In 2014, I wrote a book with that title.

Today, the social challenges facing Cuba are even greater.

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

1) The history of the country

2) The culture of the country

3) The personal experiences of the population

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oct. 1: Robberies and delinquencies increase in Cuba

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

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

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

Near the Miami International Airport, at the state’s headquarters of the Greater Miami Expressway Agency, which runs electronic tolls at some expressways in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, DeSantis said he wants those who leaked the report prosecuted.

“I think you need to hold the people accountable who disclose this because I think it has been very serious, and it was political,” DeSantis said during a news conference.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who is campaigning for the Nov. 3 election and served as DeSantis’s chief of staff, was also at the news conference.

“If somebody shows a violation, no matter where it is, I pursue it,” said Uthmeier, who was sworn in on Feb. 17, 2025, after DeSantis’s appointment.

First Lady Casey DeSantis founded Hope Florida as a welfare assistance program on Sept. 9, 2021, and the Hope Florida Foundation started on Aug. 25, 2023.

The $67 million Medicaid settlement between Centene, a health insurer accused of overbilling, and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration was on Sept. 27, 2024. Florida Rep. Alex Andrade held public hearings into Hope Florida in 2025.

“The donation had nothing to do with anything involving Medicaid or Medicare money,” DeSantis said about the $10 million Centene gave the Hope Florida Foundation.

After Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell led the investigation into Hope Florida, the court filed the grand jury’s report under seal on Jan. 28. The grand jury’s report leaked to Miami-Dade-based journalists in August.

“You had people that were named, went in front of a trial judge in Leon County, probably one of the most hostile judges to our administration ... and even that judge ... redacted 95% of the report that ended up leaking,” DeSantis said about Leon County Circuit Judge James Lee Marsh, who was appointed in 2018 by then Gov. Rick Scott, a U.S. Senator since 2019.

The Leon County grand jury found that Uthmeier was “in a position of authority” over those involved in the settlement, and was aware that Hope Florida “transferred” funds “to other organizations for political purposes.”

Last week, The Florida Trident reported that Andrade, who took office in 2018, filed a claim with the Internal Revenue Service about the tax-exempt status of Hope Florida, which transferred the settlement funds to nonprofits that then funded Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee that Uthmeier chaired and opposed the legalization of marijuana.

On Wednesday, in the Florida First District Court of Appeal’s majority opinion to keep the Leon County grand jury report hidden, First DCA Judge Lance E. Neff — who DeSantis appointed on March 2 — wrote that the grand jury “may not condemn people by name without indicting them.”

On Thursday, DeSantis said the request to the IRS was “fake” and the First DCA’s ruling, “the biggest judicial smackdown,” then “fully” debunked the Leon County grand jury report and “vindicates” him and his administration.

“This fully debunks this idea of any type of misappropriation; there was no misappropriation,” DeSantis said. That’s a lie. That’s a hoax. That’s a partisan exercise that people who are abusing this process tried to perpetrate.”

Watch the news conference

The warrant identifies 25-year-old Braveone Jones as the suspected gunman in the Sept. 15 shooting at Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen, located at 316 NW 24th St.

Jones was arrested Tuesday evening at Trippie Redd’s Southwest Ranches home, where multiple law enforcement agencies served a warrant around 6 p.m.

According to Miami police, the operation involved Davie police, Fort Lauderdale police, Sunrise police, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Plantation Police Department’s SWAT team.

Jones faces two counts of attempted second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.

Surveillance video captures fight, shooting

According to the arrest warrant, Miami police responded to the restaurant shortly after midnight Sept. 15 following reports that two men had been shot.

Officers began providing first aid to the victims, who were later taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

Miami Fire Rescue officials previously said the victims were 18 and 23 years old and said both were transported to a hospital in stable condition.

Investigators said surveillance video showed Jones entering the restaurant with four other men.

The footage then captured a confrontation involving Trippie Redd, whose legal name is Michael Lamar White, and one of the shooting victims, according to the warrant.

Police said the rapper pushed the man, sparking a fight between two groups.

As the confrontation continued and the men fell to the ground, investigators said Jones, who was dressed in black and carrying a white crossbody bag, reached inside the bag and pulled out a gun.

According to the warrant, Jones shot one victim in the back before apparently firing approximately three additional rounds, striking the second victim in the neck.

Police said Jones, Trippie Redd and the other men immediately left the restaurant.

Detectives recovered a shell casing near a bench in the restaurant’s patio area, according to the warrant.

Victims describe chaotic moments

One victim told investigators he was at the restaurant with his cousin and another individual known as “1900 Rugrat” when a confrontation broke out.

He said he saw someone bump into the restaurant’s owner before two groups began fighting.

The victim told police he heard gunfire and tried to escape by jumping over tables. He said he did not see anyone holding a gun.

During a subsequent interview, the victim said Trippie Redd had shoved his cousin and that he tried to break up the fight before two unidentified men attacked him.

He told detectives he climbed onto a chair and felt a bullet strike his neck.

According to the warrant, the victim said he ran away holding his neck before attempting to help his wounded cousin, who appeared to be losing consciousness.

The second victim told investigators he had been leaving the restaurant when Trippie Redd approached and pushed him.

He said the two began fighting and that he was shot in the buttocks as they fell to the ground.

The victim told police he did not see who fired the gun because he was shot from behind.

Investigators said the man also described a disagreement with Jones about six months earlier over who had started a group known as “YOP.” The victim said the two had not spoken since that argument.

According to the warrant, a witness told detectives she heard gunfire during the fight and saw a man dressed in black shooting.

After reviewing surveillance footage with investigators, the witness identified Trippie Redd as the person who initiated the confrontation.

“That’s Trippie, he started that shit,” she told investigators, according to the warrant.

Investigators trace getaway vehicle to Doral

Police said surveillance footage showed Jones, Trippie Redd and several other men leaving the restaurant in a dark-colored Kia.

Investigators used surveillance cameras and license plate readers to track the vehicle from Wynwood toward Doral.

According to the warrant, the Kia was eventually seen entering the Sanctuary Doral apartment complex at 9400 NW 41st St.

Surveillance footage from the complex showed the group entering a parking garage and walking toward an apartment, police said.

Investigators identified two other men accompanying the group as Trumane White and Darrell Kinsey.

According to the warrant, electronic access records showed the apartment’s deadbolt was unlocked shortly after the group arrived.

Police said the men were later seen leaving the apartment, but Jones was no longer carrying the white crossbody bag he had been wearing during the shooting.

Coast Guard encounter helps identify suspect

The warrant also details how investigators connected Jones to Trippie Redd before the shooting.

A U.S. Coast Guard petty officer told detectives he had encountered both men during an inspection of a large boat anchored south of the Rickenbacker Causeway in Biscayne Bay on the evening of Sept. 14, just hours before the shooting.

According to the warrant, Jones identified himself as “YOP” and was wearing a distinctive diamond bat necklace with the same letters.

The Coast Guard officer also recognized Trippie Redd and confirmed his identity during the encounter.

Investigators later showed the officer a photograph of Jones, and he identified him as the man he had encountered aboard the boat.

Police also said a Pembroke Pines detective recognized Jones from a separate robbery investigation in which Jones had been identified as a suspect.

Arrest at rapper’s Southwest Ranches home

Jones was taken into custody Tuesday after authorities served the warrant at Trippie Redd’s Southwest Ranches home.

As of Thursday afternoon, Jones was no longer appearing in the online jail database.

The arrest warrant, signed Sept. 23, lists two counts of attempted second-degree murder with a deadly weapon and a total bond amount of $30,000.

Although the warrant identifies Trippie Redd as a participant in the fight preceding the shooting, it does not list criminal charges against the rapper in connection with the incident.

The investigation remains ongoing, according to police.

The eighth-seeded Liberty trail 2-0 after falling 101-98 in overtime to the Dream on Wednesday night. They now must win three games in a row to reach the WNBA Finals. No team has ever rallied from a 2-0 deficit in league history. Game 3 is Friday night in New York.

“We’re not focused on winning three games straight right now,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart said. “We’re focused on winning one game, and that’s Friday, and then we go from there. This group has experience. I’ve been part of some crazy series and I have a lot of confidence in our group.”

The confusion came in the final seconds of OT when New York trailed and Angel Reese was at the foul line. Stewart asked the officials whether the team had their reset timeout remaining. Stewart said the official answered no. In a postgame pool report, the head official contradicted that, saying New York did have their timeout.

Without the timeout, where New York could have advanced the ball to midcourt, Stewart missed a desperation shot at the buzzer. The Liberty have made an official inquiry with the WNBA although its not clear what would even come from that.

Atlanta is now one victory away from reaching the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013. The Dream have looked dominant throughout the playoffs led by Reese and Jordin Canada. Reese scored six of her team’s 13 points in overtime. She made two free throws with 4.3 seconds left after Sabrina Ionescu overthrew a pass with her team down one.

That's when the Liberty weren't sure if they had a timeout or not and Stewart asked the official. Usually it's the responsibility of a coach on the bench to keep track of timeouts, not referees.

Canada had 23 points and eight assists in the Game 2 victory and was disruptive on the defensive end. Reese and Canada have helped the team win all four of the Dream’s playoff games, leading a swarming defense. Atlanta forced New York into 35 turnovers combined in the first two games. The 16 turnovers on Wednesday led to 28 Dream points.

The Dream won Game 2 without star Allisha Gray, who was sidelined with a finger injury from the first game. She is day-to-day. A win by Atlanta on Friday would give her a week to recover before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, which is schedule for a week from Saturday.

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See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

Pike, 50, has regained consciousness and is speaking a week after Tennessee gave her two lethal doses of pentobarbital. Outgoing Republican Gov. Bill Lee has ordered a review into what went wrong and the state has not said whether they will again try executing her, which experts say could wade into uncharted legal waters.

Pike, who was sentenced to die for torturing and killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, is one of at least eight condemned inmates in the U.S. who left their state's execution chamber still alive because of problems carrying out the punishment, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Pike is the only one who was actually administered lethal drugs before the process was halted, according to the organization.

Not all have faced execution a second time. Three of the inmates would die years later in prison, two remain alive and two were executed after another attempt.

Lethal injection failures in Ohio

Ohio unsuccessfully tried to put Romell Broom to death by lethal injection in September 2009. The execution was called off after two hours when technicians could not find a suitable vein, and Broom cried in pain while receiving 18 needle sticks.

Broom died in December 2020 of possible complications of COVID-19 while on Ohio’s death row.

Ohio also failed to execute another inmate, Alva Campbell, in November 2017 by lethal injection. The execution was halted after executioners couldn't find a usable vein.

Campbell was found unresponsive in his death row cell in March 2018. It was determined that he died from natural causes.

Alabama executed inmates a second time after failed attempts

Alabama called off the execution of Doyle Lee Hamm in February 2018 because of problems getting the intravenous line connected. A doctor hired by Hamm's legal team later wrote in a report, filed in court, that Hamm had to be carried back to his cell by correctional officers after the execution was called off because he was in so much pain.

Hamm died of natural causes on death row in November 2021.

In September 2022, Alabama unsuccessfully executed Alan Eugene Miller by lethal injection when executioners spent more than an hour trying and failing to properly insert the catheter, repeatedly puncturing Miller with needles trying to find a vein. At one point, they left him hanging vertically on a gurney before state officials made the decision to call off the execution, according to news coverage at the time.

Miller had originally asked for nitrogen gas, but the Alabama Department of Corrections told a federal district court that they could not complete the execution that way.

The state successfully executed him two years later in September 2024 with nitrogen gas.

Almost two months after failing to execute Miller, Alabama had a second failed execution, when executioners did not have enough time to get a second IV line in before the death warrant expired at midnight for Kenneth Eugene Smith.

Smith was the first person to die by nitrogen gas as an execution method in January 2024.

Idaho prisoner remains alive

Idaho halted the execution of Thomas Eugene Creech in February 2024 after medical team members repeatedly failed to find a vein to carry out the lethal injection. In some cases, they couldn’t access the vein, and in others they could but had concerns about vein quality. They attempted sites in his arms, legs, hands and feet. At one point, a medical team member left to gather more supplies.

After eight attempts, the prison warden told them to give up. Creech remains alive and on death row.

Pike was the second failed execution in Tennessee this year

Four months before Pike's execution went awry, Tennessee officials called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers in May after his executioners tried and failed for over an hour to establish an intravenous line.

Lee announced soon afterward that the state would not try to execute Carruthers again for at least a year. Tennessee prison officials have said medical personnel had quickly established a primary IV line but were unable to find a suitable vein for a backup line as required by the state’s execution protocol. Efforts to insert a central line also failed.

Carruthers remains alive and on death row.

The NFL is supporting New Jersey's request for the Supreme Court to rule on the governing authority for prediction markets, which provide an opportunity to trade — or wager — on the result of future events. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has maintained it has exclusive federal jurisdiction, while states have argued that the array of typically yes-or-no questions is akin to gambling and falls under their purview.

“Absent the clarity that only this Court can provide, (prediction market) operators will continue exploiting the gap between state and federal regulation, endangering consumers and the integrity of sports events across the country,” lawyers for the NFL wrote.

According to the NFL's brief, on the first Sunday of this season, more than half of the trading volume on prediction markets — $1.8 billion out of $3.3 billion total — was related to the league.

"Any delay from the Court will result in increasing consumer harm and risk to game integrity,” the NFL wrote in its brief.

Kalshi spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said its top priority is market integrity, and she pointed to its partnerships with the NHL, Major League Baseball and other sports organizations as evidence.

“Contrary to the NFL’s statements, the CFTC is actively policing sports-related markets, which are now listed on nearly every U.S. commodities exchange,” Diana said. "The CFTC’s ongoing rulemaking addresses many of the NFL’s supposed concerns. And those rules sit atop the same comprehensive system of federal enforcement that protects trillions of dollars of transactions in U.S. markets.”

A Polymarket spokesperson said the operator “shares the NFL’s commitment to preserving the integrity of the game,” and it is working on "a harmonized federal framework that delivers a stronger, more consistent form of integrity compared to a patchwork of disconnected state laws built for a bygone era.”

Ohio filed a brief on Wednesday urging the high court to side with New Jersey and preserve the power of all states to regulate prediction markets, as they do casino gambling and sports betting. The filing was backed by 38 states, including Republican and Democratic attorneys general from states including Arkansas, California, Illinois, Missouri, New York, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Roughly 20 states are involved in litigation over prediction markets, and a split has formed between appeals courts, making it more likely that the Supreme Court will take up the issue. The 6th and 9th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have ruled in favor of states seeking to regulate prediction markets, while the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Kalshi in a ruling earlier this year.

“As between the two approaches, the NFL believes the Sixth and Ninth Circuits got it right, given the current landscape,” lawyers for the league wrote in their brief.

The NFL also is questioning the CFTC's enforcement capabilities. In its filing, the league writes that the commission has 543 employees and their responsibilities include a range of derivatives beyond event contracts.

“Without adequate staff engaged in oversight and enforcement, even the best regulations cannot meaningfully ensure game integrity and consumer protection,” lawyers wrote in the NFL brief.

A message was left by the AP seeking comment from the CFTC.

The NFL has urged the CFTC and prediction markets to adopt a list of prohibited wagers that it feels pose the greatest threats to game integrity, according to the brief, but they have declined thus far. It also has asked the commission to adopt an age limit of 21 for trading on prediction markets, up from the current 18.

Diana said Kalshi has tried to collaborate with the NFL on market integrity, but it has received no response.

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Associated Press writer Marc Levy contributed.

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See AP’s full sports coverage here

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Miramar police identified the suspect in an arrest report as Javondre Antonio Jackson.

According to the report, officers responded to an animal cruelty complaint Tuesday at a home in the 11400 block of Southwest 26th Street.

During their investigation, officers obtained multiple videos that allegedly showed Jackson grabbing his dog by the neck, strangling it and throwing it against a wall.

Police said the footage was recorded last Saturday and that Jackson had sent the videos to another person in an attempt to antagonize them.

Investigators determined the videos showed Jackson intentionally inflicting excessive and unnecessary pain and suffering on the animal, according to the report.

Police also obtained sworn, recorded statements identifying Jackson as the person seen abusing the dog.

According to the arrest report, Jackson sent text messages Tuesday to someone, threatening to kill people and then himself.

After being placed into the backseat of a police car Tuesday night, Jackson used his feet to damage the vehicle’s protective partition and threatened to kill officers and himself, authorities said.

Online jail records show Jackson was booked into the Broward County Main Jail Wednesday morning on charges of aggravated animal cruelty -- a third-degree felony -- and criminal mischief.

While the report does not name the person Jackson allegedly sent the text messages and video to, a Broward County bond court judge ordered Jackson to not have contact with any witnesses in the case, including his ex-girlfriend.

As of Thursday afternoon, he remained jailed on a $15,500 bond.

La policía de Miramar identificó al sospechoso en un informe de arresto como Javondre Antonio Jackson.

Según el informe, los agentes respondieron el martes a una denuncia de crueldad animal en una vivienda ubicada en la cuadra 11400 de Southwest 26th Street.

Durante la investigación, los agentes obtuvieron varios videos que presuntamente mostraban a Jackson agarrando a su perro por el cuello, estrangulándolo y lanzándolo contra una pared.

La policía indicó que las imágenes fueron grabadas el sábado pasado y que Jackson había enviado los videos a otra persona con la intención de provocarla.

Los investigadores determinaron que los videos mostraban a Jackson infligiendo intencionalmente dolor y sufrimiento excesivos e innecesarios al animal, según el informe.

La policía también obtuvo declaraciones juradas y grabadas que identificaban a Jackson como la persona que aparecía maltratando al perro.

Según el informe de arresto, Jackson envió mensajes de texto el martes a una persona, amenazando con matar a otras personas y luego quitarse la vida.

Después de ser colocado en el asiento trasero de una patrulla policial la noche del martes, Jackson utilizó sus pies para dañar la mampara de protección del vehículo y amenazó con matar a los agentes y quitarse la vida, informaron las autoridades.

Los registros de la cárcel en línea muestran que Jackson fue ingresado en la cárcel principal del condado Broward la mañana del miércoles por cargos de crueldad animal agravada, un delito grave de tercer grado, y daños a la propiedad.

Aunque el informe no identifica a la persona a la que Jackson presuntamente envió los mensajes de texto y el video, un juez del tribunal de fianzas del condado Broward ordenó que Jackson no tuviera contacto con ningún testigo del caso, incluida su ex novia.

Hasta la tarde del jueves, permanecía detenido con una fianza de $15,500 USD.

Thongxay Nilakout, 49, had been willing to return to Laos before the U.S. deported him to South Sudan, attorney Tin Nguyen said. A Lao consular officer had told his family that a travel document had already been issued.

Nilakout left South Sudan on Thursday afternoon for Vientiane, the capital of Laos, Nguyen said. He had been detained in Juba, South Sudan’s capital, since July 2025.

South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it had coordinated his repatriation with the government of Laos, which provided assurances against torture or other ill-treatment upon his return.

“Thongxay’s deportation to Laos is not just a relief for his family, it is proof of what we argued from day one. He should have been sent to Laos,” Nguyen said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was preparing a response to questions about Nilakout’s case and requested more time to comment.

Nilakout and seven other men were sent to Africa in May 2025, rerouted first to a U.S. military base in Djibouti after a federal judge blocked their deportation to South Sudan midflight. They arrived in Juba aboard a military aircraft after a Supreme Court ruling allowed their removal.

The eight were held in a gated house under armed guard. All had criminal convictions in the U.S. but had served their prison sentences before being taken into immigration custody.

Hundreds have been deported from the U.S. to African countries that aren’t their home nations, according to advocacy groups Human Rights First and Refugees International, which have been monitoring the deportations.

Around a dozen African countries have accepted third-country deportees from the U.S., some in exchange for millions of dollars in payments, though details of the South Sudan deal remain murky.

The choice of South Sudan was particularly controversial given its poor human rights record and political instability. Armed conflict displaced more than half a million people there in 2025, according to the United Nations.

Nilakout resettled in the U.S. as a child in 1980 after his family fled Laos, spending time first in a refugee camp in Thailand, his attorney said.

In 1995, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the murder of a German tourist during an armed robbery in southern California. He was 17 at the time of the crime.

His attorney said he became eligible for parole after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders unconstitutional. He was released in 2023 and was working as a restaurant cook when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody in March 2025.

Four of the original eight deportees remain in South Sudan, including two Burmese nationals and two Cuban nationals. A Congolese national deported separately has since joined them, bringing the total to five, Nguyen said.

South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that five third-country deportees remain in South Sudan and said it was working with the governments concerned and international partners to facilitate their safe and humane repatriation.

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Falzetta reported from Nairobi, Kenya.

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Alicia Vaccaro was cross-examined for about 90 minutes as attorneys continued presenting evidence in the case. Keeta Vaccaro is seeking damages, alleging that Hill physically and emotionally abused her over several years. Hill has adamantly denied the allegations.

A key piece of evidence discussed in court Thursday was a baby monitor video that the judge did not allow the media to record.

Jurors heard audio from the video, in which Keeta Vaccaro and Hill can be heard yelling profanities as loud banging is heard in the background. Prosecutors say their newborn baby was sleeping during the confrontation.

At one point, Hill said he wanted a divorce and indicated he was going to get the baby. Alicia Vaccaro testified that she intervened because she was concerned for the child’s safety.

“I walked outside the door, and he was pressed up against her. I went toward them. He pushed me back,” Alicia Vaccaro said. “He was screaming, hollering, saying bad words, and then he was gonna go and get the baby. My first instinct was to protect the baby.”

She said she and Keeta then went into the room with the baby and asked Hill not to hurt the child.

Alicia Vaccaro acknowledged during cross-examination that she did not personally see Hill strike her daughter. But she testified that what she witnessed and heard contributed to her view that the relationship was volatile.

Her testimony followed several days of allegations from Keeta Vaccaro, who has described multiple encounters in which she says Hill physically assaulted her or behaved aggressively toward her.

On Wednesday, Vaccaro testified about a confrontation in which she said Hill pushed her onto a bed, threw items around the room and wrestled with her. She also described an incident in which she said Hill tried to remove her wedding ring and told her he wanted a divorce.

Jurors were also shown photographs from a hotel room following a confrontation Vaccaro attributed to Hill.

The jury also heard from Dr. Jennifer Wilson, a therapist who later treated Vaccaro and testified virtually. Wilson said Keeta Vaccaro arrived for treatment with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Wilson said Keeta Vaccaro was experiencing difficulty sleeping, racing thoughts and trouble concentrating. She also described Vaccaro as having difficulty trusting others and frequently scanning her surroundings for potential threats.

Vaccaro’s brother, Kevin Vaccaro, also testified about changes he said he noticed in his sister’s personality.

He described one phone call in which Vaccaro told him that Hill had thrown ash or part of a blunt into her eye.

Kevin Vaccaro said he became particularly concerned when he heard his sister screaming while Hill could be heard in the background.

“She screams because Tyreek was in the background. I couldn’t tell you what the words were, but he was yelling,” he testified. “And then the line went dead, and then that’s when we really got worried about her.”

Hill’s attorney indicated that Hill could take the witness stand as soon as Thursday to give his account of the events.

Alicia Vaccaro fue sometida a un contrainterrogatorio durante aproximadamente 90 minutos mientras los abogados continuaban presentando pruebas en el caso. Keeta Vaccaro busca una indemnización por daños y perjuicios, alegando que Hill abusó física y emocionalmente de ella durante varios años. Hill ha negado rotundamente las acusaciones.

Una prueba clave discutida en el tribunal el jueves fue un video de un monitor para bebés que el juez no permitió que los medios de comunicación grabaran.

Los miembros del jurado escucharon el audio del video, en el que se puede oír a Keeta Vaccaro y Hill gritando palabras obscenas mientras se escuchan fuertes golpes de fondo. Los fiscales afirman que su bebé recién nacido estaba durmiendo durante el enfrentamiento.

En un momento dado, Hill dijo que quería divorciarse e indicó que iba a buscar al bebé. Alicia Vaccaro testificó que intervino porque estaba preocupada por la seguridad del menor.

“Salí por la puerta y él estaba presionado contra ella. Me acerqué a ellos. Él me empujó hacia atrás”, dijo Alicia Vaccaro. “Estaba gritando, vociferando, diciendo malas palabras, y luego iba a buscar al bebé. Mi primer instinto fue proteger al bebé”.

Dijo que ella y Keeta entraron entonces a la habitación donde estaba el bebé y le pidieron a Hill que no lastimara al menor.

Alicia Vaccaro reconoció durante el contrainterrogatorio que no vio personalmente a Hill golpear a su hija. Sin embargo, testificó que lo que presenció y escuchó contribuyó a su percepción de que la relación era conflictiva.

Su testimonio se produjo después de varios días de acusaciones por parte de Keeta Vaccaro, quien ha descrito múltiples encuentros en los que afirma que Hill la agredió físicamente o se comportó de manera agresiva hacia ella.

El miércoles, Vaccaro testificó sobre un enfrentamiento en el que dijo que Hill la empujó sobre una cama, arrojó objetos por la habitación y forcejeó con ella. También describió un incidente en el que afirmó que Hill intentó quitarle su anillo de matrimonio y le dijo que quería divorciarse.

A los miembros del jurado también se les mostraron fotografías de una habitación de hotel después de un enfrentamiento que Vaccaro atribuyó a Hill.

El jurado también escuchó el testimonio de la doctora Jennifer Wilson, una terapeuta que posteriormente trató a Vaccaro y testificó de manera virtual. Wilson indicó que Keeta Vaccaro llegó para recibir tratamiento con un diagnóstico de trastorno de estrés postraumático.

Wilson dijo que Keeta Vaccaro experimentaba dificultades para dormir, pensamientos acelerados y problemas de concentración. También describió que Vaccaro tenía dificultades para confiar en los demás y que examinaba constantemente su entorno en busca de posibles amenazas.

El hermano de Vaccaro, Kevin Vaccaro, también testificó sobre cambios que dijo haber notado en la personalidad de su hermana.

Describió una llamada telefónica en la que Vaccaro le dijo que Hill le había arrojado ceniza o parte de un cigarro de marihuana en el ojo.

Kevin Vaccaro indicó que se preocupó especialmente cuando escuchó a su hermana gritar mientras se podía oír a Hill de fondo.

“Ella grita porque Tyreek estaba de fondo. No podría decirles cuáles eran las palabras, pero él estaba gritando”, testificó. “Y luego la llamada se cortó, y fue entonces cuando realmente comenzamos a preocuparnos por ella”.

El abogado de Hill indicó que Hill podría subir al estrado de los testigos tan pronto como el jueves para dar su versión de los hechos.

The seizure of the tools, announced Wednesday by the FBI and Justice Department, represents the latest law enforcement effort in recent years to go after a broad-based hacking campaign known to the private sector as Flax Typhoon.

The tools at issue, called “Microscan” and “FishHub,” were used by the hackers to scan, phish and hack targets that included U.S. and foreign critical infrastructure. The tools were used to target, among other entities, an unnamed power company in the U.S., Japanese and Polish airports, Taiwanese universities, a multinational, nongovernmental organization and Taiwanese critical infrastructure companies.

The latest operation has rendered the tools inoperable in what FBI and Justice Department officials said was a blow to the hacking operation.

“We aim to remove the capability from the threat actors. We target their infrastructure, their money, and their tools,” FBI Cyber Division Deputy Assistant Director Jason Bilnoski told The Associated Press, calling the hacking operation “indiscriminate and reckless.”

The tools were operated by a Chinese-based information security company called Integrity Technology Group, which the FBI has said is closely associated with the Chinese government and is the actual identity of Flax Typhoon.

In September 2024, the FBI announced that it had disrupted a botnet associated with Flax Typhoon that installed malicious software on more than 200,000 consumer devices, including cameras, video recorders and home and office routers, to create a massive botnet — a network of infected computers. The botnet was used to facilitate cyber crimes, such as the theft of sensitive information from victims’ networks.

FBI San Diego Supervisory Special Agent Brett Lally said that the department would continue to monitor for ways that the company might rebuild its infrastructure.

“It’ll be interesting to see what this round of disruption actions have in terms of their ability to operate as a company in China,” Lally said.

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Tucker reported from Washington.

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The single-vehicle crash happened near the intersection of Oakland Park Boulevard and Northwest 94th Avenue, according to Sunrise police.

Police said the driver was pulled from the lake and taken to a hospital by fire rescue crews.

Sky 10 flew over the scene at about 1:31 p.m., where the truck was fully submerged in the water after apparently crashing through a wall. Divers were also at the scene, which was surrounded by crime scene tape.

The driver’s gender, age, identity and condition, as well as the circumstances of the crash, were not immediately released.

El accidente, que involucró a un solo vehículo, ocurrió cerca de la intersección de Oakland Park Boulevard y Northwest 94th Avenue, según la policía de Sunrise.

La policía indicó que el conductor fue rescatado del lago y trasladado a un hospital por equipos de bomberos y rescate.

Sky 10 sobrevoló la escena alrededor de la 1:31 p.m., donde el camión se encontraba completamente sumergido en el agua después de aparentemente atravesar un muro. También había buzos en el lugar, que estaba rodeado por cinta de seguridad policial.

El sexo, la edad, la identidad y el estado de salud del conductor, así como las circunstancias del accidente, no fueron divulgados de inmediato.

Records show Leslie Howard Roberts, 62, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman to 46 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and was remanded into custody.

The court ordered that Roberts be designated to a federal facility in Florida capable of addressing his medical needs. A restitution hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2027, records show.

The sentencing follows a federal investigation into Roberts’ Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove. Federal agents raided the gallery at 3180 Commodore Plaza in October 2025 and seized multiple paintings.

Prosecutors had accused Roberts of selling counterfeit Warhol paintings and falsely telling customers that he had obtained the artwork directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. He also provided what prosecutors described as “fraudulent invoices” to authenticate the works.

Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez, 37, of Sunny Isles Beach, was also charged in connection with the scheme, according to authorities.

Prosecutors said Rodriguez Melendez falsely claimed to work for a New York-based auction company and used that identity to help authenticate the artwork and conceal that it was fake.

They also alleged that Roberts moved proceeds from the sales through fraudulent money-laundering transactions, including transfers of $150,000, $40,000 and $50,000 from the gallery’s bank account to a personal account.

The case was not Roberts’ first federal criminal matter involving fraud.

Records show Roberts pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 2015 in a case involving the sale of fake paintings. He also was convicted in the late 1980s of defrauding his uncle of millions of dollars in a stock scheme and served federal prison sentences in both cases.

Roberts also has faced civil lawsuits alleging the sale of counterfeit Warhol works. Those cases have been reported by the New York Times and the Coconut Grove Spotlight.

At Friday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors dismissed the remaining counts against Roberts, records show. He was also ordered to surrender his passport to his attorney.

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Anna Corina Albanese, 44, was arrested by the Coral Springs Police Department and is facing two counts of battery and one count of disorderly intoxication, according to jail records.

Police said officers responded to the T-Mobile store at 9473 W. Atlantic Blvd. after employees called mall security and reported that Albanese had battered both of them before leaving the store.

One employee told police that Albanese entered the store, sat in a chair and said she needed a new phone. When employees asked to see her identification, Albanese threw it on a table and became rude and belligerent, according to the arrest report.

The report states that the employee told police that Albanese called her a “c--t,” which led her to ask her manager for assistance.

Albanese then became irate after the manager offered to help and not the original employee, police said.

They said as the manager of the store tried to help Albanese, she shoulder-checked her as she walked toward the exit and then spit on the manager, which landed on her left arm and midsection. She then shoulder-checked the manager again before heading to the food court, the report states.

Police said Albanese left a bottle of vodka behind in the T-Mobile store before exiting and was eventually detained.

“It was very obvious by her behavior, speech, overall demeanor, and the smell of an alcoholic beverage on her breath, that Albanese was very intoxicated,” police wrote in the report.

Jail records show she is facing two counts of battery and one count of disorderly intoxication.

As of Thursday afternoon, she was being held at the North Broward Bureau, where her bond wasn’t immediately set.

Anna Corina Albanese, de 44 años, fue arrestada por el Departamento de Policía de Coral Springs y enfrenta dos cargos de agresión física y uno de intoxicación y alteración del orden público, según los registros de la cárcel.

La policía indicó que los agentes acudieron a la tienda T-Mobile ubicada en 9473 W. Atlantic Blvd. después de que los empleados llamaran a la seguridad del centro comercial y reportaran que Albanese había agredido a ambos antes de abandonar el establecimiento.

Una empleada le dijo a la policía que Albanese ingresó a la tienda, se sentó en una silla y dijo que necesitaba un teléfono nuevo. Cuando los empleados le pidieron su identificación, Albanese la arrojó sobre una mesa y comenzó a comportarse de manera grosera y agresiva, según el informe de arresto.

El informe señala que la empleada le dijo a la policía que Albanese la llamó “zorra”, lo que la llevó a pedir ayuda a su gerente.

Albanese se enfureció cuando la gerente se ofreció a ayudarla en lugar de la empleada original, indicó la policía.

Según las autoridades, mientras la gerente de la tienda intentaba ayudar a Albanese, esta la golpeó con el hombro mientras caminaba hacia la salida y luego le escupió, alcanzándola en el brazo izquierdo y la parte media del cuerpo. Posteriormente, volvió a golpear a la gerente con el hombro antes de dirigirse al área de comidas, según el informe.

La policía indicó que Albanese dejó una botella de vodka dentro de la tienda T-Mobile antes de salir y finalmente fue detenida.

“Era muy evidente por su comportamiento, forma de hablar, actitud general y el olor a bebida alcohólica en su aliento que Albanese estaba muy intoxicada”, escribió la policía en el informe.

Los registros de la cárcel muestran que enfrenta dos cargos de agresión física y uno de intoxicación y alteración del orden público.

Hasta la tarde del jueves, permanecía detenida en el North Broward Bureau, donde su fianza aún no había sido establecida.

Officers with the Hialeah Police Department said they took Yelier Alderete into custody on Wednesday.

According to police, the victim’s mother reported to the HPD’s main headquarters located at 5555 E Eighth Ave. on Tuesday night.

Police said the victim’s mother found a video on Alderete’s cellphone that she has since turned over to authorities.

The video showed Alderete appearing to set up his phone inside a bathroom, after which the victim, who is a 13-year-old girl, is seen on the video doing her hair and using the toilet before leaving the restroom, police said.

Alderete is then seen in the video collecting the phone and ending the recording, which was approximately four minutes long, per his arrest form.

Investigators said Alderete invoked his right to remain silent after he was taken to the police station for an interview.

Local 10 News is not identifying the relationship between the suspect and victim in an effort to protect her identity.

Jail records show he is facing one count of digital voyeurism on a victim under the age of 16.

As of Thursday afternoon, Alderete was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $15,000 bond.

India recortó casi 11 teravatios-hora de generación solar en los últimos 15 meses hasta el 1 de septiembre —suficiente electricidad para abastecer a unos 10 millones de hogares—, según datos del gobierno e investigaciones del centro de estudios energéticos Ember. Esa energía solar no se utilizó, incluso cuando el calor extremo y menos lluvias monzónicas a lo esperado elevaron la demanda de electricidad en el país asiático para refrigeración y para bombear agua subterránea destinada a la agricultura.

India, el país más poblado del mundo y uno de los mayores emisores de gases que contaminan el clima, está incorporando rápidamente energía limpia, especialmente solar, a su sistema de generación eléctrica. Sin embargo, no puede aprovechar toda la energía limpia que podría generar debido a la insuficiente capacidad de transmisión y almacenamiento, y a la dificultad técnica de alternar entre la energía fósil y las renovables.

Expertos en energía señalan que esa contradicción apunta al próximo gran desafío de la transición energética de India. Ya no basta con construir parques solares y eólicos. El país también necesita más líneas de transmisión para trasladar electricidad por todo su territorio, baterías para almacenar la energía renovable hasta que sea requerida y un sistema eléctrico más flexible que pueda ajustarse con rapidez cuando la producción eólica y solar suba o baje.

“Estamos en una etapa en la que algunos de los mayores obstáculos de las renovables empiezan a afectarnos”, manifestó Neshwin Rodrigues, analista de energía en Ember.

La energía limpia es desconectada pese a una demanda récord

India cuenta con más de 300 gigavatios de capacidad de generación de energía limpia, más de la mitad de su capacidad eléctrica total instalada. Pero se sigue usando carbón para producir la mayor parte de la electricidad del país.

Algunos expertos señalan que la principal razón de esto es el recorte: cuando una planta eólica o solar podría producir electricidad, pero se le ordena reducir o detener la generación porque la red no puede absorber esa energía.

Rodrigues explicó que, cuando la generación solar se dispara por la tarde, a las unidades a base de carbón les resulta difícil reducir su producción porque son relativamente inflexibles y no pueden disminuir su producción rápidamente sin comprometer la eficiencia, aumentar los costos o arriesgarse a padecer problemas operativos.

Intentar que las centrales térmicas sean flexibles y se adapten al aumento del suministro de fuentes de energía limpia “es como pedirle a un elefante que baile”, comentó Vinay Pabba, director general de la empresa de energía renovable Vibrant Energy, con sede en Hyderabad.

Pabba señaló que el recorte se traduce en pérdidas para los desarrolladores de energía limpia. “Sólo nos pagan por lo que inyectamos a la red”, explicó.

La alta concentración de generación renovable en el oeste de India también ha hecho que las líneas de transmisión en esa parte del país se congestionen rápidamente. Los estados occidentales de Gujarat y Rajasthan representan casi el 50% de la capacidad de generación de energía solar del país.

“Cuando la solar alcanza su pico, por lo general por la tarde, hay un conducto limitado para evacuarla”, agregó Pabba.

Otro riesgo de no desarrollar capacidad de almacenamiento con rapidez es que se utilicen más combustibles sucios. “Sin suficiente almacenamiento, India corre el riesgo de mantener en funcionamiento las plantas a base de carbón incluso cuando hay energía renovable barata disponible”, advirtió Vibhuti Garg, directora para el sur de Asia del Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, un centro de investigación.

Mientras que un parque solar o eólico a veces puede completarse en dos años, construir nuevas líneas eléctricas puede tardar un mínimo de tres años, señalan expertos en energía.

Investigaciones de Ember hallaron que India sólo ha alcanzado aproximadamente el 80% de sus objetivos anuales de construcción de transmisión en los últimos cinco años.

Distribuir más el desarrollo renovable en otras partes del país, al tiempo que se añaden más energía eólica y proyectos solares locales más pequeños, podría reducir la presión sobre los corredores de transmisión saturados y hacer que el suministro eléctrico esté más equilibrado a lo largo del día, señaló Disha Agarwal, analista de energía del Council on Energy, Environment and Water, un centro de investigación sobre política climática con sede en Nueva Delhi.

Agarwal indicó que es probable que el reto se vuelva más difícil a medida que la capacidad renovable siga aumentando.

India aspira a alcanzar 500 gigavatios de capacidad de electricidad limpia para 2030. Además, los responsables de políticas en el país prevén que casi el 70% de su capacidad eléctrica instalada provenga de fuentes no fósiles para 2036.

Las baterías podrían ayudar a guardar energía para cuando se necesite

Un estudio publicado recientemente por el India Energy and Climate Center de la Universidad de California, campus de Berkeley, concluyó que la energía renovable respaldada por baterías puede suministrar electricidad con una confiabilidad cercana a la de las centrales convencionales, a un precio que, según los investigadores, es inferior al de la electricidad procedente de nuevas plantas a base de carbón.

Las baterías permiten almacenar electricidad solar cuando abunda por la tarde y descargarla después del atardecer, un momento en que la demanda sigue siendo alta.

Pero el sector de almacenamiento de India sigue siendo mucho más pequeño de lo que, según los planificadores, se requerirá a la larga.

“Si intentamos aumentar las instalaciones solares sin resolver el almacenamiento de energía, eso sólo va a conducir a recortes”, expresó Ankit Mittal, director general de Ingro Energy, una empresa de almacenamiento en baterías.

Mittal señaló que India intenta transformar simultáneamente varias partes de su sistema eléctrico a medida que aumenta la demanda de energía. “Cosas que se suponía que debían ocurrir a lo largo de décadas” ahora están ocurriendo todas a la vez, sostuvo.

El gobierno informó en julio que contaba con unos 3 gigavatios de almacenamiento en baterías y 7,4 gigavatios de capacidad operativa de almacenamiento por bombeo. Prevé que las necesidades de almacenamiento de India alcancen aproximadamente 74 gigavatios para 2032.

“Si no se construyen proyectos de almacenamiento de energía de alta calidad, podríamos estar añadiendo una capa adicional de riesgo a las operaciones de la red, al tiempo que desaceleramos la capacidad de nuestra nación para alcanzar los objetivos de transición energética”, señaló Avinash Rao, director general de Mahindra Susten, una empresa líder de energía renovable en India.

Rodrigues, el analista de energía, señaló que las baterías pueden construirse mucho más rápido que la infraestructura de gran envergadura para transmisión, lo que las convierte en una de las opciones más rápidas para aliviar algunas limitaciones inmediatas.

Actores del sector indicaron que pocos, si es que alguno, previeron el increíble aumento de la demanda que se está produciendo a medida que se electrifican el transporte del país y otros sectores importantes y se construyen centros de datos.

“Ninguno de nosotros lo vio venir. Si lo hubiéramos visto venir, probablemente habríamos planificado para sortearlo”, dijo Pabba, de Vibrant Energy.

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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.

In the spring of 2024, the Thai singer and rapper was photographed with a strange little plush monster hanging from her handbag, grinning with serrated teeth. That was all it took for the Labubu craze to be born.

“I’m sorry!” Lisa says. “But I can’t help it. It’s really cute. We’re kids!”

It’s the morning after the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of “Always Lalisa,” a Sony Music Vision documentary opening for a limited engagement in theaters Oct. 12 before streaming on YouTube Premium.

Director Sue Kim follows Lisa, whose real name is Lalisa Manobal, through a pivotal year as she launches her first solo album, 2025’s “Alter Ego,” forms her own management company, plays Coachella, sings at the Oscars and makes her acting debut in “The White Lotus.”

The film also portrays a surreal evolution for Lisa, who was already in her mid-20s and one of the most famous faces in the world as the film begins. After years of strict management of her image under the South Korean label YG Entertainment that governed everything from her driving to her dating, it shows Lisa relishing a newfound independence.

“I learned so much on my own. I tried things that I never had a chance to try. It was challenging, but I’m just so proud of myself,” says Lisa, now 29. “Finding my voice, yes, and finding confidence. I’ve been with Blackpink for almost 10 years. Then I wanted to do my own solo project, but I wasn’t confident and I didn’t know where to start.”

Lisa seems typically bubbly and bright during an AP interview — “I have my chips and my matcha latte. I’m good” — but she's still shaking off some of the nerves of debuting the documentary. It’s easily the most intimate look yet into her life — her parents appear in it — and the full-life exposure is new for her. “It’s embarrassing when I see the footage when I was little and dancing,” she says, laughing and shaking her head.

After a K-pop upbringing, a ‘delayed coming of age’

Kim, a veteran documentarian and Detroit native raised by Korean immigrants, has spent enough time in the K-pop world to understand it. She produced the Apple TV series “K-pop Idols,” which documented the rigorous training of K-pop hopefuls. But Kim, who also directed 2024’s “The Last of the Sea Women,” has an outsider’s perspective on some of K-pop's unique pressures.

“For us, it’s sort of inconceivable that you’d be mad at an entertainer for having a romantic relationship or driving,” Kim says. “Don’t you want them to get places?”

Filming Lisa, she thought, would be a chance to show “a delayed coming of age.”

“I knew that we’d see her testing her boundaries, figuring out who she is, figuring out where she wants to take her life and her career, and also kind of figuring out what works for her as a human,” says Kim. “I loved the idea that we would be able to witness that with her as she was experiencing it.”

At just 13, Lisa became the first non-Korean trainee at YG, beating out thousands of hopefuls. She spent her next years singing, dancing and learning Korean while abiding by the restrictions: No dating, no drinking, no driver’s license. Since Blackpink's debut in 2016, the girl group quartet has accounted for more than 20 million records sold worldwide and more than 40 billion streams.

“I’m grateful for everything. I trained for five years. It’s like a boarding school. You go into school, sleep in a dorm with girls who have the same dream as you, and it’s fun,” Lisa says.

“Always Lalisa” chronicles some of Lisa’s growing pains. Uncertain how to present herself as a solo artist, she decides to showcase numerous identities on “Alter Ego,” to mixed reviews. Pitchfork called it “the generic embodiment of a pop star.” Global fame has also meant intense security: When Lisa wore a black-lace bodysuit to the 2025 Met Gala, online critics claimed incorrectly that Rosa Parks’ face was on her tights.

But in person, Lisa tends to win people over. Her Coachella set was mostly celebrated, as was her performance last month at the MTV VMAs. As a solo act, she’s thrived.

“If I want to do something, I just do it,” she says. “I don’t have to ask for permission or anything. If I have an idea, we make it happen. It’s fun to do whatever you want to do. Like, no limits.”

In acting, ‘White Lotus’ is only the start

That’s also increasingly meant acting. For the Thailand-set third season of Mike White's HBO series “The White Lotus,” Lisa played Mook, the resort staffer whose flirty scenes with a security guard (Tayme Thapthimthong) reverberate across the plot and themes.

“I’ve been dancing and singing since I was little. But I feel like acting is something new to me,” Lisa says. “It’s just crazy that I got the role. I have to thank Mike White that he saw something in me. I’m so blessed to be in that show.”

White, the series creator, was likewise skeptical at first. In the documentary, he says he initially rejected the idea of a K-pop star as stunt casting. But then he met her.

“Mike White and I had the same takeaway,” Kim says. “She is so improbably this pure, sweet person that exists in this rarefied world that can be so harsh and scary to be yourself. There’s something so innocent about her, and it’s who she really is. I know so many fans of her feel so protective of her: ‘Protect Lisa at all costs!’ I kind of get it. I feel that way about her, too.”

Lisa stars next in a “Notting Hill”-inspired romantic comedy for Netflix, penned by Katie Silberman (“Set it Up”). Also for Netflix, she co-stars in the upcoming South Korean action thriller “Tygo,” by director Lee Sang-yong. “I’m super open to everything,” she says.

“I love ‘Notting Hill,' I love,” Lisa adds. “I’m not that picky. I can watch animation. I love a Disney movie. Horror movies, I’m not a big fan of. Because I’m a kid.”

Ashton and Zachary Smith from Philadelphia are guests in Croatia this week after the couple accidentally celebrated their wedding in June with a crowd of joyful Croatian soccer fans during the FIFA World Cup in the United States.

The Smiths had just gotten married and came out of Philadelphia City Hall to take photos when hundreds of Croats in red-and-white chequered jerseys joined in. Photos and videos of the couple kissing among the fans became popular on social networks and paved the way for a new friendship.

“It was so crazy, we just finished our ceremony, we went outside to take some pictures in front of City Hall,” Ashton Smith recalled. “We were warned that the road was taken over but we’re like, oh, let’s just try it anyway.”

It was “the best decision that we ever could have made” despite the initial shock, she said.

“Everyone stormed us," Ashton Smith added. "At first we were like, oh my gosh I hope everyone is with us. But everyone was there, everyone was celebrating with us and it was just amazing how welcoming they were to complete strangers.”

Months later, the couple received an equally warm welcome in the Croatian town of Split, located on the Adriatic Sea coast. The Croatian National Tourist Board and the Mi Hrvati, or We Croats, fan group invited the Smiths over for a “second honeymoon.”

“I feel amazing,” Ashton said in an interview earlier this week. “We learned a lot of history about Croatia and now the vibes are immaculate.”

Ashton and Zachary joined the fans' march along the city’s waterfront ahead of Croatia’s UEFA Nations League match against Spain on Tuesday. A band played, the fans sang and the couple quickly fitted in. Later in the evening, they also attended the match.

“The fans are so energetic," Ashton said. "They brought the same energy that they did in Philly.”

Daniel Pedisic of the Mi Hrvati association said the spontaneous way Croatian fans reacted to the wedding in Philadelphia showed “the kind of people we are, warm, hospitable people.”

“We were with them that day and now we brought them to Croatia,” Pedisic added, whose association follows the team worldwide and is known for carrying a 100-meter Croatian flag.

The trip also took the Smiths to the coastal town of Sibenik and included a sailing trip and a tour of the stunning Krka National Park. On Friday, the couple will travel to the famous medieval walled city of Dubrovnik in the southern Adriatic, before ending their trip in the capital, Zagreb.

“Technically, this is our second honeymoon because we had a pre-planned one before the wedding," Ashton said. “The first one was laid back and relaxing, and this one is kind of go, go, go, and we absolutely love it.”

Zachary Smith said he had never expected to visit Croatia, which is located in southeastern Europe.

“I knew all about Croatia, where it was, the country obviously," he said. “But (I) never really thought that I would ever make it here, so it’s amazing."

Owners also proposed adding nine additional days off to the current postseason format, extending it to a maximum 42 days in a move that would give top starting pitchers potential to appear more often.

MLB would allow higher-seeded teams in the first two rounds of the postseason to pick their opponents beginning next year and would make most regular-season Mondays a day off for the vast majority of teams starting in 2029 except for those in up to two nationally broadcast games.

Cutting regular-season games would reduce the opportunity for players to set season and career records.

“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement.

The players' association said it will review the plan and will respond at the bargaining table.

Baseball's five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1, and management is expected to lock out players in a confrontation that could delay or wipe out the 2027 season. MLB proposed a salary cap, which the union has vowed to never accept, along with limits on contract values and length.

“Unfortunately, the league once again made clear that all of its proposals are contingent on players’ agreement to a salary cap, a system that guts player rights and compensation, as well as its other anti-player proposals,” the union said in a statement.

MLB's regular season currently schedules 162 games over 187 days, and the new format would play the 154 games over 180 in most years.

MLB would keep the Wild Card Series at best-of-three at the ballpark of the higher-seeded team, add an extra day off between Games 1 and 2 and stagger series starts. There would be only two games scheduled on each of the first three days rather than the current format of up to four games per day.

No. 3 seeds could select after the regular season whether to host No. 5 or No. 6 in the Wild Card Series, and the No. 1 seeds could pick which wild-card winner to play in the Division Series.

Each best-of-seven series would be played over 11 days instead of nine, adding off days before Games 5 and 7 in addition to the travel days before Games 3 and 6. MLB would stop scheduling early round postseason games in afternoons after some teams have struggled to fill stadiums in those slots.

Management made a “pick your opponent” proposal in 2022 bargaining as part of a 14-team playoff plan players didn't agree to.

“A shorter regular season unlocks making October even better for our fans — with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer Division Series and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage," Caplin said. "And allowing the top seeds to select their opponents in the first two rounds would create compelling storylines, intensify existing rivalries and create new ones.”

As part of the proposal, each team would be scheduled for four day-night doubleheaders, one against each division rival.

Minor league schedules have included days off on Mondays since 2021.

Big league clubs would be scheduled for Monday games on national holidays, when many typically draw large crowds. Teams that play Mondays would be scheduled to have Thursday off.

MLB said player salaries would not be adjusted to reflect fewer games and bonus provision thresholds — like those that pay players for games played — would be adjusted to reflect the shortened schedule.

The National and American Leagues adopted 154-game schedules in 1904 that had every team in each eight-team circuit playing all opponents 22 times.

The AL switched to a 162-game schedule when it expanded to 10 teams for 1961 and the National League followed suit the next year.

The LCS started in 1969 and were best-of-five through 1984, then expanded to best-of-seven.

Division Series have been best-of-five since their inception for annual use in 1995. Wild card games started with the expansion of the playoffs from eight to 10 teams in 2012 and became best-of-three Wild Card Series when the postseason increased to 12 clubs in 2022.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The crackdown on Microsoft came under Vance's purview as the head of a fraud task force, but the targeting revealed the tension between the companies powering U.S. economic growth and the administration's efforts to reduce immigration that it says has come at the expense of American workers.

“Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers,” Vance told a news conference. He said the company had abused the visa system. “You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants.”

Vance said Microsoft last year fired 6,000 U.S. workers but also obtained 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. The tech company based in Redmond, Washington, has 223,000 employees worldwide. Microsoft has not commented on the allegations.

In presenting National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Nadella, the president took a more flattering approach that praised his work at Microsoft and made no statements about the company's hiring of foreign workers.

“For more than three decades, Satya Nadella has been a key figure in the transformation of Microsoft, revolutionizing the company and empowering businesses, students and consumers from all over the world with some of the most capable software ever built,” Trump said.

Of the six tech leaders who received an award for scientific and technological achievement from the president, five are immigrants.

The president gave the National Medal of Science to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Lisa Su, CEO of the semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices. Each of them was born overseas — South Africa for Musk, Russia for Brin and Taiwan for Huang and Su.

In addition to Nadella, Trump also gave the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, who has sponsored the government’s special investment accounts for children known as Trump Accounts. Dell was born in Texas, while Nadella immigrated from India.

They're praised as ‘national treasures’

Trump called the group of billionaires “national treasures,” comparing them to his uncle, John Trump, an electrical engineer and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who received the National Medal of Science in 1983.

“Such a big day in the world of science and the world of technology — this is the biggest day there is,” Trump said. “You’re going to go down in the annals of history as being great.”

The honors — part of a summit celebrating a new “golden age” of science — build on Trump’s already lavish praise toward the entrepreneurs for their work accelerating the development of artificial intelligence technology, which he refers to as super intelligence. He has increasingly counted on the technology to deliver on his economic agenda and pushed for the U.S. to lead its development while resisting calls for guardrails that he worries will stifle growth.

“We have an extremely high IQ audience, for a change,” Trump joked to the event's attendees.

Past winners of the National Medal of Science, which was established in 1959, have mainly been academics and research scientists rather than business leaders. The ceremony honoring the business leaders overlaps with the awarding this week, separately, of Nobel Prizes.

The tech leaders have been frequent visitors to the White House in recent weeks. Musk, Huang and Su sat at the head table with Trump at the lavish state dinner for China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Also attending were Brin, Nadella and Dell, who on Wednesday was in the Oval Office to talk about Trump Accounts.

Last week, Huang and Musk were among the tech leaders at the White House to sign a voluntary agreement on developing AI after recent models raised national security and safety concerns.

With November's midterm elections less than a month away, Trump has also sought to drive home to voters how investment in AI data centers and related computer equipment has helped to boost a record-high stock market, swelling the net worth of wealthier Americans. But the message hasn't always landed. Polls show bipartisan concerns about AI developing too quickly, and high costs for everyday items like gas and groceries are dampening the economic outlook for many Americans.

Vance also said that several universities including Stanford and MIT should be investigated for visa fraud. Huang and Brin have degrees from Stanford and Su has multiple degrees from MIT.

The White House praised the contributions of Thursday's honorees.

“These recipients are helping ensure America keeps leading the world in innovation,” said Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson.

The military has not publicly released its report on the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil in over two decades, but eventually shared it late last week with families of the 67 people who died.

For months, many of the families have been pressuring the Army in daily social media posts to release the report, which was completed in May. The Associated Press obtained a copy on Thursday. The Army did not immediately comment.

Former Army Black Hawk pilot Tim Lilley, whose son Sam Lilley was the first officer on the American Airlines jet, said he still wants more details from the military. Some information in the report was redacted and the military assigned responsibility for its shortcomings broadly across the Army.

“The Army owes the families and the American public a full accounting of how these risks were allowed to persist, who was responsible for the decisions that allowed them to persist and what will be done to make sure this never happens again,” said Lilley, who is a commercial jet captain today.

The report identifies key factors in the crash

While the report largely reinforces the National Transportation Safety Board's conclusions, the civilian investigation was broader and NTSB members focused on years of warning signs missed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Army report highlighted how the air traffic controller in the tower at Reagan National Airport could have prevented the crash, but also acknowledged the military's own failings.

The report recommended that the Army look beyond Washington, D.C., to study the practices in every major city where its helicopters operate to ensure similar risks aren't present. An Army official said the review of helicopter flights in other cities, including Los Angeles and the Seattle-Tacoma region, is ongoing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the situation.

The lieutenant general who authored the report said “breakdowns across all layers of conflict management caused this accident” but “the most salient contributing factor was the two broken radio transmissions” that contributed to the helicopter crew not identifying Flight 5342 as it was circling to land on Reagan National Airport's alternate runway. The military pilots were wearing night-vision goggles that limited their field of vision and made it difficult to spot the plane amid the lights of the city.

The poorly designed helicopter route in use at the time of the crash provided only a scant 75 feet (23 meters) of vertical separation between a helicopter and a plane landing on Reagan’s secondary runway, and that was only true if the helicopter stuck to the riverbank. This did not allow enough separation to account for the accepted level of error in a Black Hawk’s altimeter, and the NTSB found the helicopter was flying nearly 100 feet (30 meters) higher than its instruments read.

NTSB says the Army is making progress on safety

The NTSB said in a letter to the Army last week that the agency is pleased with the progress being made on seven of the eight recommendations to the Army. That contrasts with the FAA, which the NTSB has faulted for failing to implement roughly one-third of the recommendations to that safety regulator.

The Army report said the controller should have provided the helicopter crew with more details about exactly where the plane was to help the pilots spot it, and the controller should have warned the plane about the helicopter headed toward it. The FAA has prohibited controllers from relying on pilots to maintain visual separation in busy airspace since this crash.

Victims' families push for aviation safety reform bill

The main group of families of passengers on the plane, who were flying from Wichita, Kansas, said the report reinforces their call for Congress to pass aviation safety reforms and require aircraft to be equipped with systems that will help pilots know where traffic in the air is.

“It’s a simple concept anyone can understand: aircraft should be able to see each other in the sky. The technology is proven. All that’s required is the political will to do the right thing,” the Families of Flight 5342 group said in a statement Thursday.

“We have waited long enough. We waited for the NTSB. We waited for the Army. Both investigations are complete, and both make clear that collision avoidance technology must be part of the solution. There is nothing left for Congress to wait for,” they said.

Both the House and Senate passed different aviation safety bills, but lawmakers are still working on a compromise piece of legislation to bring up for a vote in both houses of Congress.

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Associated Press Writer Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed.

Edmonton and Vancouver played 6-5 and 9-7 games. Pittsburgh routed Philadelphia 7-0. Colorado beat Los Angeles 8-4.

“There’s a lot of goals being scored, which tells you that there’s some loose hockey still being played,” New York Islanders coach Peter DeBoer said Thursday.

The hockey has been sloppy, scoring is up slightly and goaltenders are stopping the puck less than last season. But with the first 100 or so games in the books following shorter training camps and less exhibition action, there's little evidence to suggest that it has drastically altered the play on the ice compared to previous starts that come with gaps in fundamentals and the occasional blowout.

“I think it’s been like that for the last 100 years, so I was not expecting this year to be any different,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said.

What the numbers say about the first week-plus

The first 110 games have featured 344 goals — led by Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard with six. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin even has one from shooting and scoring into an empty net.

That's an average of 6.26, up a tick from the 6.1 over the first 112 games a year ago. Power plays are clicking at a 20.9% success rate, compared to 19.8%, led by Tourigny's Mammoth at 61.5%.

“Maybe less time to practice special teams,” said Utah's Dylan Guenther, who leads the league with six power play points. “We had a pretty big emphasis on that in camp because we did a lot of special teams, so it’s good that a little bit of that is paying off.”

The average save percentage so far is .890. Netminders combining for an .896 last season was the lowest in the NHL since 1994, and it's not getting any easier for hockey's masked men.

There are a similar amount of giveaways, more than 16 a game, and plenty of odd-man rushes to be found.

“Teams can score, like there’s so much skill,” New Jersey defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “Teams have so much skill, so on the defensive side, all it takes is one stick being in the wrong spot or one guy being out of position and teams are going to make you pay.”

What changes from a shorter camp

It is an annual debate every fall how to get the most out of camp, Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said, which leads to plenty of teaching early in the regular season.

"Do we roll out everything and then introduce it, but then you don’t get good at anything?" Keefe said. “Or do you just roll out a few things at a time and try to really grasp onto that and then you build out from there? You have to do that even more so in the shortened camp. You’ve got to kind of prioritize a few key areas you focus on, and then you just keep kind of building it out as you go.”

Player fitness is not a concern in this day and age when summer skates are commonplace. It may take several more weeks to determine if fewer preseason games contributed to any sort of increase in injuries.

More games are slipping away from teams with big deficits, though. There have been 22 decided by three or more goals, a little more than usual.

“Everybody’s pretty sharp pretty early,” Islanders captain Bo Horvat said. "You get the odd game here and there where it gets a little sloppy. But I think obviously play will pick up, and things will get a little bit crispier as the season goes on."

Teammate Kyle Palmieri said the Islanders discussed taking advantage of some of the sloppiness around the league, hoping that being more disciplined in the fall can pay dividends. Dillon understands coaches probably would have liked another week or two to iron some things out, but there isn't much clamoring to go back to the old ways.

“It’s nice having a shorter camp,” Guenther said. “I’m not going to complain about that.”

Good thing, then, because this is the NHL's new normal. As part of that, everyone seems to acknowledge this is how early-season fall hockey goes — a long way from playoff races in the spring and the lockdown, tight-checking intensity chasing the Stanley Cup.

“I think there’s a lot of clean up to do from everybody,” Tourigny said. “At this point, I don’t think there’s any team who’s perfectly perfect on anything.”

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See AP’s full NHL coverage here

It is the first time in the 65-year history of Cuba’s National Baseball Series that a team has taken the field with a sponsor.

Players and coaching staff from the Havana-based team recently wore their traditional white-and-blue jerseys displaying the logo of “A Granel,” a privately owned Cuban company specializing in fuel distribution.

In addition, the same advertisement now appears on the outfield wall at Estadio Latinoamericano, the team’s home stadium in Havana.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Industriales manager Guillermo Carmona told The Associated Press. “New measures are being taken, and there is a shift in many policies across the country. I believe this is something that will help.”

The shift away from amateurism

For years, Cuba championed amateurism in sports, arguing that professionalism commodified the game and exploited athletes’ talent. However, restrictions have begun to loosen over the last decade, and some players have been allowed to compete abroad or join lucrative leagues.

Last Friday, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, president of the National Baseball Federation, said private sponsorship is allowed under new regulations for Cuba’s sports system, which were approved last year.

Why it matters

Both Carmona and Pérez Pardo said the sponsorship — which supports the entire team rather than an individual athlete — will help improve conditions. The expected benefits range from essential equipment such as bats and uniforms to logistics, including fuel for transportation and player meals, as well as improvements to playing fields.

Details of the contract signed between Industriales and A Granel have not been disclosed.

Cuba is struggling with a severe economic crisis now in its fifth year. It worsened after an energy and financial blockade imposed by the United States began in January, bringing the island close to a standstill and heavily affecting daily life — including sports.

Sports authorities acknowledged that, due to the country’s economic hardships, the current season of the 16-team series will be split into two zones, East and West, to reduce travel and fuel use amid the energy crisis. The tournament runs from October to December.

The worsening economic crisis has also pushed many athletes to leave Cuba to join major teams abroad.

“It is important that this step was taken,” Luisa Álvarez, a 55-year-old Industriales fan, told the AP. “We are aware of the situation the country is going through.”

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

Flowers' family confirmed that he died Wednesday at his home in Mississippi, attorney Rob McDuff told The Associated Press Thursday.

No cause of death was given, said McDuff, who was part of Flowers' legal team.

Flowers was 26 when he was arrested several months after the July 1996 shooting deaths of four people inside a Winona, Mississippi, furniture store.

At the time, prosecutors described him as a disgruntled former employee who sought revenge against the store’s owner because she fired him and withheld most of his pay to cover the cost of merchandise he damaged. Nearly $300 was found missing after the killings.

Flowers was tried in the killings six times. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the high court's 7-2 decision in 2019 that the removal of Black prospective jurors deprived Flowers of a fair trial.

During the sixth trial in 2010, Flowers was sentenced to death. There were 11 white jurors and one Black juror who considered the case after District Attorney Doug Evans struck five Black prospective jurors.

Flowers remained in prison for six months after the Supreme Court ruling because he was still under indictment. He finally was released in December 2019 after a judge set bond.

Mississippi dropped charges against Flowers in September 2020.

“Today, I am finally free from the injustice that left me locked in a box for nearly twenty three years,” Flowers said in a statement. “I’ve been asked if I ever thought this day would come. I have been blessed with a family that never gave up on me and with them by my side, I knew it would.”

The legal team that represented Flowers for more than two decades said Thursday in a statement that each member feels “privileged to have called him a client.”

“Later, in the years after his release and exoneration, we felt equally honored to call him a friend,” the legal team said. “No matter where he was — on death row, at home on his parents’ porch with his feet up, singing in church, or fishing in a local pond — Curtis shared his light.”

The trials stretched back more than 20 years. The records showed Evans’ “relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of black individuals,” with the goal of an all-white jury, Kavanaugh wrote.

In the earlier trials, three convictions were tossed out, including one when the prosecutor improperly excluded African Americans from the jury. In the second trial, the judge chided Evans for striking a juror based on race. Two other trials ended when jurors couldn’t reach unanimous verdicts.

Kavanaugh noted that Evans had removed 41 of the 42 prospective Black jurors over the six trials.

Flowers filed a lawsuit in 2021 against Evans and three investigators who worked with the district attorney. The suit claimed Evans and the investigators engaged in misconduct, including “pressuring witnesses to fabricate claims about seeing Mr. Flowers in particular locations on the day of the murders” and ignoring other possible suspects.

Earlier that year, a judge ordered the state of Mississippi to pay Flowers $500,000 for wrongful imprisonment — the maximum under a state law that allows up to $50,000 a year for 10 years.

Evans retired in 2023 after more than 30 years as district attorney. His jury selection tactics had been scrutinized for years.

Flowers' name is “etched into U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence — about what it means to fight for a fair trial free from racial bias in the selection of jurors,” Flowers' legal team said. “And also for that, but for so many other reasons, his name is etched into our memories, too — professional and personal. We will miss him.”

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Williams is a member of AP's Race & Ethnicity team. He reported from Detroit.

If a Waffle House stays open in town, even in a limited capacity, neighbors are reassured that the coming storm is unlikely to cause devastation. A closed location of the dependable diner chain has come to indicate impending disaster. The metric is known as the Waffle House Index.

What might sound like silly logic has become one of the most reliable ways for Southerners — and even federal officials — to gauge a storm’s severity and identify communities most in need of immediate aid.

What is the Waffle House Index?

The South’s favorite disaster authority provides an informal measure of how significantly a storm will affect or has affected a community.

A map of the chain’s over 1,900 locations, concentrated in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, helps residents of storm-prone states assess whether they’re likely to lose power, experience severe flooding or endure other extreme conditions that might cause a resilient restaurant to close its doors. For some, it’s a telltale sign of whether they need to evacuate.

Waffle House is known not just for serving breakfast 24/7, 365 days a year, but also for its disaster preparedness. For decades, people across the South have noticed that the local Waffle House seemed to be the only business still open during a storm or the first to reopen after it passed.

The restaurant chain’s reputation for remaining open when people desperately needed a place to warm up, charge devices and grab a hot meal became a fairly reliable — albeit amusing — resource to help track recovery efforts. The company even operates its own storm center.

How does the index work?

Waffle House’s social media shares color-coded maps of its restaurant locations in certain regions that will soon be hit or are recovering from storm damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also offers some live tracking.

Green means the location is serving a full menu, indicating minimal damage in the surrounding area. The lights are on and the syrup is flowing.

Yellow means the restaurant is serving a limited menu, a signal that it’s pulling power from a generator and might have a low food supply. The area might not have running water or electricity, but there’s enough gas to fry up bacon for hungry customers.

Red means the location is closed, a sign of unsafe operating conditions and severe destruction to the restaurant or nearby communities.

How did the index start?

Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate has said he thought up the Waffle House Index while leading Florida’s emergency management efforts in 2004. He had been searching for something to eat while surveying the devastation left by Hurricane Charley and was only able to find a Waffle House serving a limited menu.

His team began to notice other open Waffle Houses in communities without power or running water. The restaurants eventually became a key feature on a color-coded map that his team provided to help the public and local officials identify where storm damage was most severe.

Fugate continued to use his color-coded map when he joined FEMA under President Barack Obama. He was the agency’s administrator in 2011 when a deadly tornado tore through the town of Joplin, Missouri. Both of the town’s Waffle Houses reportedly stayed open.

The restaurant chain’s disaster readiness is no coincidence. Seven locations were destroyed and 100 more shut down in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, but company executives saw business skyrocket at restaurants that reopened quickly.

They soon embraced a business strategy centered around keeping their restaurants operable during and after a disaster, according to the company’s website. The chain said it has invested in portable generators, bought a mobile command center and trained employees on what they can still serve if they lose electricity.

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Currently, Isaias is churning in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm is forecast to move in a northeast direction, with possible landfall coming along the Florida Panhandle, the southern coasts of Alabama or Mississippi, or the eastern coast of Louisiana.

On Thursday, hurricane hunters are expected to take to the skies and fly into the heart of the storm.

They will be flying in one of the most famous hurricane hunter aircrafts in the world, nicknamed “Miss Piggy.”

The plane, which is celebrating its 50th year in service, also flew through Hurricane Andrew.

These flights are crucial for measuring the strength of the storm and determining potential future forecast tracks.

Actualmente, Isaias se agita en las cálidas aguas del Golfo de México.

Se pronostica que la tormenta se desplace en dirección noreste, con la posibilidad de tocar tierra en el noroeste de Florida, las costas del sur de Alabama o Mississippi, o la costa este de Louisiana.

El jueves, se espera que los cazadores de huracanes despeguen y vuelen hacia el corazón de la tormenta.

Volarán en uno de los aviones cazahuracanes más famosos del mundo, apodado “Miss Piggy”.

El avión, que celebra su 50 aniversario de servicio, también voló a través del huracán Andrew.

Estos vuelos son fundamentales para medir la intensidad de la tormenta y determinar sus posibles trayectorias futuras.

Una portavoz de la ciudad indicó que los toboganes cerrados se encuentran en Shenandoah Park, Children’s Park, Southside Park y Fern Isle Park. Agregó que todos los demás equipos de las áreas de juegos infantiles permanecen abiertos.

La medida se produce casi dos semanas después de un extraño accidente que involucró a Olvin Cabrera Valladares en Shenandoah Park, ubicado en 1800 SW 21st Ave.

La madre de Olvin le dijo a Liane Morejon, de Local 10 News, que su hijo debía estar en la escuela la mañana del 25 de septiembre, pero en lugar de eso fue en su patinete al parque, ubicado a unas 2 millas de distancia.

La mujer indicó que se enteró de lo que ocurrió después por un hombre que llegó al parque más tarde ese día con sus hijos y descubrió a Olvin atrapado dentro del tobogán.

“Me dijo que tiró de él, pero estaba atrapado en un tornillo”, dijo. “Volvió a tirar y mi hijo cayó. Tenía el brazo dentro de su camiseta y el cuello de la camiseta estaba apretado alrededor de su cuello”.

Un equipo de Local 10 News visitó el parque y observó que el tobogán tiene tornillos a lo largo de su estructura.

Los tornillos que Local 10 pudo observar con su cámara eran planos, pero el testigo le dijo a la madre de Olvin que el adolescente estaba colgando en medio del tubo por el cuello de su camiseta, que quedó atrapado en un tornillo y lo asfixió.

Después de ser trasladado de urgencia al hospital, Olvin fue conectado a un sistema de soporte vital.

Una semana después, fue declarado con muerte cerebral.

El día en que Olvin fue encontrado, la ciudad de Miami cerró el parque para realizar lo que describió como una “investigación no criminal”.

El martes, la ciudad emitió una declaración actualizada a Local 10, en la que señaló: “Nuestras más sinceras condolencias están con la familia y los seres queridos del menor. Este asunto se encuentra bajo investigación activa y la ciudad está trabajando diligentemente para reunir todos los hechos y brindar respuestas a la familia. Para proteger la integridad de ese proceso, no podemos hacer más comentarios en este momento”.

Se ha creado una página de GoFundMe para ayudar a la madre de Olvin a pagar los gastos de su funeral.

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Local 10 News’ Jeff Derderian traveled up to Pensacola Beach, which has seen a considerable increase in the size of the waves that continue crashing onto the coast.

Locals are living with the looming reality of a major storm, slowly but surely moving in their direction.

It’s a familiar feeling for many Florida residents who have had to deal with the preparation for a storm and the concern of an unknown future after it hits.

Isaias was upgraded to a hurricane from a tropical storm and is expected to remain at hurricane strength when it eventually makes landfall.

Some people in the area were trying to soak in whatever sun was left before the looming storm moved closer.

“I think its gorgeous out here right now,” said Heather Drennan, who is visiting from Mississippi. “I’m a little nervous for this afternoon, but enjoying my vacation.”

Locals who live in the area have been busy preparing for the storm’s impact by filling sand bags and loading up on hurricane supplies.

Several folks staying at an RV park were packing up and heading out on Thursday, not wanting to take any chances of getting stuck during a storm.

“Yeah, it’s a bummer,” said Amanda Willis, who is visiting from Alabama. “It’s not the first time. It came up kind of quick, but we knew all week that there was going to be rain and stuff, but not a hurricane.”

“If this is real, tomorrow night with the storm coming in, this isn’t anything to play with,” added Jeff Willis. “We’ve been here when water was rolling across the street and we’ve had to help people push their cars out of the street. We’ve been flooded here, so we’re just doing the safe thing.”

Jeff Derderian, de Local 10 News, viajó hasta Pensacola Beach, donde se ha registrado un aumento considerable en el tamaño de las olas que continúan golpeando la costa.

Los residentes viven con la inminente realidad de una gran tormenta que, lenta pero seguramente, avanza en su dirección.

Es una sensación familiar para muchos residentes de Florida que han tenido que lidiar con los preparativos para una tormenta y la preocupación por un futuro incierto después de su impacto.

Isaias pasó de tormenta tropical a huracán y se espera que mantenga su intensidad de huracán cuando finalmente toque tierra.

Algunas personas en el área intentaban aprovechar los últimos momentos de sol antes de que la tormenta se acercara.

“Creo que está precioso aquí en este momento”, dijo Heather Drennan, quien está de visita desde Mississippi. “Estoy un poco nerviosa por esta tarde, pero estoy disfrutando de mis vacaciones”.

Los residentes de la zona han estado ocupados preparándose para el impacto de la tormenta, llenando sacos de arena y abasteciéndose de suministros para huracanes.

Varias personas que se hospedaban en un parque de vehículos recreativos estaban empacando y marchándose el jueves, ya que no querían correr el riesgo de quedar atrapadas durante la tormenta.

“Sí, es una lástima”, dijo Amanda Willis, quien está de visita desde Alabama. “No es la primera vez. Surgió bastante rápido, pero sabíamos toda la semana que iba a llover y todo eso, pero no que habría un huracán”.

“Si esto es real, mañana por la noche, con la llegada de la tormenta, esto no es algo que se deba tomar a la ligera”, agregó Jeff Willis. “Hemos estado aquí cuando el agua corría por las calles y tuvimos que ayudar a personas a sacar sus automóviles de la calle empujándolos. Ya hemos sufrido inundaciones aquí, así que simplemente estamos haciendo lo más seguro”.

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A city spokeswoman said the enclosed slides are located at Shenandoah Park, Children’s Park, Southside Park and Fern Isle Park. She said all other playground equipment remains open.

The move comes nearly two weeks after a freak accident involving Olvin Cabrera Valladares at Shenandoah Park, located at 1800 SW 21st Ave.

Olvin’s mother told Local 10 News’ Liane Morejon that her son was supposed to be at school on the morning of Sept. 25, but instead rode his scooter to the park about 2 miles away.

She says she learned what happened next from a man who came to the park later that day with his kids and discovered Olvin stuck inside the slide.

“He told me he pulled on him, but he was caught on a screw,” she said. “He pulled again, and my son fell out. His arm was inside of his shirt, and his collar was tight around his neck.”

A Local 10 News crew visited the park and saw that the slide is lined with screws.

The ones Local 10 could observe with our camera were flat, but the witness told Olvin’s mother he was hanging in the middle of the tube by his T-shirt collar, which became caught on a screw and choked him.

After being rushed to the hospital, Olvin was placed on life support.

One week later, he was declared brain dead.

The day Olvin was found, the city of Miami closed the park for what it called a “non-criminal investigation.”

On Tuesday, the city released an updated statement to Local 10, saying “Our deepest condolences are with the child’s family and loved ones. This matter is under active investigation, and the City is working diligently to gather all the facts and bring closure to the family. To protect the integrity of that process, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

A GoFundMe page has been created to help Olvin’s mother pay for his funeral expenses.

The hearing was the latest development in the escalating drama between the Trump administration and the news media, which has raged in various arenas during his second term as president. At its core, though, are multiple free-speech questions. The dispute has produced sanctions and restrictions on White House and Pentagon reporters and led to several lawsuits that are progressing through the federal court system.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said he intended to rule by Tuesday, possibly sooner, on whether to extend his earlier order restoring White House access for journalists from MS NOW, CNN and Politico. Granting the news outlets' request for a preliminary injunction would preserve the status quo — access — until the litigation is resolved.

Kelly, nominated to the bench by Republican President Donald Trump, didn't say how he intends to rule but described key government arguments as an “uphill climb” and a “tough lift." The judge also challenged a government attorney to specify the national security concerns that the administration claims are at stake.

“We've always been clear that it's not just national security,” Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik said, arguing that false reporting can impact policy and adversely affect national security.

“He doesn’t mind negative press stories if he deserves them. He has problems with trafficking verifiable falsehoods,” Velchik said of Trump.

Theodore J. Boutrous, an attorney for the media plaintiffs, said the government was continuing to discriminate against viewpoints and reporting it doesn’t like.

“He doesn’t like scrutiny of his policies, he doesn’t like the reporting, he wants more good press,” Boutrous said in court. That’s a content-based restriction on speech and a clear violation of the First Amendment, he said.

Velchik said some of the issues the White House has with the banned news organizations’ reporting include “quotations that are not actually said,” the use of anonymous sources and splicing interviews to insert different questions than what the interviewee was actually asked. “I do think that we’ve identified specific allegations for each individual outlet,” he said.

The hearing was made available to media and the public via a public access number, but the audio was often so faint as to be unintelligible.

Three-week saga continues

The case has been going on since last month, shortly after Trump banned the outlets from the White House grounds, saying he objected to their reporting.

The news organizations want longer-term relief until the entire case is resolved, and a temporary restraining order was due to expire on Thursday. But the judge extended it until Tuesday and said he intends to rule by then on whether to issue the preliminary injunction.

The hearing before Kelly came nearly three weeks after CNN, MS NOW and Politico were abruptly banished from White House grounds, with the president decrying their “fake news.” A spokesperson for CNN said the network had been allowed to fulfill its pool duties on Tuesday, and is next scheduled for Sunday.

Although the journalists were allowed back in by Kelly’s order, the administration continued to selectively exclude CNN from its duties in the White House broadcast pool. A spokesperson for CNN said the network had been allowed to fulfill its pool duties on Tuesday, and is next scheduled for Sunday.

Kelly had granted a two-week temporary restraining order against the ban, but it expires Thursday. The outlets have asked the court to halt the ban until the case is resolved, saying the administration has “persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban” despite the restraining order — including selectively keeping CNN from participating in White House pool duties.

“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” lawyers for the networks wrote in a filing on Sept. 28.

At issue is whether the president, or anyone, can punish news outlets for the content of their reports. The news organizations say that doing so is “viewpoint discrimination" forbidden by the First Amendment's free-speech protections.

Trump insists that he doesn't have to let news outlets whose reports he dislikes onto White House grounds. “When it comes to the White House, it is the people’s house,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said on ABC recently, invoking an argument the administration has made since the beginning. “It is a privilege, and not a right, to be there.”

The news organizations say that approach violates the Constitution's amendments protecting free speech and due process.

___

Noveck reported from New York and Boone from Boise, Idaho. Laurie Kellman in London contributed.

El equipo Florida Task Force One (FL-TF1), integrado por 88 miembros, fue activado como un recurso Tipo I del estado de Florida en preparación para la llegada del huracán a tierra.

Según los Bomberos de Miami-Dade, el equipo partió de sus instalaciones en Homestead alrededor de las 6 a.m. del jueves, con planes de establecerse en Tallahassee antes de responder a las áreas afectadas por la tormenta.

El despliegue incluye cuatro equipos caninos, junto con personal capacitado en rescates en aguas rápidas e inundaciones.

Una vez desplegados, los miembros del equipo estarán preparados para buscar sobrevivientes en áreas dañadas, ayudar con las labores de recuperación tras el desastre y evaluar los daños relacionados con la tormenta.

El equipo especializado está capacitado en 19 áreas de respuesta a emergencias, incluidas evaluaciones estructurales, atención médica avanzada, mitigación de materiales peligrosos, comunicaciones y logística.

Además de buscar en edificios dañados o colapsados, los equipos pueden brindar asistencia médica a víctimas atrapadas, evaluar estructuras potencialmente peligrosas y ayudar a estabilizar edificios que hayan sufrido daños.

El equipo también cuenta con sistemas de comunicación satelital para ayudar a los equipos de emergencia que trabajan en zonas de desastre.

Funcionarios de los Bomberos de Miami-Dade indicaron que los miembros del equipo estaban preparando y asegurando sus equipos antes de la partida del jueves para garantizar que pudieran responder a las necesidades de los residentes y otras agencias de emergencia.

Florida Task Force One tiene un historial de respuesta a grandes desastres en Estados Unidos y a nivel internacional.

Entre sus despliegues anteriores se encuentran el atentado de Oklahoma City, el colapso del World Trade Center, el huracán Katrina y el derrumbe del edificio de Surfside.

El equipo también ha colaborado en las labores de respuesta a terremotos en Colombia, Turquía, Haití y Venezuela.

Funcionarios de los Bomberos de Miami-Dade indicaron que la misión del equipo incluye operaciones de búsqueda y rescate, asistencia médica, evaluaciones de daños, comunicaciones de emergencia y coordinación de suministros de ayuda.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para obtener las últimas actualizaciones sobre el huracán Isaias de la Autoridad del Tiempo de Local 10.

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The 88-member Florida Task Force One (FL-TF1) team was activated as a Type I State of Florida asset in preparation for the storm’s landfall.

“Many disasters are similar, but they are different,” FL-TF1 program manager Brandon Webb said. “Each one has its own problems and we utilize a very large box of techniques and tools to mitigate things as they come up.”

According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the team departed from its facility in Homestead around 6 a.m. Thursday, with plans to stage in Tallahassee before responding to areas impacted by the storm.

“It’s everything that we are. We want to help, and whenever they send us to help, we look forward to it. It’s what we all look forward to,” task force member Michelle Steele said.

The deployment includes four canine teams, along with crews trained in swift-water and flood rescues.

Once deployed, team members will be prepared to search damaged areas for survivors, assist with disaster recovery and evaluate storm-related damage.

One of the team members is Orestes Gonzalez, who has been part of the task force for about 15 years, so he is no stranger to the obstacles that could lie ahead.

“Making sure I follow all the training, that I’m not part of the problem -- I’m part of the solution,” Gonzalez said.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Captain and State Rep. Omar Blanco has also served with the task force for over a decade.

“These are people who care about helping others,” he said. “It’s just a privilege to do it, to represent Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and working in collaboration with other teams around the state is a privilege.”

The specialized team is trained in 19 areas of emergency response, including structural assessments, advanced medical care, hazardous materials mitigation, communications and logistics.

In addition to searching damaged or collapsed buildings, crews can provide medical assistance to trapped victims, assess potentially dangerous structures and help stabilize buildings that have sustained damage.

The team is also equipped with satellite communications systems to assist emergency responders working in disaster zones.

Florida Task Force One has a history of responding to major disasters in the U.S. and internationally.

Its previous deployments include the Oklahoma City bombing, the World Trade Center collapse, Hurricane Katrina and the Surfside building collapse.

The team has also assisted with earthquake response efforts in Colombia, Turkey, Haiti and Venezuela.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials said the team’s mission includes search and rescue operations, medical assistance, damage assessments, emergency communications and coordination of relief supplies.

The task force is expected to be in the Panhandle for at least a week.

CLICK HERE for the latest updates on Hurricane Isaias from the Local 10 Weather Authority.

Trump, while stumping for Republicans this week, has hinted that he was confident that an endgame to the war could come in the days before or after the election, while also hinting that he remained open to resuming full-scale military operations against Iran.

For weeks, Trump has been threatening that a post-midterm election escalation in the seven-month-old war remains a viable option, despite his initial promises to Americans of a military campaign that would last a matter of weeks.

But Trump in a social media post on Thursday said the U.S. “will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.”

Trump added that his team has been “having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The U.S. and Iran signed a short-lived interim agreement in June, intended to establish a 60-day ceasefire and framework for a permanent peace deal.

The deal signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian collapsed within weeks amid renewed military actions and disputes over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical water which one-fifth world's oil flowed through before the war.

Negotiations had appeared at a standstill since Trump late last month publicly rejectedIran’s proposal to reopen the strait within seven days if the U.S. met certain conditions.

Iran, however, said last week they had received a U.S. counterproposal. And Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier on Thursday said he expected Tehran would offer a formal reply within days.

Trump on Wednesday during a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, said that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has continued indirect negotiations with Iranian officials.

But at the same time, Trump suggested he had mixed feelings about ending the war at this point.

“I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do, but they’re willing to offer us anything to stop,” Trump said.

Trump believes that the U.S. is gaining leverage as the U.S. military is having greater success in helping oil tankers traverse the Strait of Hormuz and get Gulf allies’ oil to market, while a Navy blockade is shutting down Iran’s own oil exports.

Iran has lost its near chokehold over oil flows through the vital waterway with U.S. Central Command shepherding oil tankers through the strait at night with their location systems turned off.

That with the help of Gulf pipelines that skirt the strait, has allowed Gulf countries to export oil at nearly prewar levels.

But Iran has ramped up attacks on tankers passing through the strait in recent days. And overall, ship traffic remains well below prewar levels, as are shipments of liquid natural gas and fuel products.

Tanker operators willing to risk running the gauntlet under Central Command’s protection are in some cases charging rates of $1 million a day or more, shipping analysts say.

The situation has become further complicated as Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s government have launched a military campaign aimed at driving Iran-backed Houthi rebels from the Bab el-Mandeb strait, another critical Mideast trade route for oil and other goods. The Houthis, in turn, are targeting Saudi airports and key infrastructure in the kingdom with drone and missile strikes.

Trump's post comes as the military has dispatched more resources to the region. U.S. officials have said a third aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and thousands of troops aboard it and accompanying ships could arrive as early as the end of October.

Trump’s announcement was made the same day the USS Abraham Lincoln was due to arrive to its home port in San Diego after a record-long deployment in support of the Iran war. There have been reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products.

The USS George Washington, which is usually based in Asia, relieved the Lincoln in August. The other aircraft carrier in the Middle East, the USS George H.W. Bush, has been deployed for about six months, but it pulled into Phuket, Thailand, for a port visit several days ago.

The lawsuit also names Jason Robins, DraftKings’s chief executive officer, who co-founded the Boston-based sportsbook in 2012, and GUS III LLC, a subsidiary that does business as DraftKings Predictions since 2025.

“DraftKings is operating an illegal sports betting business in Florida in violation of state law and the terms of the 2021 Gaming Compact between the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe,” Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, wrote in a statement.

In the 72-page lawsuit, the tribe accused DraftKings executives of “secretly” funding litigation seeking to invalidate the tribe’s exclusivity agreement in Florida and of running an unlicensed “Super App.”

DraftKings’s reach expanded after the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports betting in 2018.

Gov. Ron DeSantis legalized online sports betting, but restricted it to a single operator, the Seminole Tribe of Florida. In 2021, Florida entered a tribal-state gaming compact. The tribe launched the Hard Rock Sportsbook, but had to suspend it until 2023.

After brick-and-mortar casinos filed suit, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled in 2021 that bets placed off-reservation violated federal regulation enacted in 1988 to create a framework for gambling on tribal lands.

In 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed Friedrich’s decision and reinstated the Seminole-Florida gaming compact. A three-judge panel ruled that “whether it is otherwise lawful for a patron to place bets from non-tribal land within Florida may be a subject for that State’s courts.” The Supreme Court decided not to put the D.C. Circuit’s decision on hold.

DraftKings has yet to file a response in court or respond to a request for comment on this story.

Instead, his comments further angered some Jewish critics who consider his strong opposition to Israel antisemitic, and pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted a Wednesday night vigil for victims of Hamas' attack to confront the mayor and cast him as a traitor to their cause.

Mamdani, a Democrat and the city's first Muslim mayor, has long been a fierce defender of Palestinian human rights and is one of the country's most prominent political critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. His stance has drawn scrutiny in a city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel, while at times some on the far-left have bashed him for not doing enough to hold Israel to account.

On Thursday, Mamdani appeared to take the protest in stride, telling reporters: “I am the mayor of New York City and this is what I signed up for.”

A parsed statement

The maelstrom began when Mamdani commemorated the victims of Hamas' surprise attack on Israel with a statement that began with a solemn recognition of the “unthinkable loss” suffered by Israelis but then castigated Israel's military response.

“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” the statement read. “It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians — including more than 21,000 children.”

The statement reignited criticism that Mamdani harbors antisemitic views — a claim he has vehemently denied — and was blaming Israel for the attack.

“This is a reprehensible statement on the anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack by a Palestinian terrorist organization against innocent Israelis,” U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, a Jewish Democrat in New York, wrote on X. “In the guise of ‘grieving’ with those mourning that day, Mayor Mamdani asserts as fact hotly disputed allegations that he knows full well will offend and further upset those same people he pretends to grieve with.”

Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York, who had invited Mamdani to a Wednesday screening of footage documenting the attack, called the mayor's statement a “disgrace, shame, and insult to the memory of those who were murdered on October 7.” Akunis later posted an image of an empty chair reserved with a placard for the mayor along with the caption “guess who didn't show up.”

Simmering tensions

Mamdani, who took office in January, has moved to assuage concerns that his criticism of Israel does not amount to antisemitism, courting high-profile Jewish political allies and late last month debuting a sweeping plan to address antisemitism and hate crimes in the city.

At the same time, he has continued to employ, and defend, heated rhetoric toward Israel, which includes calling for the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he calls a “war criminal” and “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.”

Netanyahu, in an address at the United Nations General Assembly last month, called Mamdani “the antisemitic mayor of New York” and charged that “many Jews no longer feel safe in New York.”

Mamdani also marked the anniversary by attending a candlelight vigil at Union Square in Manhattan organized by Israelis For Peace, which describes itself as a group of Israeli anti-occupation activists. The vigil was disrupted by protesters who waved Palestinian flags and chanted.

Mamdani, who did not speak at the vigil, appeared somber while protesters booed and yelled: “Zohran, your hands are red!”

At one point, Brad Lander, a Jewish politician who struck up an alliance with Mamdani when they were both running for mayor last year, denounced the violence overseas, saying “no matter what country or nationality or religion, every mother, every mother gives birth to her children and wants the best for them, wants life for them.” Protesters jeered.

“We refused to compromise on anyone’s humanity. No amount of shouting stopped us,” Lander, the Democratic nominee for a House seat in Manhattan and Brooklyn, later wrote on X with a photo taken at the vigil. “May their memory be for a blessing.”

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A previously scheduled operation to install a steel reinforcement structure for a bridge support over the Dolphin Expressway (State Road 836) has been rescheduled for Saturday through Sunday, weather permitting.

The work will require the complete closure of eastbound lanes on the Dolphin Expressway at Northwest 17th Avenue, along with a separate overnight closure affecting westbound Interstate 395.

Eastbound Dolphin Expressway closure

Two eastbound lanes between Northwest 17th Avenue and Interstate 95 will close at 10 p.m. Saturday, followed by a complete shutdown of all eastbound lanes at Northwest 17th Avenue beginning at 11 p.m.

The highway is scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Sunday.

During the closure, drivers traveling eastbound on SR 836 will be directed to exit at Northwest 17th Avenue and continue south across Northwest Seventh Street.

Drivers should then turn left onto Southwest First Street, travel east and turn right onto South Miami Avenue to access the ramps to northbound or southbound I-95.

Drivers heading toward Biscayne Boulevard or the MacArthur Causeway can continue east on Southwest First Street before turning left onto Biscayne Boulevard. From there, they can access the MacArthur Causeway entrance ramp at Northeast 11th Terrace.

Drivers traveling on Northwest 12th Avenue who need to reach eastbound SR 836, I-95, Biscayne Boulevard or the MacArthur Causeway can head south on Northwest 12th Avenue, turn left onto Southwest First Street and follow the designated detours.

Westbound I-395 closure

Another overnight closure will affect drivers traveling westbound on I-395 toward the Dolphin Expressway.

All westbound I-395 lanes continuing onto westbound SR 836 will be closed at I-95 beginning at 11:59 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday.

The ramps connecting I-395 to northbound and southbound I-95 will remain open.

Drivers who need to reach westbound SR 836 can take the southbound I-95 ramp, exit at Southwest Seventh Street/Brickell Avenue using Exit 1B, and turn left onto Southwest Eighth Street.

From there, drivers can enter northbound I-95 and take the exit for westbound SR 836.

Temporary changes to Miami River drawbridge operations

The construction will also affect the operating schedules of two drawbridges over the Miami River.

On Sunday, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., the Southwest First Street and West Flagler Street bridges will open on the hour and half-hour.

Outside those hours, both bridges will follow their regular operating schedules.

Exceptions will be made for U.S. public vessels, tugboats, tugboats with tows and vessels in distress, which will be permitted to pass at any time.

The U.S. Coast Guard will notify boaters of the temporary changes.

The closures are part of the ongoing I-395/SR 836/I-95 Design-Build Project, which is intended to increase roadway capacity, improve traffic flow and safety, and provide better access along the three major highways.

Una operación previamente programada para instalar una estructura de refuerzo de acero para el soporte de un puente sobre la autopista Dolphin (State Road 836) fue reprogramada para realizarse entre el sábado y el domingo, si las condiciones meteorológicas lo permiten.

Los trabajos requerirán el cierre completo de los carriles en dirección este de la autopista Dolphin a la altura de Northwest 17th Avenue, además de un cierre nocturno separado que afectará la Interestatal 395 en dirección oeste.

Cierre de la autopista Dolphin en dirección este

Dos carriles en dirección este entre Northwest 17th Avenue y la Interestatal 95 cerrarán a las 10 p.m. del sábado, seguidos por el cierre completo de todos los carriles en dirección este a la altura de Northwest 17th Avenue a partir de las 11 p.m.

Está previsto que la autopista reabra a las 10 a.m. del domingo.

Durante el cierre, los conductores que viajen en dirección este por la SR 836 deberán tomar la salida de Northwest 17th Avenue y continuar hacia el sur, cruzando Northwest Seventh Street.

Luego, los conductores deberán girar a la izquierda en Southwest First Street, continuar hacia el este y girar a la derecha en South Miami Avenue para acceder a las rampas de entrada a la I-95 en dirección norte o sur.

Los conductores que se dirijan hacia Biscayne Boulevard o MacArthur Causeway pueden continuar hacia el este por Southwest First Street antes de girar a la izquierda en Biscayne Boulevard. Desde allí, podrán acceder a la rampa de entrada a MacArthur Causeway en Northeast 11th Terrace.

Los conductores que circulen por Northwest 12th Avenue y necesiten llegar a la SR 836 en dirección este, la I-95, Biscayne Boulevard o MacArthur Causeway pueden dirigirse hacia el sur por Northwest 12th Avenue, girar a la izquierda en Southwest First Street y seguir los desvíos designados.

Cierre de la I-395 en dirección oeste

Otro cierre nocturno afectará a los conductores que viajen en dirección oeste por la I-395 hacia la autopista Dolphin.

Todos los carriles de la I-395 en dirección oeste que continúan hacia la SR 836 en dirección oeste estarán cerrados a la altura de la I-95 desde las 11:59 p.m. del sábado hasta las 7 a.m. del domingo.

Las rampas que conectan la I-395 con la I-95 en dirección norte y sur permanecerán abiertas.

Los conductores que necesiten llegar a la SR 836 en dirección oeste pueden tomar la rampa hacia la I-95 en dirección sur, salir en Southwest Seventh Street/Brickell Avenue utilizando la salida 1B y girar a la izquierda en Southwest Eighth Street.

Desde allí, los conductores pueden ingresar a la I-95 en dirección norte y tomar la salida hacia la SR 836 en dirección oeste.

Cambios temporales en las operaciones de los puentes levadizos del río Miami

La construcción también afectará los horarios de operación de dos puentes levadizos sobre el río Miami.

El domingo, de 6 a.m. a 10 a.m., los puentes de Southwest First Street y West Flagler Street se abrirán cada hora en punto y cada media hora.

Fuera de ese horario, ambos puentes seguirán sus horarios habituales de operación.

Se harán excepciones para embarcaciones públicas de Estados Unidos, remolcadores, remolcadores con embarcaciones a remolque y embarcaciones en peligro, a las que se permitirá el paso en cualquier momento.

La Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos notificará a los navegantes sobre los cambios temporales.

Los cierres forman parte del proyecto de diseño y construcción de la I-395/SR 836/I-95, cuyo objetivo es aumentar la capacidad de las carreteras, mejorar el flujo del tráfico y la seguridad, y proporcionar un mejor acceso a lo largo de las tres principales autopistas.

The music industry lost one of its most powerful figures in June, when Davis — the titan who launched or resurrected the careers of such superstars as Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana and Alicia Keys — died in his Manhattan apartment, weeks after being hospitalized for an upper respiratory issue. He was 94.

Davis is always top of mind in the music business, but especially so during the Grammy Awards season, where his annual pre-Grammy gala, held the Saturday night before the Sunday award show every year since 1975, has widely been considered one of the week's most exclusive and popular events. There, giants across genre and generation come together for unique performances and celebrations.

According to the Recording Academy, the first Clive Davis gala since his passing will take place Feb. 6 next year, the night before the 2027 Grammy Awards.

Additional details about the gala are forthcoming.

“Clive built this gala into something the entire music community looked forward to for five decades. He never did it for applause or recognition. He did it because he loved this community, believed in the power of music, and understood what it meant to bring us all together to celebrate it,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. wrote in a statement.

“I was lucky to call Clive a friend and mentor, and working with him taught me so much," Mason added. "That’s exactly the spirit he brought to the Pre-Grammy Gala and I know he’d want nothing more than for the show to go on this year. It’s our honor to celebrate the legacy he left behind.”

Performers at the 2026 gala included Clipse and John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Dan + Shay, the trio HUNTR/X doing “Golden” from “Kpop Demon Hunters” and others.

“Clive’s talent has always been seeing and hearing what other people don’t,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message played at the event, where attendees included Joni Mitchell, Nancy Pelosi, Berry Gordy, Jeff Goldblum, Gladys Knight, Cameron Crowe, Lana Del Rey, Brandi Carlile and many more.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 7.40% from 7.28% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.30%.

The average rate is now the highest it’s been since Nov. 16, 2023, when it was at 7.44%.

The housing market has been stuck in a rut this year in large part because of rising mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing power and prompting many to put off buying a home.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also rose this week. That average rate increased to 6.73% from 6.60% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.53%.

Mortgage rates have been climbing in the months since the start of the U.S. war with Iran in late February. The recent run-up in rates also reflects heightened bond market volatility as surging oil prices due to the war fuel inflation worries.

Rates on home loans are influenced by inflation, Federal Reserve policy and bond-market investors’ expectations for the economy, among other factors. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

The 10-year Treasury yield has risen to its highest level since 2002 because of worries about high inflation, big government debt loads and other factors.

The yield was at 5.29% at midday Thursday on the bond market. That's well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran began.

In late February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage briefly dipped to 5.98%, its lowest level going back to late 2022. The 1.42 percentage point increase in the rate since then translates roughly into an additional monthly cost of $376 for a borrower financing a $400,000 home loan at the current average rate.

Depending on a borrower’s income, credit and other factors, they may qualify for a rate on a 30-year mortgage that is below or above the current average.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low.

Last month, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell 2% in August from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units. That was their slowest annual pace in more than a year.

The sharp rise in mortgage rates has many would-be homebuyers putting their home shopping plans on hold.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, fell for the fifth week in a row last week as mortgage rates kept climbing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Higher rates are also keeping many homeowners from refinancing their existing mortgage. Home loan refinance applications fell last week to their lowest level since January 2025 and were less than half last year’s pace, according to the MBA.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Both teams enter the matchup with 1-0 preseason records, giving the game an early test of two rosters looking to build chemistry before the regular season begins.

Miami’s revamped roster has offered an early glimpse of its potential. Antetokounmpo has averaged 7 assists per game, giving the Heat another dynamic playmaking option, while forward Tim Hardaway Jr. is averaging 14 points per game and forward Andrew Wiggins is averaging 12.

Center Bam Adebayo has averaged 10 ppg and 6 rebounds per game, while Nick Richards has provided a physical presence inside with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The biggest question for Miami may be which players are available. Dru Smith and Keshad Johnson remain sidelined by injuries, while Pelle Larsson and Wiggins could also sit after missing recent practices and the team’s charity scrimmage.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is expected to follow a similar approach to Miami’s preseason opener, giving many of the team’s regular players extended minutes during the first half before turning the game over to the rest of the roster after halftime.

New Orleans also brings a collection of players capable of making an impact. Bennedict Mathurin is averaging 13.0 points per game, while Jeremiah Fears has added 12.0. Dejounte Murray is averaging 6.0 assists, and Derik Queen has been active on the glass with 9.0 rebounds per game while also averaging 3.0 steals.

Forward Zion Williamson remains the Pelicans’ biggest matchup challenge when he is on the floor and playing aggressively. It is not clear if he will play in Thursday night’s game.

For Miami, however, the spotlight will be on Antetokounmpo. His expected Kaseya Center debut as a member of the Heat gives fans their first opportunity to see the blockbuster addition in a home game, while Spoelstra continues evaluating how his new-look roster fits together.

And don’t forget, you can also watch the majority of the Miami Heat’s regular season games, at least 68, on Local 10 next season as WPLG Local 10 and the Heat announced a newly expanded media rights agreement, making Local 10 the home of HEAT basketball across South Florida! CLICK HERE for more information on how to watch!

El inicio del partido está programado para las 7:30 p.m., hora del este.

Ambos equipos llegan al encuentro con récords de 1-0 en la pretemporada, lo que convierte al partido en una prueba temprana para dos plantillas que buscan desarrollar química antes del inicio de la temporada regular.

La renovada plantilla de Miami ha ofrecido un primer vistazo de su potencial. Antetokounmpo ha promediado 7 asistencias por partido, brindándole al Heat otra opción dinámica para crear jugadas, mientras que el alero Tim Hardaway Jr. promedia 14 puntos por partido y el alero Andrew Wiggins registra un promedio de 12.

El pívot Bam Adebayo ha promediado 10 puntos y 6 rebotes por partido, mientras que Nick Richards ha aportado presencia física bajo el aro con 7 rebotes y 2 bloqueos.

La mayor interrogante para Miami podría ser qué jugadores estarán disponibles. Dru Smith y Keshad Johnson continúan fuera de acción debido a lesiones, mientras que Pelle Larsson y Wiggins también podrían ausentarse después de perderse prácticas recientes y el partido de exhibición benéfico del equipo.

Se espera que el entrenador del Heat, Erik Spoelstra, siga un enfoque similar al del primer partido de pretemporada de Miami, dando a muchos de los jugadores habituales del equipo más minutos durante la primera mitad antes de dar paso al resto de la plantilla después del descanso.

New Orleans también cuenta con un grupo de jugadores capaces de marcar la diferencia. Bennedict Mathurin promedia 13.0 puntos por partido, mientras que Jeremiah Fears ha aportado 12.0. Dejounte Murray promedia 6.0 asistencias y Derik Queen ha estado activo en los rebotes con 9.0 por partido, además de promediar 3.0 robos de balón.

El alero Zion Williamson sigue siendo el mayor desafío que presentan los Pelicans cuando está en la cancha y juega de manera agresiva. No está claro si participará en el partido de la noche del jueves.

Sin embargo, para Miami, la atención estará centrada en Antetokounmpo. Su esperado debut en el Kaseya Center como miembro del Heat brinda a los aficionados su primera oportunidad de ver a la gran incorporación del equipo en un partido en casa, mientras Spoelstra continúa evaluando cómo encajan las piezas de su renovada plantilla.

Y no olvide que también podrá ver la mayoría de los partidos de la temporada regular del Miami Heat, al menos 68, por Local 10 la próxima temporada, después de que WPLG Local 10 y el Heat anunciaran un nuevo acuerdo ampliado de derechos de transmisión, convirtiendo a Local 10 en la casa del baloncesto del HEAT en todo el sur de Florida. ¡HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para obtener más información sobre cómo ver los partidos!

The “Steadfast Noon” exercise starts on Tuesday and will run for 10 days. It will be hosted by Italy and could involve dozens of aircraft from 17 NATO countries. The exercise has been held at roughly the same time each year for over a decade.

NATO’s Head of Nuclear Policy, Nassima Barrows, stressed that the exercise poses no threat to Russia or any other country.

“Our exercise Steadfast Noon is routine. We have been doing this every year and we have not postponed,” Barrows told reporters. "There is no need to worry. This is predictable."

NATO officers and officials would not say what kind of scenarios or military equipment will be used to test the 32-nation alliance's nuclear readiness. They insisted that it is not in any way related to current international events.

Bomber aircraft and fighter jets that can carry nuclear warheads have taken part in the past, along with ground troops. No nuclear warheads or live munitions are used. The bulk of the exercise is being held near Italy, far from Russia.

Late last month, Russia warned NATO allies against trying to cut off its Kaliningrad exclave. The warning was sent to NATO headquarters but also published on the websites of several Russian embassies in Europe.

The Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad lies between NATO members Poland and Lithuania. It is home to Russia’s main Baltic navy base and other military assets. Nuclear-capable Iskander missiles are deployed there.

Western military officers have said that key military installations in Kaliningrad would be a likely first target should Russia ever launch an attack on any NATO ally.

“There should be no mistake – Russia would be ready to use all its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory if NATO countries try to isolate the Kaliningrad region from the rest of the country,” a statement from Russia’s embassy in Ireland said.

Barrows acknowledged that Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is on the rise, but said NATO has not seen any worrying developments on the ground.

“We monitor Russia very closely. We have not observed any big changes to its posture that would cause us alarm,” she said.

The man in his 40s tried to fire his gun but failed and then pulled out a knife at around 9:30 a.m., said Don Aaron, spokesperson for Metro Nashville Police.

“The security individual fired on the armed individual,” Aaron said, adding that the man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The man was from out of state. Investigators didn't immediately know why he was at the courthouse, and a search of his car found “nothing threatening,” Aaron said.

Courthouse visitors must go through a security checkpoint, which is common at all federal courts. The entrances are typically staffed by armed former police officers contracted by the U.S. Marshals Service.

“That’s the entrance that most people in this courthouse use," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire told reporters outside.

The library next door was closed as a result, and officers with dogs were circling the perimeter while workers in nearby buildings gathered to watch.

McGuire noted that the local U.S. Attorney's Office is inside the courthouse, as are the offices of Tennessee's U.S. senators.

There have been “security instances where a person acts up or acts inappropriately and has to be removed from the premises, but nothing even approaching this kind of situation,” he said.

Reports of the shooting immediately stirred anxiety and concern.

“People are calling their families to let them know they're OK,” McGuire said. “I called my wife, called my son, called people that I knew were wanting to know if I was OK. We're all doing that.”

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White reported from Detroit.

SpaceX brought the U.S., French and Russian flyers back with a splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of Los Angeles.

NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrey Fedyaev departed the orbiting lab on Wednesday, eager to reunite with their families after a lengthy separation. Their replacements arrived three weeks late because of capsule repairs, stalling this crew’s homecoming.

They couldn’t wait to feel the breeze on their faces, hit the shower and, for Adenot at least, plunge back into water sports.

“We are so excited to be back on Planet Earth after an incredible mission on the International Space Station,” Meir radioed moments after splashing down. While still in orbit, she said the crew had “a lot of mixed, swirling emotions” and would miss the “extraordinary views of our home planet.”

All four were out of their capsule within an hour, waving and pumping their fists in the air aboard SpaceX's recovery ship. After a helicopter ride to shore, they were going to head for Houston.

Meir and her crew left the planet in February to replace four station occupants who were sent home early after one of them — NASA's Mike Fincke, now retired — fell ill. It was NASA's first medical evacuation in 65 years of human spaceflight.

The new foursome watched with pride two months later as the Artemis II astronauts flew around the moon. They also celebrated the United States’ 250th birthday up there, with Meir joining the Boston Pops with her piccolo for a Fourth of July concert.

Meir took part in four spacewalks, while Adenot ventured outside three times for maintenance and upgrades to the 28-year-old outpost.

In the middle of all the work, the astronauts found time for fun, throwing a dance party last month and holding regular cooking demonstrations complete with aprons and a chef's toque.

Meir presented a how-to video for curly-haired spacewomen like herself, while Hathaway kept his bushy mustache — a space rarity — groomed to perfection. He grew the naval aviator-style mustache before rocketing into orbit as a way to honor his Navy ties, and found it no harder to maintain in weightlessness than on Earth. Some ground controllers grew mustaches in solidarity.

Will his mustache disappear now that his mission is over?

“It’s kind of become a little bit of my brand up here,” Hathaway said in August, “so I don’t know if it’ll go away right away or I’ll end up keeping it for a while.”

Seven astronauts remain aboard the space station, representing the U.S., Russia and Canada. The outpost has welcomed 298 visitors from 26 countries since the doors swung open in 2000, by NASA's count.

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The PGA Tour's lone stop in Asia features its strongest field of the FedEx Cup Fall, with 13 of the 24 players who competed in the Presidents Cup two weeks ago at Medinah in the Chicago suburbs.

Bridgeman made his debut at Medinah, and his par putt to defeat Min Woo Lee on the 18th green was the clinching point for the 11th straight American victory. He was right back at it on the Yokohama Country Club course with a bogey-free round.

Only one of his eight birdies, an 18-footer on his fourth hole of the round at No. 13, was outside the 10-foot range.

“I felt a little rusty to be honest, but I was able to score the ball well and I felt like I put the ball in positions where when I made a little mistake, it was pretty easy to recover,” Bridgeman said.

Smith, who advanced to the PGA Tour postseason in his first year after earning a card through the European tour, also played bogey-free for his 64.

He spent nine years on the European tour and is adept at travel and learning new courses. Even so, his first time playing a full PGA Tour schedule was new in so many ways. He felt pleased to get to the postseason to guarantee a card for next year, and the next step is getting into the bigger events.

“I’m very, very happy,” Smith said of his year. "Obviously it’s tough for us guys coming over here. I mean, I’ve had 10 seasons on the DP World Tour, so it was all very familiar to me. Coming over to the PGA Tour, everything’s very, very new, new faces, new places, new golf courses.

“To adapt that quickly, I’m very happy with that. But I’ve enjoyed it a lot. It's been good fun.”

Max Homa was among four players another shot behind. Japan's biggest golf star, Hideki Matsuyama, was at 67 along with Ryo Hisatsune and Collin Morikawa.

Bridgeman didn't get much practice in since the Presidents Cup. He chose to rest, went to Maine for his sister's wedding and took the long charter flight to Las Vegas before getting in a little practice. It worked out for him on Thursday.

Jordan Spieth, making his first start since he failed to advance to the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, had a mixture of birdies and bogeys, along with one double bogey, for a 72.

Key for players like Smith and Homa are trying to finish the year in the top 60 on the FedEx Cup to become eligible for two of the early signature events at Pebble Beach and Riviera. Players like Billy Horschel and Tony Finau, who each opened with a 71, are trying to finish among the top 100 to secure a full card for 2027.

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Drinkwitz announced on X on Thursday morning that the surgery Wednesday went well and that Jones was recovering.

“We are incredibly grateful for the medical team who cared for DJ and for the donor and donor family whose extraordinary gift made this possible,” Drinkwitz wrote.

Drinkwitz said at a news conference Tuesday that Jones was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was awaiting the transplant.

Missouri staff first found an issue with Jones’ heart over the summer during freshman intake testing, Drinkwitz said earlier this week.

The team’s medical staff sought a second opinion with the Mayo Clinic when they weren’t getting a resolution or answers after two weeks of observation.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic detected a much more serious heart problem, Drinkwitz said. The coaching staff was told last week that Jones needed the transplant.

The 18-year-old Jones graduated from Venice High School on Florida’s Gulf Coast and signed with Missouri as a four-star recruit.

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Police took Deglis Antoni Jarquin into custody on Wednesday at his home in Miami-Dade’s Tamiami neighborhood following an investigation that lasted several months.

According to the Miami Gardens Police Department, the incident took place in the early morning hours of July 16 after the victim got off work.

Police said the victim worked at a cafeteria in Sweetwater and that when she finished working around 12:30 a.m., she walked out of the business and saw Jarquin, who she said she had previously met a few times before.

According to an arrest report, Jarquin offered to give the victim a ride home and they began traveling north on the Palmetto Expressway. During the drive, the victim said Jarquin put his hand in her lap and she “immediately removed his hand and pushed it away,” with the report also stating, “she did not verbally confront him but stated she began feeling uncomfortable because of his behavior.”

Police said Jarquin then drove to “a dark area within the 16900 block of Northwest 37th Avenue instead of taking her directly home” and started to kiss the victim without her consent while telling her he was attracted to her and wanted to be in a relationship, which frightened the victim.

The victim then got out of the car by saying she had to use the bathroom, but according to police, Jarquin followed her outside and told her to get in the backseat, which she did out of fear of not believing she could get away from him.

Once in the back seat, where there was a child seat behind the driver’s seat, police said Jarquin grabbed the victim by the neck “with significant force, causing her difficulty breathing,” adding that “she never verbally told the suspect to stop because she was scared and was focused on trying to escape.”

Eventually, police said the victim was able to reach the passenger door handle and jumped from the vehicle, scraping both her knees after falling on the road, but that didn’t stop Jarquin, who “jumped on top of her and repeatedly struck her in the face” and as she attempted to protect herself, he “slammed the back of her head against the concrete several times” and “bit her on the stomach during the assault,” according to an arrest report.

The victim continued to resist and scream for help, leading Jarquin to flee the area, leaving one of her car doors open as he drove off, police said.

Investigators spoke to the victim after the incident, and they noted that she had visible injuries to her face, knees and stomach consistent with her account.

Two weeks later, detectives presented the victim with a photo lineup, and she positively identified Jarquin as the suspect who attacked her.

Investigators then worked to obtain cell site records from Jarquin’s mobile phone, which police said showed his location coming from the victim’s business and traveling to the area of the kidnapping.

Officers took Jarquin into custody Wednesday after surveilling him at his Miami home and brought him to MGPD headquarters without further incident, police said.

Following his arrest, Jarquin agreed to speak with detectives, but his statement was retracted from his arrest report.

He is facing a felony charge of kidnapping, which is punishable by life in prison, and a misdemeanor charge of battery.

As of Thursday morning, Jarquin was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set” on the kidnapping charge, but the Nicaraguan national is also facing an immigration hold.

La policía arrestó a Deglis Antoni Jarquin el miércoles en su vivienda en el vecindario de Tamiami, en Miami-Dade, tras una investigación que duró varios meses.

Según el Departamento de Policía de Miami Gardens, el incidente ocurrió durante las primeras horas de la madrugada del 16 de julio, después de que la víctima saliera del trabajo.

La policía indicó que la víctima trabajaba en una cafetería en Sweetwater y que, cuando terminó su jornada laboral alrededor de las 12:30 a.m., salió del establecimiento y vio a Jarquin, a quien, según dijo, había conocido anteriormente en algunas ocasiones.

Según un informe de arresto, Jarquin se ofreció a llevar a la víctima a su casa y comenzaron a viajar hacia el norte por la autopista Palmetto. Durante el trayecto, la víctima indicó que Jarquin puso su mano sobre su regazo y ella “inmediatamente le quitó la mano y la apartó”. El informe también señala que “ella no lo confrontó verbalmente, pero afirmó que comenzó a sentirse incómoda debido a su comportamiento”.

La policía indicó que Jarquin condujo entonces hacia “una zona oscura en la cuadra 16900 de Northwest 37th Avenue en lugar de llevarla directamente a su casa” y comenzó a besar a la víctima sin su consentimiento, mientras le decía que se sentía atraído por ella y que quería tener una relación, lo que asustó a la mujer.

La víctima salió entonces del automóvil diciendo que necesitaba ir al baño, pero, según la policía, Jarquin la siguió y le ordenó que se sentara en el asiento trasero, lo cual hizo por miedo, ya que no creía que pudiera escapar de él.

Una vez en el asiento trasero, donde había un asiento infantil detrás del asiento del conductor, la policía indicó que Jarquin agarró a la víctima por el cuello “con una fuerza considerable, provocándole dificultades para respirar”, y agregó que “ella nunca le dijo verbalmente al sospechoso que se detuviera porque estaba asustada y concentrada en intentar escapar”.

Finalmente, la policía indicó que la víctima logró alcanzar la manija de la puerta del pasajero y saltó del vehículo, raspándose ambas rodillas al caer sobre la carretera, pero eso no detuvo a Jarquin, quien “saltó sobre ella y la golpeó repetidamente en el rostro”. Mientras intentaba protegerse, él “golpeó la parte posterior de su cabeza contra el concreto varias veces” y “la mordió en el estómago durante la agresión”, según el informe de arresto.

La víctima continuó resistiéndose y gritando para pedir ayuda, lo que provocó que Jarquin huyera del área, dejando una de las puertas de su automóvil abierta mientras se alejaba, indicó la policía.

Los investigadores hablaron con la víctima después del incidente y observaron que presentaba lesiones visibles en el rostro, las rodillas y el estómago, compatibles con su relato.

Dos semanas después, los detectives presentaron a la víctima una serie de fotografías y ella identificó positivamente a Jarquin como el sospechoso que la atacó.

Posteriormente, los investigadores trabajaron para obtener registros de las antenas de telefonía celular correspondientes al teléfono móvil de Jarquin, los cuales, según la policía, mostraron su ubicación desde el establecimiento donde trabajaba la víctima hasta el área donde ocurrió el secuestro.

Los agentes arrestaron a Jarquin el miércoles después de realizar labores de vigilancia en su vivienda en Miami y lo trasladaron a la sede del Departamento de Policía de Miami Gardens sin más incidentes, indicó la policía.

Tras su arresto, Jarquin aceptó hablar con los detectives, pero su declaración fue censurada en el informe de arresto.

Enfrenta un cargo grave de secuestro, que puede castigarse con cadena perpetua, y un cargo menor de agresión física.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, Jarquin permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight, con una fianza que figuraba como “pendiente de establecer” por el cargo de secuestro. Sin embargo, el ciudadano nicaragüense también enfrenta una orden de retención migratoria.

The fields brimming with green near the Pacific Coast have produced nearly twice the amount of organic strawberries this year as other plots thanks to steam, he said. The bountiful plots were treated with steam before Koda planted his organic strawberries as part of a project aimed at finding an alternative to chemical fumigants used to kill soil-borne diseases and weeds.

“It's a very noticeable difference,” Koda said.

Steam has been used for decades in greenhouses, and researchers in California have been working to adapt the technology to the fields where strawberries, one of the state's key crops, are grown near the Pacific Coast. It’s part of a broader push to help organic farmers become more productive and reduce the use of chemicals that environmental advocates say pose a health risk to farmworkers and those who live near the fields.

Rick Tomlinson, president of the California Strawberry Commission, said researchers have been working on steam for more than a decade and are tinkering with the technology so it can be applied to fields faster. The industry has also been working on other alternatives to chemical fumigants including cutting off oxygen to kill soil disease and developing more resistant plants, he said.

“Fundamentally, there’s this disease in the soil and if you don’t have some solution, you’re just rolling the dice and one of the years you’re going to end up bankrupt,” Tomlinson said, “because it can wipe out the entire field.”

Nine out of 10 strawberries grown in the United States come from California. The berry, which is grown on 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares), was one of the state's top 10 commodities in 2025.

Strawberry growers have long relied on chemical fumigants because the fruit is grown close to the ground and is soft and fleshy, making it susceptible to disease, farm experts said. Using a machine to inject steam into the soil before planting can kill key soil-borne diseases and weeds and improve crop productivity, said Jenny Broome, a University of California, Santa Cruz researcher working on the project.

Four growers in California participated in the trials last fall, Broome said. On Koda's farm, the steam-treated plots produced more berries and also suffered less damage from fusarium wilt, a fungal disease, she said.

Steam might also work on fields used for lettuce, carrots and other high-yield crops, she said. A challenge is making steam cost-effective for farmers, and proponents of the technology are trying to speed up the machines used in the process so they can cover more terrain faster.

“We’re going back to the future, where we're looking back at an older technology but we're finding more ways to engineer more efficiently and use it,” Broome said.

David Andrews, chief science officer for the Environmental Working Group, welcomed the push for an alternative to traditional fumigants, noting farmworkers in the fields and their families are the ones who have been exposed to the chemicals. He said the technology has improved while concerns about the impact of fumigants have risen.

“The economics are shifting,” Andrews said.

The Zambian government also said that the deal does not contain any clauses linked to the country’s abundant mineral resources, which will be negotiated separately.

Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer and there were concerns that the U.S. would try linking its health pact with the country to its natural minerals.

The U.S. State Department said the deal is worth a total of $2.49 billion, with the U.S. contributing $1.52 billion and Zambia investing $975 million into its health system over the next five years.

The amount is somewhat less than the $3.6 billion mooted by Zambian officials earlier this week.

The deal is part of the Trump administration’s America First Global Health Strategy after it dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, once the world’s largest humanitarian donor.

The new agreements aim to commit African nations to gradually increase spending on health services while the U.S. gradually phases out its assistance.

Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka, Mich Coker, said the partnership was also about shared security and prosperity.

“Infectious diseases know no borders. A strong Zambian health system serves as a first line of defense for both our nations and for the broader region. By helping Zambia detect and respond to outbreaks quickly, we are protecting Americans as well as Zambians,” he said.

Zambian Minister of Health Roma Chilengi said the agreement would support the recruitment of 40,000 healthcare workers over the next five years, and that the deal did not contain any clauses that would compromise Zambia’s security through data sharing.

“The Government will not be sharing any specimens with the United States because we removed all those aspects that raised concerns,” he said.

Chilengi also dismissed suggestions that the deal was tied to the country’s mineral wealth, particularly critical minerals.

He said no such clause existed, even in the original draft.

“As Ministry of Health, we never ever saw any MoU that speaks to minerals. There was no mention at all of any other MoU,” he said.

“We did hear of those conversations in the public, but the contentious matters that were there were about specimen sharing and data protection.”

In 2025, the United States announced that it was withdrawing $50 million in annual aid to Zambia’s health sector over what it described as “systemic theft” of donated medicines and medical supplies.

Last week, the government fired all 150 workers at the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency, which is responsible for the distribution of medicines and medical supplies across the country.

The U.S. has signed health data and specimen-sharing agreements with at least nine African nations, committing them to send data and specimens within five days of a request, according to agreements published by the U.S. State Department.

The U.S. says it can then give the health data and specimens to up to 10 American “non-government entities” to develop diagnostics and medical treatments.

Some African countries, including Zimbabwe, Ghana and Namibia, have rejected the proposed health deals with the U.S

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The suspect was identified by MDSO as Sergio Ruiz-Osorio, 54, of Lehigh Acres. Jail records show he is facing one count each of animal cruelty and animal fighting, baiting or breeding.

According to an arrest report, MDSO detectives returned to the 10-acre property at 12300 SW 51st St. on Wednesday as part of the investigation. They discovered a section of the property displaying a sign that read “Los Laureles, Venta de Animals,” the report states.

After entering the property, detectives and Miami-Dade Animal Services investigators found about 125 game fowl roosters, an enclosed cockfighting training ring and rooster-related paraphernalia, including vitamins, syringes, medication and a rooster agitator, according to the report.

Investigators said they also found 16 dogs, three cats, numerous goats, turtles and various birds that appeared to be in “a visibly dire state of neglect,” the report states.

The animals appeared to have no food or drinking water, according to the report. Investigators said they also found turtles housed in two holding areas with very limited water that appeared to be visibly distressed.

The report states that MDSO allowed animal caregivers escorted access to the property to provide care for the animals.

Detectives then called the telephone number listed on the sign outside the property. Ruiz-Osorio answered and told investigators he was the owner of the animals, according to the report.

Ruiz-Osorio told detectives he was in Naples but later returned to the property, the report states.

According to the report, Ruiz-Osorio made a statement to investigators that was redacted from his publicly released arrest report.

Ruiz-Osorio was then taken into custody without incident, according to the report.

Authorities said Miami-Dade Animal Services removed all of the animals from the property.

The investigation began Saturday, when FBI agents executing a search warrant at the property notified MDSO that they had discovered a possible cockfighting operation.

An MDSO detective who responded to the property conducted a walkthrough and “observed several thousand game fowl roosters,” along with “numerous” enclosed cockfighting training rings and rooster paraphernalia, the report states.

During a search on Sunday, deputies encountered two men who they said had breached a secured perimeter. Both men ran and jumped a fence, but deputies located one of them, Carlos Rafael Lezcano, 52, at a nearby nursery.

Records show Lezcano was arrested on charges including animal cruelty, evidence tampering, animal fighting and resisting without violence.

As of Thursday morning, Ruiz-Osorio was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed at $7,500, while Lezcano was no longer listed as an inmate in Miami-Dade jail records after posting bond his $10,500 bond.

Stephanie Rodriguez, 29, was scheduled to get married in February when her 80-year-old father, Jaime, was critically injured in a Sept. 7 crash in Coral Springs.

“He always told me how beautiful I would look on my wedding day, and how excited he was to share that first dance with me,” Rodriguez said.

Jaime was rushed to Broward North Hospital and taken to the trauma intensive care unit. Knowing her father’s time was limited, Rodriguez decided to make his wish come true.

On Sept. 9, Rodriguez got married in her father’s hospital room.

“By the power vested in me by the state of Florida, I pronounce you husband and wife,” the officiant said.

Rodriguez said her father was able to move his fingers slightly, which told her he was there and listening.

Video from the wedding shows Rodriguez leaning down and talking to her father. He could not speak, but she said she knew he felt the joy of the moment.

Jaime died two days later, on Sept. 11.

Rodriguez said she recently found a drawing of an altar her father had planned to build for her wedding.

“He was holding on as much as he could, but think about the gift he was given,” Rodriguez said. “His last memories on the earth, this love, joy, hope, and his only daughter married.”

“Even in heartbreak there can be light, and I know he’s proud,” she said. “I know he’s there with me. I know he’s here with me and every step that I take, he’s gonna be with me.”

The wedding took place in the intensive care unit, where getting family members and a wedding cake into the room was a challenge.

Jaime was the sole provider for the family.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Rodriguez and her mother.

La MDSO identificó al sospechoso como Sergio Ruiz-Osorio, de 54 años y residente de Lehigh Acres. Los registros de la cárcel muestran que enfrenta un cargo de crueldad animal y otro de peleas, provocación o cría de animales para peleas.

Según un informe de arresto, detectives de la MDSO regresaron el miércoles a la propiedad de 10 acres, ubicada en 12300 SW 51st St., como parte de la investigación. Descubrieron una sección de la propiedad con un letrero que decía “Los Laureles, Venta de Animals”, según el informe.

Después de ingresar a la propiedad, los detectives e investigadores de Servicios para Animales de Miami-Dade encontraron unos 125 gallos de pelea, un ring cerrado de entrenamiento para peleas de gallos y artículos relacionados con estas aves, incluidas vitaminas, jeringas, medicamentos y un dispositivo para provocar a los gallos, según el informe.

Los investigadores indicaron que también encontraron 16 perros, tres gatos, numerosas cabras, tortugas y varias aves que parecían estar en “un estado visiblemente grave de abandono”, según el informe.

Los animales aparentemente no tenían comida ni agua potable, según el informe. Los investigadores indicaron que también encontraron tortugas alojadas en dos áreas de confinamiento con muy poca agua y que parecían estar visiblemente angustiadas.

El informe señala que la MDSO permitió el acceso escoltado de cuidadores de animales a la propiedad para brindarles atención.

Posteriormente, los detectives llamaron al número de teléfono que aparecía en el letrero afuera de la propiedad. Ruiz-Osorio respondió y les dijo a los investigadores que era el dueño de los animales, según el informe.

Ruiz-Osorio les dijo a los detectives que se encontraba en Naples, pero posteriormente regresó a la propiedad, según el informe.

De acuerdo con el informe, Ruiz-Osorio hizo una declaración a los investigadores que fue censurada en el informe de arresto divulgado públicamente.

Ruiz-Osorio fue detenido sin incidentes, según el informe.

Las autoridades indicaron que Servicios para Animales de Miami-Dade retiró a todos los animales de la propiedad.

La investigación comenzó el sábado, cuando agentes del FBI que ejecutaban una orden de registro en la propiedad notificaron a la MDSO que habían descubierto una posible operación de peleas de gallos.

Un detective de la MDSO que acudió a la propiedad realizó una inspección y “observó varios miles de gallos de pelea”, junto con “numerosos” rings cerrados de entrenamiento para peleas de gallos y artículos relacionados con estas aves, según el informe.

Durante un registro realizado el domingo, los agentes encontraron a dos hombres que, según indicaron, habían ingresado a un perímetro asegurado. Ambos hombres corrieron y saltaron una cerca, pero los agentes localizaron a uno de ellos, Carlos Rafael Lezcano, de 52 años, en un vivero cercano.

Los registros muestran que Lezcano fue arrestado por cargos que incluyen crueldad animal, manipulación de pruebas, peleas de animales y resistencia sin violencia.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, Ruiz-Osorio permanecía detenido en el Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight, donde su fianza estaba fijada en $7,500 USD, mientras que Lezcano ya no figuraba como recluso en los registros de las cárceles de Miami-Dade después de pagar su fianza de $10,500 USD.

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Isaias breaks a 342-day drought between Atlantic basin hurricanes – with Melissa on October 31^st last year being the last active hurricane – and is the latest first-forming hurricane in the reliable record (back to 1950), eclipsing the previous record for latest forming first hurricane (set on September 11^th by both Gustav in 2002 and Humberto in 2013) by nearly a month.

Hurricane Watches for the northern Gulf – from coastal Mississippi through the Florida Panhandle, just east of Panama City Beach – were upgraded to Hurricane Warnings late Wednesday for the expectation of hurricane conditions (winds of 74 mph or stronger) across parts of the warned areas by later on Friday.

The official forecast peaks Isaias just shy of a major Category 3 hurricane late Thursday into the early morning hours Friday before weakening on approach to the western Florida Panhandle or South Alabama Friday evening.

The exact timing of the weakening is still unclear and NHC continues to emphasize Isaias is expected to remain a significant and dangerous hurricane through landfall late Friday or early Saturday.

Gusty, damaging winds will extend well inland across Alabama, Mississippi, North Georgia, and the southern Appalachians during the day Saturday as the storm grows in size and accelerates through the southeast U.S. This could lead to downed trees and widespread power outages this weekend.

Isaias is forecast to bring up to 7 feet of dangerous and life-threatening storm surge flooding to areas near and east of where it comes ashore. A storm surge warning is in effect for much of the north-central Gulf from coastal Louisiana to the Florida Big Bend, though the greatest threat for significant and life-threatening flooding will generally be from Mobile to the western Florida Panhandle.

Additionally, heavy rainfall of 10 inches or more locally could lead to flash flooding across the central Gulf Coast, with bands of locally heavy rainfall extending well inland this weekend through the lower Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians.

Isaias will also bring the threat of supercell tornados to southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, especially by Friday night as the hurricane nears the coast. Nighttime tornadoes are especially dangerous so those in the path should have a way to receive warnings.

Conventional models cave to the AI camp

The conventional, physics-based forecast models have largely swung east and are in better alignment with the newer AI models like Google DeepMind, which have consistently advertised a stronger, eastward-landing hurricane.

As of early Thursday, Google DeepMind’s 1,000-member ensemble system continued to suggest highest strike odds from Mobile to Destin and centered on the Pensacola area. The ensembles gave an 85% chance that Isaias peaks as a major Category 3 hurricane before weakening on approach to landfall.

The spread in our reliable models is low, suggesting increasing confidence in a direct strike east of Louisiana.

As a reminder, however, the impacts from Isaias will be felt hundreds of miles away from where the center comes ashore, especially to the east of its track, as increasingly strong upper-level winds from the west smear its heavy rain shield and expand its wind field inland.

Isaias rompe una sequía de 342 días entre huracanes en la cuenca del Atlántico —siendo Melissa, el 31 de octubre ^del año pasado, el último huracán activo— y es el huracán de formación más tardía registrado en los datos fiables (que se remontan a 1950), superando el récord anterior del huracán de formación más tardía (establecido el 11 de septiembre ^por Gustav en 2002 y Humberto en 2013) por casi un mes.

Las alertas de huracán para el norte del Golfo, desde la costa de Mississippi hasta el noroeste de Florida, justo al este de Panama City Beach, se elevaron a avisos de huracán a última hora del miércoles ante la previsión de condiciones de huracán (vientos de 119 km/h o más) en partes de las zonas afectadas para el viernes por la tarde.

Según el pronóstico oficial, Isaias alcanzará su máxima intensidad, rozando la categoría 3 de huracán, entre la noche del jueves y la madrugada del viernes, antes de debilitarse al acercarse al oeste del Panhandle de Florida o al sur de Alabama el viernes por la noche.

Aún no está claro el momento exacto en que se producirá el debilitamiento, y el Centro Nacional de Huracanes (NHC) sigue haciendo hincapié en que se espera que Isaias siga siendo un huracán importante y peligroso hasta que toque tierra a última hora del viernes o a primera hora del sábado.

Los fuertes vientos, que pueden causar daños, se extenderán tierra adentro a través de Alabama, Misisipi, el norte de Georgia y los Apalaches del sur durante el sábado, a medida que la tormenta aumente de tamaño y se acelere por el sureste de Estados Unidos. Esto podría provocar la caída de árboles y cortes de energía generalizados este fin de semana.

Se pronostica que Isaias provocará marejadas ciclónicas peligrosas de hasta 2 metros de altura en las zonas cercanas y al este de su llegada a tierra. Se ha emitido una alerta por marejada ciclónica para gran parte del centro-norte del Golfo de México, desde la costa de Luisiana hasta la Gran Curva de Florida, aunque la mayor amenaza de inundaciones significativas y potencialmente mortales se concentrará generalmente desde Mobile hasta el oeste del Panhandle de Florida.

Además, las fuertes lluvias, de 25 centímetros o más en algunas zonas, podrían provocar inundaciones repentinas en la costa central del Golfo de México, con bandas de lluvias intensas que se extenderían tierra adentro este fin de semana a través del valle inferior del Tennessee y los Apalaches del sur.

Isaias también traerá consigo la amenaza de tornados supercelulares al sur de Alabama y al noroeste de Florida, especialmente el viernes por la noche, a medida que el huracán se acerque a la costa. Los tornados nocturnos son particularmente peligrosos, por lo que quienes se encuentren en su trayectoria deben contar con un medio para recibir alertas.

Los modelos convencionales ceden ante la IA.

Los modelos de pronóstico convencionales, basados ​​en la física, se han desplazado mayoritariamente hacia el este y están mejor alineados con los modelos de IA más recientes, como Google DeepMind, que han anunciado sistemáticamente un huracán más fuerte que tocará tierra hacia el este.

A primera hora del jueves, el sistema de predicción por conjuntos de 1000 miembros de Google DeepMind seguía indicando que la mayor probabilidad de impacto se concentraba entre Mobile y Destin, con centro en la zona de Pensacola. Los modelos otorgaban un 85 % de probabilidad de que Isaias alcanzara su máxima intensidad como huracán de categoría 3 antes de debilitarse al acercarse a tierra.

La dispersión en nuestros modelos fiables es baja, lo que sugiere una creciente confianza en un ataque directo al este de Luisiana.

Sin embargo, cabe recordar que los efectos de Isaias se sentirán a cientos de kilómetros de distancia del punto donde toque tierra el centro, especialmente al este de su trayectoria, a medida que los vientos cada vez más fuertes en las capas altas de la atmósfera, procedentes del oeste, difuminan su escudo de fuertes lluvias y expanden su campo de vientos tierra adentro.

The announcement by Vice President JD Vance marks the latest swing from the Trump administration at employers and universities that welcome foreign students and workers into the country.

Such programs have frequently been targeted by some Trump supporters who argue they undercut American students and workers. Supporters say they allow the U.S. to attract the best talent from around the world and fill important hiring gaps.

Supporters of the Republican president have long argued that various programs like H-1B visas — which Vance accused Microsoft of abusing — essentially empower American companies to recruit foreign workers for jobs that end up undercutting Americans. In the wide-ranging announcement, Vance and other top administration officials also called out universities over their use of J-1 visas for international students and information technology outsourcing firms.

The announcement came hours before Trump was scheduled to award the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, part of an event at which he is granting some of the nation’s most prestigious science and technology awards to his tech billionaire allies.

Vance says US workers are replaced with ‘foreign indentured servants’

Vance said the program from which Microsoft is being suspended requires companies to advertise jobs in America before applying to the Department of Labor to show they need to give a foreign worker a green card because of a lack of American workers.

“They’ll put an advertisement in a small-town newspaper. They’ll go out there and say that ‘We have advertised for a position with our company, and nobody is responding to it.’ And they will use that lack of response to then go and replace American workers with what is effectively foreign indentured servants," Vance said. “There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has used this system more than Microsoft."

Microsoft is No. 5 among U.S. employers when it comes to using H-1B visas, according data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Amazon is No. 1.

Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, said it looks forward to “providing the Administration with additional information.” Of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications it submitted in the last fiscal year, the company said 80% were “to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees.”

“These were not to hire new people,” Microsoft said in a statement. “The remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the United States who decided to come work for us, and they equal only 1% of our U.S. workforce. They are not new arrivals to our country.”

The company added that it only files H-1B petitions for “those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.”

Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at USCIS during the Biden administration, called Vance's announcement “incoherent.”

“If the Trump administration were truly concerned that H-1B workers are ‘indentured servants,’ then the last thing they would do is block companies from helping their own H-1B workers get green cards,” he said. "Once you have a green card, you’re no longer dependent on your employer for your immigration status — you’re a permanent resident who can change jobs and negotiate higher wages without fear.”

Vance said Microsoft last year laid off 6,000 American workers but also obtained 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards.

“If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants,” Vance said in a White House news conference announcing the decision. "Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers."

Vance said H-1B workers are effectively foreign indentured servants because if they lose their job, they have to leave the country, and they earn less than Americans in the same position.

H-1B program has been scrutinized

The H-1B program has long been a target of Trump supporters who say that the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse.

H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find American workers to fill. Technology companies are the biggest users, with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India.

Trump last year attempted to ratchet up the fee for H-1B work visas to $100,000, saying it would protect American workers from losing their jobs to lower-paid foreigners, but a federal judge struck that down in June.

The administration has since tried a different tack, announcing plans in August for a $103,265 fee. The proposed regulation described the new fee as a “dedicated revenue mechanism to help recover a portion of the federal government’s costs of administering the lawful immigration system.” The rule isn’t yet final and is expected to face a legal challenge, like the one before it.

Ron Hira, a Howard University political science professor and longtime critic of the H-1B program, called the move against Microsoft “very significant.’’ Hira noted the White House last month issued a little-noticed executive order directing government agencies to “implement appropriate measures to protect American workers from abuse of the H-1B program and ensure that the program serves the national interest.’’

“There are supposed to be protections for U.S. workers that say: If you hire an H-1B, you are promising that you are not adversely affecting similarly employed U.S. workers,’’ Hira said. “That’s never been enforced.’’

Besides Microsoft, Vance said the government was similarly suspending Adobe and tech consulting firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini. The companies did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Trump also has targeted foreign students

The Vance announcement came a day after Trump's administration launched another broadside against international students and their ability to work in the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday proposed a $70,000 fee for international students seeking to work in the United States. The proposed rule would require schools to pay the fee for every student who participates in the Optional Practical Training program, known as OPT, which allows students to work in jobs related to their major during or after their time in school.

Vance also called out universities, suggesting that they were abusing a program to allow international students to come to the U.S. These temporary visas, called J-1 visas, allow international visitors to temporarily come to the U.S. for work and study exchange programs. In most cases, to get the visa, students must receive the majority of their funding from an institution, such as a fellowship-granting organization, rather than paying for their tuition personally.

Vance singled out nine universities that he said merited further investigation for J-1 visa fraud, saying they used the program in greater proportions than their counterparts.

The universities were Harvard; Yale; Stanford; Brown; the University of Pittsburgh; the University of California, Davis; the California Institute of Technology, or Caltech; Arizona State; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT. Stanford said it would cooperate with the investigation. The other universities did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ___

Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas and Paul Wiseman and Annie Ma in Washington D.C. contributed. Ortutay reported from Oakland, Calif.

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The Coral Gables Police Department identified the suspect in an arrest report as Eneyda Leticia Silva-Saballos.

According to the arrest report, the crash happened Sept. 5 at approximately 2:09 p.m. near the intersection of Valencia Street and Segovia Street.

Investigators said Silva-Saballos, 41, of Miami, was driving a gray Audi Q5 westbound on Valencia Street with two minors inside the SUV when she approached the intersection.

Surveillance video showed the Audi running a red light and crashing into another vehicle, according to police.

Following the collision, Silva-Saballos allegedly got out of the SUV and fled on foot with the two children, leaving the vehicle behind.

Police said investigators used surveillance footage, witness statements, cellphone-related records and evidence recovered from the vehicle to identify Silva-Saballos as the driver of the Audi.

Among the evidence was a pawn shop receipt left inside the SUV, which investigators said helped them locate her address. Police later confirmed the information through investigative databases, the report stated.

Victim continues to recover from injuries

According to the arrest report, the driver of the other vehicle suffered multiple injuries, including damage to her knee ligaments and spine.

During a follow-up conversation with investigators on Wednesday, the victim said she was still experiencing pain from her knee injuries and a dislocated or herniated spinal disc.

Police said the woman reported undergoing multiple medical appointments and procedures to manage her injuries, with additional treatment expected as doctors determine a long-term plan.

Suspect arrested more than a month later

At approximately 7:56 a.m. Wednesday, Coral Gables detectives conducting surveillance near Silva-Saballos’ home spotted her leaving her apartment and entering a silver Toyota Corolla, according to the report.

Investigators approached the vehicle and made contact with her.

Police said Silva-Saballos verbally identified herself, and officers also confirmed her identity using mail she had just retrieved bearing her full name.

She was arrested at the scene and taken to Coral Gables Police Department headquarters for questioning.

According to the report, Silva-Saballos was advised of her Miranda rights and requested an attorney.

She was subsequently transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where she was booked on a charge of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in serious bodily injury.

As of Thursday morning, the Nicaraguan national remained at TGK on the charge as well as on an immigration hold.

The suspicious death last week of a worker at a research lab in Siberia that has fueled global concerns about suspected pneumonic plague is just the latest example of how leaders in Moscow manage the official narrative that often covers up the truth for years.

Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has told the World Health Organization that no case of plague has been registered in the Irkutsk region of southeastern Siberia. In tersely worded statements, the Russian agency said the lab worker contracted pneumonia of “unknown” origin and that tests found no evidence her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

The WHO urged Russia to share more information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted the public health measures and media reports that a second employee had pneumonia of undetermined cause.

Scarce official information about the worker's death, which unconfirmed reports in Russia blamed on pneumonic plague, follows the Soviet-era patterns of secrecy in dealing with outbreaks of infectious diseases, accidents and other emergencies.

Here are other examples of Moscow censoring public health information:

The 1959-60 smallpox outbreak

In the final days of December 1959, leading Soviet graphic artist Alexei Kokorekin fell ill and died shortly after returning from a trip to India.

Doctors initially struggled to identify the cause of death as smallpox, which was considered eradicated decades earlier. Once it became clear, authorities launched a massive effort to contain the outbreak.

The KGB meticulously tracked down Kokorekin’s contacts, and thousands of people were put in isolation. An Aeroflot flight carrying one of his contacts was contacted before it landed in Paris and ordered to return to Moscow.

Authorities halted all travel to and from Moscow and launched an unprecedented effort in which thousands of vaccination teams distributed shots to millions of residents of the capital and the surrounding region. International news outlets reported the massive campaign, but Soviet state media kept silent about it.

The outbreak led to 46 confirmed cases and three deaths in Moscow before it was contained in 44 days. A novel and movie based on the outbreak appeared later, but the true details of what happened were hidden from the public until the waning years of the Soviet Union.

The 1971 Aral Sea smallpox outbreak

During tests of a smallpox bioweapon on a tightly guarded range on Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea in August 1971, a research ship accidentally sailed too close to the aerosolized plume of microbes.

A marine biologist on the ship contracted smallpox and spread it to several others in the town of Aralsk in what is now part of Kazakhstan, resulting in 10 infections and three deaths. The town was quarantined and more than 40,000 people were vaccinated against smallpox within days, but the public remained unaware of what happened.

The incident only became widely known in 2002 when U.S. researchers publicized old Soviet archives.

The 1979 anthrax leak

On April 2, 1979, anthrax spores were accidentally released from a secret biological weapons lab in Sverdlovsk, the Ural Mountains city that is now called Yekaterinburg.

The accident was caused by a worker failing to replace a faulty ventilation filter, resulting in the release of the deadly spores into the air. At least 68 people died in the resulting anthrax outbreak.

Soviet authorities officially blamed the deaths on contaminated meat from a street market and the KGB made sure to keep details of the accident under wraps, confiscating medical records.

It wasn’t until after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union that the truth about the outbreak became known under Russian President Boris Yeltsin, a former Communist Party boss in Sverdlovsk.

The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster

When the reactor No. 4 exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the then-Soviet republic of Ukraine on April 26, 1986, it spewed a radioactive cloud across Europe.

Authorities were slow to report the incident and warn the public about the radioactive threat. When Sweden detected the radiation, Moscow initially denied that any accident had occurred.

Soviet officials waited for 36 hours before ordering the evacuation of the town of Pripyat near the plant. Five days later, tens of thousands of people were exposed to radioactive fallout as they marched through the streets of Kyiv during the May Day parade.

Despite Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of “glasnost,” or greater openness, authorities heavily censored medical data and casualty figures as part of their efforts to conceal the true scale of the disaster. Immediately after the accident, 30 plant workers and firefighters died from acute radiation sickness, and thousands of people later died from radiation-related illnesses.

The COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some independent Russian news outlets and international media reports claimed the country’s coronavirus death toll could be much higher than government officials said. The reports cited a spike in total mortality rates.

Russian authorities angrily rejected the claims as part of a Western disinformation campaign against Moscow.

Officials in Moscow explained the relatively low death toll by crediting a swift ban on travel from China early in the pandemic, a speedy introduction of restrictions and a broad testing effort that allowed authorities to spot infections quickly and prevent patients from developing life-threatening complications.

Authorities denied claims of widespread shortages of personal protective equipment and questionable infection control procedures at dozens of hospitals. Some medical workers said they were threatened with dismissal or even prosecution for complaining about the situation.

In 2020, Russia criminalized “false information” about threats to public safety, and human rights groups documented that dozens of people were prosecuted for making purportedly fake claims. But at the end of that year, officials effectively conceded the death toll was several times higher than previously reported.

In early 2022, Russian authorities reported a total of over 13.5 million confirmed COVID-19 and 338,091 deaths — by far the highest death toll in Europe at the time. Russia’s state statistics agency Rosstat, which uses broader counting criteria, said there were 681,100 virus-linked deaths between April 2020 and December 2021.

“The system can silence, but it’s not competent enough to coordinate, so it produces contradiction instead of a unified false account,” Judy Twigg, professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, said in written comments this week.

___

Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

El Departamento de Policía de Coral Gables identificó a la sospechosa en un informe de arresto como Eneyda Leticia Silva-Saballos.

Según el informe de arresto, el accidente ocurrió el 5 de septiembre aproximadamente a las 2:09 p.m. cerca de la intersección de Valencia Street y Segovia Street.

Los investigadores indicaron que Silva-Saballos, de 41 años y residente de Miami, conducía un Audi Q5 gris en dirección oeste por Valencia Street con dos menores dentro de la camioneta cuando se aproximó a la intersección.

Las imágenes de vigilancia mostraron que el Audi se pasó un semáforo en rojo y chocó contra otro vehículo, según la policía.

Tras la colisión, Silva-Saballos presuntamente salió de la camioneta y huyó a pie con los dos menores, dejando el vehículo abandonado.

La policía indicó que los investigadores utilizaron imágenes de vigilancia, declaraciones de testigos, registros relacionados con teléfonos celulares y pruebas recuperadas del vehículo para identificar a Silva-Saballos como la conductora del Audi.

Entre las pruebas se encontraba un recibo de una casa de empeño que quedó dentro de la camioneta, el cual, según los investigadores, les ayudó a localizar su dirección. Posteriormente, la policía confirmó la información mediante bases de datos de investigación, según el informe.

Víctima continúa recuperándose de sus lesiones

Según el informe de arresto, la conductora del otro vehículo sufrió múltiples lesiones, incluidos daños en los ligamentos de la rodilla y la columna vertebral.

Durante una conversación de seguimiento con los investigadores el miércoles, la víctima indicó que todavía experimentaba dolor debido a las lesiones en la rodilla y a un disco de la columna vertebral dislocado o herniado.

La policía señaló que la mujer informó que se había sometido a múltiples consultas y procedimientos médicos para tratar sus lesiones, y que se esperaba que recibiera tratamiento adicional mientras los médicos determinan un plan a largo plazo.

Arrestan a sospechosa más de un mes después

Aproximadamente a las 7:56 a.m. del miércoles, detectives de Coral Gables que realizaban labores de vigilancia cerca de la vivienda de Silva-Saballos la observaron salir de su apartamento y entrar en un Toyota Corolla plateado, según el informe.

Los investigadores se acercaron al vehículo y establecieron contacto con ella.

La policía indicó que Silva-Saballos se identificó verbalmente y que los agentes también confirmaron su identidad mediante correspondencia que acababa de recoger y que llevaba su nombre completo.

Fue arrestada en el lugar y trasladada a la sede del Departamento de Policía de Coral Gables para ser interrogada.

Según el informe, Silva-Saballos fue informada de sus derechos Miranda y solicitó un abogado.

Posteriormente, fue trasladada al Centro Correccional Turner Guilford Knight, donde fue fichada por un cargo de abandonar la escena de un accidente que provocó lesiones corporales graves.

Hasta la mañana del jueves, la ciudadana nicaragüense permanecía detenida en TGK por ese cargo, así como por una orden de retención migratoria.

At issue is an $80 million redevelopment plan that supporters say will transform the waterfront but opponents warn could come at a cost to Biscayne Bay.

David Filler, senior vice president of development for Suntex Marinas, laid out plans for an $80 million makeover of the Rickenbacker Marina and the five-parcel, 27-acre property surrounding the Miami Marine Stadium basin.

“You’re going to see an open-to-the-public baywalk connecting the rowing club and Marine Stadium all the way to the Rusty Pelican,” Filler said.

“This whole area will be open, so you can kayak along this area. You can walk. You can run. You can rollerblade. You can bike. You’ll be able to eat at shops and restaurants,” he said. “It’s going to transform this from a private, basically, facility to a public one on public lands.”

But whether Filler’s vision becomes reality is up to City of Miami voters. Referendum 3 asks them to approve a long-term lease for the private redevelopment of the publicly owned waterfront property.

“It’s all privately funded at no cost to taxpayers,” Filler said.

Opponents question the potential cost to the environment. Friends of Biscayne Bay and the Sierra Club strongly oppose the project, warning it could further damage the bay’s already fragile ecosystem.

“We’re at the tipping point, and the more you shade over seagrass or dredge and silt over seagrass, the more issues we have for manatees, for fish, and for our water quality,” said Laura Reynolds, policy advisor for Friends of Biscayne Bay.

Filler pushed back, saying the redevelopment will actually improve environmental conditions at the site.

“This marina is currently operating as an environmental hazard. It has complete stormwater runoff with toxins going into the bay,” he said.

Ron Schults, CEO of Edgewater Group and the engineer and environmental consultant for the project, said the team has found violations at the marina.

“We’ve actually identified 69 DERM violations over the last 32 years, and the first step will be to fix those things and bring it up to code,” Schults said.

He pointed out what he said were examples of runoff and dirty stormwater at the marina.

“So this is a stormwater pipe that was recently installed. You can see it sheet-drains the whole parking lot, so all the solvents that come off of cars, tire dust, oils, gases, solvents, etc., go directly into the bay,” Schults said.

We checked with DERM, which now says the majority of the violations on that list have been resolved or closed.

DERM said the marina’s pump station is currently under a temporary moratorium, but the facility has not been issued a notice and is operating under its permit conditions.

The marina’s current operator also said every item on the list provided by developers was closed out through DERM’s normal inspection process.

“We just got our marina operator permit with DERM renewed. If we had any open violations or any citations, we would not have renewed our marina operator’s permit from DERM, which we just over a week ago got renewed. We’re in constant contact with every agency, and no one has cited us,” said Aabad Melwani, president of Rickenbacker Marina.

The proposed marina would have up to 202 wet slips, roughly the same number that exists today. But project renderings show slips accommodating much larger vessels. For perspective, the docks are 80 feet long, yet some of the yachts depicted extend well beyond that and are larger than any vessel currently at the marina. Still, Filler said the number of large yachts will be limited.

“The four to five boats that it could possibly handle that are 100 feet are all the way at the very end of the marina,” Filler said.

The renderings in the RFP depict more than four or five large yachts. And the larger the vessel, the deeper its draft, or the amount of hull below the waterline. A 100-foot motor yacht can draw six feet or more. The problem: the waters surrounding Virginia Key are notoriously shallow.

“What that means is increased dredging,” Reynolds said.

Asked whether there will be dredging, Filler said: “The only dredging that would occur, if it’s even necessary, would be what’s called maintenance dredging, where it’s areas of previously dredged areas where you’re cleaning it up.”

But the developers’ own proposal acknowledges a phase two that may require maintenance dredging, with the RFP allowing depths of eight to nine feet. The marina today averages four to five feet.

“It’s a problem for having to dredge deeper. More silt is going to go over top of seagrass,” Reynolds said.

Exactly how much dredging would ultimately be needed, and its potential impact on the bay, would have to be determined by the permitting process. But first, the redevelopment needs voter approval, so City of Miami voters will get the final say.

The ballot question asks whether the city should be authorized to lease about 27.5 acres on Virginia Key for the proposed redevelopment.

If you want the new plan to move forward, you vote yes. If not, you vote no.

Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that the five-parcel property surrounding the Miami Marine Stadium basin is 75 acres when it is, in fact, 27 acres. The article has since been corrected.

For Rogers, a former congressman who was unchallenged in the Aug. 4 primary, the evening debate in Grand Rapids will be his first since facing off two years ago against then-U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin in a Senate race that the Democrat won by just under 20,000 votes.

El-Sayed, a progressive who is a former public health official, participated in multiple primary debates against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens before capturing the nomination by less than a percentage point and advancing to the Nov. 3 general election.

His debate with Rogers comes after an increasingly combative stretch in the campaign.

President Donald Trump assailed El-Sayed in a social media post late Wednesday, referring to him as “Mohammed” and saying he “goes back to the days of the Jihad.”

“He is a RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

El-Sayed, who was born in the U.S. to Egyptian immigrant parents, responded by pointing out that the president knows his name: “He says it every day.”

“He’s not just attacking me. He’s attacking all of us,” El-Sayed wrote. “He thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us.”

El-Sayed, trailing nearly 2-to-1 in ad spending, has crisscrossed the state for events while also sitting for interviews ranging from Fox News to The New York Times’ Ezra Klein. He has often used those appearances to go after Rogers.

“We are running to win the race. He’s running not to lose the race,” El-Sayed said of Rogers during a Tuesday interview with The Associated Press.

Rogers has held fewer public events while outside groups have spent heavily on ads.

Rogers' campaign did not make him available for an interview before the debate. He is scheduled to appear Friday in Oakland County with Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

Rogers has broken with Trump on two major issues in recent weeks. In September, Rogers said the war with Iran needed to “end quickly.” On Wednesday, he released an ad criticizing Trump’s tariffs on Canada, saying “we know that Canada is not our enemy” and “we need to end this tariff war now.”

El-Sayed is working to reunite a Democratic coalition that splintered during the primary and he is trying to appeal to independents and voters who previously backed Trump. He is appearing Thursday with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, their first appearance since she endorsed Stevens in the primary.

Rogers faces a different balancing act as he works to turn out Republicans without Trump on the ballot and competes for moderates.

Duterte, 81, denies the charges. His trial is scheduled to open on Nov. 30. The ex-leader is accused of murder and attempted murder for his alleged involvement in dozens of killings as part of the war on drugs. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.

The court’s Sept. 28 ruling that he is fit to face justice came after an independent panel of experts said that Duterte “has the capacity to understand the charges” and follow the proceedings including the implications of entering a plea — which he will be asked to do when the trial opens, the court said in a statement.

He also is mentally fit to understand evidence and discuss his defense with his lawyers, the panel of experts said. His legal team had previously attempted to get the case thrown out on medical grounds, but judges rejected it and denied a request for him to be released from custody.

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines in March 2025 and sent to the ICC’s headquarters in The Hague following a lengthy ICC investigation into mass killings in crackdowns overseen by Duterte, first when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president.

Duterte, who was among the most feared leaders in Asia while in power, became the first ex-leader from the region to be arrested by the global court.

Estimates of the death toll in the crackdown on drugs during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 reported by the national police to up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

Prosecutors say that police and government hit squads carried out dozens of killings at Duterte’s orders, motivated by the promise of money or to avoid becoming targets themselves.

At the time of Duterte's arrest, relatives of victims hailed the move.

“We hope that top police officials and the hundreds of police officers who were involved in the illegal killings should also be placed in custody and punished,” said Randy delos Santos, whose teenage nephew was gunned down by police in a dark riverside alley during an anti-drug operation in suburban Caloocan city in August 2017.

Según un informe de arresto del Departamento de Policía de Hialeah, el novio de la agente Marcia Sangronis les hizo señas a unos policías el martes por la mañana. Quería denunciar que había sido agredido físicamente.

El informe de la policía de Hialeah indica que la víctima contó que Sangronis, de 38 años, se pone “furiosa y violenta” cada vez que hablan de “su falta de motivación para hacer carrera en la policía”.

Según el informe, él había pasado la noche en casa de ella. Sangronis sacó el tema la noche anterior al incidente y volvió a sacarlo al despertarse al día siguiente.

El informe señala que alrededor de las 11 a.m. él decidió irse y le dijo que quería terminar la relación. Entonces ella “se molestó y se paró frente a la puerta para impedirle salir de la casa”. Cuando él intentó alcanzar la manija, ella le dijo: “No puedes irte”.

“La víctima intentó otra vez alcanzar la manija para salir y (Sangronis) empezó a atacarlo. La víctima dijo que ella lo arañó varias veces en los brazos, la cara y la espalda”, señala el informe. “La víctima dijo que también lo mordió varias veces en el antebrazo izquierdo. Dijo que logró zafarse de (Sangronis) y salir de la casa. También dijo que (ella) lo ha maltratado física y emocionalmente durante los dos años que llevan juntos”.

La policía dijo que documentó varias lesiones en “el cuerpo, los brazos y la cara” del hombre.

La declaración que Sangronis dio a la policía fue tachada del informe.

Inicialmente fue arrestada por agresión agravada con lesiones corporales graves, un delito grave de segundo grado. Pero el miércoles, en el tribunal, un juez encontró causa probable solo para agresión simple, un delito menor, y le fijó una fianza de $1,000.

También se le ordenó mantenerse alejada de la víctima.

Según los registros, permanecía detenida en el Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Según publicaciones en redes sociales, lleva alrededor de un año en el Departamento de Policía de North Bay Village.

El departamento emitió un comunicado sobre el arresto el miércoles por la tarde. En parte, dice que Sangronis “fue relevada de sus funciones con goce de sueldo, según los protocolos de nuestra agencia”.

El comunicado añade que el departamento “exige a todo su personal los más altos estándares de conducta y lo hace plenamente responsable de sus actos, dentro y fuera de servicio”.

Local 10 News también contactó a su abogado para pedirle comentarios.

Según el Departamento de Policía de Fort Lauderdale, los hechos ocurrieron alrededor de las 11 a.m. en la cuadra 1700 de Northwest 13th Court, en el barrio Lauderdale Manors.

La policía dijo que los paramédicos llevaron a la víctima al Broward Health Medical Center con heridas que ponen en riesgo su vida.

La policía describió el caso como una “investigación en curso”. No indicó de inmediato si ha identificado a algún sospechoso ni el posible motivo.

Según la policía de Fort Lauderdale, los agentes acudieron a la cuadra 700 de Northeast 17th Court tras recibir llamadas sobre el conductor. Más tarde fue identificado como Eliezer Valcourt, de 32 años y residente del noroeste de Miami-Dade.

Una de las agentes que respondió al llamado dijo que Valcourt estuvo a punto de chocarla al doblar una esquina con su camión del Servicio Postal de EE.UU. Otro agente logró detenerlo y “observó posibles señales de que estaba bajo los efectos del alcohol”, según la policía. Por eso, comenzó una investigación por manejar bajo la influencia (DUI).

Según un informe de arresto, Valcourt falló las pruebas de sobriedad en el lugar. Les dijo a los agentes que estaba trabajando y que ese día no había tomado nada.

También les dijo que “ya casi terminaba” y que “solo le faltaban tres calles”, según el formulario de arresto.

Enfrenta cargos de DUI y de DUI con un nivel de alcohol en la sangre de 0.15% o más.

Hasta la tarde del miércoles, Valcourt seguía detenido en la cárcel principal de Broward con una fianza de $1,000.

Según la policía de Miami, el Departamento de Policía de Davie ejecutó la orden alrededor de las 6 p.m. del 6 de octubre, en la casa cercana a la cuadra 5000 de Southwest 136th Ave. Contó con el apoyo de la policía de Fort Lauderdale, la policía de Sunrise y la Oficina del Sheriff de Broward. También participaron la Oficina de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas de Fuego y Explosivos (ATF) y el equipo SWAT del Departamento de Policía de Plantation.

La policía dijo que la orden era contra Braveone Jones, a quien encontraron en la casa de Redd y detuvieron. Según los registros de la cárcel, Jones enfrenta dos cargos de intento de asesinato en segundo grado. Los cargos están relacionados con el tiroteo del 15 de septiembre en Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen, ubicado en el 316 NW 24th St., en Miami.

La investigación continúa, informó la policía.

Un equipo de Local 10 News fue a la propiedad el miércoles por la mañana, pero no había actividad policial en la casa de Redd.

¿Qué pasó en el tiroteo de septiembre?

Las autoridades confirmaron que dos hombres resultaron heridos en el tiroteo frente a Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen, poco después de la medianoche del 15 de septiembre.

Según Miami Fire Rescue, las víctimas, de 18 y 23 años, sufrieron heridas de bala. Ambos fueron trasladados en condición estable al Ryder Trauma Center del Jackson Memorial Hospital.

El restaurante queda frente al edificio de apartamentos Wynwood 25, en una zona conocida por sus restaurantes, tiendas y vida nocturna.

La policía de Miami dijo que recibió varias llamadas de emergencia. Al llegar, encontró a un hombre con una herida de bala frente a Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen. Más tarde, los agentes hallaron a una segunda víctima frente a Skinny Louie’s, el restaurante de al lado.

Un empleado de un negocio cercano describió el caos tras los disparos y contó que ayudó a uno de los heridos.

“Vi a un montón de gente corriendo directo hacia nosotros”, dijo el empleado en ese momento. “No sabía qué estaba pasando”.

El empleado contó que a las personas que estaban dentro del negocio les avisaron que había habido disparos afuera. Después encontró a un hombre herido y le ayudó con primeros auxilios.

“Salí y vi a un señor en el piso”, dijo. Explicó que el hombre tenía una herida de bala en la nalga derecha. Usó su cinturón para hacer presión sobre la herida y le pidió que no se moviera.

Hasta la mañana del miércoles, Jones permanecía en la cárcel principal del condado de Broward (Broward County Main Jail). Su fianza no se había fijado de inmediato.

Hasta el momento, se desconoce el motivo del tiroteo.

Two years after Hurricane Helene leveled forests, bulldozed houses and filled western North Carolina rivers with everything from cars to refrigerators, the work of cleaning up the debris goes on. Along the iconic French Broad River, known for its whitewater rapids, one item stands out from the rest: massive numbers of PVC pipes that washed away from a factory north of Asheville. As Hurricane Isaias, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, intensifies, the PVC pipes are a reminder that damage can disrupt lives for years after a storm passes.

“Just the amount of time and energy that we put into removing all this pipe is exhausting,” said Jon Stamper, operations director at MountainTrue, the nonprofit conducting cleanup on several rivers affected by Helene. “We still have stretches of river that haven’t been touched.”

MountainTrue estimates its crews have pulled hundreds of thousands of pipes from the river — most of which went to landfills — with an untold number still littering the river for 70 miles (113 kilometers) to a large lake at the Tennessee border.

Canada-based IPEX would not say how many pipes were stored at its Woodfin, North Carolina, site before the storm or share results of a company-funded study of how much remains in the river, calling the information “commercially sensitive.” Officials said 60% of pipes stored outdoors at the site, sandwiched between railroad tracks and the river, were swept away by the 2024 flood, but most were recovered fairly quickly.

The company acknowledged that the remaining debris is significant and has agreed to pay MountainTrue $500,000 toward continued cleanup on the French Broad, allowing the organization to continue working into next year.

A $10 million state grant awarded to MountainTrue in 2025 to clean up debris in several western North Carolina rivers that was set to expire in December has been extended to February. The organization said there’s still a long way to go and estimates it has spent 50,000 work-hours and over $1.5 million on pipe removal, which is only in the French Broad.

PVC pipe comprises 80% of the debris in some areas, according to MountainTrue, posing risks to rafters and kayakers, changing water flow and altering the ecosystem.

“We understand the ongoing challenge,” IPEX CEO Colleen Pritchett said. “We recognize that … recovery efforts are complex, they’re resource-intensive, and it’s constantly shaped by the river conditions.”

The epic flood took everyone by surprise

Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina in late September 2024, dumping more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain in some areas, triggering landslides, toppling trees, pushing buildings off their foundations and choking waterways.

At IPEX, an earthen berm was the only thing separating tall stacks of pipes from the French Broad River. Company officials said they expected a so-called 100-year flood — meaning it has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year — and moved pipes out of that flood zone.

But the flooding from Helene was 10 times worse.

“We secured the site as best we could, and we sent people home a day before the flooding was expected,” said Johnny Drummond, vice president of manufacturing. He said the company did not anticipate a 1,000-year flood, which has a 1-in-1,000 chance of occurring.

The company closed the factory for a couple of months afterward, with losses “well over $100 million,” Pritchett said. It has since invested over $100 million to repair and strengthen the buildings, and now is studying ways to contain the pipes in future floods — something MountainTrue publicly urged for months.

Though there's much more than IPEX debris still in the waterways, the pipes are so ubiquitous that “there are places where you go that it makes up almost everything that we remove,” said Stamper, who formerly worked for a whitewater river outfitter and now oversees 10 cleanup crews totaling about 100 people — many of them former river or fishing guides who lost their livelihoods after the hurricane.

Removing the pipe is especially vexing because it binds with other debris and has become embedded in the river bottom, with fish and other creatures taking up residence inside. Stamper said he also worries about long-term environmental and health effects from the pipe, which can degrade and become brittle, leaving microplastics in the river.

“We want to avoid that stuff sitting there forever and just slowly deteriorating and breaking into smaller and smaller pieces,” Stamper said. “Some of the pipe that’s been sitting out since Hurricane Helene that has been exposed to the sun all the time is getting to the point where you could crack it when you grab it.”

Removing pipes is tedious, sometimes dangerous

Some of the pipes — both straight, rigid plastic and flexible coils that have unraveled — are under huge piles of tangled logs topped by other debris, often in mounds 20 feet (6 meters) high. Cleanup crews “just sort of picture it as a jungle gym” that they must climb and balance on as they clear the pile, said Jemima Filiss-Cook, who leads the cleanup in Madison County, where most of the pipe is concentrated.

She said many crew members were already cleaning up the river before MountainTrue hired them, as a way of “trauma bonding” over what had happened.

They include avid outdoorspeople, including rock climbers, because the cleanup is “quite a tedious and technical process” that requires comfort with the job’s rigors, said Anna Alsobrook, MountainTrue’s French Broad Riverkeeper.

Crews saw longer pipes into smaller chunks and load them on a boat, which is taken downstream to a landing spot and loaded onto a truck. Almost all of the pipes go to a landfill, though some in good condition are given to community members because there are no good recycling options, MountainTrue said.

“I truly don’t think anybody else could do this work except for our debris team members,” Alsobrook said, noting they must be able to navigate whitewater rapids with a boat full of pipes and saws.

The first priority was removing pipes that could pose an immediate danger or entrapment hazard to tubers or kayakers, and much of the remaining debris stranded in flood plains and on banks, especially around riverbends and corners, and vulnerable to being washed away in another flood, Stamper said.

It becomes apparent many pipes are still in the river whenever water levels change, he said.

MountainTrue is applying for other grants to help extend its program after state and IPEX funding run out, Stamper said, because it could take years to remove all the debris.

“We're going to do our best as long as the funding allows,” he said. “But there's going to be pipe out there that we can't get ever.”

___

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

___

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

The Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims ticked down to 197,000 from a revised 199,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, dropped by 2,500 to 198,000.

Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them because they can be a sign of where the job market is headed. So far this year, claims have remained at a historically low level below 220,000.

The report suggests that most companies are confident enough in the economy and their sales to hold onto their workers. At the same time, hiring has been sluggish, resulting in a “low-hire, low-fire” job market. Last month, the unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2%.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits has fallen below 200,000 for four straight weeks now, “an incredibly low level of layoffs for a sustained period of time that hasn’t been seen since the 1960s,” said Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union.

At the same time, those out of work are having a more difficult time finding a new job. The number of people unemployed for more than six months is at a five-year high, Long noted.

The government said last week that businesses and other employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, down from 133,000 in August and below what economists had forecast.

Yet with population growth slowing and immigration into the United States dropping, the economy doesn't need to generate as many jobs every month to keep the unemployment rate low.

Meanwhile, Trump says his administration will make one-time payments of $90 per person to help more than 20 million Medicare enrollees pay for their Part B premiums. It will cost about $2 billion. Less than one-third of all Medicare recipients are eligible for the payments, which are expected to be sent out this week. Not eligible are roughly 35 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, millions of other people with disabilities and low-income Medicare recipients.

Here's the latest:

Investigation into theft of Robert F. Kennedy statue is ongoing

Washington Metropolitan Police say they’ve made no arrests in the theft of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s bust from the site of the stadium named for him after his assassination in 1968 as he campaigned for president.

An MPD spokesperson said there were no updates to the theft, first reported by The Washington Post. The stadium, the former home of Washington’s NFL team, has been demolished. The bust, which stood outside the main entrance, was left behind on a pedestal. According to the police report, it was stolen between Sept. 15 and Oct. 1, when MPD was notified.

It was unclear if the site has cameras. Attempts to reach Events DC’s sports and entertainment division, which manages the site, for comment were unsuccessful.

News organizations banned from the White House are back in court

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly is hearing arguments nearly three weeks after CNN, MS NOW and Politico were abruptly banned from White House grounds, with the president decrying their “fake news.”

Kelly granted a two-week temporary restraining order against the ban, but it expires Thursday. The outlets have asked the court to halt the ban until the case is resolved, saying the Trump administration has “persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban” despite the restraining order — including selectively keeping CNN from participating in White House pool duties.

“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” lawyers for the networks wrote in a filing on Sept. 28.

It was the latest development in the escalating drama between the Trump administration and the news media, which has raged in various arenas during his second term. At its core, though, are multiple First Amendment questions.

Vance says Microsoft is being suspended from program to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers

The Trump administration is suspending tech giant Microsoft from a program to apply for green cards for workers who come to the U.S. to live and work using an H-1B visa. Vice President JD Vance accuses the company of fraud.

Vance said Thursday, “If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.” Vance spoke in a White House news conference announcing the decision.

The H-1B program has long been a target of President Trump’s supporters who say the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse.

The Associated Press is reaching out to Microsoft for comment.

Former President Barack Obama endorses in Wisconsin’s hotly contested governor’s race

Obama, the nation’s first Black president, has endorsed David Crowley, who’s seeking to become Wisconsin’s first Black governor. Crowley received Obama’s endorsement in a video posted online Thursday.

Obama says that like him, Crowley started his political life as a community organizer. Crowley was raised in poverty in Milwaukee, and Obama says his “life story is about overcoming adversity and his life’s work is about bringing people together.”

Crowley faces Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who’s been endorsed by President Trump.

Trump won Wisconsin twice and lost once, all three decided by less than a percentage point. Obama won Wisconsin by 7 points and 14 points. Those were the only two presidential elections out of the past seven in Wisconsin that were decided by more than a point.

AP-NORC poll: Americans have little confidence in Democrats or Republicans on AI

Few Americans think either major political party has the advantage on artificial intelligence issues, the new AP-NORC poll shows.

About 4 in 10 Americans say they don’t trust either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party on AI, while nearly 2 in 10 trust both parties equally. The rest are split between trusting the Republicans and the Democrats.

Even people who identify with the parties are ambivalent about their ability to handle the issue. Only about half of Republicans and Democrats say their party is better equipped to handle AI issues, and roughly 3 in 10 in each case say neither party is.

President Trump also gets a low rating on his handling of the issue, with 67% of U.S. adults disapproving of his performance on AI.

AP-NORC poll: Americans want to ensure AI stays under human control

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the U.S. government to ensure AI stays under human control, according to the new AP-NORC poll.

They’re about as likely to want the government to prioritize protecting the country’s workforce. Most U.S. adults also think minimizing environmental harm and growing the U.S. economy are highly important. About half say this about promoting technological innovation, and slightly fewer say that about competing with China.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it’s highly important to grow the U.S. economy and to compete with other countries like China. Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely to say it’s at least “very” important to minimize environmental harm.

AP-NORC poll: Americans say AI development is moving too fast

About two-thirds of Americans think AI is developing “too fast,” according to a new AP-NORC poll. About 3 in 10 say its development has been “about right” and only 8% say it’s moving “too slow.”

The risk that powerful AI models could evade human control and hurt humanity, once the stuff of science fiction, has been emerging as a more pressing concern. Even leaders of the companies that are developing frontier AI models are calling for a slowdown so government regulation can catch up.

There’s bipartisan concern about the speed of AI’s development. About three-quarters of Democrats say AI is developing “too fast,” while only about half of Republicans share that worry.

People under 30 years old also express higher levels of concern than people 60 or older, the survey found.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says US will keep working on a deal to end Russia-Ukraine war

Rubio is reiterating that the Trump administration will keep trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement to Russia’s war in Ukraine but that it’s been difficult.

“We have tried, we will continue to try, but we’re also not going to invest in pointless processes if we can’t make progress,” he told reporters in Portugal after new Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine killed 30 people.

Rubio warned about the danger of the stalemate in the war because it can lead to escalation.

“That escalation could wind up being a sabotage campaign in neighboring countries that are members of NATO,” he said. That could “quickly turn what is a war between two countries into a much broader and far more dangerous regional conflict.”

European officials have accused Moscow of a campaign of sabotage and disruption aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.

Trump goes after El-Sayed as Michigan Senate nominee responds: ‘He’s attacking all of us’

President Trump attacked Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a late Wednesday social media post, referring to him as “Mohammed” and saying he “goes back to the days of the Jihad.”

“He is a RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

In a social media post, El-Sayed, a former public health official who was born in the U.S. to Egyptian immigrant parents, responded by pointing out that the president knows his name: “He says it every day.”

“But he’s not just attacking me. He’s attacking all of us,” El-Sayed wrote. “He thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office.”

Barack Obama endorses Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia governor’s race

The Democratic former president called the former Atlanta mayor a friend in a video message released Thursday.

“As a former judge, council member and mayor, Keisha believes that public service is about putting you first,” Obama said, touting Bottoms’ proposals to expand Medicaid and pre-kindergarten access, raise pay for firefighters and police officers, and eliminate state sales tax on groceries.

Obama also endorsed Deb Haaland for New Mexico governor and Troy Jackson in Maine’s Senate race on Thursday, as he steps up his midterm campaign activity.

Bottoms faces Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire who’s spent more than $100 million of his own money in the race.

Jackson has President Trump’s endorsement and said during his primary that he’d be “Trump with a Southern tone.” But he’s recently removed some mentions of Trump from his campaign website.

Bottoms, who also was an adviser to former President Joe Biden, got Biden’s endorsement during her primary campaign.

Talarico says he agrees with Trump that he and Paxton should debate

Texas Democrat James Talarico said Thursday he agrees with President Trump that he and Republican Ken Paxton should debate ahead of the midterm election in their Senate contest.

“Ball’s in your court,” Talarico said in a social media post, tagging Paxton.

In a Truth Social post late on Wednesday after holding a rally with Paxton in Texas, Trump said Talarico should make the debate happen right away.

“He should immediately report to a Debate Stage against Ken Paxton, who is ready, willing, and able,” Trump said.

A message seeking comment was sent to Paxton’s campaign.

The Texas Senate contest is one of the most closely watched in the nation. A reliably Republican state, where Trump won in 2024 by almost 14 percentage points, Texas has become competitive with Election Day less than a month away.

Trump to hand out National Medal of Science to Elon Musk and other tech executives

Trump on Thursday is expected to hand out several of the nation’s highest science and technology honors, including to the entrepreneur and former DOGE chief Elon Musk.

The awards will be granted at “Science: A New Golden Age,” an afternoon summit that the White House says will highlight rapid changes in the scientific landscape, including in artificial intelligence technology, which the president refers to as super intelligence.

Musk is expected to receive the National Medal of Science alongside Google co-founder Sergey Brin, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, and Lisa Su, CEO of the semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices.

Trump will also grant the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

“These recipients are helping ensure America keeps leading the world in innovation,” said Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson.

Trump’s $90 Medicare rebate rolls out, but millions aren’t eligible. Critics see a political stunt

Trump says his administration will make one-time payments of $90 per person to help more than 20 million Medicare enrollees pay for their Part B premiums. It will cost about $2 billion.

Less than one-third of all Medicare recipients are eligible for the payments, which are expected to be sent out this week. Not eligible are roughly 35 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, millions of other people with disabilities and low-income Medicare recipients.

Some 20.8 million people in the original Medicare Part B who are living in the United States, not receiving premium assistance from Medicaid or not paying an income-related monthly adjusted amount.

The Part B program covers expenses such as doctor’s visits, ambulance services and lab tests. Total monthly costs generally start at about $200 and vary with income.

Payments will come out of the Medicare Improvement Fund created by Congress in 2008 and intended to make improvements to the Medicare fee-for-service program. This is not the first time the fund has been used.

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Trump interrupted by protesters as he fights to rally Texas voters behind Paxton in US Senate race

President Donald Trump, facing protesters and a poor political climate, fought to rally Texas voters behind Senate candidate Ken Paxton on Wednesday night in a bid to stave off sweeping Democratic victories in the nation’s most populous red state.

But Trump’s remarks were not focused solely on Paxton.

Speaking to a packed Freeman Coliseum, Trump also pledged to award retired baseball star Roger Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom, restated his support for the death penalty for drug dealers and clarified recent comments in which he talked about the possibility of Iran bombing American cities as part of a recurring riff about how high fuel costs are “a small price to pay” for the war.

“You want to see problems? Let them hit San Diego, let them hit Los Angeles,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. We protect our country.”

The president’s message was interrupted repeatedly by protesters, including by one who appeared to be close to the stage. In all, at least a dozen demonstrators interrupted the president. Some were led away by police.

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The blasts had an immediate effect on markets, as the price of crude oil jumped and Saudi Arabia slid further into the latest front in the Iran war. Hundreds of flights to and from Riyadh were cancelled, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen claimed responsibility for the new attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, saying the ballistic missile caused damage but giving no evidence. The Saudis had no immediate comment about the claim.

The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said they intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh, along with a ballistic missile fired toward Khamis Mushait, in the southwest near the Yemen border.

Saudi civil defense authorities said debris from an interception damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex, with no mention of any casualties.

Houthis warn airlines about using Saudi airspace

The Houthis have repeatedly claimed attacks against Saudi airports, military and oil facilities in recent days.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman, said in a statement late Thursday that the rebels fired more ballistic and cruise missiles at the airports in Riyadh and the southwestern city of Najran, near the border with Yemen, disrupting flights. The AP could not independently verify the claims.

Earlier, the rebels had warned global airlines “for the last time” about the potential consequences of operating in Saudi airspace, which they called a theater for its military operations.

In their new statement, the Houthis also warned people in Saudi Arabia to stay away from oil facilities that “represent targets for our forces" as the rebels press a declared blockade against the world's top oil exporter.

King Khalid International Airport “closed again,” the Flightradar24 monitor said Thursday afternoon on X not long after the blasts. “Last landing 80+ minutes ago. Last take off 90+ minutes ago.”

Fire and ambulance crews deployed and smoke was visible, the witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity around discussing security issues in the kingdom.

The witness said outgoing flights were halted and passengers were instructed to leave checked-in luggage behind and evacuate.

The Indian Embassy in Riyadh said on X that Air India has suspended operations through Saturday, while Lufthansa Group said in a statement that its airlines will suspend their flights to Riyadh through Oct. 16.

A U.S. Embassy security alert issued Wednesday said citizens should be aware of potential airspace closures and told U.S. government employees not to travel within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the Yemen border.

Wednesday's deaths were the first since major military offensive

On Wednesday, Saudi officials said attacks on the Riyadh and Abha airports claimed by the Houthis had killed three people — the first deaths since Saudi Arabia and allied Yemeni forces launched a major ground and air offensive against the rebels.

The offensive is aimed at retaking territory that the Houthis seized a month ago along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The rebels' presence on the Bab el-Mandeb poses a threat to the crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been curtailed due to Iran's attacks on ships.

Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi on Thursday accused Saudi Arabia of turning the area around the Bab el-Mandeb into a war zone.

The deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia brought condemnation from countries including Britain, India, the United Arab Emirates and others.

Also Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition said forces destroyed a platform in Yemen’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa that had been used to launch attacks on the Saudi capital. The AP could not independently verify that claim.

Pakistan and Turkey consider assistance for the Saudis

Saudi Arabia has sought support from allies, including the United States, in the face of the Houthi attacks. Officials have said U.S. support has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the latest offensive.

Turkey and Pakistan are assessing possible air defense, electronic warfare and technical assistance for Saudi Arabia under a trilateral agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, while stressing that the deal is defensive, not offensive.

“Turkey will not be sending troops into another country’s territory to carry out an attack,” he said, adding that Ankara was trying to resolve the issue through diplomacy.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry on Thursday said relevant authorities would provide details of any military involvement if necessary.

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Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem, Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed.

The new law — dubbed by supporters as “Stabilicum”and by critics as “Melonellum” — is widely viewed as an attempt to strengthen Italy’s political system while improving the electoral prospects of the center-right coalition led by Meloni, which last month celebrated its record as Italy’s longest-serving government since World War II.

Supporters say the law is designed to produce clearer election winners and more stable governments in a country known for frequent changes of administration. But the center-left opposition dubbed it “scam law," arguing the reform is unconstitutional. It has pledged to challenge it and bring it in front of Italy’s Constitutional Court once it takes effect.

The Chamber of Deputies approved the measure in a secret ballot by 227 votes to 164, giving definitive parliamentary approval to the legislation after months of heated debate.

Meloni hailed the reform as a step toward greater voter choice, saying “Italians would be able to vote for a party, coalition, governing program, prime ministerial candidate and, once again, their own lawmakers.”

The reform introduces a big majority prize that will award bonus parliamentary seats in both houses of parliament to the winning preelection alliance, provided it wins at least 42% of the national vote.

Critics contend that such a “majority prize” distorts voter representation and could conflict with previous court rulings that struck down elements of earlier electoral laws. A successful challenge could force Meloni’s conservative government to revise the system before the next general election.

The new law abolishes Italy’s current mixed electoral system, in which about one-third of parliamentary seats are elected in first-past-the-post constituencies, and replaces it with a fully proportional system.

Meloni's coalition says the changes will make it easier for voters to identify a governing coalition before elections and reduce the postelection bargaining that has often produced fragile governments. To qualify for the majority prize, parties will have to agree on a common prime ministerial candidate and political platform before the election.

The reform puts additional pressure on the divided center-left opposition, where tensions between the Democratic Party and the populist Five-Star Movement have complicated efforts to build a unified alliance capable of challenging the government in next year's election.

Meloni had made the vote on the electoral law a test of coalition unity, warning lawmakers from her Brothers of Italy party and coalition partners Forza Italia and the League that the government could face a crisis if the reform were defeated.

Yet resistance to the law has emerged within Meloni’s own coalition.

Some lawmakers fear the measure could ultimately backfire as support for former general Roberto Vannacci’s nationalist National Future party threatens to siphon votes from the governing bloc, potentially making it harder for it to reach the 42% threshold required to secure the majority bonus.

Others have criticized provisions they say would increase campaign costs for individual candidates and reduce women’s representation in parliament.

The vote marks Meloni’s latest attempt to reshape Italy’s institutional framework after voters earlier this year rejected her proposed overhaul of the justice system in a constitutional referendum.

Authorities took Jimmy Alexis, 43, of northwest Miami-Dade, into custody on Tuesday in connection with a June 30, 2023 incident at the Genuine Love and Care Group Home, located at 1609 NW Sixth Place in Fort Lauderdale. Its location was redacted from official documents.

Officers said they responded to the facility to conduct a death investigation after rescue crews initially were called in regard to a patient who was unresponsive.

According to Fort Lauderdale police, investigators spoke with Alexis, who told them he had to “restrain him, not choke him” in regard to the patient, who was not publicly identified by police.

Officers later spoke with the owners of the facility, who said the patient was prone to self-harming himself by banging his head on “pretty much anything he could.”

During their investigation, officers also spoke with a staff member who was on duty when the patient was injured and noted that she “was visibly shaken and appeared concerned talking to us.”

Officers said they found that same employee waiting outside when they left, and she indicated she wanted to speak with them away from the facility.

According to official documents, that employee then told the officers that Alexis choked the patient to the point where he became unconscious, and that he did that two times during the night.

After the employee told Alexis not to choke the patient during the first incident, she told officers that she made an audio recording the second time, which she played for them, police said.

In the recording, officers said the victim could be heard moaning.

Additionally, officers asked the employee to make a controlled phone call to Alexis, and during the call, police said Alexis told her “what he is going to tell the police and advises her to say the same thing in her own words” while also cautioning her “not to say things about the logbook because police will want to get a copy” and “not to say anything about the mat that (the victim) was laying on,” ultimately telling her “not to say too many things that would prompt more questions from the police,” according to his arrest form.

In November 2023, a medical examiner ruled the victim’s death a homicide, though the specific cause of death was redacted from Alexis’ arrest form.

He is facing a charge of aggravated manslaughter for neglect of an elderly disabled adult and, as of Wednesday morning, was being held at the Broward Main Jail on a $25,000 bond.

The price hikes, which will hit Doritos, Ruffles, SunChips and some sodas, will be in the single-digit percentage range, and prices will still be lower than they were at the start of this year. PepsiCo said Thursday that it must raise prices to recoup rising costs for fuel, aluminum and agricultural commodities.

Many companies, including PepsiCo, have offset rising costs this year by using tariff refunds issued by the U.S. government after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs.

PepsiCo used its $178 million refund to do just that during the most recent quarter, but said that money will not be available in coming quarters.

Yet there are risks for U.S. companies that raise prices in the current economic environment, with so many American households already stretched financially.

PepsiCo leaned heavily into price increases to combat inflation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company hiked prices by double-digit percentages for eight straight quarters in 2022 and 2023 before settling into more moderate price increases.

Consumers revolted, and sales of PepsiCo’s drinks and Frito-Lay snacks fell. Last fall, activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a $4 billion stake in the company and began pressing for even lower prices. PepsiCo agreed, and it slashed prices on Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos chips by up to 15% before the Super Bowl.

Laguarta said the lower prices have brought back some consumers, but the third-quarter results remained weaker than hoped, partly due to tepid sales in Canada. Frito-Lay snack food volumes were flat in the July-September period compared with the same period last year. Beverage volumes fell 2%.

Laguarta also said during a conference call that “we don’t feel good about the beverage business.”

Sales of hydration drinks like Gatorade and energy drinks like Celsius were stronger in North America, but soda sales slumped.

“We’re putting all the urgency of the business and the focus in improving our performance in soft drinks,” Laguarta said.

PepsiCo lowered its earnings expectations for the year, saying it now expects adjusted earnings per share to grow 2.5% to 3.5%. Previously, it had expected growth between 5% and 7%. The company now expects full-year revenue growth of 6%, the high end of its earlier forecast of between 4% and 6%.

Still, PepsiCo reported better-than-expected revenue for the quarter on the strength of its international business, which makes up 41% of the company's revenue. Net revenue rose 5.6% to $25.27 billion in the July-September period. Wall Street had expected revenue of $24.95 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

The company, based in Purchase, New York, said its global snack food volumes increased 4%, the highest rate of growth since 2021. World Cup-related demand for Lay's snacks was strong, the company said, and PepsiCo gained share in key markets like China and Brazil. Snack food volumes rose 11% in the Asia-Pacific region, PepsiCo said.

Fast-growing categories include snacks with simpler ingredients, like Doritos and Gatorade Lower Sugar with no artificial colors or flavors, as well as protein-enhanced snacks, the company said.

Net income rose 17% to $3.07 billion in the third quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $2.34 per share. That was higher than the $2.29 per-share earnings analysts expected.

PepsiCo shares rose 2% Thursday.

Rubio told reporters during a visit to European NATO ally Portugal that “the stronger the members of NATO are, the stronger NATO is, the stronger the alliances and the stronger the deterrence is.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has long railed against NATO allies for spending too small a fraction of their national budgets on defense, leaving the United States to shoulder what he says is an unfair burden. Some members of the 32-country alliance have been reluctant to divert funds from other government policies, however.

“People sometimes view this call to invest more in defense as a hostile thing,” Rubio said. “It is not a hostile thing.”

Rubio, who was in Portugal on the last leg of a three-nation tour of NATO allies that also included Iceland and Greece, acknowledged that some smaller NATO members, such as Portugal, have difficulty finding the funds for major military projects.

“Every country is of a different size and proportion. Some countries can contribute more than others, but every country in NATO needs to be as strong as they can possibly be,” Rubio told a news conference in Lisbon.

He noted the danger of the war in Ukraine, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, spilling beyond Ukrainian borders. An apparent stalemate in Ukraine could bring a military escalation in Europe, he said.

“That escalation could wind up being a sabotage campaign in neighboring countries that are members of NATO,” he said. That could “quickly turn what is a war between two countries into a much broader and far more dangerous regional conflict.”

European officials have accused Moscow of a campaign of sabotage and disruption aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.

Rubio also said that the Trump administration will keep trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement to the war, but that it has been difficult.

“We have tried, we will continue to try, but we’re also not going to invest in pointless processes if we can’t make progress,” he said, coming after new Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine killed 30 people.

Meanwhile, Rubio also praised Portuguese efforts toward meeting the NATO target for defense spending.

Portugal, a country of fewer than 11 million people, spends just over 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, according to NATO. The government says it plans to increase defense spending to around 3%, including dual-use investments in civilian infrastructure.

That still leaves it below the 5% of GDP set aside for defense spending that Trump has demanded and that requires investment at an unprecedented scale in Europe.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said at the news conference that his country views its relationship with the U.S. as “fundamental.”

Portugal provided support for American operations in the Iran war by allowing the U.S. to use the Lajes Field air base in the mid-Atlantic Azores islands, which is strategically located for military refueling flights.

The U.S. Air Force has long had a base there under an agreement with Portugal. Unlike neighboring Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a Socialist, refused to allow the American military to use Spanish bases to stage operations for attacks on Iran, Portugal’s center-right government granted Washington “conditional approval” to use Lajes Field.

“Portugal is a great ally, very cooperative ally of the United States and a country with which we already have a solid and growing relationship. And we visit these countries in order to reinforce those ties,” Rubio said before arriving in Lisbon. “That’s the purpose of the trip.”

Some Portuguese political parties balked at the decision to allow the U.S. to use the Azores islands air base, however. Following a formal complaint by a small left-wing political party called Left Bloc, the country’s attorney general’s office said last week that it's looking into whether the use of the Lajes Field base was lawful.

Rubio visited Portugal a day after delivering a speech in the Greek capital, Athens, urging European countries to save Western civilization by upholding the values and traditions of ancient Greece.

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Americans, 64%, think AI is developing “too fast,” while 27% say its development has been “about right” and only 8% say it's moving “too slow.”

The risk that powerful AI models could evade human control and hurt humanity, once the stuff of science fiction, has been emerging as a more pressing concern. Even leaders of the companies that are developing frontier AI models are calling for a slowdown so that government regulation can catch up. President Donald Trump has pushed back against slowing down AI development because of concerns that China will gain an advantage with the technology. Data centers powering AI projects have also taken a prominent role in major political races as the midterm elections approach.

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults say it's “extremely” or “very” important for the U.S. government to ensure that AI stays under human control, and they are about as likely to want the government to prioritize protecting the country's workforce. Most U.S. adults also think minimizing environmental harm and growing the U.S. economy are highly important. About half say this about promoting technological innovation, and slightly fewer say that about competing with China.

There's bipartisan concern about the speed of AI's development, but few Americans think either major political party has an advantage in handling artificial intelligence. Trump, a Republican, also gets a low rating on his handling of the issue, with 67% of U.S. adults disapproving of his performance on AI.

Stephanie Stewart, a junior-high science teacher in Sunset, Utah, said she is frustrated by the president’s opposition to AI regulation.

“There is no handling of the issue except for we’re just going to allow these companies to do whatever they want, and we’re not going to regulate them,” said Stewart, 53.

Most say protecting workers should be a priority for the government

Ron Theusch, a truck driver who lives in rural Alden, Minnesota, said his No. 1 concern with AI is the potential loss of jobs — including his own.

“I can just see a train of self-driving trucks 24/7, just running up and down I-35, loading and unloading. I can just see that happening,” said Theusch, 58.

Most Democrats and Republicans agree on the importance of protecting workers and keeping AI under human control, the poll found.

“There was a movie called ‘Terminator,’ where the robots came back and killed everybody,” Theusch said. “People relate to that ... I don’t know where it’s going to land. I really don’t have anything I can do to control it, you know. It’s going to evolve.”

There's less consensus about the importance of other priorities when it comes to AI. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it’s highly important to grow the U.S. economy and to compete with other countries like China. Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely to say it’s at least “very” important to minimize environmental harm.

“I don’t understand how, because they’re doing something as well as us, that we can’t be more human about it and more humane about it than just to say, ‘Well, they’re doing it, so we have to do it,’” Stewart said of U.S. competition with China.

And while about three-quarters of Democrats say AI is developing “too fast,” only about half of Republicans share that worry. People under 30 years old also express higher levels of concern than people 60 or older, the survey found.

“I think I have all the normal concerns, right? I think it’s wonderful for certain applications, but I also feel like it will be overused and can create a lack of personal connections. It can make people lazy because information is just given to them without really having to research things on their own,” said Kelly Opp, a 62-year-old Republican in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“Like everything else, once you get that ball rolling, it progresses fast on its own, but I think that it will continue to keep progressing. So the speed doesn’t really bother me,” she said.

Americans have little confidence in Democrats or Republicans on AI

As a teacher, Stewart regularly uses AI to help with her work, including with creating assignments or assisting with tests. But she is deeply concerned about AI's effects on children.

“You’ve got to protect kids. You’ve got to protect teens. You've got to protect privacy ... we need to try to do something,” she said.

Americans have little trust in either party when it comes to the handling of AI issues. About 4 in 10 Americans say they don’t trust either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party on AI, according to the poll, while nearly 2 in 10 trust both parties equally, and the rest are split between trusting the Republicans and the Democrats.

Even people who identify with the parties are ambivalent about their ability to handle the issue. Only about half of Republicans and Democrats say their party is better equipped to handle AI issues, and roughly 3 in 10 in each case say neither party is.

“I am kind of moderate. And I see that there’s good on both sides," said Stewart. "Anyone back in Washington is weak on doing anything for anyone but themselves right now. So, no, I don’t think the Democrats would do a better job per se. Maybe they would definitely tout it. But until I see anything coming from anyone, I’m going to be like, ‘Yeah, no. You’re all just sitting there.’”

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Ortutay reported from Oakland, Calif.

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The AP-NORC poll of 2,140 adults was conducted Sept. 24-28 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

The suspect, who was not named, is the seventh man bailed in the investigation of an apparent plot aimed at RAF Fairford air base, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran.

British authorities have linked Tehran to the incident that led the U.S. to pull its bombers from RAF Fairford on Sunday.

The Trump administration believed the base faced Iranian threats intended to kill as many American troops and destroy as many U.S. planes as possible, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the U.K. sees “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident. He did not provide details about what the suspects were planning or why the U.K. thinks Iran was involved.

Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident that led to scores of residents being evacuated from their homes near the base on Sept. 27 as armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area.

Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in three vans linked to the initial five suspects, but no explosives.

All the suspects arrested have been in their 20s and six have been British nationals while one is a dual U.K.-Iranian citizen.

The U.K.-owned base, 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of London, was used by American B-1 and B-52 bombers during the Iran war.

The British government allowed the U.S. military to use RAF Fairford for what it called defensive strikes on Iranian missiles and their launch sites following Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain’s allies in the Gulf.

“After that, I was like, ‘I really need to take care of myself,’” she said. “We always tell people that old cliché: It’s like the oxygen mask on a plane. But it’s really true. You can’t be a successful or good caregiver to somebody else if you’re not taking care of yourself.”

Renda leads a support group for parents and caregivers for the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where she vigorously promotes self-care. And she’s gotten better at taking her own advice, finding time for herself and setting better boundaries.

“It’s not easy,” she said. “I joke sometimes, ‘Is 10 minutes in the shower crying self-care?’ Sometimes it is.”

Caregivers are growing in number

Nearly one in four adults in the United States, or 63 million people, provided care to adults or children with medical conditions or disabilities in 2025, a total that jumped by almost 50% in 10 years, according to a report by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. Their work — most of it unpaid — has gotten longer and more intense, the study found, and nearly two-thirds described feeling high emotional stress.

Recognizing those trends, Dartmouth College and its associated healthcare system recently announced the creation of an institute to provide caregivers with services, education, support and access to home health aides. The Family Caregiver Institute will be part of a broader program exploring best practices for serving the nation’s aging or chronically ill population.

In the meantime, experts say there are small steps individual caregivers can take themselves to prevent burnout.

That could mean asking a neighbor or another family member to fill in for a brief time to provide a break, said Susan Stearns, executive director of NAMI New Hampshire. She also advises prioritizing sleep and movement, even just quick walks outside.

“And if it’s winter and you can’t get outside, I’ve been known to just pace around my house for 10 minutes just to get some movement in because I know I’ll feel better,” she said.

Staying connected to a community also is key, Stearns said, whether that’s meeting friends in person, talking on the phone or participating in online support groups.

“This is a place where social media can serve us,” she said.

Self-care also can mean saying no to others and letting go of unreasonable expectations, she said.

“Caregiving’s hard, and I think sometimes, moms especially can set the bar high and be in pursuit of perfection and not realize, this is good enough,” she said.

In her peer support groups, Renda emphasizes that self-care looks different for everyone. She gets antsy trying to meditate, but others find it calming.

“Self-care doesn’t have to be a day at the spa. It can be sitting for 10 minutes in your car when you get home and just kind of decompressing from the day before you go inside,” she said.

The first step to better self-care is self-identification

Jennifer Rabalais is the co-director of the Center on Aging and Community Living at the University of New Hampshire and coordinator for the New Hampshire Alliance for Healthy Aging. She’s worked to support family caregivers in part by highlighting their impact on the healthcare system.

Many caregivers aren’t aware of available supports, she said, in part because they might not even consider themselves caregivers until someone else points out the duties they perform.

“If you ask them, ‘Do you shop for someone? Do you help someone pay a bill? Do you ever do yard work?’ That same person who is identified as not being a caregiver will often say yes,” she said.

“They are the backbone of our healthcare system, and so if they’re not taking care of themselves, they may end up in a position where they themselves need care,” she said.

The statement by Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev came a day after the World Health Organization requested more information from Russia about the death of the worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia that sparked global concerns about a possible case of pneumonic plague.

Media reports in Russia blamed the Oct. 2 death of the woman, whom news outlets identified as Darya Shipilova, 28, on pneumonic plague, which can spread from person to person. Russian authorities have kept a tight lid on information about the case, saying only that the woman contracted pneumonia of “unknown” origin and that her tests were negative for the pathogens she worked with.

Kobzev's statement didn’t provide details about what exactly caused the woman’s pneumonia and what kind of pathogens she worked with. He also did not explicitly say that her death was not caused by pneumonic plague.

The woman had “community-acquired” pneumonia — a type of pneumonia contracted outside of a hospital setting, Kobzev said. She had been “vaccinated and immune" to the pathogens she worked with at the institute, he said.

No accidents had been detected at the institute, where “adequate control measures for working with pathogenic microorganisms” have been verified to be in place, he added.

The hospital where she died was placed under quarantine and those who came in contact with her were put under medical observation. Anna Popova, the head of Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, flew to the Irkutsk region last week, and a special commission of experts was formed to deal with the case.

Kobzev said quarantine, observation of the woman's contacts and other steps were completed, and some 5,000 lab tests conducted as part of the measures found no pathogens.

He added that the investigation came amid "pressure” from the media, calling it “a challenge, but we handled it commendably.”

On Wednesday, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, said the U.N. health agency doesn’t know what caused the woman’s death and asked for more information from Russia. The WHO also referenced media reports that a second employee had pneumonia of undetermined cause.

Earlier Thursday, Rospotrebnadzor rejected reports about a second person falling ill after coming into contact with the lab worker. It didn’t offer any new information about the lab worker’s illness and death or reasons behind the sprawling emergency measures in the region.

Kobzev said the epidemiological situation in the city of Irkutsk, where the anti-plague institute is located, the nearby town of Shelekhov, where the woman was hospitalized, and adjacent areas is “calm.”

EuroLeague owners this week rejected a formal offer from the NBA to merge into a single European operation. But the NBA and FIBA indicated they still hope to merge with EuroLeague in their new league as early as next year.

George Aivazoglou, the NBA managing director for Europe and Middle East, went into further detail about the plans when speaking at the sports industry conference Leaders Week London.

“The NBA has been very consistent throughout the years in reiterating that we’re very serious about the opportunity in European basketball. We’re also very serious and consistent in terms of our intention to work with everybody who shares our vision of the future,” Aivazoglou said.

“There is a serious value gap for European basketball. We don’t think it’s reaching its potential and we have a perspective about what has happened and what needs to happen to move things forward."

The decision not to accept the NBA’s proposal of a single Europe entity was made on Tuesday in Cernobbio during a gathering of the EuroLeague’s 13 shareholder clubs. They include Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Olympiakos, Milan, Tony Parker -owned ASVEL in France and two Istanbul-based clubs.

The NBA and FIBA released a joint statement earlier Thursday, claiming a “partnership between the EuroLeague, FIBA and the NBA to unify the European basketball ecosystem would unlock the game’s enormous potential across Europe for the benefit of clubs, players and, most importantly, fans."

The NBA and FIBA added they “remain committed” to the new league, which has been planned to launch in the fall of 2027.

It seems likely that merger talks will continue, with Barcelona saying this week that the door remains open even though the first proposal was rejected. "Should that (merger) proposal be amended in the future, the clubs and the EuroLeague will reconsider it,” the club said.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said multiple times, and as recently as last month, that he believes the new league would benefit from “joining forces with the EuroLeague.”

Aivazoglou added: “We’re always there to have discussions provided we share the same assessment of what are the main reasons why European basketball hasn’t reached its full potential and then how do we solve it."

The NBA and FIBA formally announced their plans for an NBA Europe venture in March 2025. The new league would have some permanent franchises, with chances for others to qualify based on performance.

Many of the NBA’s top current stars hail from Europe, including San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama (France), Denver’s Nikola Jokic (Serbia), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Miami’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece).

The 20-team EuroLeague is comprised of 13 shareholder clubs immune from relegation. The rest either qualify through their domestic leagues or through invitation. The NBA, in partnership with FIBA, has said it envisions a 16-team league.

Aivazoglou said the NBA was “ready to create something that will transcend our careers, maybe even our lifetimes for the next 100 years.”

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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here

• Florida’s gulf coast bracing for impact of Hurricane Isaias
• Tate Brothers held in Miami detention center as new court document details allegations
• Fort Lauderdale ALF employee facing manslaughter charge after patient’s 2023 death

You can watch a live feed of our news broadcast at Local10.com/Live.

Andreeva had lost her previous two matches against Alexandrova, who rallied back from 4-1 down in the second set and 5-3 down with Andreeva serving for the match.

“I felt like she was playing better and I didn't take my chances. I could have played more aggressive but what a match this was,” Andreeva said. “She played unbelievable today, and I’m very happy to get my very first win against her.”

The fourth-seeded Andreeva is aiming for a fourth singles title this year and next faces Nikola Bartunkova. She earlier reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal after beating fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-0.

Bartunkova stamped her authority on the quarterfinal by racing to 5-0 against her seventh-seeded opponent. It was the 20-year-old Bartunkova's third career win against a top 10-ranked opponent. ___

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Justice Nicholas Hilliard said significant errors were made by Thames Valley Police in applying for search warrants and by a judge in granting them in the investigation into the disgraced former prince now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Mountbatten-Windsor was not in court, but he was already aware of the partial legal victory because police had previously conceded in July that the warrants were improper.

Police, however, had tried to keep the matter out of the public eye while the investigation continued, leading to a delay in its revelation.

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested Feb. 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office and police searched two of his homes.

His lawyers had asked the High Court judge to invalidate the warrants that allowed those searches.

Attorney Mark Stephens, who wasn’t involved in the case, said the development "opens a door to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyers to start to chisel away at some of the fruits of that unlawful warrant.”

The judge, however, said “the fact that the search warrants were quashed does not bring an investigation to an end, or mean that the whole of the investigation was unlawful.”

Hilliard said he still needs to rule on whether to return Mountbatten-Windsor’s property because there’s a provision by which police can retain unlawfully seized property for evidence.

Stephens said that under English law, there will be further hearings to determine exactly what, if any, evidence would be thrown out.

“The judge will make that decision based on whether or not it’s likely to be probative,” Stephens said. “But, of course, it’s very different in other countries. For example, in America, if you have the fruits of an unlawful warrant, then all that evidence is out. But that’s not the case in the U.K., so we’ve got a few more rounds to go here.”

The judge said the warrants were unlawful because the judge who issued them had not considered whether items being seized were subject to legal privilege or another protection known as “special procedure material.”

Thames Valley Police said in a statement that it accepted that the warrants must be quashed, but said the investigation was continuing.

The former prince's ties with Epstein have long troubled the royals

King Charles III stripped his younger brother of his princely title last year as he sought to shield the rest of the royal family from the continuing fallout from Mountbatten-Windsor's links to Epstein.

While Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, continues to receive a stipend from the king’s private funds, Buckingham Palace has made it clear that those funds may not be used to fund his effort to challenge the search warrants.

The police investigation initially focused on allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor shared sensitive information with Epstein when the former prince was a U.K. trade envoy, but police later said they could also consider other matters.

Police questioned Mountbatten-Windsor for 11 hours before releasing him under investigation, meaning he was neither charged nor exonerated.

It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest.

The allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor came to light when the U.S. Justice Department released millions of pages of documents from its investigation into sex trafficking by Epstein and his connections to a network of wealthy, powerful men around the world.

Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to Epstein have been a source of embarrassment to the royal family for more than a decade.

Lawmakers questioned the relationship as far back as 2011, when the then-prince was forced to give up his globetrotting role as the U.K.’s special trade envoy. Eight years later, he failed to explain his continuing ties to Epstein in a disastrous interview with the BBC, ending his career as a working member of the royal family.

The Helene Boucher Lycee has been a flashpoint for clashes in the French capital, and is one of hundreds of schools disrupted by protesters Thursday.

At least a dozen demonstrations in support of the high school students' movement are planned around France later in the day.

Riot police gathered in side streets as students converged on the school. Many protesters wore surgical masks or hoodies, apparently afraid to be recognized.

Police have made more than 6,600 arrests since late September, when students, most of them under 18, started protesting to demand more education funding, according to the Interior Ministry. The Education Ministry said that 375 schools were either fully or partially closed on Thursday.

Pressure mounts on an embattled administration

While the number of school closures was down compared to Tuesday, pressure is mounting on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.

The protests against the under-funding of schools — many of them struggling with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff — have drawn troublemakers not concerned about the aims of the protest movement as well as unions and political groups.

In a TV address, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu lamented the “violence, students and staff being attacked, police officers and gendarmes injured, schools set on fire or vandalized, thousands of hours of classes lost, not to mention threats and insults.”

He took aim at “political leaders who use this anger to conduct their electoral battles." France goes to the polls for a presidential election in April. “We cannot play with the safety of France’s youth,” Lecornu said.

At the Lycee, 18-year-old university student Emma Khelil came to offer support to those at the barricades at her former high school. She told The Associated Press that she’s really concerned about police violence.

“We’re here to defend our rights, not to lose an eye or a hand,” Khelil said. She also said that she had noticed insulation problems and water leaks in the school building and had even seen rats on occasion. Other students confirmed that they’d seen rats too.

She was not convinced by Lecornu’s efforts to calm the situation.

“I don’t think the movement is going to lose momentum. As long as things don’t change, we’re going to see the movement grow stronger, and potentially a convergence of struggles, especially with the next presidential election coming up,” she said.

Not long after she spoke, police surrounded a nearby square. The crowd surged, and tear gas was fired.

The protest movement crosses borders

The impact of France's protests is also being felt north of the border, in Belgium.

Liege Mayor Willy Demeyer issued a ban on public gatherings until midnight on Oct. 16, given what he described as the “real, serious and imminent risk” of repeated clashes and vandalism that authorities expected in coming days.

City police said they used water cannon and tear gas on Wednesday to keep several hundred protesters at bay. Authorities sent emergency mobile text messages warning shopkeepers to close their premises due to rioting.

Almost 90 people were arrested and several police were injured. Police reinforcements were sent from the capital Brussels and from Antwerp, and more are coming. Smaller protests have been held in Mons and Charleroi.

In a post on social media, Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said the “perpetrators will have to answer for their actions before the courts.”

The Belgian protests, organized through social media chat groups, include demands for more teachers and smaller classes as well as complaints about education reform in Belgium, but are also likely inspired by events in France.

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Cook reported from Brussels. Masha Macpherson in Paris contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew out to the carrier on Wednesday to give the crew the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive that is typically reserved for significant achievement in combat.

Hegseth pushed back against what he said were efforts to turn the “Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”

The carrier drew national attention following reports of stress among the crew and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products, during its Iran war mission.

Families and loved ones of the crew arrived hours ahead of the carrier’s arrival Thursday, waiting in line to get on the naval base in Coronado near San Diego. Among the first to depart once the ship docks will be 64 fathers meeting theirs babies for the first time, the Navy said.

Waiting for the Lincoln to bring her husband home, sailor Kathy Monterrosa held her six-month-old daughter, Sarahi, outfitted in a tiny blue and white sailor dress.

“She’s our deployment baby,” said Monterrosa, of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“We are different people now; we are parents now,” she said. “We definitely matured from the last time we saw each other.”

It was tough to hear about the ship’s conditions while she was pregnant, she said. “I was crying a lot and worried. I wasn’t sure if he was OK or not,” she said.

When she finally heard from her husband, he told her it was “pretty bad.”

Alma Solano Velez said her husband gave his family an extensive list of the foods he has been craving over the past 10 months: oxtail, barbecue chicken, broccoli, and shrimp empanadas to name a few.

He had told his wife about “the lack of food and showers” on board and was looking forward to seeing their daughter, who turned 4 while he was away, she said.

The Navy initially downplayed problems on the carrier

The Navy initially downplayed any problems during the deployment, and President Donald Trump commented in August that the Lincoln’s lengthy deployment was “not nearly long enough.”

Hegseth told the crew that “what makes the U.S. military and the U.S. Navy and all these sailors different is that you adapt and that you’re resilient and you overcome — you finish the mission nonetheless.”

The carrier left San Diego in November and arrived in the Middle East in January. U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28.

Navy leaders, however, eventually acknowledged there were some issues aboard.

In August, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the Lincoln maintained adequate food supplies, but because combat operations limited resupply opportunities, meal options were reduced from two to one for a short time. He said in a letter to a Democratic lawmaker seeking information that four nutritionally balanced meals were served daily.

After more than 10 months at sea, the Lincoln’s crew got a stop in Thailand early last month on the way back from the Middle East.

Long deployments can tax service members

Extended naval deployments can wear on service members who are away from home for long periods and increase strain on the ship and its equipment.

The Navy told lawmakers that eight sailors attempted suicide during the record-setting deployment, though experts say that number is low in a strike group of 6,000 sailors over 10 months.

According to the citation that Hegseth read to the crew, the Lincoln and its strike group executed 3,693 combat missions, delivered 1.37 million pounds of ordnance, launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, shot down 77 one-way attack drones, sank 64 Iranian warships, destroyed 21 anti-ship cruise missiles and defended against four fast-attack craft and explosive-carrying ships.

The Lincoln played a vital role providing security for maritime operations in the Middle East, the Navy said.

The Lincoln, which set a record for days in between ports of call, is the second carrier to endure an unusually long deployment to support the war against Iran and to receive the Presidential Unit Citation afterward.

Hegseth in May met the crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford during its return from a 326-day deployment — the longest for an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years and a record in the post-Vietnam War era. The deployment didn’t include as many uninterrupted days at sea as the Lincoln’s 265-day stretch.

Another carrier, the usually Asia-based USS George Washington, relieved the Lincoln in the Middle East in August.

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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.

The demonstration in Bengaluru came a day after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was briefly detained by police at a protest in New Delhi. Dramatic images of police dragging Gandhi into a vehicle spread widely on social media, adding momentum to the protests calling for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Gandhi’s Congress party and other opposition lawmakers also held protests in New Delhi Thursday.

The nationwide voter list review, known as the Special Intensive Revision, has been carried out in most of India’s states and federally administered territories. More than 130 million names have been removed so far, a number larger than the populations of countries like Japan and Mexico. Millions of people have appealed the deletions.

The opposition says the removals have disproportionately affected voters who support them, while voters more likely to back Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party have been preserved or added to the lists. The Election Commission and the government reject the allegations, saying the revision is aimed at removing duplicate and ineligible entries.

Those whose names have been struck off the list can appeal, but getting back on the rolls can be difficult. Critics say the requirements are confusing and some people may not have required documents such as older government records.

The anger intensified last month following an investigation by the Indian Express newspaper that found two election commissioners had raised concerns about the process.

The campaign has been led in part by the “Cockroach” movement, which began as an online youth campaign in May and has since organized street protests across the country. Its earlier nationwide demonstrations, sit-ins and hunger strikes over exam paper leaks led to the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July.

Protesters are demanding Kumar’s resignation and an end to the removals, warning that they could disenfranchise millions more voters.

The rallies pose a political challenge to Modi midway through his third term, as opposition parties seek to turn growing anger into a broader national campaign. Opposition leader Gandhi is also emerging as a prominent face of the protest.

The “Cockroach” movement has called for more protests in New Delhi starting Saturday, with thousands expected to march to Jantar Mantar, the capital’s designated protest site. Police barricaded the area ahead of the demonstrations.

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Britain says it demoted its consulate in east Jerusalem to a mission and that 20 diplomats will leave the country and Israel honored six passengers on the Sept. 30 FlyDubai flight that the co-pilot tried to crash as heroes.

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

Explosions are heard in the Saudi capital

A witness says several explosions were heard in Riyadh on Thursday, including a large blast at the city’s international airport.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen claimed the new attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, saying a ballistic missile caused damage. They provided no evidence, and the Saudis had no immediate comment about the claim.

Fire and ambulance crews were deployed and smoke was visible, the witness said.

The witness said that outgoing flights were halted, and that passengers were instructed to evacuate the airport. It was not immediately clear how many flights were disrupted, but the witness said the terminal was crowded with passengers and that people were instructed to leave all checked-in luggage behind.

The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

— By Josef Federman

UK downgrades consulate in east Jerusalem after Israeli pressure

Britain said it had reached an agreement with Israel's government to downgrade its consulate in east Jerusalem, and a small team of diplomats will continue to operate in what will now be known as the U.K. Mission.

Israel's government said last month it would close the consulate in response to the United Kingdom banning trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement that the consulate had “ceased to function as a consulate.” He said 20 British diplomats will leave Israel, and that the building will continue to operate with seven diplomats engaged in limited activity.

“Israel will no longer turn its cheek to diplomatic attacks against it," he said.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband denied the building will close. Miliband said the seven diplomats remaining at the U.K. Mission will continue to work with Palestinians, but gave no details. The U.K. said based on the current agreement, it would not take reciprocal action such as expelling Israeli diplomats from London.

Israel honors 6 passengers for heroism on FlyDubai flight

Israeli President Isaac Herzog honored six passengers Thursday for helping save lives aboard a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Sept. 30.

Officials said a co-pilot on the plane attacked the captain and tried to crash the flight. The wounded captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing a group of passengers and crew members to take control and land safely.

The six passengers received the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism at a ceremony in Jerusalem.

“By following the example of today’s honorees and heroes, we can make our world a safer place,” Herzog said.

Zvika Manes said his daughters’ cries prompted him to act. “Every father and every parent, when they hear that cry, acts without thinking to try to save lives,” he said.

The other recipients were Tali Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, Dr. Shota Musayev, Asaf Rajuan and Or Pardilov.

US targets remaining vessels allegedly linked to Iran’s ‘shadow fleet’

The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned 17 tankers it accuses the Iranian government of relying on to move billions of dollars worth of oil and gas to foreign markets. The U.S. Treasury actions are the latest push as part of Washington’s punishing economic campaign against Tehran.

“Treasury is starving the tyrannical regime in Tehran of the money it uses to wage war in the region, and we will continue exposing those who enable the regime’s oil sales,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news release.

The U.S. has alleged that the tankers are part of a shadow network helping to fund Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies in the region.

Report finds Iran war has damaged or destroyed 81 aircraft from US

At least 81 U.S. military aircraft and drones have been lost or damaged in the war with Iran, according to a Congressional Research Service report updated this week.

The downed aircraft include what the military has publicly acknowledged as lost — like those destroyed as part of the rescue mission to recover two downed aviators in Iran — as well as dozens of drones that the military has refused to discuss.

The report says that among the 81 damaged or destroyed aircraft were 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones, 12 F-15E Strike Eagle jets, seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft and an F-35A Lightning II fighter jet.

A tanker is struck off the coast of Qatar

The British military said late Wednesday that several projectiles struck a tanker off the coast of Qatar, causing multiple casualties.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said the attack took place in the Persian Gulf, north of the city of Madinat ash Shamal, on the northern tip of Qatar.

The U.K. military did not identify the tanker and did not provide any details about the casualties. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack and no comment from Qatar.

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

Several drivers, including seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, were left stuck on track when their cars lost power and had to be restarted on formation laps before Sunday's race.

The on-board software failed to cope with drivers taking a more cautious approach ahead of the first wet race for the 2026 cars, which have a near 50-50 split between engine and electrical power.

The FIA, the governing body for F1, on Thursday said its investigation found that cars “experienced a loss of power beyond the original intent and that could not be recovered.”

After the cars were stuck on track, the start was suspended as the FIA rushed out a software update. The race eventually started almost an hour later, with no obvious software-related incidents, though the track had dried much more by then.

The FIA says that update will be used again if it rains at this week's Singapore Grand Prix — the forecast says that's likely — with more changes at the following race on Oct. 25.

“As a result, the configuration established for the Sepang event will be reinstated for the Singapore Grand Prix should similar weather conditions be expected,” the FIA said. “Additionally, a further update to the wet weather software will be released for the United States Grand Prix.”

The FIA added that it, the teams and engine manufacturers “will continue to strengthen power unit software testing and verification capabilities, enhancing the overall validation process through independent assessment and collaborative feedback.”

Drivers were scathing of the software bugs last week in Malaysia. Hamilton likened driving the sluggish cars to gimmicky pre-race exhibitions the drivers have done previously and four-time champion Max Verstappen called for a “lesson learned.”

The FIA said it had conducted testing on the software which failed last week, but that took place in two practice sessions which were largely dry ahead of races in Belgium and the Netherlands.

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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

The morning attack occurred next to a bus stop in the war-torn city of Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, prompting public transport to be suspended in the area.

“There is no doubt that Russia is cynically targeting civilians,” Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the city's military administration, said, adding that the rescue effort had been hampered by subsequent Russian attacks using small drones.

Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1/2 years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Russia has escalated its aerial attack in recent weeks, putting pressure on Ukraine as it prepares for winter and hitting the infrastructure keeping its war-battered economy afloat. Recent targets have included energy systems, key industries, railways, post offices, shopping centers, telecom networks, gas stations and grain exports.

Thursday's attack followed a Russian missile strike a day earlier that killed 22, including five children, in the northern Ukrainian town of Pryluky. Rescuers were searching the rubble of a residential building. At least 54 people were wounded. Several survivors slept in heavily damaged apartments because they couldn't find anywhere else to stay.

Ukraine appeals for more defense support from NATO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Pryluky on Thursday with visiting British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who announced new sanctions on Russia.

Zelenskyy warned that Russia will likely escalate daily missile and drone attacks as winter approaches. He appealed for additional defense support from NATO countries.

“It is important that support in words takes concrete form in new packages for Ukraine’s defense,” he wrote in an online post. “Supplies of anti-ballistic capabilities, ammunition for our combat aircraft and investments in interceptors — all of this is directly helping save lives every day.”

In audio clips responding to journalist’s questions Thursday evening, Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian delegation would meet in the U.S. with President Donald Trump’s representatives Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff for two days beginning Friday to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses, among other issues.

Ukraine's energy company DTEK said national grid operator Ukrenergo had ordered emergency power outages in Kyiv. Regular, rolling outages that occur on a schedule across the country will be halted during these shutdowns.

Officials are urging families to prepare emergency kits, store drinking water and maintain backup power sources, as Moscow keeps up the intensity of its attacks.

Kyiv police said bomb disposal specialists defused two unexploded ballistic missile warheads, each weighing about half a ton, after they landed near residential buildings. Late Wednesday, Russian drones struck Kyiv’s Obolonskyi and Desnianskyi districts, killing four people and injuring 12, including four children, police said.

Ukrainian attacks damage data center and oil refinery

Russian technology giant Yandex said one of its data centers in the western Ryazan region was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack, taking the site offline.

Also Thursday, Ukraine said its forces struck a large oil refinery complex in the city of Salavat, some 1,200 kilometers (about 750 miles) east of Moscow. Ukraine's General Staff described the complex as one of Russia’s largest oil refining and petrochemical facilities. The claim could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian drones also reached Russia’s Omsk region in western Siberia, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Omsk regional Gov. Vitaly Khotsenko said most of the drones were shot down by air defenses, but one “reached a northern industrial hub.” He didn’t elaborate. Russian independent news outlet Astra reported that the Omsk oil refinery was on fire after the attack. There was no official confirmation of the report.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his government presented proposals to both Russia and Ukraine aimed at protecting civilian shipping in the Black Sea, while warning that commercial trade and grain exports could be disrupted by escalating military offensives.

Separately, Lithuania deployed about 100 additional soldiers to help secure the NATO member's border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, the Baltic country's defense minister, Robertas Kaunas, said. Sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, Kaliningrad is separated from mainland Russia and remains a major security concern for NATO’s eastern flank.

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Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania; Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.

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

Teddy Young, 24, has been charged with two offenses under the National Security Act, including preparing to disclose protected information between November 2024 and May 2025, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said. During the same period, Young allegedly obtained, copied, recorded or retained protected information for the benefit of a foreign power.

Young has been in police custody since he was arrested on Tuesday at his home in the village of Clapham, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of London. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London on Thursday.

“The allegation is that while serving as a Royal Navy warfare intelligence rating with high level security clearance and intelligence-system access, Teddy Stanley Greenidge Young accessed and retained sensitive U.K. defense and intelligence material and engaged in activity consistent with preparing to pass protected information to a foreign power,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a written summary of the allegations.

Young allegedly used the dark web to try to contact Russian authorities, drafting a message that “sought to make contact with a potential threat actor.”

Young, who joined the Navy in April 2024, is accused of committing the offenses during his first deployment, which began Nov. 4, 2024.

He wasn't asked to enter a plea during the four-minute hearing on Thursday because the charges are too serious to be considered at a magistrates' court. Judge Annabel Pilling ordered Young to remain in custody until his next court appearance Oct. 16 at the Central Criminal Court in London.

Police said the charges weren’t related to the recent security alert at RAF Fairford, a British air base from which U.S. bombers have launched strikes against Iran. Three suspicious vans were discovered near the base in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, triggering an investigation that has led to the arrest of seven men.

Young was previously arrested on May 21, 2025, and released on bail pending further investigation. His security clearance was suspended at that time and he was removed from his duties.

The Royal Navy issued a statement acknowledging the arrest of a service member.

“As legal proceedings are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage,” the navy said.

The Brewers are thrilled to head home with another playoff series victory during the best stretch in team history — but they also know the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to meet them in Milwaukee this weekend.

A year after the Brewers did not appear to be ready to meet the challenge posed by the intimidating World Series champions while getting unceremoniously swept out of the NL Championship Series, this team is certain it can do better in the rematch.

The Brewers' tense NLDS win over the San Diego Padres — four games decided by five combined runs — only underlined their growing confidence in their ability to excel in October and to truly fight for this team's first championship.

“I think we have a different type of confidence and belief in ourselves together as a team,” said center fielder Garrett Mitchell, the Game 4 hero with his bat and glove. “It’s just like a quiet, subtle confidence. It’s not showboaty. It’s just everyone who’s in this clubhouse, from the front office to the staff, everyone believes. ... I also think it’s a year difference. Guys are continuing to mature. We're all excited to go out and compete and try to get it done.”

With their eighth playoff appearance in the past nine seasons off to a strong start, the Brewers are gradually knocking down the remaining barriers to their ultimate goal.

This group ended Milwaukee's 12-game road postseason losing streak since 2018 with the clincher in San Diego, executing nearly flawlessly in the process. The Brewers held the Padres to three hits and got timely hits of their own while playing exceptional defense and gradually draining the spirit from the normally frenzied Petco crowd.

“That team right there can beat anybody in baseball,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of the Padres. “Nobody has a winning record on the road in the postseason — except maybe the Dodgers. It’s just not the way it is. The environments are so tough to play in. Yeah, so that was going to happen at some point if we keep banging on the postseason door.”

And while the Dodgers will be the biggest challenge they’ve faced, the Brewers have never been better positioned to break through.

They won a franchise-record 103 games in the regular season, topping the majors and increasing their win total for the fourth straight season while winning their fourth consecutive NL Central crown. Milwaukee then took down the 91-win Padres, who were arguably the majors’ best team in September while streaking to 19 wins in 22 games.

The Brewers won a competitive series between two teams with no World Series titles to show for 58 seasons of existence apiece. San Diego’s drought stretches on, but Milwaukee is eight wins away from ending its own.

The Dodgers are in the way, but the Brewers believe it's finally their time.

“Tonight is about us, but tomorrow we’re making a plan,” Game 4 starter Robert Gasser said. “We're trying to execute and figure out, ‘How do we go in and get two wins at home and head over to LA and take care of business there?’ We’ve played them well this year. We saw them last year in the NLCS, but we’ve got all hands on deck, and we’re ready to go.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The Toronto-born Carson, 76, has drawn on themes from classical Greek and Roman literature, modern influences and personal experience for genre-blending titles that have ranged from translations of ancient Greek poets to collaborations with dancers and musicians, including Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed.

The Swedish Academy that awards the prize said she won “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.”

The permanent secretary of the academy said the author was in Iceland “listening to the wind” when the panel reached her to notify her of the honor.

“She was very taken by surprise,” Ingrid Carlberg said.

Asked how she felt about the award, Carson told the Icelandic public broadcaster RUV: “I think they’re all crazy.” She described the conversation with the academy as “rather halting.”

“They have the usual questions, and I have no answers,” she said.

She said poetry is “probably more useful than prose right now because it’s faster, and everybody is in a hurry. So basically I think it’s good because it’s brief. Except Homer. Homer’s not brief.”

Carson is among the more high-profile recent winners of the literature Nobel, which often honors authors little known outside of the literary world and is sometimes criticized for valuing literary experimentation over the ability to connect with a broad readership.

However, the prize can also introduce readers to writers and works beyond their own languages or reading habits.

Asked how the prize would change her sales, she said: “I’ll get a sticker on the front of my book. Stickers help.”

Works range from classical Greek translations to poetry

Carson's books include “Eros the Bittersweet,” a look at the pleasure and pain of desire in ancient Greek literature, the verse novel “Autobiography of Red,” as well as “Men in the Off Hours,” a collection of poetry and prose that won Canada’s Griffin Prize for poetry in 2001, and “Norma Jeane Baker of Troy,” which compares Marilyn Monroe and Helen of Troy.

“Autobiography of Red,” which reimagined the myth of Hercules and the monster Geryon as a love story, has sold nearly 100,000 copies in the U.S. alone, according to a spokesman for Alfred A. Knopf, which published the book in 1998.

She also has translated works of classical Greek literature that, the academy said, “may be regarded as independent works in their own right.” They include “If Not, Winter,” based on poem fragments by Sappho, Sophocles’ tragic plays “Electra” and "Antigone” and Euripides’ “Bakkhai.”

Carson’s award is the latest example of the Nobel academy recognizing “writers who enlarge our understanding of what literature can be,” said Laura Jansen, associate professor of classics and comparative literature at the University of Bristol in the U.K.

“She wrote prose as poetry and poetry as prose, so she’s in many ways so innovative in her forms,” Jansen told The Associated Press. The academy recognized "that no one in the English language has been able to do what she’s done.”

“Economy of the Unlost,” from 1999, sets ancient Greek poet Simonides of Keos against 20th-century poet Paul Celan, while “Men in the Off Hours,” published in 2000, “aligns the historian Thucydides with Virginia Woolf,” said Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel Literature Committee.

Carson, who won a MacArthur “genius” grant in 2000, is the first Canadian Nobel literature winner since Alice Munro in 2013.

“With wit, imagination, and a style entirely her own," Carson "has reimagined the classics. She has brought ancient stories to new audiences and transformed the way we think about literature,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on social media.

Carson wrote about her own life and struggles

Carson has taught classics at several North American universities and has lived in Iceland, where she and her husband, Robert Currie, were granted citizenship in 2022.

She also has drawn on her own life for works such as “Nox,” which was published in 2010 and dealt with the decades-long absence and then death of her brother Michael.

Olsson called it “a creation as sculptural as it is literary, an epitaph in the form of a box containing an accordion-fold-out of pictures, letters and other written texts dedicated to her dead brother.” It also includes Carson’s translation of an elegy by the Roman poet Catullus for his own brother.

She branched out into graphic novels in 2021 with “The Trojan Women: A Comic,” created with artist Rosanna Bruno.

Among her most recent work is “Wrong Norma,” a wide-ranging 2024 collection of pieces from publications including The Paris Review and The New Yorker, accompanied by Carson’s hand-drawn illustrations.

Also that year, Carson wrote in the London Review of Books about being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She said a “particularly mortifying" symptom was that her handwriting “disintegrated.”

“Hard to describe or explain the shame of bad handwriting,” she said. “Bad handwriting is ugly. Also it is inauthentic. In the sense it is not you.”

The prize was announced in Stockholm. Carson did not immediately respond to emails from the AP.

Friday to bring peace prize winner

Three science awards were announced earlier this week. The Nobel for medicine went to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works. The physics award recognized a scientist’s efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos. The chemistry prize recognized two scientists for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs.

This week ends with Friday's peace prize. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced Monday.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million) per prize.

Carson told the academy in a phone interview that she and her husband are “thinking of ways to give the money away.”

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Lawless reported from London. Italie reported from New York. Associated Press Writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

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AP Nobel Prizes: https://apnews.com/hub/nobel-prizes

Ermiyas Ababu, a Tigray Peace Force commander based in Mekelle, said Eritrean personnel entered Adigrat on Tuesday and Idaga Hamus on Wednesday. He said Eritrean military officers and commanders were conducting surveillance in Idaga Hamus, citing reports from his personnel in the area.

Separately, conflict monitoring group ACLED said Eritrean troops crossed the border at Zelambesa on Wednesday and Ethiopian military drones targeted them at Guada as they traveled toward Idaga Hamus.

The Associated Press could not independently verify either account. ACLED, which provided its account through East Africa analyst Jalale Getachew Birru, had not responded Thursday morning to an inquiry about the basis for its claims.

The allegations come amid renewed fighting between Ethiopian government forces and an opposition alliance that includes the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF.

Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel accused Ethiopia on Wednesday of fabricating allegations to justify military action against his country. In a post on X, he accused Ethiopia’s ruling party of creating “a fallacious narrative of ‘self-defense.’” He did not specifically address the movements or strikes described by ACLED.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reiterated Monday that his landlocked country must have access to the Red Sea. Ethiopia lost its coastline when Eritrea became independent in 1993. Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that it remained committed to dialogue and peaceful engagement with its neighbors.

Eritrea has denied Ethiopia’s allegations that it supports the TPLF. Last week, it announced it was severing diplomatic ties after Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara.

In Shire, residents Mesu’ud Ahmed and Abadi Halefom told the AP by telephone Wednesday evening that they had witnessed TPLF forces withdrawing earlier that day. Government troops and allied forces had not entered when they spoke, Mesu’ud said.

Shire has been a major refuge for people displaced by fighting in Tigray and a base for humanitarian aid operations.

“TPLF left but the government forces and their allies did not enter the town but we hear that they are coming,” Mesu’ud said. “Everyone has closed their shops in Shire, and moved their merchandise for fear of looting.”

Government-allied fighters entered Mekelle, Tigray’s regional capital, on Sunday after the TPLF announced its withdrawal. The Tigray Peace Force imposed a curfew there Wednesday from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The force includes former members of the TPLF’s armed wing. Ermiyas said Tuesday that it was working with Ethiopian federal troops to expand its control.

The TPLF joined six other opposition groups last month in an alliance seeking to oust Abiy. Fighting escalated late last month, undermining the November 2022 peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year war.

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Filmon Equar Hailu in Mekelle and Amir Aman Kiyaro in Hamburg, Germany, contributed to this report.

Rubio told reporters that he would not discuss the allegations contained in a Wall Street Journal story that said Guilfoyle had asked a donor and supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump to pay a $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did.

He spoke before leaving Greece, where he delivered a speech calling for European countries to return to what he described as their civilizational roots.

Rubio said he was aware of The Wall Street Journal's report, which was published late Wednesday, but had no idea if it was true and he would not address it.

“You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things,” he said at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart Greece, looked on.

At a joint news conference with the Greek foreign minister on Wednesday, Rubio said he would not address the allegations while visiting a foreign country, but added, “Suffice it to say our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

The top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees have called for an investigation into Guilfoyle, but Rubio would not say if he was prepared to open one.

Congressional Democrats already were looking into claims reported last month by the Wall Street Journal that Guilfoyle acted improperly while serving as the top U.S. envoy to Greece.

The Journal reported that Guilfoyle told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.

Guilfoyle, a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Trump’s son Donald Jr., has denied any wrongdoing and Rubio has defended her before.

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This version corrects the day of the news conference to Wednesday.

Se espera que Isaias se intensifique rápidamente y lleve vientos fuertes y una peligrosa marejada ciclónica a la franja nororiental de Florida, el sur de Alabama y el sur de Mississippi cuando toque tierra en la costa norte del golfo a última hora del viernes o temprano el sábado. Podrían producirse lluvias intensas con riesgo de inundaciones hasta el fin de semana, incluso tierra adentro hasta el valle de Tennessee.

“Prevemos que Isaias será un huracán peligroso cuando toque tierra”, dijo Michael Brennan, director del Centro Nacional de Huracanes, con sede en Miami, en una actualización a media mañana.

El huracán tenía vientos máximos sostenidos de alrededor de 137 kilómetros por hora (85 millas por hora) y se movía hacia el este-noreste a 17 km/h (10 mph) a última hora de la mañana del jueves, informó el centro de huracanes. El vórtice se encontraba unos 610 km (380 millas) al sur de la desembocadura del río Mississippi.

Las poblaciones costeras se movilizaron rápidamente para prepararse. Algunos pozos petroleros del golfo pausaron la producción, y al menos cuatro distritos escolares de Florida cancelaron clases el resto de la semana. El condado Okaloosa anunció evacuaciones obligatorias para algunas zonas costeras y las comunidades cerrarían las oficinas gubernamentales a partir de la tarde del jueves. Los gobernadores de Florida y Alabama declararon el estado de emergencia para decenas de condados.

La isla Dauphin, una isla barrera de 24 kilómetros (15 millas) frente a la costa de Alabama, hizo un llamado a algunas personas a evacuar voluntariamente.

“Esa zona es tradicionalmente muy vulnerable a la marejada ciclónica —inundaciones de agua salada— y ahí también es donde está la mayoría de los visitantes”, dijo el jueves el alcalde Jeff Collier sobre la parte occidental de la isla.

Indicó que no anticipaba daños sustanciales, “pero al mismo tiempo, estas cosas son muy caprichosas y un pequeño giro aquí o allá o algún aumento de fuerza de última hora; simplemente tenemos que estar preparados para lo peor”.

El centro dijo que el agua de la marejada ciclónica y la marea alta podría alcanzar alturas de 1,5 a 2 metros (5 a 7 pies) en partes de Alabama y Mississippi. Isaias también podría generar hasta 25 centímetros (10 pulgadas) de lluvia en costas del golfo y generar tornados desde la noche del viernes hasta el sábado desde Alabama hasta la franja nororiental de Florida y el suroeste de Georgia. Se espera que el huracán se debilite rápidamente después de tocar tierra.

El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional indicó a las comunidades desde Ocean Springs, Mississippi, hasta el condado Gulf, en Florida, que se prepararan para la posibilidad de “cortes de energía de larga duración”.

El huracán se formó casi al final de la temporada

Hace más de cuatro meses inició la temporada de huracanes del Atlántico e Isaias se quedó a un día de igualar un récord de 121 años como el huracán que más tarde se ha formado en la zona. Según el servicio meteorológico, el récord data de 1905, cuando el primer huracán atlántico del año se formó el 8 de octubre.

La temporada de huracanes del Atlántico ha sido inusualmente tranquila este año debido a un fuerte fenómeno de El Niño, que interrumpe la formación de tormentas sobre ese océano. La actividad ha estado por encima del promedio en el Pacífico, donde la tormenta tropical Simon se formó el miércoles frente a México y donde se espera que la tormenta tropical Rachel, anteriormente un huracán, se acerque a Baja California Norte, México, y al sur de California este fin de semana, informó el centro de huracanes.

Se espera que Isaias impacte una amplia franja de costa muy familiarizada con huracanes importantes.

Una de las peores tormentas del siglo XX, el huracán Camille, mató a más de 250 personas después de tocar tierra cerca de Waveland, Mississippi, en 1969. El huracán Katrina en 2005 arrasó vecindarios en Mississippi, inundó Nueva Orleans y mató a casi 1.400 personas. Y el huracán Michael destruyó viviendas y edificios cerca de Panama City, Florida, en 2018.

La producción de petróleo y el turismo ya se ven afectados

Antes de la tormenta, los productores de petróleo y gas cerraron una parte significativa de la producción en alta mar en la región, que representa casi el 15% del crudo bombeado anualmente en Estados Unidos.

Hasta el miércoles, alrededor del 25% de la producción petrolera en la región estaba detenida temporalmente, retirando del mercado unos 511.000 barriles diarios, según la Administración de Minerales Marinos de Estados Unidos. El organismo señaló que ocho de las 371 plataformas petroleras tripuladas del golfo fueron evacuadas.

Con los precios del petróleo ya altos, los recortes de producción son lo suficientemente pronunciados como para afectar a los mercados, aunque otros huracanes en el golfo han causado interrupciones mayores, afirmó Jim Burkhard, jefe global de investigación del mercado de crudo de S&P Global Energy. Más preocupante, añadió, es si Isaias impacta como una tormenta potente cerca de refinerías.

A medida que avance tierra adentro, Isaias también podría alterar el duelo de fútbol americano universitario del sábado entre los rivales Georgia y Alabama, un partido al que el presidente Donald Trump planea asistir.

En Gulf Shores, una comunidad de Alabama que alentaba evacuaciones voluntarias, la residente Maranie Adams reunió agua y otros suministros mientras su familia trasladaba pertenencias, incluido el motor de un jacuzzi, para almacenarlos en alto. Su familia planeaba resistir la tormenta en casa, a aproximadamente media milla de la costa, refugiándose en el interior junto a su bandada de gallinas.

“Tenemos que conseguir jaulas para meterlas en la casa para que no salgan volando”, comentó Adams. “Va a ser ruidoso”.

La gobernadora de Alabama, Kay Ivey, emitió el estado de emergencia para 40 condados, mientras que el gobernador de Florida, Ron DeSantis, declaró uno para 25 condados en las regiones de la franja nororiental y Big Bend. El estado también planeaba desplegar un equipo de búsqueda y rescate urbano con base en Miami.

En Pensacola, las compañías eléctricas estaban preposicionando cuadrillas para reparar rápidamente cualquier corte de energía. Funcionarios de la ciudad proporcionaron arena para que los residentes llenaran sacos de arena y protegieran sus viviendas contra inundaciones. Y el alcalde, D.C. Reeves, instó a la gente a revisar cómo estaban los vecinos ancianos y otras personas que pudieran necesitar ayuda.

“Obviamente no hay necesidad de entrar en pánico en este momento”, dijo Reeves en una conferencia de prensa. “Esto en realidad se trata de preparación”.

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Los periodistas de The Associated Press Kathy McCormack, Kim Chandler, Russ Bynum y Julie Walker 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.