober when you build a life you no longer want to escape. For me that’s the full story,” she said.

Her Second Chance plans to host an open house on Thursday, Nov. 12, to showcase its new line of products.

Para Keely Copeland, esa oportunidad se convirtió en la inspiración para crear Her Second Chance, una empresa social sin fines de lucro con sede en Boca Raton que ofrece empleo remunerado a mujeres en recuperación en un entorno seguro y de apoyo.

Los problemas de Copeland con el alcohol comenzaron cuando era adolescente.

Cuando se graduó de la universidad, ya tenía en su historial una condena por conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol (DUI), un antecedente penal que, según dijo, le dificultaba encontrar trabajo.

“Estaba solicitando empleo en todas partes. Pero en todas las solicitudes, tanto entonces como ahora, hay una casilla que pregunta si tienes antecedentes penales”, dijo Copeland. “Ni siquiera podía conseguir una entrevista para que alguien me diera una oportunidad”.

Finalmente, alguien le dio esa oportunidad.

A los 22 años, Copeland comenzó su camino hacia una vida sin alcohol. Posteriormente, desarrolló una carrera en mercadeo hotelero y ahora vive en Hong Kong con su esposo y su hija Winnie, de un año.

“Estoy realmente muy, muy agradecida por mi sobriedad y por haber logrado mantenerla, pero me tomó algunos años llegar hasta allí. Y ahí es donde entra en escena Second Chance”, dijo.

Copeland fundó Her Second Chance para ayudar a otras mujeres en recuperación a encontrar el tipo de oportunidad que le permitió reconstruir su propia vida.

La organización funciona como una empresa social que emplea a mujeres en recuperación durante un año, mientras les proporciona un entorno de apoyo donde pueden desarrollar habilidades, obtener ingresos y trabajar para alcanzar una mayor autosuficiencia.

Para Christina Betrus, el programa le ofreció un camino hacia adelante después de ingresar a una residencia de recuperación para personas que buscan mantenerse sobrias.

“Cuando ingresé a la residencia de recuperación, tenían una conexión con Her Second Chance, así que presenté mi solicitud y conseguí el trabajo”, dijo Betrus.

Betrus, quien lleva nueve meses sobria, trabaja junto a otras mujeres para elaborar artículos como pulseras de cuentas y tazas personalizadas. Los productos se venden al público y las ganancias se reinvierten en la organización para apoyar su misión.

El trabajo ofrece mucho más que un salario. También brinda la oportunidad de establecer vínculos con otras mujeres que comprenden los desafíos de la recuperación.

Cuando le preguntaron qué había obtenido a través del programa, Betrus destacó una cosa: “Creo que una comunidad”.

Sarah Lucas, miembro de la junta directiva de la organización, sabe por experiencia propia que la adicción puede afectar a las personas independientemente de sus logros profesionales o circunstancias.

“No sabía que alguien como yo, que tenía una maestría en Administración de Empresas de Harvard Business School, también podía ser una persona alcohólica que estaba literalmente bebiendo hasta morir”, dijo Lucas.

Lucas lleva casi 19 años sobria y ha convertido el apoyo a otras personas en recuperación en una parte fundamental de su vida.

“Y, en la medida en que pueda ser un ejemplo de cómo lograrlo para las mujeres que están aquí, me alegra poder hacerlo”, dijo.

Para Lucas, el trabajo de la organización depende de los miembros de la comunidad que deciden apoyar su misión, incluso mediante la compra de sus productos.

“Es gracias a los pedidos que hacen las personas que podemos existir y continuar creciendo”, dijo.

Cada taza vendida por Her Second Chance genera 22 minutos de trabajo remunerado, según la organización.

Betrus dijo que el programa ofrece a las mujeres la oportunidad de imaginar un futuro más allá de la adicción.

“Hay esperanza de que exista un lugar donde las mujeres puedan sentirse empoderadas, donde podamos cambiar, donde podamos crecer”, dijo. “Estamos aquí para ayudar”.

Para Copeland, la misión refleja una lección de su propia recuperación: mantener la sobriedad a largo plazo consiste en construir una vida de la que ya no se quiera escapar.

“Te mantienes sobrio cuando construyes una vida de la que ya no quieres escapar. Para mí, esa es la historia completa”, dijo.

Her Second Chance tiene previsto realizar una jornada de puertas abiertas el jueves 12 de noviembre para presentar su nueva línea de productos.

Los registros judiciales muestran que Lazo, de 41 años, había solicitado una orden de restricción contra Ivan Granado, un “ex novio con quien convivía”, que poseía un arma de fuego y había servido en las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos, en abril, pero un juez desestimó la solicitud el 30 de septiembre alegando que “no existía una causa justificada”.

Hector Rodriguez y Cecilia Delfino se encontraban entre los vecinos preocupados después de que los agentes rodearan la vivienda y cerraran Southwest 148th Street, entre 155th Avenue y 154th Court, en la comunidad Oak Creek.

“Muy dulce, realmente muy dulce, una persona tranquila”, dijo Rodriguez sobre Lazo, a quien también describió como una “persona encantadora”.

Delfino, vecina de Lazo, dijo que escuchó a alguien gritar y tres disparos. Personal de los Bomberos de Miami-Dade (MDFR) y agentes de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade respondieron a una balacera alrededor de las 11 a.m. del jueves en 15472 SW 148 St.

“Descubrieron a un hombre y una mujer que habían sufrido heridas de bala”, dijo el agente Danny Castillo, portavoz de la Oficina del Sheriff de Miami-Dade (MDSO), durante una conferencia de prensa el jueves.

El personal de MDFR declaró muerto al hombre y trasladó a la mujer, cuyo estado era crítico, al Jackson South Medical Center, según Castillo.

“Parece que, después de disparar su arma de fuego, la apuntó contra sí mismo y se suicidó”, dijo Castillo.

Los agentes aún no habían confirmado las identidades del hombre y la mujer. Los detectives pidieron a cualquier persona que tenga información sobre este u otros casos que llame a Crime Stoppers del condado Miami-Dade al 305-471-8477 para permanecer en el anonimato.

Si usted o alguien que conoce está luchando con pensamientos suicidas, puede llamar, enviar un mensaje de texto o comunicarse por chat con la Línea de Prevención del Suicidio y Crisis al 988, disponible las 24 horas del día, los siete días de la semana.

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Police say they found the victim hiding under a sink in a motel room.

Terrance Lamont Lee, 43, now faces several felony charges in Leon County.

Missing teen found under sink

According to an arrest report obtained by Local 10 News on Friday, Tallahassee police responded to a Motel 6 off Interstate 10 after deputies in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, asked them Monday to search that area for a vehicle associated with the “missing, endangered” young teenager.

The Tallahassee Police Department report states that Motel 6 staff pointed officers towards Lee’s room.

Police said they arrived to find Lee sitting in a stairwell near the room and said he “immediately began to shake and showed signs of nervousness.”

At first, they said Lee “told officers the victim was not with him or in his motel room.”

Then, they said he fessed up and told officers she was there and could enter.

“Fearing for the victim’s safety, patrol officers entered the hotel room and located the victim hiding under the bathroom sink,” the report states. “The victim was detained in handcuffs due to initially being uncooperative with officers on scene.”

‘You belong to me. I own you’

Authorities said the girl told police that she met Lee through Snapchat and told him she was 18 and that Lee drove to Louisiana “to get her away from her father.”

“The victim advised Terrence (sic) believed she did not have clothes, so he brought a red suitcase with items that belonged to his ex-girlfriend for her,” the report states. “Within the suitcase were a pair of jeans for the victim to wear. The victim noted ‘stripper clothes’ were inside the suitcase but were not for her. She also described the clothes as ‘hoe clothes.’”

According to police, she claimed she and Lee “chilled” at the hotel and denied any sexual contact, saying she hid out of fear of getting in trouble.

But authorities said the girl eventually opened up during a forensic interview.

“The victim met (Lee) on Snapchat where he stated he was the owner and CEO of the ‘Babylon Dating App.’ They communicated and he agreed to travel to (redacted) and bring her back to South Florida,” the report states. “Once he picked up the victim, he stated, ‘You belong to me. I own you.’ He explained the victim could make money by providing ‘backrubs’ and the victim met her first ‘client’ at a hotel in (redacted). The victim stated she was scared, nervous and ‘she did not know what she was doing.’”

Authorities said she performed a sex act on that unknown “client,” who came back the next day to sexually assault her, knowing she was 13.

After she and Lee traveled to Tallahassee, she was prostituted for three more “clients,” according to police.

“She detailed three different sexual batteries committed by three different offenders,” the report states. “The victim stated Terrence (sic) destroyed her old phone and ran it over with his vehicle. In addition, she said (he) controls the money, the phone, sends her into motel rooms to get the money from the offenders, gives the money to (Lee) and the is sent back into the room to be sexually assaulted by the men who paid money.”

Police said the girl “displayed genuine emotional distress during her disclosure” and “appeared nervous, scared and was crying at times.”

‘Alright y’all. Lemme tell y’all what happened’

They said in a separate interview, Lee claimed he met the girl on an app called Hily and “expressed interest in traveling to her and bringing her back to South Florida” because he claimed her father “abused” her.

Lee, they said, “emphasized the fact he did not know she was 13 years old multiple times throughout the interview.”

Police said he claimed the two “chilled” as they drove through multiple states on their way back to Florida and “denied any sexual contact with the victim.”

Authorities said detectives learned that Lee’s phone number was on multiple prostitution websites and confronted him about it.

“At first, he denied these allegations and stated his ex-girlfriend used his phone number and made the posts,” the report states. “Detectives showed him posts that displayed nude pictures of himself.”

Police said Lee “declined to acknowledge these images and would not give a definitive ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”

They then said they then confronted him with a prostitution ad placed on Monday morning, using a different phone number, that advertised services in Tallahassee. Police said in the post were pictures and videos of the girl nude or performing sex acts.

The report states that Lee “was completely silent, looked at the ad for several minutes.

“I could see fear in his eyes,” a detective wrote.

Authorities said Lee admitted the phone number in the ad also belonged to him and “admitted to making the post and confirmed the victim was pictured in the videos and images.”

Lee claimed he had made another ad in Pensacola for the girl, “but no one responded to it and no one ever met with the victim.”

“Terrence (sic) stated he met one person today for a ‘back massage,’ the victim would provide to the unknown suspect,“ the report states. ”He again denied any sexual nexus to the victim and denied having sex with her."

But, according to the report, once a detective told him he would “100%” be charged with human trafficking, Lee came clean.

“Alright y’all,” authorities said he told detectives. “Lemme tell y’all what happened.”

They said he admitted to posting the images and ad “in order to ‘make money’ because he needed to provide for his ‘new girlfriend.’”

Serious felony charges

Police said he also admitted to sexually assaulting the girl on Sunday. They arrested him on charges of human trafficking, lewd and lascivious behavior, interference with custody and three charges related to the possession and promotion of child sexual abuse material.

He faces the possibility of life in prison.

As of Friday, he remained held without bond in the Leon County Jail.

Online court records show he’s pleaded not guilty. Those records don’t list dates of any upcoming hearings.