DPS discontinued a Blue Alert for Chase Patin around 11 a.m. Thursday.

KSAT’s sister station KPRC reported Patin allegedly fled the scene in a patrol car after shooting a Harris County deputy Wednesday evening. Police later found the car near Dell Dale and the East Freeway.

Authorities told KPRC three deputies were present during the shooting, but only one deputy was struck by gunfire.

According to KPRC, the deputy is in the hospital and is recovering. The deputy reported the shooting happened after the deputy was dispatched to a family disturbance.

Patin was found hiding in a shed in a wooded area off West Brentwood. KPRC reported Patin eventually came out of the shed, showed his hands, and was taken into custody.

DPS said Patin is believed to be connected to injuring the officer, involving a serious risk or threat to the public and other law enforcement personnel.

Patin faces three counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, according to KPRC.

Read also:

• Converse man arrested for planning violent attack on Texas State Capitol, DPS says

Zidane faces Italy again on Friday, this time in a suit as France's coach. The Nations League game at Stade de France will be his first at home since taking charge of Les Bleus.

Although 20 years have passed, the headbutt incident remains one of soccer's most iconic and talked-about moments.

“The images always remind me of it, they’re shown over and over again,” Zidane said Thursday at a pre-match news conference. “But luckily that’s not all I ever did and there are other (images) that are nicer.”

Zidane still does not regret what he did.

“They're not regrets. It’s part of my career. I’m not proud of what happened, but you can’t always do just good things," he said. “We’re all on a journey in life, where (sometimes) you do things that aren’t the best. But now it’s about what comes next.”

Zidane never played again after the 2006 final and, at the time, thought it was the last thing he would be remembered for with France.

“Yes, because I didn’t know I was going to become coach. So for me it was the end, and I can say things were very, very difficult," Zidane recalled. “I’m ready to come back and coach the France team, I want to give everything I have."

He has not spoken with Materazzi since.

“No,” Zidane said firmly. “Not at all.”

Why was Zidane sent off?

After the two briefly exchanged words, Zidane jogged forward to join the play. He suddenly stopped, turned around and stooped his head to push it into Materazzi.

As the Italian players reacted angrily, Zidane adjusted his captain's armband before speaking to Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo, who brandished a red card high in the air in front of a stunned crowd in Berlin.

In July, Elizondo told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport that neither he nor his two assistants had seen the incident. Elizondo was only alerted to it by the fourth official, long before video reviews existed in soccer.

As the images were replayed on French television, the late soccer commentator Thierry Gilardi expressed the disbelief of millions watching the drama unfold back home.

“Oh Zinedine, not that. Not that, Zinedine. Oh no, not that," Gilardi pleaded. "Not today, not after everything you’ve achieved.”

Head bowed, Zinedine walked solemnly past the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy he had raised eight years earlier when France won the World Cup. With Zidane gone, Italy won the ensuing penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.

Zidane vs. Materazzi

They were the main protagonists of that tense final.

Materazzi's early foul on winger Florent Malouda led to Zidane scoring with an audacious Panenka-style penalty.

As he stepped up, Zidane avoided eye contact with Gianluigi Buffon, the world’s best goalkeeper at the time, thus negating Buffon's options to read what he would do. Buffon went the wrong way on Zidane's brilliantly disguised scuffed shot, with the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar and bouncing over the line.

Zidane almost scored again but his injury-time header was superbly tipped over by Buffon. Soon after, Zidane was in the dressing room taking in what happened.

Speculation abounded as to what made ZZ blow his top.

“He triggered something by mentioning my sister Lila," Zidane told sports daily L’Equipe in 2022. “Sometimes it’s in moments like those that you might do something wrong.”

Materazzi gave his version of events.

“I held (Zidane) by the shirt a little in order so he couldn’t jump. I said sorry twice. Then he said, ‘If you want my shirt I’ll give it to you later,’ and I said something to him," Materazzi explained. "But nothing worse then what we used to say as kids playing on the beach in Bari.”

A legend returns

Zidane’s two goals in the 1998 World Cup final win over Brazil made him an overnight superstar. A Ballon d’Or award followed and, two years later, his inspired performances led Les Bleus to glory at the European Championship.

Hundreds of fans cheered him outside the French soccer federation's headquarters when he was appointed France coach after the World Cup, replacing Didier Deschamps.

Zidane has won his first two games in charge away from home, 1-0 against Turkey and Belgium. Italy's rebuilding under returning coach Roberto Mancini began with a 2-0 home loss to Belgium, but there is optimism following a 4-1 win at Turkey.

___

AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf in Rome contributed ___

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The new numbers come as Trump and Vice President JD Vance hit the campaign trail on Thursday, heading to heavily Republican areas to shore up lagging enthusiasm in their party ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Trump will go to Texas and Oklahoma while Vance stumps in Florida, areas where GOP candidates were once expected to glide to victory but are now facing tougher races.

The Latest:

New ad in GOP-leaning Wisconsin district speaks to Democrats’ upset hopes

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has released its first ad this campaign in a congressional district Republicans have held for more than 30 years.

The ad released Thursday is for first-time Democratic candidate Mitchell Berman. He’s a nurse who’s trying to knock off four-term Republican incumbent Rep. Bryan Steil, who worked as a lawyer for a plastics manufacturer before going to Washington.

The DCCC's willingness to spend in a district that has consistently favored Republicans is another sign of growing optimism among Democrats that they can pull off the midterms upset they’re hoping for.

The ad contrasts Berman’s hunting deer with Steil making money while serving in Congress.

“Bryan Steil and I both chase bucks,” Berman says in the ad. “Difference is, mine has antlers.”

The DCCC said it was spending $271,000 initially on the ad’s visibility, but that could increase.

AP-NORC poll measured how much blame for inflation Republicans attribute to Trump

The poll found about two-thirds of Republicans say higher than usual prices are because of factors outside of Trump’s control, but about one-third say it’s because of Trump’s policies.

“It definitely doesn’t feel like we have trended in the right direction,” agreed Kristen Slaven, 41, a mental health therapist who lives in Gluckstadt, Mississippi, and typically votes Republican.

“Obviously, wars don’t help. When they’re necessary, I understand. But our focus on renaming bodies of water and pieces of land, that’s just stupid to me when people can’t feed their family.”

Republicans surveyed by AP-NORC voice concerns about Trump

Trump is hitting the campaign trail with an aggressive schedule of rallies, having asked voters to pretend that he is on the ballot as he tries to bolster turnout in midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress.

But Trump’s dismal numbers in the poll published Thursday show he remains deeply unpopular, with even some Republicans faulting him for failing to deliver on promised relief.

“Groceries are just like kind of out of control. It seems like everything is going up,” said Bethany Lnenicka, 41, who operates a small farm in Fairfax, Iowa. “It’s just insane. And of course your income doesn’t go up.”

A political independent who typically votes Republican and has voted for Trump three times, Lnenicka said “I just do not feel like it has gotten a lot better.”

DC judge permanently dismisses case charging ex-Olympian with vandalizing Reflecting Pool

D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the case against David Hearn with “prejudice,” which would block U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office from refiling the felony charge under political pressure from Trump.

Hearn’s lawyers say Trump administration officials have continued to falsely accuse the Maryland resident of vandalizing the reflecting pool despite Pirro’s decision to drop the case on July 31. Trump responded by saying Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella.”

In an embarrassing setback for the White House, Pirro informed the court that new evidence produced by the Interior Department showed the damage resulted from a botched installation by a contractor rushing to complete the project in time for this summer’s America 250 celebration in Washington.

▶ Read more

Rising bond yields rattle markets worldwide and overshadow hopes for AI stocks

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.32% on Thursday, near its highest level since 2002. It was less than 4% before the war with Iran began. The higher borrowing costs are helping to overshadow optimism that the artificial-intelligence industry can keep climbing.

The S&P 500 is heading toward its seventh loss in the last eight days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite are trading downward. The losses were even sharper in Europe, where bond yields saw a significant jump overnight.

High yields slow the overall economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments. Worries about high inflation are festering as oil prices climbed again Thursday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude jumped 3.3% to $101.24, swinging on uncertainty about any end to the U.S. war with Iran.

Renee Good’s family describes a Trump administration conspiracy

The civil rights suit says the shots fired by Jonathan Ross, the immigration officer who killed Good, “were the predictable and intended product of the operation.”

A news release from the family’s lawyers says the lawsuit describes as a “carefully planned, coordinated effort between senior federal officials and private actors to make two ethnic communities — Minnesotans of Somali and Hispanic descent and origin — the object of aggression and abduction, and to silence by intimidation, arrest and violence the neighbors and allies of those targeted communities who observed, documented and warned of that campaign.”

The lawsuit also alleges “collaboration of federal agencies and individuals with private entities for an operation with discriminatory design, racially targeted pursuit and seizure of individuals without regard to their legal status, and each defendant’s participation in the conspiracy.”

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuits.

Renee Good’s family sues US government and immigration officials

The family of the 37-year-old woman killed by an immigration officer during a federal crackdown in Minneapolis is alleging wrongful death and other violations of federal law.

The two lawsuits were filed by Good’s partner, Becca Good, and Renee’s brother Brent Ganger. One says her death was caused by battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. The other alleges a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights.

The named defendants include Jonathan Ross, the immigration officer who shot her; White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller; former Homeland Security head Kristi Noem; former U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino, Corey Lewandowski, President Donald Trump’s campaign manager, and others.

▶ Read more

Supreme Court grants review of Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy for immigrants

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to review a Trump administration policy denying bond hearings for immigrants as the government carries out a sweeping immigration crackdown.

The justices will consider whether immigrants who have been living in the U.S. have a right to a hearing to determine if they should remain detained while challenging their possible deportation.

Appeals court judges from nine of 11 federal circuits have concluded that detaining immigrants without a bond hearing violates federal law.

Those decisions conflict with rulings by the 5th and 8th circuits, which held that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the U.S. must be detained while their deportation cases are pending.

▶ Read more

Trump says he’d pardon administration officials

In the Time magazine interview, the president indicated he’s open to issuing pardons for members of his administration.

“Yeah, sure I’d do that,” he said.

Scrutiny is sure to ramp up on key members of the Trump administration should Democrats take one or both chambers of Congress in this fall’s midterm elections.

Trump justified his thinking by pointing to former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons he issued for key government officials and family members as he was departing the White House.

Trump exaggerated what Biden did, saying: “Sleepy Joe Biden, he gave pardons to everyone.”

Trump says his low poll numbers are ‘fake numbers’

The president said in an interview with Time magazine conducted on Monday that “pollsters are corrupt” and the bad polls “are fake.”

Trump, in the interview published Thursday, said his own pollster told him his numbers “are much higher than the numbers.”

“I would beat anybody running today by 20 points,” he said.

Trump dismisses reports that Netanyahu was warned about Hamas operation days before Oct. 7 attack

The president said in an interview with Time magazine conducted on Monday that he was hearing about those weeks-old reports for the first time that day and said, “I can’t imagine this.”

If Netanyahu had known about it, “he would have done something about it. Certainly, he would have had people at least alert,” Trump said in the interview published Thursday.

An Israeli newspaper reported in early September that Netanyahu was directly warned by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive just days before the militant group attacked on Oct. 7, 2023.

Trump dodges on whether Netanyahu deserves reelection

In the Time magazine interview, Trump repeatedly avoided answering directly whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be reelected later this month.

“I can only say that I’m not involved in politics anymore,” said the U.S. president, who is ramping up his campaigning for Republicans in the November midterms.

Trump then touted his own record on Israel rather than answering directly whether Netanyahu should be reelected, despite several attempts from Time journalists.

Trump finally answered: “Well, people have written off Bibi many, many times, just like they’ve written off me many, many times. I wouldn’t underestimate Bibi.”

Of Netanyahu’s opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, Trump said: “I don’t hear bad things about him.”

More bombing of Iran ‘possible’ after midterms, Trump says

Trump said in a Time magazine interview published Thursday morning that it’s “possible” he’ll ramp up bombing in Iran after the Nov. 3 midterms.

When pressed further by Time journalists, Trump continued: “I can’t tell you that because look, you know, you’re asking, where are you going to bomb?”

He said in the interview, conducted Sept. 28, that he rejected the latest ceasefire proposal from Iran because “things that I wouldn’t have approved a year ago I wouldn’t have today.”

Trump cited as an example an offer from Iran to “open up the Strait” of Hormuz, but said the overall proposal was “not good enough.”

Inside Ken Paxton’s jet-setting lifestyle: California wineries, European hot spots and ski resorts

An Associated Press records review shows Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton has traveled frequently and spent less time in Texas as the state’s attorney general since becoming a star in Trump’s MAGA universe.

When the conservative firebrand launched his Senate campaign on Fox News, he cleared his calendar for a trip to the Masters golf tournament in Georgia that cost Texas taxpayers at least $25,000. Overall since assuming office in 2015, Paxton left about 730 workdays blank on his official calendars and took over 275 out-of-state trips to places such as California wine country, Caribbean resorts and European tourism hot spots.

Records show Paxton’s travel cost Texas taxpayers a minimum of $1.9 million to cover expenses charged by his security detail. It’s unclear how Paxton has financed much of his portion of the travel.

▶ Read more

Trump praises Boeing-made FlyDubai aircraft for remaining airborne

The president, in an early morning social media post, credited the “GREAT Boeing Company” with building a plane “that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed and expected to do.”

On Wednesday, a copilot stabbed his captain and attempted to crash a flight bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates that was carrying 174 people. Passengers, most of them Israelis, feared for their lives as the FlyDubai aircraft lost half its altitude in about a minute.

Aviation experts were also surprised the plane did not crash after a descent so extreme that most of the rudder was ripped off the tail.

“It is about time that The Boeing Company, which builds, by far, the finest commercial airliners in the sky, was given credit for this airplane’s incredible ‘genius!’” Trump added in his posting about the Arlington, Virginia-based aircraft manufacturer.

Trump’s economic approval hits a new low as midterms approach

Just 26% approve of Trump’s handling of the economy overall, marking a new low in AP-NORC polling.

Trump’s numbers on the economy represent a 14-point drop from March 2025, just after he took office for the second time. His struggles on the issue mark a significant departure from his first term, when the economy was often a point of strength.

Trump’s low grade on the economy rivals President Joe Biden’s economic approval rating in June 2022, when there was record-high inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Americans were less likely to blame Biden in the lead-up to that year’s midterm elections, a sharp contrast to the solid majority who hold Trump responsible now.

Costs drag on Trump as the economic pain keeps coming

Americans have grown more worried about being able to afford basics like groceries and gas over the last few months, the new AP-NORC poll shows.

About half of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to afford gas in the coming months, up from 39% in July.

And about half are highly concerned about being able to afford food.

Pedro Sanchez, a 52-year-old from California who voted for Trump, told the AP: “I used to have a lot more disposable income. I don’t have that anymore. It’s gotten eaten up because of all these increases in the cost of everything.”

AP-NORC Poll: Most Republicans now disapprove of Trump on costs

Americans are deeply frustrated with rising prices under President Trump, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

Only 17% of U.S. adults approve of the president’s handling of the cost of living. That frustration is also reaching Republicans. About 6 in 10 Republicans now disapprove of how Trump is handling costs, up from about half in April.

Robert Gault, a 66-year-old from Bradford, Pennsylvania, told the AP about Trump: “He said, ’Make America Great Again.′ And I have not seen him do that.”

Despite the overall frustration, about two-thirds of Republicans don’t blame Trump personally for high prices and say factors outside of his control are more to blame.

But Americans overall disagree. A majority, 65%, of U.S. adults blame Trump’s policies for persistently high costs more than factors outside of his control.

▶ Read more

Trump and Vance hit the campaign trail in deep-red areas where GOP candidates seek a boost

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance will both hit the campaign trail on Thursday, but they will be heading to heavily Republican areas to shore up lagging enthusiasm in their party ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

Trump’s travel on Thursday to Texas and Oklahoma kicks off what the president said will be a 32-day campaign blitz leading up to Nov. 3. Vance will be stumping in Florida, putting the Republican Party’s highest-ranking officials in areas where GOP candidates once expected to have glide paths to victory but are now facing tougher races.

Republicans have expressed growing pessimism about their chances in the election, which will determine control of Congress, as the president has repeatedly dismissed concerns about high costs and gas prices as his unpopular war in Iran drags on.

According to Trump, his party’s headwinds are merely a matter of poor public relations about a job he says is well done.

“We’re not getting the word out,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I mean, we’re just not getting it.”

▶ Read more

FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS

• FIRST ROUND OF RAIN: Now approaching San Antonio
• REST OF TODAY: On & off rain at times
• • POTENTIAL IMPACT TO: Afternoon commute & after-school activities
• THURSDAY NIGHT & EARLY FRIDAY: Redevelopment of rain possible with flooding possible
• WEEKEND: Rain lingers in spots, but will be lighter

Street flooding is the main concern in urban areas, while we will closely monitor creeks and streams.

FORECAST

A Flood Watch remains in place through tomorrow evening, as we expect rounds of rain to bring the potential for street and creek flooding. Here’s what you need to know:

REST OF TODAY

Storms this morning were limited to the Hill Country, dropping 1″-3″ of rain. These storms are now pushing into San Antonio, and this is the first of what will be a few rounds of rain through Friday morning. With any rain, expect heavy downpours, which will likely lead to street flooding. Use caution around low-water crossings. There’s a chance that the afternoon commute will be messy, and that after school activities and outdoor sports events may be impacted.

OVERNIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING

Redevelopment of showers and storms while we’re sleeping is entirely possible, which could lead to additional flooding issues.

While rain Friday morning could lead to additional flooding and problems for the morning commute, rain will lighten during the second part of the day.

SHOWERS THIS WEEKEND

More scattered activity is expected over the weekend, but activity will be light and intermittent, so flooding is not a concern. Fall-like weather is in the forecast for next week.

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• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
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• Download FREE KSAT Weather Authority App: Up-to-date forecast information and livestreams from trusted local meteorologists.
• KSAT Connect: Share your weather photos.

As the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, put it: “Hollywood isn’t creative enough to come up with stories like this!”

While major questions remained unanswered Thursday about the attacker and his motivation, the tale of everyday heroes saving the FlyDubai flight from disaster quickly became legend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warmly embraced the plumber shortly after the passengers’ arrival in Tel Aviv late Wednesday, and later posted a five-star review for Yaniv Hayoun’s professional services, calling him “a hero who has saved many lives.”

“He can help you too — I highly recommend him!” Netanyahu added on X.

Hayoun was among several Israelis recommended for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, while Indian Capt. Smit Machchhar was praised by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “a HERO.”

One met the prime minister wearing a bloody shirt

Many of the details emerged in a rush shortly after the passengers, most of them Israeli, landed back home to cheers and waving flags.

Hayoun, apologizing for his bloody shirt, within minutes was telling the prime minister and journalists what happened.

There had been little time for him and the others to think. Passengers screamed after spotting the copilot stabbing the captain, and the flight from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv began a steep dive. Some believed they were about to die.

A handful of Israelis reacted, hurtling up the aisle after the badly wounded captain managed to open the cockpit door. That was crucial, as cockpit doors are typically locked to prevent hijackings.

They had to struggle, Hayoun said, with the captain’s body resting against it.

The plumber seized the controls, just like in the movies

Hayoun said the copilot appeared to be trying to damage the plane’s controls. He grabbed the copilot, and others began struggling with the man.

Hayoun then tackled the controls. He had no training, but he remembered what he had seen in movies.

“I asked him, how did you know how to do that? And he said, ‘Well, I, I watched these air disaster films,’” Netanyahu told Fox News on Thursday.

It was not clear who among the passengers had security experience, though military service is compulsory for most men and women in Israel.

Soon, crew who had been traveling on the plane stepped in to stabilize it, issuing a mayday call and seeking a place to land.

A dentist treated the wounded pilot

The handful of Israeli passengers grappled with the copilot for several minutes before subduing him and binding his hands with the cord from a set of headphones.

One of them, Dr. Shota Musayev, a dentist, also attended to the captain, who appeared to have lost a lot of blood. “He was just praying the whole time and was in contact with me, and I was afraid we would really lose him,” Musayev said.

In video that Musayev shot and shared with The Associated Press, the captain lay on the floor of the cabin, saying his head was in pain.

Musayev later told journalists he and the other responders knew they'd had just seconds to act before a “critical event.”

But even with the copilot bound and subdued, they were scared that other attackers might be on the plane. They sent other people around the cabin to stand by.

Finally, just about an hour after the plane issued a distress call, it made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Now, investigators from across the region are working to understand what led to the attack. The copilot still has not been publicly identified.

As of Thursday evening, the world had not yet heard from the central hero, the captain, who India’s Embassy in the United Arab Emirates said was “in good health and recovering well.”

___

Associated Press reporter Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 7.28% from 7.03% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday, the biggest leap in several years. A year ago, the average rate was 6.34%.

It is the sixth consecutive week that mortgage rates have increased.

The average rate is now the highest it’s been since Nov. 22, 2023, when it reached 7.29%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also climbed this week. That average rate increased to 6.60% from 6.42% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.55%.

Higher mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month to borrowers’ costs, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing power. As rates rise, that can also lead prospective home shoppers to delay buying.

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 roughly 1 percentage point increase in the rate since then translates roughly into an additional $276 a month cost 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 housing market has been stuck in a rut this year in large part because of elevated mortgage rates, which have been climbing in the months since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Mortgage rates 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.

Expectations of higher inflation amid surging oil prices have pushed up the 10-year Treasury yield, which was at 3.97% in late February, before the war began. It surged to 5.27% in midday trading on the bond market Thursday. That puts it roughly back to where it was in 2007, on the eve of the real estate-induced financial crisis.

High yields slow the overall economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

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.

And many potential homeowners are now hitting the brakes.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, tumbled 6% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This marks the fourth straight weekly drop.

Applications for loans to refinance existing mortgages also declined.

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

The two lawsuits were filed by Good’s partner, Becca Good, and Renee's brother Brent Ganger.

“She was pure love. She was funny. She was smart,” Becca Good said during a news conference to announce the lawsuits. “She was the center of my universe.”

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Officer shot Good as she turned her car away from him

Renee Good was fatally shot Jan. 7 as protests against immigration raids flared across the city. According to Becca Good, her partner stopped their car in a street to support neighbors during an immigration operation.

Bystander video shows Renee Good in the driver’s seat of a red SUV blocking part of the road and repeatedly honking her horn.

Two immigration officers get out of a truck, their faces covered, and one orders Good to get out of the car. She reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel as the officer says again, “get out of the car.”

Almost simultaneously, Becca Good, standing in the street, shouts: “Drive, baby, drive!”

One officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and fires into the windshield. He lurches back as the car turns away from him. The officer, who is now very close to the open window on the driver’s side, fires two more times, fatally shooting Renee Good, according to an analysis of the videos by The Associated Press and others.

Federal officials at the time said the officer acted in self-defense and that Good had engaged in “an act of domestic terrorism.”

One lawsuit alleges wrongful death

The lawsuit against the United States of America seeks damages for Good's wrongful death and “the immense suffering Renee endured in the final moments of her life and for the profound and permanent losses that her death has inflicted upon her family,” according to a news release by lawyers for Ganger and Good.

The lawsuit, which seeks a bench trial, also alleges “intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress” on Becca Good.

Becca and Renee Good, the mother of three children, were not legally married, according to a family lawyer, but referred to one another as wives. They had only recently relocated to Minneapolis from Kansas City, Missouri.

Another lawsuit alleges conspiracy to conceal evidence

The other lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights and seeks a jury trial. It says the federal government moved to hide the evidence of what actually happened on Jan. 7.

The lawsuit says the shots fired by Jonathan Ross, the immigration officer who killed Good, “were the predictable and intended product of the operation.”

It describes a “carefully planned, coordinated effort between senior federal officials and private actors to make two ethnic communities — Minnesotans of Somali and Hispanic descent and origin — the object of aggression and abduction, and to silence by intimidation, arrest and violence the neighbors and allies of those targeted communities who observed, documented and warned of that campaign.”

The lawsuit names Ross as a defendant, as well as: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller; former Homeland Security head Kristi Noem; Corey Lewandowski, a campaign manager for President Donald Trump who also served as one of Noem's advisers; White House border czar Tom Homan; former acting director of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons; former U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino; and 10 unnamed federal agents.

Good's partner acknowledges other lives lost in immigration crackdown

The killing of Good and another U.S. citizen, Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis just weeks later sparked outrage across the country and calls to rein in immigration enforcement. At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration officers during President Donald Trump’s second term.

In social media accounts, Renee Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom.” On Pinterest, a profile picture shows her smiling and holding a young child, alongside posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating.

In an interview shortly after her death, Renee Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, told The Associated Press: “She had this way of making you feel special and loved that I didn’t even understand that until we lost her.”

Good's partner noted the broader loss to communities nationwide.

“As we have tried to navigate our own massive loss, I am also devastated by how many other lives have been destroyed in this darkest of times,” Becca Good said in the news release Thursday. “So many other families are dealing with the loss of their loved ones; to everyone who has had to witness it — the pain of this moment extends far beyond our family. What happened to us should never happen to any family.”

___

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

Passengers on the FlyDubai plane — which was carrying 174 people, mostly Israelis, from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv — have described how the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the copilot and stabilized a descent so sharp that the plane’s rudder was torn away.

“We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive,” Asaf Rajuan, who was among those who intervened, said in a statement shared by Israel’s presidency.

A regional official briefed on the investigation said the suspect, an Omani citizen, was under arrest and confirmed that Saudi authorities were working with countries, including Israel, to try to determine a motive. He said the UAE, the United States and Oman also were involved.

“All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing probe.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without giving details, claimed the attacker underwent Islamist indoctrination. Asked who helped radicalize him, the prime minister told Fox News channel’s “Fox and Friends" he did not know.

When asked by The Associated Press how the prime minister knew the copilot underwent indoctrination, Netanyahu’s office said it would not comment.

Netanyahu told Fox that the suspect apparently got through a loophole in Israeli aviation rules that normally bar pilots from flying to Israel if they are from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, which Oman does not.

The copilot has not been publicly identified. Video shot inside the plane by Dr. Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, shows the copilot on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back.

Capt. Smit Machchhar, widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight, was recovering, the Indian Embassy in the UAE said Thursday.

It was not clear what the copilot used as a weapon.

Israeli investigators will join the interrogation of the copilot

Israeli intelligence and security officials were in Saudi Arabia to help investigate the copilot, according to another regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Israel has requested that the copilot be sent to Israel for the investigation, though it is unclear if that request will be granted, the official said.

Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but the countries have long cooperated on security and intelligence matters through alternative channels.

The UAE government said its own investigation team had begun looking into the attack and “whether it was linked to any terrorist purpose,” noting that Emirati authorities have jurisdiction because the plane is registered there and UAE law applies to crimes committed on board.

Asked if there is any indication of Iranian involvement, Netanyahu told Fox News “it’s too early to say.”

Netanyahu earlier said he also spoke with the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident “at length” by phone and it seemed as though the copilot “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job.”

Oman's government has not commented.

Israel says it received no specific warning of an attack

Netanyahu had warned in recent days of heightened security threats, though he told CNN that Israel had received no specific warning. The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered the war in Gaza — and weeks away from an election.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said most of the people on board were from Israel, along with others from India and the UAE. The U.S. State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.

FlyDubai has said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended. Netanyahu told CBS that Israel plans to fly home anyone stranded in Dubai as a result.

Someone in cockpit sent out discreet distress codes

Someone in the cockpit sent out two four-digit codes to discreetly signal distress while the plane flew erratically near the Jordanian border with Saudi Arabia, according to Flightradar24.com. The first code was “7700,” the universal “squawk” signal for an emergency, then “7500,” which means there is unlawful interference, including a possible hijacking.

The codes are used by pilots when speaking over the radio may not be possible or wise.

A passenger aboard the plane told journalists that the jet was landed by two pilots who also were passengers.

“They were sitting one row in front of me, row six, and I was in row seven, and they were the ones who landed the plane,” passenger Yaniv Hayoun told journalists Wednesday night after arriving in Tel Aviv.

FlyDubai has said only that “others on board” landed the plane.

School where captain trained calls safe landing ‘miraculous’

In the chaos that began about two and a half hours after takeoff, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk, according to Flightradar24. The site identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8.

FlyDubai said crew members helped secure the plane but released no details about them.

The head of the New Zealand flight school where the Indian captain trained, Philip Kean, called it “miraculous" that the aircraft, which was never designed for that sort of dive, did not break up completely.

During the frantic search for a place to land, a person who heard the flight’s communications with air traffic control described the plane being turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in Tabuk in Saudi Arabia while passengers screamed in the background. The pilot’s voice was trembling as he called “mayday” and said a hijacking was taking place.

The air traffic controllers gave no reason for the refusals. The person who heard the communications spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Laurie Kellman in London contributed to this report.

Children and staff at the school were in shelters when the drone hit, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said, and its warhead didn’t explode. No casualties were reported, but the building’s brick facade showed a large hole, revealing a staircase, and burn marks alongside smashed windows.

Kyiv has felt like a city under siege in recent weeks, with repeated air raid alerts, punctuated by loud explosions from drone and missile strikes. The onslaught aims to terrorize civilians, officials and analysts say, and break their will to resist 4½ years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The strain is showing. Maryna Lystopad, 35, said her hair has started falling out due to the stress from escalating attacks and never knowing where the next attack will hit.

"It’s really horrible. I can’t take it anymore. I think, I think that soon we’re all going to leave. I’m really not doing well,” she told The Associated Press. “I’m constantly anxious. I can’t relax. I keep thinking that if something happens, if something hits, one of my relatives could be killed.”

Lystopad said she recently had to travel to another part of Kyiv and had been “genuinely stressed" the whole way there.

“I kept checking, like, whether anything was flying in, where it was going, where am I supposed to go? Where am I supposed to run?” she said.

Ukraine's air defenses are stretched

The front line in eastern and southern Ukraine hasn’t seen major shifts since last year, but the country is struggling to fend off Russia’s intensified aerial attacks on cities that include ballistic missiles and high-flying jet-powered drones.

Reflecting the urgency of Ukraine’s plight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held a conference call Thursday with senior military and government officials in charge of protecting infrastructure, as some areas fall behind on implementing previously agreed measures.

He said the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry will review agreements Ukraine has made with partner countries on supplying ammunition for air defenses and F-16 fighter jets, with an updated schedule of deliveries to be presented within 24 hours.

“It is important that we have additional missiles in October,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

In response to Russia's attacks, Ukraine has fired its long-range drones at manufacturing plants deep inside Russia and has targeted Russia’s drone launch sites. Zelenskyy said Thursday that Kyiv’s forces struck a site in Russia’s southwestern Oryol region that is used to store and launch attack drones.

Separately, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had deployed its domestically developed short-range FP-7 ballistic missile in combat for the first time, without elaborating on when or where the mission took place. Accompanying the post was an image of a missile being launched, and he said the next stage would be to scale up production. The Associated Press was not able to verify the claim independently.

To turn the tide, Ukraine needs U.S.-made Patriot missiles that can effectively defend against ballistic missiles, but they are in short supply since the Iran war began. A plan to produce them inside Ukraine could take years to bear fruit.

Kyiv is racing to produce interceptors that can bring down fast-moving jet-propelled drones as the swift cycle of military innovation during the war continues.

Sanctions are key to stopping Russia, Ukraine says

Ukraine wants tougher sanctions imposed on Russia to prevent it from getting key high-tech components for its arsenal.

Britain on Thursday imposed sanctions on 31 Russian individuals, entities and ships it says are linked to disinformation, attempts to avoid energy sanctions and the mistreatment of Ukrainian civilians in areas seized in the war by Russia.

Moscow, meanwhile, is pressing its advantage before Ukraine comes up with an answer to the latest challenges.

Two Russian drones hit an important bridge across the Dnipro River in Kyiv on Thursday, Klitschko said, with traffic suspended until a safety inspection could be done.

Also, the Parkovyi data center in Kyiv, which provides cloud services and server hosting, was critically damaged and has stopped operating following repeated Russian strikes, the company said. Client data has been moved to backup sites in the European Union, it said on Facebook.

Russia steps up a campaign against Ukraine's power grid

Ukrainian officials didn’t report any energy infrastructure being hit Thursday, a day after what officials said was the biggest Russian attack on the power grid since spring.

Wednesday's barrage marked “the beginning of Russia’s strike campaign aimed at degrading Ukraine’s energy security ahead of winter … and forcing Ukraine to capitulate,” said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

Russia is expected to step up attacks on the electricity supply as the weather gets colder. It was 19 degrees Celsius (66 F) in Kyiv on Thursday, and mild temperatures were set to continue.

In a surprise development, Russia for the first time on Wednesday used a jet-powered drone fitted with a warhead designed to sever high-voltage pylons, said Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy on defense technology.

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AP reporter Volodymr Yurchuk in Kyiv contributed.

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

The rally is part of Trump’s recent campaign push through deep red states, where he has been stumping for Republican candidates and promoting his agenda ahead of November’s midterm elections.

It was not immediately clear why Trump picked the location for his rally. The Choctaw Nation is renting its venue for the rally but not sponsoring the event, it said.

“We hope his visit provides an opportunity to learn more about what we do as a sovereign nation for our members and for all people in southeast Oklahoma,” Choctaw Nation Principal Chief Gary Batton said in a statement.

It's not the first time Trump has been to a tribal nation. In the homestretch of the 2020 election campaign, Trump visited the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and endorsed its push to secure federal recognition as a tribal nation, which he signed into law in 2025.

Tribal delegations have been meeting with presidents in Washington since the Early Republic, but presidential visits to reservations have been few and far between. The purpose and tone of those visits have changed dramatically as the relationship between the U.S. and tribal nations has evolved.

Early visits promoted assimilation

What was likely the first visit to a reservation by a sitting U.S. president occurred by happenstance. While traveling to Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 1883, President Chester A. Arthur met with Shoshone and Arapaho leaders on the Wind River Reservation and complimented the tribes’ “practice of industrial pursuits,” according to an account by Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan at the time.

While there, Arthur’s delegation pressed Shoshone Chief Washakie and Arapaho Chief Black Coal to consent to breaking up the reservation they shared into private parcels — a move aimed at dismantling tribal sovereignty and solving what Arthur termed the “Indian problem.” Both chiefs refused.

Other early presidential visits to tribal land similarly reflected an era when the U.S. tried to undermine tribal sovereignty and assimilate Native people into white society. Theodore Roosevelt’s 1903 trek to Havasupai land at the bottom of the Grand Canyon preceded the forced removal of that tribe to make way for a national park.

During his 1927 visit to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, President Calvin Coolidge promoted assimilationist boarding schools.

Recent presidential visits have focused on tribal sovereignty

President Bill Clinton made Pine Ridge a stop on his 1999 “New Markets Tour,” billing the visit as the first by a sitting president to tribal land since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1934 trip to the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. Clinton acknowledged the federal government failed to meet its obligations to hundreds of tribal nations and called for investment in Pine Ridge's economy.

“We have tried to have a more respectful, more proper relationship with the tribal governments of this country, to promote more genuine independence, but also to give more genuine support,” Clinton said.

In 2014, President Barack Obama met with Dakota youths and attended a powwow on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, speaking about expanding economic and educational opportunities in Indian Country and promoting tribes' inherent right to govern themselves. The following year, Obama spent time in the Iñupiaq village of Kotzebue in Alaska, highlighting the impacts of climate change on Arctic communities.

President Joe Biden made a somber apology

In 2024, President Joe Biden traveled to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona to formally apologize for the federal government’s role in separating Indigenous children from their families and forcing them to attend boarding schools run by the U.S. and churches. A probe by Biden’s administration found that in addition to being stripped of their languages and cultures, many of those children experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse. At least 970 died, and federal officials acknowledged the true number is likely higher.

Speaking alongside boarding school survivors and their descendants, Biden called that 150-year era a “blot on American history.”

“It’s a sin on our soul,” Biden said. “Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make.”

The visit marked a rare acknowledgment of the assimilationist policies that shaped some of the earliest presidential encounters with tribal nations.

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This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

It wasn't clear if Pike was still alive on Thursday. She could be heard snoring loudly in the execution chamber Wednesday night more than an hour after the execution process began and nearly 30 minutes after a second, backup dose of pentobarbital was administered.

Pike, who was sentenced to death for a gruesome 1995 murder, was taken by ambulance from the prison to a hospital, where she was being treated, her attorneys said. It was the second time this year that Tennessee has been unable to complete an execution, though in the other case, officials couldn't find a suitable vein for an IV line so the drugs weren't administered.

May Martinez, whose daughter was murdered by Pike and her boyfriend and who traveled to Nashville to see the sentence carried out, told NBC News that “it was a mess.”

Governor halts another 2026 execution

The failure, which one death penalty expert described as unprecedented, led Gov. Bill Lee to order a review and to indefinitely postpone Pike's execution and Tennessee's lone other one that had been scheduled for this year. It also reignited the debate over the state’s execution procedures, including its single-drug lethal injections.

“There are very few answers this morning. It’s very early," Lee told reporters Thursday at an unrelated event, noting he had received no updates on Pike's condition. "The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered."

He called what happened “deeply disturbing” and said it appeared prison staff followed procedure.

Pike, 50, had been scheduled for execution Wednesday morning for the killing she committed at age 18 and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. An appeals court stopped the execution an hour before it was to start, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that stay hours later.

Officials gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys said in court filings late Wednesday. The drug has been used in executions in multiple states and by the federal government, but there have been concerns raised about the potential for “unnecessary pain and suffering.”

The Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement that it “followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.”

Tennessee changed its execution method two years ago

Tennessee announced in 2024 that it was switching from a three-drug series for lethal injections to the single drug pentobarbital. That came more than two years after the state abruptly halted the execution of Oscar Smith and acknowledged it had failed to ensure its lethal injection drugs had been tested properly.

Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike experienced is “singular and unparalleled.”

Seven other people have survived medical problems due to an execution team's failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has stayed alive after receiving the drugs used in such executions, she said.

Executions in the U.S. have fallen sharply since the beginning of this century amid growing public opposition and concerns about the costs and the drugs used. But the number of executions nearly doubled last year behind a record increase in Florida.

Pike would have been the 30th person executed in the U.S. this year.

Pike was awake in the execution chamber

Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber, Pike described herself as at peace.

When asked if she had any last words, Pike said several things, including, “I’m at peace. I’m ready to be free. ... This is a happy day.”

But she remained awake and at one point raised her head, asking prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way. The chamber's curtains were closed, suggesting it had been five minutes since the first dose was administered. But they were reopened three minutes later.

An hour after officials first raised the curtains, witnesses reported that a second dose of pentobarbital was administered. Pike could still be heard snoring behind a closed curtain until the microphone was cut off almost 30 minutes later.

Lawyers for Pike filed an emergency motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in “unnecessary agony” and the procedure violated her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment. They also filed motions with two other courts.

Last May, Tennessee officials called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing three people in 1994, after executioners tried for over an hour but failed to find a suitable vein for a backup IV line.

Pike didn't deny her role in the killing

Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate. The killing stoked fears of Satan worship because of a pentagram carved on Slemmer’s body.

Pike’s boyfriend wasn’t eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the killing and received a sentence of life in prison. He was denied parole last year.

Pike didn't dispute that she helped kill Slemmer, but supporters argued that Pike's age at the time of the murder, her mental illness and her allegations of severe sexual abuse should be considered. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder after the killing.

“It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done,” she once said.

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Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Ed White in Detroit, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

The first national school choice scholarship program, the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, will launch Jan. 1, establishing a taxpayer-funded incentive for families to choose private or homeschooling in participating states. Taxpayers who donate to an organization passing out the scholarships will receive a federal tax credit, a perk expected to further fuel the conservative school choice movement.

About 96% of children in those states should be eligible, according to the department. Children attending public schools could use the scholarships for extra learning expenses.

“Education freedom is the key to unlocking opportunity and success for our next generation of students,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement issued Thursday. The federal scholarship program, she said, will ensure “every child has access to the education they need, not one limited by ZIP code, family income, or government‑imposed barriers.”

School choice scholarships have been available for decades in conservative-led states and throughout the South, giving individual students taxpayer-funded grants ranging from a couple thousand dollars to more than $30,000 a year. In places where they are available to all students regardless of income, such as Florida and Arizona, the majority of students using the money were already in private or home school or were from affluent neighborhoods, an analysis by The Associated Press showed.

The federal program departs from most state programs by not forcing students to leave public school to qualify for a scholarship. Public school students could use the money for tutoring or special education therapies, although the Republican administration has not provided specific criteria for eligible expenses yet.

Regulators say they have set up the program in a way that will make it easier for poor students to apply, proposing to let students use proof of participation in a government assistance program in lieu of providing income documentation. Foster children would not have to provide any income verification when they apply, officials said.

Experiences with school choice scholarships in other states have shown barriers to using the programs go beyond paperwork hurdles. Many families often do not know scholarship programs exist. Federal officials have not said how they would tell taxpayers and students about the scholarships.

How the scholarship and tax credit will work

Taxpayers will have the chance to donate to a scholarship program in a participating state, even if they do not live there, starting Jan. 1. Individuals can donate up to $1,700 and receive a federal tax credit for the same amount in exchange. Federal officials propose a couple filing jointly could give as much as double that amount.

Scholarship organizations in each state would decide how much to grant to each child who applies, depending on available funds and student need. Children could qualify if they are in elementary through high school and their families earn up to three times the area's median income. For a family of four in Houston, for example, that equates to more than $300,000.

Scholarship recipients could use their funding to pay for religious or private school tuition, homeschooling costs, tutoring and special education therapies, books, computers and other expenses connected to enrollment or attendance, according to officials at the Treasury Department.

At least 30 states have opted in, and more may sign up

States could not turn to laws or regulations to narrow the uses for the scholarships or the type of organization that can grant them, federal officials said.

But states can choose whether to participate in the program.

According to the most recent Treasury Department list, as of mid-September these states are in for 2027: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Governors from Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon have said their states will not join, with some arguing these programs divert resources from public schools.

More than two dozen states have yet to say what they will do. In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has been supportive, and the state is expected to sign up.

Governors deciding whether to participate face many competing objectives and interests. There is the opportunity to bring significant new education money to students who need extra support, such as tutoring or extra speech therapy that their public school does not provide. At the same time, large scholarship programs in states such as Florida and Arizona have accelerated a growing enrollment crisis in public schools.

Even so, the federal program is expected to bring taxpayer money for private school tuition to several states that have yet to embrace vouchers or education savings accounts.

Education advocates disagree on whether states should participate

In Massachusetts — a state with historically robust public school funding, caps on charter school expansion and no taxpayer funding for private school tuition — education advocates on both sides are lobbying the governor to take a stand and pushing the public to register their opinion.

The state’s association of school superintendents opposes the idea that districts should take advantage of the program by creating their own nonprofits to accept donations and distribute scholarships. Many big city school districts around the country already have their own foundations. In Massachusetts, where every municipality has its own district, the majority of the more than 300 school systems have no such entity.

“Districts face a significant disadvantage compared to the private school networks that already have elaborate fundraising and scholarship infrastructure in place,” reads the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents’ position paper. The group said requiring families to apply for scholarships and, in many cases, prove income eligibility were “bureaucratic hurdles that will certainly leave behind our most vulnerable families.”

On the other side, former Boston City Councilor and former public schoolteacher Annissa Essaibi George has argued Boston Public Schools faces severe budget shortfalls and needs new streams of income.

And besides, she argued in an op-ed published in a neighborhood newspaper: “Massachusetts taxpayers will be eligible to take advantage of this program whether the governor opts in or not. The only question is whether those dollars come back to Massachusetts children, or instead flow to students in states that moved faster.”

In just a few years, after donations from taxpayers pick up, the IRS and the Treasury Department predict the program will direct nearly $26 billion into as many 2.2 million scholarships each year.

The federal tax-credit scholarship program was signed into law last year by President Donald Trump as part of his signature tax breaks and spending cuts bill. The public has 60 days to comment on the Treasury Department's proposed regulations.

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The Associated Press’ education 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 investigation was announced last fall by then SAPD-Chief William McManus, after KSAT Investigates revealed that officers were assigned to protect the mayor at her home overnight.

Jones told Axios San Antonio earlier this week she was no longer receiving the after-hours security detail.

A spokesperson for the mayor declined to confirm the scaling back of security and told KSAT via email, “Risk assessments and security protocols are determined by the San Antonio Police Department, therefore, we refer you to the Chief of Police.”

An SAPD spokeswoman then told KSAT via email, “For security reasons we do not comment on the details of the mayor’s protection as it concerns sensitive security procedures.”

City officials last year repeatedly delayed the release of public records showing the cost to provide SAPD staffing for the Mayor Jones Residence Post Orders.

The city eventually released 19 pages of records but redacted both the cost and hours sections related to the mayor’s residential security.

SAPD employs an executive security detail for Jones while she is conducting city business, which is in line with protective measures provided to previous mayors of San Antonio.

But an overnight detail made up of SAPD officers was a unique level of security offered to a San Antonio mayor, sources and a previous mayor told KSAT last year.

The after-hours security included an officer stationed in a hallway.

Officers could use a chair during the overnight shift but were required to return it to the lobby before the last officer left in the morning.

A second officer was assigned outside the property and was ordered to conduct regular patrols of the property perimeter and surrounding blocks, according to orders obtained by KSAT that contained the seal of SAPD’s Executive Protection Detail.

Jones has faced multiple threats since taking office in the summer of 2025.

Marcos Olvera was arrested in August 2025 after investigators said he wrote “we need to kill the mayor” in a social media group chat that discussed Project Marvel, the city’s plans for a multi-billion-dollar sports and entertainment district.

Olvera was charged with retaliation, a third-degree felony.

Prosecutors in March dismissed the criminal charge, however, citing insufficient evidence.

Memo from mayor blamed council staffer for leak

In May, Jones authored a memo accusing the then-District 7 city council chief of staff of refusing to comply with the SAPD internal affairs investigation into how the overnight security details got out.

Multiple sources last fall provided KSAT details of the mayor’s home protection plan. The then-District 7 chief of staff was not one of those sources.

The mayor’s memo stated that 115 SAPD officers had been interviewed as part of the department’s investigation. One of those officers noted that a council aide had access to the security information.

The District 7 staffer left City Hall for the private sector in July.

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Official Rules, prize(s) will be awarded in a random drawing from among all eligible prize claims received at each prize tier.

Prize(s) 2 (2) tickets to the Journey Final Frontier Tour Concert at the Frost Bank Center. Experience is only valid for redemption on Saturday October 10. ARV of all prizes: $200. Unless otherwise stated, subject to winner verification and compliance with these Official Rules, all prizes will be available for pick up at the office of the Sponsor/Administrators (address provided below). Sponsor and Co-Sponsor not responsible for loss, delay, or damage in shipping. There will be no substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent for prizes, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor, which may substitute prizes of comparable value. Limit one prize per person and per household. Payments of all federal, state, and local taxes related to the award of the prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be sold, bartered, or auctioned. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. All properly claimed prizes will be awarded provided a sufficient number of eligible entries are received, but in no event will Sponsor award more prizes than are provided for in the Official Rules. Unclaimed prizes will not be awarded. For tax purposes, the winner of a prize with an ARV of at least $600 will be required to accurately complete and submit IRS Form W-9 to the Sponsor and Sponsor will arrange to issue an IRS Form 1099 MISC to winner reflecting the value of the prize.

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The Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

A three-judge tribunal found that Campbell, 56, had been “deceived” by Bianka Hellmich, a fellow trustee in the anti-poverty charity Fashion for Relief, which hosted fundraising events in Cannes and London.

Two years ago, the Charity Commission, which registers and regulates charities in England and Wales, found “multiple instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement" at the charity. This included using charity funds to pay for her stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, as well as spa treatments, room service and cigarettes. As a result, it imposed the ban on Campbell.

In its ruling, the tribunal confirmed there had been “serious misconduct and mismanagement,” but concluded that the “failures in the management of the charity’s finances and the misuse of its funds” resulted from Hellmich’s conduct. These, it added, were “concealed” from the supermodel.

The judges found that Hellmich “used forged documents” and also deceived professional advisers and the Charity Commission.

The judges also said that while Campbell shared responsibility for the charity failing to file its accounts on time, this did not mean she was unfit to be a charity trustee.

Following the judges' verdict, Campbell said she was “so grateful” and that she wanted to get back to helping people.

“Giving back has been part of who I am, so having that questioned hurt deeply," she said.

During the four-day hearing in June in London, Campbell had said her “only mistake” was trusting Hellmich, who she alleged forged her signature and lied about her credentials as a charity lawyer.

The commission had opposed Campbell’s challenge and said the five-year ban should be upheld.

A probe into Fashion for Relief was opened by the commission in 2021, with the charity dissolved and removed from the register of charities in 2024.

Rescuers continued searching Thursday for a fifth person who was aboard the aircraft and went missing after the Wednesday night crash.

The Coast Guard, area firefighters and divers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were among emergency personnel who worked through the night, Coast Guard Capt. Stacey Crecy said at a news conference.

“We’re still doing an active search for the person who’s missing and then in addition to that, the divers and the remote operated vehicle are going to get a look at more of the wreckage and hopefully if there’s a sunken fuselage … we’re hoping to get a better picture of that this morning,” Crecy said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Crecy said the helicopter went down shortly after takeoff and hit the water a short distance from the island.

Authorities were working on identifying the victims, she said.

“We believe that the medical aircraft was transporting a person off the island for additional medical care on the mainland,” Crecy said, adding that she did not have more information on the transport or the patient.

According to preliminary information released by the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot and a cabin crew member were killed. Another cabin crew member was seriously injured and a passenger had minor injuries, the FAA said.

First responders were called to the crash shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday and pulled four people from the water. Two were pronounced dead at the scene, and two in stable condition were brought to hospitals on the mainland, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Firefighters on the island were able to get to the scene quickly by boat, Crecy said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating and identified the helicopter as a Eurocopter EC-135-P2. NTSB staff were expected to arrive on the scene later Thursday. The aircraft will be brought to a secure facility for evaluation, a board spokesperson said.

Authorities said the helicopter was submerged in 240 feet (73 meters) of water off Catalina, which is located about 22 miles (35 kilometers) off the mainland of Los Angeles County.

The helicopter was operated by REACH Air Medical Services of Sacramento, California.

“At this time, we are gathering information and coordinating with emergency responders and authorities,” the company said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the families, loved ones and colleagues affected by this tragedy. We are focused on supporting our team and everyone impacted during this incredibly difficult time.”

The company said it was unable to share additional details, out of respect for the people involved and the ongoing emergency response.

Hurricane Rachel was located about 230 miles (370 kilometers) off the southern tip of Baja California on Thursday, chugging forward at 6 mph (9kph) as a powerful hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. The center reported winds of 105 mph (165) kph.

Rachel was projected to move along the Mexican coastline before veering west in the Pacific.

Mexican authorities said Thursday that, as Hurricane Rachel moves across the Pacific, they remain on alert due to forecasts of very heavy rain in the states of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, and Jalisco, and the possibility of landslides, rising river levels, overflowing rivers, and flooding in low-lying areas.

The Pacific has seen an unusually busy hurricane season, which experts have attributed to El Niño, which has fueled crippling droughts in Mexico and Central America and floods in other parts of the region. In the Pacific, it has resulted in warmer waters and wind patterns that act as fodder for hurricanes.

While Mexico's Sonora state was left reeling from flooding and winds, rain swept across the U.S. Southwest this week, causing desert rivers to surge.

SpaceX launched commander Jessica Watkins and her crew for NASA after a three-week delay to fix the capsule’s leaking fuel system. Thick clouds threatened all morning to halt the countdown but in the end, the skies cleared enough to allow for a safe liftoff.

Although their stay at the International Space Station will last a long six months, the flight there promised to be the quickest yet for Elon Musk’s company: a mere eight-hour transit with an arrival well before bedtime.

With the late morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit. A geologist who worked with NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity a decade ago, Watkins is making her second trip to the space station following a lengthy stay in 2022.

“Thanks for an amazing ride,” Watkins radioed after reaching orbit.

The others are newcomers to space: NASA’s Luke Delaney, a retired Marine; Canada’s Joshua Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force; and Russia’s Sergey Teteryatnikov, a former submariner. They will replace four astronauts who have been living at the orbiting laboratory since February.

“We feel like some of the luckiest people in the world,” Kutryk said ahead of the launch.

This was the 13th crew launched by SpaceX for NASA, not counting 2020s test flight. All four embrace their Crew-13 designation that pays homage in their mission patch to Apollo 13. The harrowing 1970 moonshot ended with the astronauts’ safe return.

“We really wanted to honor their legacy, honor their resilience and their grit, and bring a little bit of that with us,” Watkins said. She and her crewmates rode to the pad in black Teslas bearing plates that read “Lucky 13.”

Kutryk will become the fourth man to become a father while orbiting Earth. Wife Heather is due to give birth to their third child in late November. The Canadian Space Agency promises plenty of support for the entire family when the big day comes.

“A lot of life-changing things can happen over six months,” NASA manager Dana Weigel said on the eve of liftoff, noting that the space agency will do its best to keep Kutryk looped in to his family.

In 2004, NASA provided a radio link between space station astronaut Mike Fincke and his wife’s delivery room during the birth of their daughter. Five years later, Randy Bresnik, commander of next year’s Artemis III mission, dialed in to his wife’s hospital from orbit.

The happy news traveled more slowly for Austrian astronaut Franz Viehbock. His daughter was born a few hours after he launched to the Soviet Union’s Mir space station in 1991. He was not informed until the next day.

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

LUBBOCK — A new water tower in Turkey: $3 million. Upgrades for a museum in Stamford: $400,000. A first responders appreciation barbecue in Medina County: $10,000.

These are just some of the public investments data center companies have paid for across rural Texas in the past year.

According to Texas Tribune analysis, data center companies have donated or invested more than $343 million across the Lone Star state for various community needs, including school programs, infrastructure repairs and emergency services. Much of that money has gone to the very communities that have fought against data center development and are seemingly an effort to win over public support through their bottomless bank accounts.

The Texas Tribune reviewed news releases, public meeting agendas and interviewed local officials to understand how data centers are using their money in Texas. Because not every donation is made public, the total — the first of its kind compiled in Texas — is likely an undercount.

Google donated millions of dollars to the Haskell area for its hospital, pregnancy center and other causes. Rowan Digital Infrastructure is giving $38 million to Temple for its water infrastructure, along with more money for STEM Centers at schools in nearby small towns.

Data centers also created community action grants, which are used for recurring investments in the communities they’re building in. Others, such as Google’s Texas Water Impact Fund, provide funds to restore resources that cause concern for Texans or provide direct lump sum donations to both community and state funds.

As data centers move into the state at a rapid pace, Texas communities in mostly rural areas face a fiscal cliff from property tax cuts, inflation and overall economic uncertainty. Over the last year, data center companies have stepped in as a white knight of community investment.

“There is no question that these data centers are an opportunity for rural communities that are living in the margin,” said Suzanne Bellsnyder, an editor and publisher of two Panhandle newspapers and a Substack focused on rural issues. “Most infrastructure resources are paid with tax dollars, and there’s not a ton there.”

It’s not a new strategy. Major corporations regularly invest in communities and make charitable gifts big and small. Oil and gas companies in West Texas, for example, have donated to fire and police stations and hosted back-to-school backpack drives to weave themselves into communities.

Data centers have also capitalized on tax breaks from both state and local governments. A Texas Tribune analysis earlier this year found the state will forgo at least $3 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years due to the exemption for the state’s booming data center industry.

Because of the negative public perception toward data centers, however, they still have some ways to go. In an August poll from The Texas Politics Project, a nonpartisan research hub focused on Texas government and politics, 57% of respondents said they would oppose the construction of a data center in their communities.

“I hope their intentions are good, and they’re not just trying to buy these communities off,” Bellsnyder said.

Tied into the community

It’s been two years since a tornado struck Temple, a city of just over 96,000 people that lies 70 miles north of Austin. The city was devastated. Hundreds of homes and businesses were severely damaged or destroyed. One of the buildings lost was the beloved Sammons Community Center, where senior citizens could come together for bingo, swimming and meals.

The price tag for the city’s recovery was high — $7.7 million.

Then, Rowan Digital Infrastructure stepped in. The company is developing a $4.2 billion data center campus with six facilities planned in East Temple.

Earlier this month, Rowan announced a $38 million investment in Temple’s public infrastructure, including $25 million to the South Temple Water Infrastructure Capital Program and $10 million for an aquifer storage and recovery program.

As for the Sammons Community Center, city leaders have proposed a $15 million bond to rebuild it. If voters approve the measure, Rowan has promised to put $3 million to help the project. It’s one of many actions that has made Rowan stand out to Tim Davis, Temple’s mayor, particularly since the company is not making money from the town yet.

“To go ahead and invest dollars into the community for a current need is very generous of them,” Davis said. “That tells me they want to work hard to have a positive impact, and they’ve chosen to help the city.”

Gaining public support is an important tactic for data center companies coming to Texas, and one that can’t be ignored. Over the last year, communities all over the state have voiced opposition to data centers coming to their areas — their main concerns being rising electric bills, losing water and housing issues. Some cities have prevented developments from moving forward. For example, a project in East Texas was pulled after community backlash and Lubbock leaders passed a 90-day moratorium on large-scale projects following a citizen-led petition.

Nathaniel Brown, director of public relations for Rowan, admits that integrating into a community hasn’t been an easy task. Brown said Rowan began hosting neighbor dinners every month for residents to talk with the construction team and ask them questions. The company has also held public hearings, open houses and have Facebook pages dedicated to its project updates.

“This development doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It needs to be able to fit into the community’s vision for their area,” Brown said.

Google has used a similar strategy. On top of community meetings, the tech company hosted a dinner in August to announce $6 million for nonprofits in Haskell, Stamford and Rule.

Suzie Shin, manager of data center sustainability programs for Google, said some of their investments are the company’s way of saying they are listening to the public’s concerns. The company has given millions toward major water infrastructure projects, as well as supporting local school programs. Most recently, the company announced a $4.5 million commitment to help Vernon, a town with less than 10,000 residents, fix a leaking pipeline.

Shin said she feels strongly about investing in modernizing water and wastewater infrastructure for the broader community, not just their data centers.

“I think there’s a win-win for communities,” Shin said. “Again, we have employees who live and work there. We are part of the community. It’s a great way to show the value and help improve outcomes, not only for the watershed but for the water users there.”

Bellsnyder, the newspaper publisher and resident in Spearman, said she’s spoken with some of the data center executives who visit the Texas Panhandle. She does think their intentions are to partner with the communities and make them better.

However, she’s still wary because of the boom-and-bust industrial patterns that have become all too familiar for rural Texas. Spearman was built by an oil and gas service company, Bellsnyder said, and when the business left, there wasn’t a long-term plan for the town.

“I don’t want our entire identities to be built around what one company can provide to us,” Bellsnyder said. “We still need to figure out ways to take care of our own business. Nobody likes taxes, but taxpayers will have to be invested in the community.”

Pros vs. cons

When the water tower went out in Turkey, a small Panhandle town of about 275 residents, people were without water for weeks and had to find places in other towns to live temporarily. Lynette Findley, the city manager, said everyone’s known for years that the tower would fail. However, with an annual budget of $500,000, the city had no way to pay for it to be fixed.

After weeks of no water, QTS Data Centers, one of the data center companies in the county, said it would replace it for the city. The cost for the company, which is a major global data center developer, is estimated to be between $3 million to $5 million.

“It was right before major conversations were starting on how QTS could help with our infrastructure,” Findley said. “I joke about it failing at the exact right time.”

For cities and towns facing a budget crunch, data centers are hard to turn away, especially as the Legislature continues to cut their resources. Kevin Hodges, the city manager for Childress, said the more restrictions on cities, the less money they have to put into the city’s needs.

Childress is facing a similar problem as Turkey. The small town of just over 5,834 people has been under a boil-water notice for a month, and the town issued a disaster declaration because of the problems. Local leaders have handed out bottled water to residents the last few weeks, and employees from IREN, one of the two data centers in town, stepped in to help.

“We’ve had some of our employees help distribute water, particularly to folks who might be challenged to get it, or to the health services, and the elderly,” said David Shaw, COO of IREN. “We’ve been in Childress for around four years now, so it was important to us to establish that connection with the community.”

Hodges, the city manager, blames the ongoing drought on their water issues because Greenbelt Lake levels dropped. While people in town blame the town’s water shortage problems on IREN and Lancium, another data center company in town, Hodges says they are helping.

“The fact of the matter is Lancium does not get any water from Greenbelt Lake,” Hodges said. “They get zero, but they’re willing to give us water from their own water wells.”

While Lancium does not take water from the lake, the company does have wells to take water from the nearby Blaine Aquifer. Hodges said Lancium is running a 16-mile pipeline from its campus to the Greenbelt storage tank, and the company will treat and provide the city with 1 million gallons of water a day — all with no cost to the town, Hodges said.

“They’re not taking,” Hodges said. “They’re providing.”

Hodges said the Legislature will look into more property tax cuts and other measures that could cause cities to lose money. That will hurt small towns, Hodges said, but data centers could give municipalities the money they wouldn’t normally get.

Davis, Temple’s mayor, agrees. He said municipalities are also impacted by inflation, and delivering essential services is expensive. However, the tax revenue generated by a data center will allow a city to set its own path financially, Davis said.

“If the ability to raise money is hampered, then those dollars have to come from somewhere,” Davis said. “Or, a community simply delivers less services to its residents. And I don’t think that’s acceptable to them.”

Still, Davis said leaders have to weigh the city’s capabilities and guard against any damage that could happen from a data center moving in.

Findley, the city manager in Turkey, said QTS and Lancium have promised to help with other needs too by providing funds for emergency services and the schools. She said all the contracts are with Hall County — not the city — and they are trying to navigate what has been put in their backyard.

“Data centers get a ton of negative publicity, so I’m sure it is a little self-serving on their end,” Findley said. “But to be honest, I don’t know what we would have done without their assistance.”

Alejandra Martinez contributed to this reporting.

Disclosure: Google has been a major financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.

Fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces overnight stirred fears that the Iran-backed rebels may be advancing toward Taiz City in southwestern Yemen.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Thursday. Full coverage is available here.

Trump says Iran's peace offer doesn't measure up

Trump said in a Time magazine interview published Thursday that he won't now accept proposals from Iran that “he wouldn't have approved a year ago.”

He left open the possibility of resuming bombing Iran after the Nov. 3 election. He refused to offer details, telling journalists, "I can’t tell you that because look, you know, you’re asking, where are you going to bomb?”

Trump rejects reports Israeli leader was warned about Hamas' Oct. 7 attack

The U.S. president told Time magazine that he only heard about those reports on the same day that the Sept. 28 interview was conducted with Time reporters, adding “I can't imagine this.”

Trump said had Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu been forewarned, “he would have done something about it" or "would have had people at least alert.”

An Israeli newspaper reported that Netanyahu was directly warned by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive just days before the militant group attacked on Oct. 7, 2023.

Netanyahu strongly rejected the report.

Trump dodges question whether Netanyahu deserves reelection

In the same Time magazine interview, Trump repeatedly avoided answering directly whether Netanyahu should be reelected in elections later this month.

Trump said that he's “not involved in politics anymore” and touted his own record on Israel.

But he said Netanyahu shouldn't be underestimated even if "people have written off Bibi many, many times, just like they’ve written off me many, many times.”

Of Netanyahu’s opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, Trump said: “I don’t hear bad things about him.”

Clashes raise fears Houthi rebels ready to make more gains

Iran-backed Houthi rebels clashed with government forces overnight into Thursday in residential neighborhoods in eastern Taiz, located about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Mokha, which the Houthis seized last month.

A main road linking Taiz and Aden was cut off due to the latest clashes.

Al-Thawra Hospital, located a few kilometers from the clashes, received six bodies and 35 wounded people Thursday, according to hospital manager Abdelrahman al-Sabry.

The official told The Associated Press by phone Thursday the number of dead and wounded was similar to those in early September, when fighting was intense before clashes de-escalated.

Renewed violence in Yemen has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands. The Houthis captured the strategic city of Mokha and a number of Red Sea islands last month, extending their reach to the key maritime waterway of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

It was the Houthis’ biggest land grab in years, and ended a 2022 ceasefire that largely stopped major fighting in Yemen’s 12-year civil war.

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By Marzouk al-Jaberi and Fatma Khaled

Iran admonishes U.K. for linking Tehran to air base sabotage plot

Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s ambassador in Tehran on Thursday to “strongly protest” allegations by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham linking Iran to a sabotage plot at RAF Fairford, Iranian state television reported.

The ministry dismissed allegations that Iran was connected to the alleged plot as “baseless” and called on the British government to provide an official explanation and change its approach toward Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had also posted on X that the U.K. was "barking up the wrong tree.”

Netanyahu says FlyDubai suspect slipped through the security cracks

Netanyahu told Fox News Thursday that the suspect in the FlyDubai incident was an Omani national who got through a loophole in Israeli constraints barring pilots from countries like Oman that don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel.

He said both countries are “interested in making sure this doesn’t happen again" and warned that “it might be attempted again because we have indications that Iran and its proxies are trying to conduct attacks against Israel and Israelis right now in this election season.”

FlyDubai passenger says pilots who landed plane were British

Yaniv Hayoun, a passenger aboard the FlyDubai flight, said after arriving in Tel Aviv Wednesday night that the two British pilots who safely brought the aircraft in to land were sitting "one row in front of me, row six, and I was in row seven.”

Saudi Arabia nixes popular Soundstorm music festival

The Soundstorm music festival in Saudi Arabia has been canceled for this year, and organizers said it will return in 2027.

No reason was given for the cancellation. The festival, which in the past has featured international stars including Bruno Mars, Cardi B and DJ Khaled, is the latest major entertainment event in the kingdom to be cancelled this year.

Organizers MDLBEAST had earlier announced the cancellation of the 1001 music festival in Riyadh, which was scheduled for the end of the month. A week ago, organizers postponed the sixth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival from December to the fourth quarter of 2027.

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

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% and may be heading toward its seventh drop in the last eight days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 255 points, or 0.5% as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.

The losses were sharper in Europe, where bond yields saw a significant jump overnight. London's FTSE 100 sank 1.6% after the yield on the 10-year U.K. government bond leaped as high as 5.53% before falling to 5.37% and then charging upward again. The CAC 40 in Paris dropped 1.5% following similar swings for the 10-year French government bond's yield.

High yields slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

Yields are on the rise for a range of reasons, including worries about high inflation and oil prices, signals that the U.S. economy remains solid and governments' insistence to continue to spend much more money than they bring in.

Those worries don’t look to be going away anytime soon, and oil prices climbed again Thursday to keep the pressure up on inflation. The price for a barrel of Brent crude added 3.7% to $101.61 for its latest yo-yo move on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global oil industry to return to normal.

Further reports also signaled the U.S. economy is powering through its many challenges. Fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, which could mean fewer layoffs. That followed a report on Wednesday that said the U.S. economy’s overall growth was even stronger in the spring than earlier thought.

A separate report on Thursday said growth for U.S. manufacturing also continued in September. Potentially more concerning in that report from the Institute for Supply Management was that increases in prices accelerated, which could mean further pressure on inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly neared 5.34% following the manufacturing report, before pulling back to 5.25% from 5.29% late Wednesday. It nevertheless remains near its highest level since 2002, and it's up from less than 5% just last week and from less than 4% before the war with Iran began.

High yields can hurt real-estate owners in particular. Not only do they raise the cost of borrowing, they can also make investors looking for income leave real-estate stocks and their dividends for bonds.

BXP, which owns office buildings around the country, sank 1.9%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which owns campuses for life sciences companies, fell 3.2%.

Helping to limit Wall Street's losses was strength for technology stocks after Micron Technology delivered a stronger profit report for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The maker of memory chips for computers said growth is strengthening, and it gave forecasts for upcoming profit and revenue that topped analysts’ estimates. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said it’s benefiting from the AI boom, which is driving demand for memory.

Micron’s stock fell 1.8%, which some analysts attributed to how much its stock had already jumped before the profit report. It came into the day with a gain of more than 270% for the year so far, towering over the less than 12% rise for the overall S&P 500.

But other AI-related stocks benefited from Micron’s optimism about continued demand related to AI. Applied Materials rose 2.3%, and Nvidia added 0.4%.

Outside of tech, Accenture leaped 17.3% after the consulting and services company reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It saw growth around the world, from the Americas to Asia.

In stock markets abroad, Asian indexes did better than the rest of the world thanks to optimism around AI following Micron’s profit report. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.3%, and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.9%.

___

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

Texas public schools are funded through state and local tax dollars. The local money is generated from property tax rates.

Brian Woods, the former Northside ISD superintendent, said the state sets a limit on each district’s rate.

“The state tells each school district, based on a complicated calculation, what’s so-called their maximum compressed tax rate is,” Woods said.

If a district needs to increase that rate, Woods said, “then it has to go to its voters and ask for permission in a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election.”

Money from a district’s property tax rate is divided into two parts. What’s called the “interest and sinking” rate pays off large bond projects. The “maintenance and operations” percentage pays for dayto day expenses, such as utilities, fuel and staff.

Asked what the money from a VATRE can be used for, Woods said it “has to stay on the maintenance and operations side of the tax rate.”

“You could use those dollars to, again, put fuel in busses, to pay the electric bill, to pay your staff,” Woods said.

Every district decides how to split its money between the two sides, with day to day costs always being the largest portion.

The state requires voter approval if a district wants to increase the share going to maintenance and operations. A school board could lower that share on its own, but Woods said that is unlikely.

“It would never happen because the vast majority of districts in the state are struggling to fund their current programming at the rate where they are,” he said.

Ballots for school finance elections also carry the words “this is a tax increase.” State law began requiring that wording a few years ago, but approval does not always mean a taxpayer will pay more. If the rate for one portion goes up while the other goes down, the overall amount paid could go down or stay the same. That is the current proposal in South San ISD, for example.

Voters are encouraged to read the details of the proposals before heading to the polls.

Early voting begins Oct. 19.

Hours after the blasts, Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry declared 10 Eritrean diplomats unwelcome and gave them 48 hours to leave Addis Ababa, citing their “involvement in activities that pose a direct threat to Ethiopia's national security."

Ethiopia also announced the closure of its embassy in Eritrea.

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of financing rebels in the Tigray region, who took control of several towns in renewed fighting against federal forces.

An intelligence service official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that there had been three blasts in three different locations in Addis Ababa overnight, but declined to provide further details.

A diplomatic source who requested anonymity for his safety described hearing a blast at 7 p.m. near the defense headquarters, followed by a siren. Residents near the defense headquarters also said they heard a blast near a factory in the area past midnight.

It remains unclear whether the blasts were related to an attack or were part of training exercises at the defense headquarters.

The explosions came hours after the National Intelligence and Security Service banned the flying of drones in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas.

In Tigray, the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front recently took over the region's main airport, forcing a suspension of flights.

The United Nations has called for de-escalation of the fighting and dialogue between the government and seven opposition groups that recently formed an alliance to challenge Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year war in Tigray. The TPLF is an armed political group based in Tigray, and for years it was the dominant party in a coalition that ruled Ethiopia between 1991 and 2018. It has been outlawed by Abiy’s government.

New fighting brings fresh hardships

Displaced people living in camps since the 2020 war in Tigray said Thursday that they could hear gunfire from kilometers (miles) away near the Hitsats camp in northwestern Tigray.

The camp is home to about 16,000 people who have been living there for six years and are now afraid they may be displaced again.

“We hear fighting supported by heavy artillery, and drones hover in the sky every day,” a resident told The Associated Press over the phone.

Residents in the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, say communication, banking and other essential services have been disrupted by the fighting.

Abdelaziz Ahmed, 35, a merchant, said the lack of cash caused by disruptions to banking services was affecting his business.

“People cannot buy anything because they lack cash, so we cannot sell. My current stock won’t last more than a month. My only hope is that all these challenges pass and peace is restored in Tigray,” he said.

A taxi driver who declined to be named because of fears for his safety said fuel prices had doubled on the black market.

"The war has made life extremely difficult. We don’t even have money for food or rent,” he said.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman ordered the dismissal of David Hearn’s case with “prejudice,” which would block U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office from refiling the felony charge against him. The judge ruled nearly a month after hearing attorneys’ arguments.

Hearn’s lawyers say Trump administration officials have continued to falsely accuse the Maryland resident of vandalizing the reflecting pool despite Pirro’s decision to drop the case on July 31. Trump responded by saying Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella.”

Edelman said the case presents “exceptional circumstances” that warrant dismissing the case permanently. He agreed with defense attorneys that the government “shot first and asked questions later” by charging Hearn in a “a lightning-fast indictment process.”

“While the government wishes to hold open the possibility of the development of evidence that would support a future prosecution, its own representations make plain that such a possibility is theoretical at best, and more likely, is simply fanciful,” the judge wrote.

Permanently dismissing the case protects Hearn from prosecutors electing to revive the case under political pressure from Trump, the judge said.

“Although the prosecutors assigned to this case have deemed it meritless, the President of the United States has repeatedly disparaged them and pressured them to change course,” Edelman wrote.

In a court filing in July, Pirro said new evidence produced by the Interior Department showed Hearn wasn’t responsible for damage to the pool’s lining. Pirro’s office attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as a rush to complete the project in time for this summer’s America 250 celebration in Washington.

Pirro’s admission was an embarrassing setback for the White House. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has backed Trump’s claims that vandals damaged the pool.

Hearn has said he was on a bike ride on June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker’s command to let go of it.

Hearn was charged with one count of property destruction, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. His lawyers questioned whether prosecutors properly presented the grand jury with adequate evidence to support the charge and the amount of damage alleged by the government.

Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, competed in three Summer Olympics, earning his best finish, ninth, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says on its website.

Trump, a Republican, appointed Pirro, a former Fox News host, to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia. Edelman was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama.

Hearn’s attorneys said the ruling is “a victory for the rule of law and for an innocent American seeking justice” and allows Hearn to “move forward with his life as he deserves.”

“This administration chose to pursue an unjust prosecution against Mr. Hearn. It should not get repeated chances to wield the power of criminal prosecution against someone who should never have been prosecuted,” the lawyers said in a statement.

Pittsburgh will receive two draft picks from Dallas, a sixth-rounder in 2027 and a second-rounder in 2028. The Cowboys announced the trade Thursday.

Porter has been inactive all three games this season for the Steelers. The fourth-year pro has been dealing with a back issue and had also been in the middle of a stalemate with the Steelers over a new contract.

The 26-year-old Porter, a second-round pick out of Penn State in the 2023 draft, was seeking an extension as he entered the final year of his four-year rookie deal.

The Cowboys are getting Porter after earlier Wednesday putting safety Jalen Thompson (hamstring) on injured reserve with a designation to return. They also signed three defensive backs to their practice squad.

Safety P.J. Locke (torn plantar fascia) was already on injured reserve. He and Thompson were offseason acquisitions by the Cowboys as a part of retooling the secondary.

It's the second major trade between the Cowboys and Steelers in two years.

Before the 2025 season, Pittsburgh sent receiver George Pickens to Dallas for draft picks. He made the Pro Bowl in his Dallas debut, setting career highs with 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

Pickens is playing this season on a $27.3 million franchise tag and has 16 catches for 150 yards without a score.

The Steelers took Pickens out of Georgia in the second round in 2022. While his talent was on display during three seasons with the Steelers, so were enough instances of petulant or indifferent behavior for then-coach Mike Tomlin to question his maturity.

Dallas and Pittsburgh also made a lower-profile trade during the preseason this year. The Cowboys acquired offensive tackle Broderick Jones and a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft for third- and sixth-round choices.

Not only is Dallas suddenly seeking reinforcements in the secondary, but the defense as a whole is off to another rough start after being one of the NFL's worst in 2025.

The Cowboys are second-to-last in rushing defense and one of four teams without an interception. Dallas had a franchise-worst six picks on defense last season.

In a 34-31 loss to Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, the Cowboys let Lamar Jackson complete a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers when the Ravens had only 7 seconds on the clock after a tying field goal by Dallas. Jackson got a timeout called with a second remaining, and Tyler Loop kicked a winning 56-yard field goal.

While the Cowboys had hopes of a quick turnaround with 34-year-old Christian Parker as a first-time defensive coordinator, the first three weeks have shown otherwise. In a season-opening loss to the New York Giants, Dallas had just two possessions in the second half because the defense couldn't get a stop.

Porter was among the top 20 in the NFL in pass breakups over his first three seasons with 31. He had two seasons of double-digit passes defended. Last season, DaRon Bland was the leader for Dallas with six as the Cowboys finished last in the league in passing defense.

According to the NFL's NextGenStats, Porter is fourth among cornerbacks in lowest completion percentage allowed at 55% since entering the league in 2023. He has three career interceptions in 47 games.

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only 17% of U.S. adults approve of the Republican president's handling of the cost of living. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low.

A majority, 65%, of U.S. adults now blame Trump’s policies for persistently high costs more than factors outside of his control, signaling growing weariness over his aggressive use of tariffs and continued unhappiness with the war with Iran.

The dismal numbers come just weeks before midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress and while Trump is hitting the campaign trail with an aggressive schedule of rallies. But Trump — who has asked voters to pretend that he is on the ballot as he tries to bolster turnout — remains deeply unpopular, with even many Republicans faulting him for failing to deliver on promised relief.

“I was hoping it would be better or different, but it’s not really good," said Robert Gault, 66, a retired factory worker from Bradford, Pennsylvania, who describes himself as a Republican.

“Our president, I thought, was going to help the country, and so far he has not really seemed to have done that with the economy or in general. He’s not really done what I was hoping he would," said Gault. "He said, 'Make America Great Again.' And I have not seen him do that.”

Costs drag on Trump as the economic pain keeps coming

Over the last few months, Americans have grown more worried about being able to afford basics like groceries and gas. About half of U.S. adults now say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to fill their tanks, up from 39% in July. About half are also highly concerned about being able to afford food.

Prices are "extremely exorbitant. Just the cost of everything is going up as a result of fuel,” said Pedro Sanchez, 52, of Perris, California, who voted for Trump and works in law enforcement. “I used to have a lot more disposable income. I don’t have that any more. It’s gotten eaten up because of all these increases in the cost of everything.”

Trump’s current approval on the economy is a 14 percentage point drop from March 2025, just after he took office for the second time. His struggles on the issue mark a significant departure from his first term, when the economy was often a point of strength.

Trump spent much of the 2024 campaign hammering President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats, on inflation and promising to lower prices. Now, there's widespread disappointment with his performance. About 7 in 10 Americans say Trump’s handling of the cost of living has been “worse than expected." That includes roughly half of Republicans, who are also broadly concerned about being able to afford groceries and gas.

“Groceries are just like kind of out of control. It seems like everything is going up," said Bethany Lnenicka, 41, who operates a small farm in Fairfax, Iowa. “It's just one thing and the next week it's another thing. It's just insane. And of course your income doesn’t go up.”

A political independent who typically votes Republican and has voted for Trump three times, Lnenicka said she had hoped his second term would be more like his first.

“I just do not feel like it has gotten a lot better," she said.

About 6 in 10 Republicans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, according to the new poll, up from about half in April.

“It definitely doesn’t feel like we have trended in the right direction," agreed Kristen Slaven, 41, a mental health therapist who lives in Gluckstadt, Mississippi, and typically votes Republican. She said Trump is focused on the wrong things.

“Obviously wars don’t help. When they’re necessary, I understand. But our focus on renaming bodies of water and pieces of land, that’s just stupid to me when people can't feed their family," she said.

“I had hoped that it would be better,” Slaven added.

Some Republicans are still willing to cut Trump some slack

Despite their frustration, most Republicans, 67%, say factors outside of Trump's control are more to blame for high prices.

“I think inflation is a very difficult thing to tackle," said Fred Naumann, 51, a Republican and longtime Trump supporter who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Though he would like to see interest rates come down, Naumann, who works in the automotive industry, supports tariffs and the war with Iran, believing it was necessary.

Overall, however, most Americans, 69%, continue to say the war has not been worth fighting, up slightly from 64% in July. Only 28% approve of how Trump is handling Iran.

Americans are also unhappy with Trump's trade wars. Only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults approve of how he is handling trade negotiations with other countries, down from about 4 in 10 in March. And 64% say he has “gone too far” on imposing new tariffs on other countries, up from 58% in January.

Overall, the picture is not better. Only about 3 in 10 Americans approve of how Trump is handling his job as president. And about 6 in 10 say the country as a whole is “much” or “somewhat” worse off than when he began his second term.

The issue on which Trump maintains relative strength is border security, with about half of Americans saying they approve of his performance.

Trump faces more blame than Biden did

Trump's low grade on the economy rivals Biden’s 28% approval rating in June 2022, when there was record-high inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Americans were less likely to blame Biden in the lead-up to that year's midterm elections, a sharp contrast with the solid majority who hold Trump responsible now. In October 2022, 44% of Americans said Biden’s policies were responsible for high prices, while 55% blamed factors outside of his control.

Sanchez, a Republican who voted for Trump, blames him, at least in part.

“I think he has a lot to do with it. This war in Iran, the tariffs that he’s placing on other countries, obviously are affecting us. Those two things are things he’s been directly involved in that directly affect the economy,” he said. “I think with Biden, a lot of the stuff was outside of his control. It was all the COVID and how that affected everything else. I don’t think that there was much that he could have done."

He had high hopes for Trump's return. Now, things seem worse than under Biden.

___

Colvin reported from New York.

___

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 demonstrations erupted in Paris-region schools last week and have snowballed, with police making hundreds of arrests in clashes with the young protesters. Authorities have reported many dozens of injuries, including from hurled objects but also, in some suspected cases, from police riot-control projectiles.

The protests are quickly blowing up as a hot topic in the election campaign to replace President Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term next May. They are also heightening pressure on the government beset by France's growing financial problems, and overshadowing the release on Thursday of its proposed cost-cutting budget for 2027.

At a Paris high school where students barricaded an entrance, 18-year-old Salama Gargouri said protesters want to target “overloaded schedules, the system, the teachers, people who don’t listen to us, the university application process.”

High school students in France often start classes at 8 a.m. and remain at school until late afternoon.

“Older people say, ‘Kids, go to school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.’ But you don’t know what that does mentally,” said Janna Tahari, another Paris high school student.

Arson, thrown projectiles and other violence on the margins of some protests have caused mounting injuries and recriminations. The interior minister has issued orders for police to break up blockades that prevent pupils from attending classes and to put a stop to violence and vandalism.

Juliette Estiville, a high school Spanish teacher, said that the repression of the protests led her to join the students.

“So, I’m here just to provide protection, to form a barrier between the police and the students,” she said. “And indeed, today went well, it’s going well, but I really think that the teachers who come to the blockades are really just there to protect our young people.”

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said Thursday's violence included a school set on fire and staff doused with gasoline. He said he issued instructions that classes be held remotely when blockades or damage to schools put students at risk.

"Violence will not deprive our students of their fundamental right to education,” Geffray said in a post on X.

Far-left presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon has denounced the government response as repressive. His critics have accused Mélenchon's party of inciting violence and using the unrest to score points ahead of the presidential election.

The office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he asked ministers to cancel any planned official trips in the coming days, to enable authorities and police to focus on dealing with the demonstrations.

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Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report

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Heavy rainfall slowly pushing east toward San Antonio

Bexar County emergency officials are urging residents to prepare by checking flood risks at home and work, and along daily routes.

The Bexar County Office of Emergency Management said people should know whether their home, workplace or commute is in a floodplain. Officials also encouraged residents to plan ahead in case low-water crossings become dangerous or are closed.

“Make sure you’ve got a way to get emergency alerts,” said Michael Morlan, deputy chief with Bexar County OEM. “Make sure your phone’s turned on for those emergency alerts.”

Morlan said planning a route in advance can help drivers avoid low-water crossings if water begins flowing over roads.

“We want to make sure that you’re avoiding those low-water crossings if those do get closed or water does flow over those roads,” Morlan said. “We want to make sure that you’re planning that route appropriately as you go to work, as you go to school.”

Residents can check low-water crossing conditions and sign up for alerts at BexarFlood.org.

Officials also recommend bringing pets inside or moving them to higher ground before severe weather arrives. Pet owners should have veterinary records ready in case they need to evacuate or seek shelter.

Emergency officials reminded residents that under Texas law, pets must have access to a safe place away from severe weather.

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The Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims ticked down to 197,000 from a revised 198,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, dropped by 2,500 to 200,000.

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 mostly stayed below 220,000 — historically low.

The American job market has remained sturdy despite higher energy prices that have squeezed businesses and consumers since the fighting with Iran began Feb. 28.

The U.S. on Tuesday reported that U.S. employers posted fewer job openings in August. The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that layoffs fell and the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects — retreated slightly in August. The report’s measure of gross hiring — before subtracting people who quit or lost their jobs — ticked up modestly in August but remains at low levels.

“Jobless claims continue to defy expectations and remain exceedingly low, dovetailing with the JOLTS reports’ layoff rate which shows that while businesses aren’t hiring at a rapid pace, they are reticent to let their current crop of workers go,” wrote Matthew Martin, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

Layoffs are low. Businesses, remembering the labor shortages that followed the end of pandemic lockdowns, are reluctant to let go of staff. They’re hiring — but modestly by the standards of recent years.

So far this year, employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — have been adding an average of 80,000 jobs a month, including a surprising 162,000 in August. That is an improvement on a lackluster 2025 when monthly job creation averaged 9,700 as high interest rates and President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policies discouraged hiring.

The Labor Department will release the jobs report for September next week. It’s expected to show that employers added 90,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate remained low at 4.1%, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

Hiring remains well below the 166,000 monthly jobs created, on average, in 2023 and 2024, and the 491,000 a month recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed COVID-19 lockdowns.

The justices will consider whether immigrants who have been living in the U.S. have a right to a hearing to determine if they should remain detained while challenging their possible deportation.

The case will test a key pillar of the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration agenda.

Most appeals courts to have considered the issue have found that it violates federal law to detain immigrants, including those living in the U.S. illegally, without a bond hearing. Those decisions conflict with rulings by the 5th and 8th circuits, which held that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the U.S. must be detained while their deportation cases are pending.

The high court agreed to hear the case of Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a citizen of Brazil. Authorities say he entered the United States illegally two decades ago and applied for asylum in 2016. He sought a bond hearing after an immigration judge determined that his detention was mandatory following his September 2025 arrest.

He has never been charged or convicted of a crime, his attorneys said. The court is expected to hear the case in the coming months.

President Donald Trump’s administration had urged the high court to take up a different but related case that involves the broader constitutional implications of the new policy.

Attorneys from the Republican administration argue the circuits’ split is “disrupting the orderly administration of immigration law.” They say the nation’s courts have been inundated with thousands of petitions filed by immigrants challenging the government’s legal interpretation.

“The result is an unworkable patchwork of inconsistent immigration enforcement, where aliens present without admission are subject to mandatory detention in some circuits but are entitled to bond hearings and often released in others,” lawyers for the administration wrote.

The plaintiffs are immigrants represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which says hundreds of district court judges have joined most circuits in rejecting the Trump administration’s new reading of the statutes. Plaintiffs’ lawyers say the administration is trying to deny bond hearings for immigrants apprehended anywhere in the U.S. — no matter how long they’ve lived in the country — rather than limiting the restriction to noncitizens stopped at the border.

“Millions of noncitizens could be affected by the government’s new interpretation,” ACLU attorneys wrote.

The Trump administration says its new mandatory detention policy is legal under a 1996 immigration law. The policy change departs from the practices of prior administrations, which typically allowed most noncitizens without criminal records to request a bond hearing if they were arrested away from the border.

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“I trained that way for many years without becoming still enough to search within myself,” said Yuan, who founded a kung fu academy in central China in 2004.

“But as you gradually settle into stillness, you begin to understand what the scriptures mean by spirit,” he added. “You can begin to rediscover yourself.”

That process is known as “entering the Dao” in martial arts. It is a guiding principle at Yuan’s academy in the sacred Wudang Mountains, where disciplines like kung fu and tai chi draw on Taoist thought.

Practitioners like Yuan start by strengthening the body. As they progress, the mind becomes more resilient and willpower develops.

“The body is a vehicle or vessel within which the spirit resides,” Yuan said. “You therefore need a healthy body capable of carrying your spirit.”

A search for healing led to a deeper martial arts practice

Yuan began practicing martial arts in the 1980s. Boxing and the Chinese combat sport of sanda attracted him at first.

He heard of Wudang later that decade. As his body ached with rheumatism, Yuan read an article claiming Taoist practices could heal him. So he packed his bags and moved to the mountains. There he became acquainted with Taoist temples and embraced practices such as standing meditation.

He came to understand that movement and stillness are interconnected, rather than opposites. That physical activity can help practitioners quiet the body, allowing them to become calm and grounded.

“I slowly became interested and eventually I benefited from the practice myself,” Yuan said. “That process was very profound for me.”

Yuan now seeks to share that knowledge with local and foreign students enrolled in the three programs at his academy.

One is a five-year course offering in-depth martial arts training. The second is focused on health and well-being, helping adults exercise and cultivate their minds. The third is a summer camp for children seeking exercise during school breaks.

Taoism has a long history at Wudang

Chinese philosopher Laozi is believed to have passed on teachings foundational to Taoism to his first student more than 2,500 years ago. That disciple settled on the mountain and helped spread his master’s ideas.

“It did not develop into a collective religious faith until after the Qin and Han dynasties,” said Shu Chenghai, director of social education at Wudang Museum.

Wudang lay between present-day Xi’an and Luoyang, two major political centers in ancient China. That made it easier for practitioners to seek seclusion while remaining within reach of major population centers.

“The Taoist tradition was therefore never entirely about withdrawing from the world,” Shu said.

Wudang’s importance as a Taoist religious center came later. During the Tang era, prayers for rain at the mountain were believed to have been answered. Its standing continued to grow under subsequent rulers, reaching its height under Ming emperors.

Taoist philosophy shapes Chinese martial arts

Guo Xinyi is a Chinese student who began training at Yuan’s academy five years ago. She knew of his decades-long commitment to preserving and passing down traditional Taoist martial arts. That made her feel she could trust him.

Within Chinese martial arts, teachers like Yuan are known as “Shifu.” The closest English translation is “master.” But the Chinese term includes the character for “father.” Guo, therefore, thinks of Yuan not merely as a mentor, but as a father figure.

When she first came to his academy, she struggled with conflict with her parents. Her tai chi lessons, though, taught her to approach confrontation calmly.

“I invited Master Yuan to have tea and talk with us,” Guo said. “During that conversation, the conflict somehow seemed to dissolve almost invisibly.”

Yuan eased her father’s anxiety, tension and excessive concern for her, she said, adding that the conversation resembled a tai chi lesson.

“When we encounter conflict, our physical instinct is to resist or attack, to move forward and meet what is coming at us,” Guo said. “But tai chi does something different. First, you release tension. Then you sink. Only afterwards do you rise.”

Masters adapt training for today’s students

The number of students from China and abroad studying at Yuan’s academy has increased in recent years.

“In the past, most learners were middle-aged or elderly, but the student population has gradually become younger,” he said.

Among that younger generation is Jake Pinnick, an American practitioner who arrived at age 20 and, 16 years later, calls Wudang home.

Pinnick grew up in the U.S. watching kung fu movies and playing sports that relied on competition. What he found in China forever changed his life.

“I came here for martial arts, but I stayed because of this philosophy,” said Pinnick, who also became a martial arts master and recently opened his own academy in Wudang.

Yuan said teaching methods have evolved to adapt to younger generations.

Physical training is less demanding and corporal punishment has been eliminated. New ways of motivating students have been introduced instead. Among them is the chanting of slogans aimed at building physical and inner strength.

“Faith in your heart, light in your eyes, and a smile on your face,” is one his students' daily chants.

Routines at his academy vary depending on the program, but training can begin as early as 6 a.m. After breakfast, students practice fundamentals before splitting into groups for specific martial arts training. Their schedules also include theory classes and meditation.

Yuan believes learning in Wudang means immersing oneself in the Taoist culture that has shaped its martial arts tradition. That environment, he said, can help students cultivate harmony with nature, with others and within themselves.

“Consider how deeply this nourishes the human heart, mind and spirit,” he added. “If practicing martial arts can nourish you to such an extent, what more could you ask for?”

___

AP video journalist Wu Jia contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Matthew Doria, 33, was arrested Tuesday. Doria was charged with aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Bexar County jail records show.

Jaime Adolfo Rodriguez, 37, was found dead Sept. 6 on a private road in the 8000 block of New Sulphur Springs Road. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide, noting he suffered a gunshot wound to the upper left chest, head lacerations and multiple broken ribs.

Doria’s arrest comes after authorities arrested Amanda Ann Garza, 40, followed by Mark Anthony Moran, 38, and Carlos Alvidrez Jr., 36. All three face charges of aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon in connection with the abduction.

Francisco Garza, 39, was also previously arrested. He was initially charged with failure to report a felony resulting in death before investigators upgraded his charges to aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after reviewing surveillance footage.

Investigators discovered that the abduction stemmed from a dispute over money and drugs.

Amanda Garza told homicide detectives that Rodriguez had robbed her of $12,000 meant for a drug transaction on Sept. 4 at her home on Ash Field, according to an affidavit. She stated the money belonged to Doria.

Doria’s affidavit states surveillance footage from Garza’s home showed Doria arriving at her residence wearing a red Nike “Just Do It” T-shirt, dark-colored pants and white sneakers after the alleged robbery. Amanda Garza is seen and heard telling Doria she had been robbed.

Additional surveillance video from the 1200 block of NW 25th Street captured the assault on Rodriguez at 2103 Rivas Street in the early morning hours of Sept. 5.

A man wearing the same clothing as Doria is seen assaulting Rodriguez multiple times and attempting to force him into the back seat of a rental vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Doria is being held in the Bexar County jail on a $350,000 bond in connection with the abduction, court records show.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Man found dead with ‘evident trauma’ in southeast Bexar County, BCSO says
• ‘We were just having a party’: Neighbors react after man’s body found dumped on Bexar County road
• BCSO: Man arrested for failing to report abduction of man later found dead in southeast Bexar County
• 3 more suspects charged with aggravated kidnapping in fatal Bexar County abduction

The Federal Aviation Administration halted departures to Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Ft Worth International due to thunderstorms.

As of 8:20 a.m. Thursday, at least five flights between San Antonio and the two North Texas airports have been canceled. Click here to check the flight status at the San Antonio International Airport.

>> THURSDAY: Approaching storms will bring afternoon rain with flooding potential to San Antonio

Travelers can use their airline’s app to check flight status for delays or cancellations.

In San Antonio, it’s been a fairly quiet start to Thursday, but the well-advertised heavy rain is currently in the Hill Country.

These storms have already produced over 2″ to 4″ of rain, and are expected to move into the San Antonio metro area this afternoon.

Storms will be near San Antonio and the Interstate 35 corridor. With any rain, expect heavy downpours, which will likely lead to street flooding. Use caution around low-water crossings. There’s a high chance that the afternoon commute will be messy, and that after-school activities and outdoor sports events will be impacted.

A San Antonio Police Department report states officers located the Chevrolet Silverado near a Motel 6 on Interstate 10 West on Monday. The truck had been reported stolen.

Police say officers watched the vehicle and later saw Kendra Bridges leave the motel, get inside the pickup and drive away. Investigators followed her to a home, where officers took her into custody.

According to the report, Bridges told investigators someone had given her a “code” to take the vehicle. She also said she needed a way to get home to Corpus Christi.

Officers say surveillance video showed Bridges using a hook to get inside the business and reach the vehicle’s keys. The truck was recovered and turned over to U-Haul. Police also confiscated the hook as evidence.

Bridges was booked on a felony charge of theft of a vehicle valued between $30,000 and $150,000.

Read also:

• Converse man arrested for planning violent attack on Texas State Capitol, DPS says
• Authorities search for man accused of shooting Harris County deputy

Capt. Smit Machchhar, who is from India’s financial hub of Mumbai, was seriously injured in Wednesday's attack. Passengers described how the pilot still managed to open the cockpit door, allowing them to enter and restrain the attacker as the Boeing 737 descended sharply, according to witnesses and Israeli authorities.

The attack forced the flight carrying 174 people from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Tel Aviv, Israel, to make an emergency landing in Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia. FlyDubai said the aircraft was secured by on-duty crew “who diverted and landed the aircraft safely.”

Machchhar was taken to a hospital in stable condition, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, said late Wednesday. Embassy officials said Thursday that his family had been briefed on his recovery.

India's Modi lauds the pilot’s courage

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called Machchhar a hero.

“In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others. His valor helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy,” Modi wrote on X.

Modi also praised the captain for demonstrating ”patience, presence of mind and courage,” saying his “actions prevented another 9/11-like attack from happening." He said he had spoken with Machchhar's parents and wife and that the pilot was undergoing treatment.

“Smit’s bravery fills every Indian with pride,” Modi said.

The captain trained as a pilot in New Zealand

According to Machchhar's LinkedIn profile, he has worked for FlyDubai for about four years. Before joining the airline, he spent 11 years with SpiceJet, an Indian low-cost carrier, where he served as a senior commander and line training captain. He logged more than 9,750 flying hours with SpiceJet, according to the profile.

SpiceJet, in a post on X, praised Machchhar’s “heroic courage” and “selfless actions.” “You are a hero to us all, Captain,” the airline wrote.

Machchhar, who is married and has two children, trained as a pilot at Mainland Air in the New Zealand city of Dunedin for 18 months, beginning in 2008, the school's head Philip Kean told 1News, a New Zealand television news channel.

Kean said Machchhar "did very well” as a student and later returned to India, where he worked as a recruiter for the school.

“We’re all very proud of him here and wish him a speedy recovery,” Kean said.

The school, which opened in 1991, offers a range of certifications, from private pilots' licenses to a diploma in aviation, and is popular with international students.

A report published last year by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority found that 39 international students, all from India, were enrolled at the school at the time of its review, accounting for half of its total enrollment.

The pilot had previously spoken about handling emergencies

In a podcast interview last year, Machchhar recalled how nervous he was and how he made mistakes during his first commercial flight in India, and the lessons he learned from the experience.

“At that stage, relaxing would have been the best option,” he told interviewer Zalak Mehta of the “Bona-Fide Banter” podcast.

“Stressing is not going to help, at least … in this industry,” he added.

Machchhar also described an onboard emergency when a pregnant woman went into premature labor, forcing the crew to divert the plane. He said he followed procedures carefully and ensured a safe landing on the first attempt.

“It was methodical. It was quick. It was as quick as it should have been," he said.

Israel's Netanyahu praises the pilot as do his neighbors in Mumbai

Wednesday's attack triggered a major security response in Israel, with authorities scrambling fighter jets in case of a possible hijacking.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker, an Omani national, was arrested in Saudi Arabia and was undergoing interrogation there. His motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

Netanyahu also praised Machchhar’s “extraordinary bravery” in a post on X, saying the wounded captain fought back after being stabbed, opened the cockpit door and helped passengers and crew overpower the attacker, preventing what Netanyahu described as a “catastrophic midair disaster.”

“He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” Netanyahu wrote.

Shota Musayev, a dentist and eyewitness, told The Associated Press how the wounded Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the copilot.

Musayev then treated Machchhar.

“Poor pilot, he was just praying the whole time and was in contact with me, and I was afraid we would really lose him,” Musayev said.

In Ghatkopar East, the Mumbai suburb where Machchhar’s family lives, neighbors spoke of how easy-going he is and also lauded his courage.

“He has a lot of bravery in him,” said Ami Sapani, a neighbor who knows the family. “God is with him.”

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi. Associated Press journalists Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand and Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

The organization has since become the sixth-largest producing Habitat affiliate in the nation. In 2021, it expanded its service area by incorporating the Guadalupe Valley Habitat chapter. Habitat now serves families in Bexar and Guadalupe counties.

During its 50th anniversary year, Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio & Guadalupe Valley completed its 1,500th home and plans to build 52 homes in 2026. More than 1,500 local families have partnered with the organization to achieve homeownership.

Habitat families purchase their homes with a zero-interest mortgage and no profit added to the sale. In return, homeowners invest 300 hours of “sweat equity” by helping build their own homes and those of their neighbors. They also complete 17 homeownership-readiness classes, including hands-on lessons in home maintenance and small repairs.

The organization says it costs approximately $145,000 to build a Habitat home in 2026, not including infrastructure such as streets, sidewalks, drainage and utilities. Habitat sells the home for that same amount through a zero-interest mortgage.

The homes are funded by donations from businesses, foundations, community organizations, faith groups and individuals, as well as public funding that helps support land acquisition, site preparation and infrastructure. Habitat says 100% of donor dollars go toward homebuilding because proceeds from its Habitat Home Centers cover general and administrative expenses.

The Home Centers are home improvement thrift stores that sell new and gently used building materials, furniture, home and office items and home décor at discounted prices. The stores also accept donations of building materials, gently used furniture and other home goods. Clothing and perishable items are not accepted.

Habitat works with more than 11,000 volunteers each year, including some who have served for more than 40 years. Volunteers and donors help the organization provide what it calls a hand up, not a handout, for families seeking a safe, affordable place to live.

The nonprofit’s work is based on the belief that stable, affordable housing can improve financial stability, educational outcomes, health and neighborhood strength. Its message is simple: Building homes helps build communities.

Habitat Home Centers are located at 311 Probandt, 5482 Walzem and 8125 Meadow Leaf.

Habitat For Humanity partners with families who cannot otherwise afford a home, helping them build safe, affordable housing with no interest and no profit. Rather than providing a handout, Habitat empowers families to help themselves and build a stronger future.

KSAT Community operates in partnership with University Health and Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union. Click here to read about other KSAT Community efforts. Interested in partnering with KSAT Community? Get in touch by filling out this form.

Is he done with Portugal? Or will he make peace with his coach and be back for the next international break?

There were few answers on Thursday, a day after the all-time leading scorer in men's international soccer decided to walk out on Portugal’s training camp in a decision announced a few hours after Jesus said the star forward would not start the game against Denmark in the Nations League.

The 41-year-old Ronaldo, who played in his sixth World Cup this year, only said that in due course he would “tell the Portuguese people the truth about the reasons” behind his departure.

The federation also gave few details, saying only that Ronaldo left the training camp and the rest of the team would remain focused on Thursday's game against Denmark.

There was already a new holder of Ronaldo’s famous No. 7 jersey, with Rafael Leão set to wear it on Thursday. Because of UEFA rules, Portugal had to assign the number to another player after Ronaldo left the roster. Other players have worn the No. 7 in Ronaldo's absence in the past.

In Portugal, the news of Ronaldo's departure fueled speculation that the country's biggest sporting star, who had already hinted that this is his last season in soccer, would not play again for the national team.

“Is this the end?” read Thursday's front-page headline of the JM newspaper based in Ronaldo's native Madeira.

“A sad farewell,” the Portuguese sports paper A Bola said.

“CR7 turns his back on the national team,” read the headline on the O Jogo newspaper.

Portuguese media also reported that Portugal Prime Minister Luís Montenegro got involved in the situation, having talked individually to Ronaldo, Jesus and soccer federation president Pedro Proença.

Possible suspension for Ronaldo?

Regardless of Ronaldo's and the federation's decisions going forward, the star player could possibly face a harsh punishment for leaving the training camp.

The federation's disciplinary regulations say that any player who “abandons or fails to appear” without justification at a training session, match or activity of the national teams, or any activity related to representing the federation, “shall be sanctioned with a suspension of one to six months,” in addition to a fine.

It says the “absence or abandonment shall result in the player’s automatic preventive suspension.”

Ronaldo did tell the federation that he was leaving, but it wasn't clear whether the decision would be considered justified in accordance with the federation's regulations.

Neither the federation nor Ronaldo's representatives immediately responded to requests for comment by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Next steps for the Portugal star

Ronaldo reportedly traveled to Madrid, his home for many years while playing for Real Madrid and where he usually stays when not playing with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

His social media post offered few hints about what's next.

“Following the national team coach’s news conference, and after a conversation with the president of the Portuguese football federation, I decided to leave the national team’s training camp,” Ronaldo said.

He ended his message by saying that “now is the time to wish good luck to Portugal and to all my teammates.”

Many had been expecting Ronaldo to retire from the national team after the World Cup. And while confirmed he wouldn't appear at another World Cup, he vowed to continue playing and pursuing the milestone of 1,000 career goals. He currently stands at 979, with an international men's record of 146 goals coming for Portugal.

Ronaldo recently said that this Saudi Pro League season is likely to be the last of his professional career. Al-Nassr’s next match is Oct. 9.

Coach dismisses talk of a feud with Ronaldo

Jesus, who coached Ronaldo at Al-Nassr last season when they won the Saudi Arabian league title together, took over from Roberto Martínez after Portugal's round-of-16 elimination at the World Cup. He said Wednesday in the pre-game news conference that he was not planning to start Ronaldo in the Nations League match against Denmark. But he dismissed the notion there was a feud between him and Ronaldo, and said the player told him that he would accept any decision he would make.

“It seems like there was an issue between us, but there was no issue,” Jesus said before Ronaldo announced his decision to leave.

Ronaldo didn't play Sunday in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway. He hadn't trained with the rest of the group since, sparking widespread rumors about a possible spat with Jesus. The coach said Ronaldo would practice normally on Wednesday, but he ended up deciding to leave.

Jesus acknowledged that someone with the stature of Ronaldo deserved a different type of attention from coaches, but emphasized that the “rules are the same for everyone.”

Jesus admitted that he told Ronaldo that he would play at least a few minutes against Norway, but changed his mind because of the game's circumstances. He said he's the one making the team choices and "no player will ever make a decision for me.”

He said it was a mistake to send Ronaldo to warm up for as long as he did, and then not use him against Norway. Jesus added that “any player” would be upset about that.

Ronaldo started in Portugal’s 1-0 win over Wales last Thursday but was substituted in the 67th minute. On Tuesday, he posted on Instagram a photo of him wearing the kit accompanied by the country’s flag and a heart emoji.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

The annual increase comes as the federal government adjusts SNAP benefits for inflation, according to an ABC News report. SNAP provides food assistance to low-income households across the country, including families in Texas.

For a typical one-person household, the monthly benefit will increase by about $8, from $298 to about $306 in most states. A family of four will see benefits rise from about $994 to $1,023 per month, an increase of about $29.

Other changes could make it harder for some households to qualify for benefits.

In the coming months, recipients are expected to face stricter eligibility requirements. States also will be required to cover a larger share of SNAP costs.

States currently cover about 50% of the cost. Starting Oct. 1, that share will increase to 75%, reducing the federal government’s share by 25 percentage points, according to the report.

States with SNAP error rates of 6% or higher will have to pay even more. The error rate measures the percentage of SNAP payments that are overpaid or underpaid.

During fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that only about 10 states had error rates below 6%. Texas was not among them. The state’s error rate was 9.34%.

The changes are part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which has already reduced benefits for an estimated 5 million Americans.

SNAP recipients should check their accounts after Oct. 1 to see whether their monthly amount has changed. Anyone with questions about eligibility or benefit levels can contact their local SNAP office.

Read also:

• Texas could owe $709M for food stamps. Food banks say the fallout would be ‘catastrophic.’

Democratic Majority for Israel is calling on the party to continue providing security and military assistance to the country while supporting a negotiated path to statehood for both Israelis and Palestinians and a future for Gaza that doesn't include Hamas.

It notably does not insist on unyielding support for Israel, acknowledging that “Israel’s security does not require support for every decision made by an Israeli government.” The document also calls on Israel to “act decisively against settler threats, intimidation, and violence.”

The framework is being released at a sensitive moment for Democrats following a primary season in which voters from New York to Michigan embraced candidates who backed positions including ending military aid to Israel. If Democrats retake control of the U.S. House or Senate in next month's elections, these candidates could play a significant role in shaping the debate over America's posture toward Israel.

The issue could also play prominently in the early stages of the next presidential campaign, which could begin shortly after the midterms.

Democratic Majority for Israel's chief executive, Brian Romick, said his goal is to provide a “helpful guide for our mainstream Democratic candidates on how to engage with a complicated issue."

“It's important to remind Democrats and Americans that there's value in the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he said. “We thought it was important to kind of lay out a forward-looking vision.”

The question is whether such a framework will go very far in shaping the views of Democrats, who are increasingly skeptical of Israel.

About 58% of Democrats said the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, according to a June survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, up from 45% in January 2024. Roughly half of Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war with Hamas, an accusation Israel rejects.

Former Obama administration chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who has argued Democrats need to return to the political center ahead of launching a potential presidential bid, went to Israel in July and delivered a blistering speech warning the country was at risk of becoming a “territorial pariah." He specifically called out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has closely aligned himself with President Donald Trump, a Republican.

Emanuel, who's also a former congressman, Chicago mayor and U.S. ambassador, blamed Netanyahu for driving Israel to a “dead end,” emboldened by poor decisions from American leaders.

The framework from Democratic Majority for Israel takes a less strident view on Netanyahu, who faces another election this month. “Support for Israel,” the group argued, “transcends any one Israeli government.”

The group took a similarly long view on military and security assistance for Israel, arguing it shouldn't be stopped now even as it acknowledged the possibility of change in the future.

“Over time, and by mutual agreement, today’s partnership should be capable of evolving beyond the traditional assistance framework toward an increasingly reciprocal relationship centered on joint investment, innovation, and technological advantage,” the framework reads. “The objective should be to build the partnership both countries will need to confront the threats and seize the opportunities of the coming decades.”

Daniel Shapiro, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama, acknowledged “strong, passionate views” on the issue.

“Clearly, not everyone will agree with every aspect” of the framework, he said. “But I think there’s a lot there that many Democrats would find speaks to them.”

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said its strikes were against militant hideouts in two locations and that initial reports suggested 22 militants had been killed. It did not immediately comment on the reports of civilian casualties. Its claim of militants killed could not immediately be independently verified.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan confirmed that at least 10 civilians, most of them children, were killed in the strikes on the southern province of Helmand and the eastern province of Kunar. It said nine people were injured in the airstrikes.

The strikes come amid repeated cross-border clashes between the two countries, while Pakistan has repeatedly carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan since tensions between the two countries spiraled dramatically earlier this year. The two neighbors have longstanding disputes over militant activity along their border.

“Civilians continue to be affected by cross-border hostilities. UNAMA reiterates its call for de-escalation, dialogue, respect for international law and prevention of further civilian harm,” the U.N. mission said in a statement.

Last week, UNAMA said it had documented over 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan from cross-border violence so far this year. Pakistan denies striking civilians and says it targets militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Afghanistan denies harboring militants.

The spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the airstrikes destroyed three civilian homes.

“We condemn this act and consider this an act of aggression and a crime that violates all universally accepted principles,” he said.

Mohammad Hashim, a 30-year-old resident of the village that was bombed in Kunar province, said the strike occurred at around 3 a.m.

“I heard a woman calling out, asking for the stones to be moved off her; she was trapped underneath,” he said. “We pulled her out, she was injured.” He said that digging through the rubble, he also found the bodies of two men and four children.

Another local resident, 32-year-old Mohammad Habib, said one of those killed was a shepherd who was not affiliated with any militant or government groups.

“He was a very poor and humble man. He would let his goats out in the morning without anyone even herding them, and they would go out in the morning and return home in the evening, and (Pakistan) martyred him,” he said.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information said the airstrikes were “well planned and calibrated” against militant hideouts and camps, and had “been carried out in Afghanistan with precision and accuracy.” It added that large quantities of weapons and ammunition were located in the hideouts and were destroyed.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing militants, particularly the Pakistani Taliban — formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP — to operate from Afghan territory and carry out attacks inside Pakistan. The TTP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who have ruled Afghanistan since seizing power in 2021. Kabul denies providing the group a safe haven and has rejected Pakistan’s accusations.

“The threat to Pakistan emanates from Afghanistan," Pakistan's ministry said. "Our action precisely targeted the terrorist hubs.”

“Maximum precautions were taken and it was ensured that no collateral damage occurs,” the statement said and added that its campaign “will continue at full pace to wipe out" the threat of militants from the country.

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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

The future of NIOSA is uncertain after the president of the Conservation Society of San Antonio terminated the organization’s multiyear agreement with the city to host the event.

In a letter obtained by KSAT, Shanon Miller, the city’s chief downtown officer, said she had received a letter from Conservation Society President Betty Bueche ending the society’s license to host NIOSA.

The move marks a significant development for the long-running event, which is tied to La Villita and preservation efforts in the historic downtown area.

Miller also wrote that the city would continue working with the Conservation Society to spend the remaining money in the La Villita Preservation Fund.

The fund is used for city-owned buildings and improvements.

In a statement sent to KSAT, Bueche said the Conservation Society sent a letter requesting the termination of the license agreement “within the last couple of days”.

Bueche also said the La Villita fund has a remaining balance of approximately $890,000.

Bueche said that the license agreement where funds went to the La Villita Preservation Fund ended following NIOSA 2025. A new license agreement went into effect starting with NIOSA 2026.

“The new license agreement does not include a La Villita fund. The City preferred that those contributions be directed to the General Fund, which is included in the new agreement which was just terminated. The City decides how to spend the La Villita fund. Its purpose is to fund improvements to La Villita. The City will continue to be the decision maker regarding how to use the remaining funds in the La Villita Fund”, Bueche said in a statement to KSAT.

The city will decide how to use the remaining money in the La Villita fund.

Bueche told KSAT Thursday morning that if the Conservation Society Board decides in the future to hold NIOSA in La Villita or any other city-owned facility, it will need to sign a new license agreement with the city.

“The Task Force is still studying fund raising activities for future consideration by the Board,” Bueche said in an email to KSAT. “No decisions have been made nor formally proposed yet.”

Officers responded to the shooting just before 5 a.m. Aug. 30 in the 600 block of Hemisfair Plaza Way.

When they arrived, police said they found Jonathan Alderete, 35, with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.

In the 40-second surveillance video released Tuesday, the person of interest is seen an hour before the shooting entering and leaving the Denny’s on East Commerce Street. Police said the man is around 20 to 24 years old and about 5 feet 10 inches tall. In the video, he is wearing red shorts and a black hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information on the person of interest is asked to contact SAPD’s homicide unit at 210-207-7635.

Suspect in custody

Days after the shooting, police arrested Isean Hardeman, 23, at a South Side apartment.

Police said there was a physical confrontation between Hardeman and Alderete before he was shot and killed.

According to his arrest affidavit, surveillance video showed Hardeman and three other people taking a basketball that belonged to Alderete.

Crime Stoppers seek tips in identifying person of interest

Crime Stoppers is also seeking information on the person of interest, who was last seen with Hardeman at the time of the shooting.

According to a Crime Stoppers release, Alderete and three witnesses were at Hemisfair Plaza park when they left their basketball unattended. Four people took the ball and relocated to a nearby court next to the Tower of the Americas.

Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest in connection with the case. Tips can be submitted by calling 210-224-7867.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Affidavit: Man arrested, charged with murder in connection with shooting at Hemisfair Park
• Man shot, killed during fight over property in Hemisfair, police say

Trump’s travel on Thursday to Texas and Oklahoma kicks off what the president said will be a 32-day campaign blitz leading up to Nov. 3. Vance will be stumping in Florida, putting the Republican Party’s highest-ranking officials in areas where GOP candidates once expected to have glide paths to victory but are now facing tougher races.

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only 17% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the cost of living. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low.

Republicans have expressed growing pessimism about their chances in the election, which will determine control of Congress, as the president has repeatedly dismissed concerns about high costs and gas prices as his unpopular war in Iran drags on.

According to Trump, his party’s headwinds are merely a matter of poor public relations about a job he says is well done.

“We’re not getting the word out,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I mean, we’re just not getting it.”

That’s why, he said, he will be traveling all over and trying to persuade GOP voters to pretend his name is on the ballot.

“I’m going out because nobody’s selling it,” Trump said.

Democrats say Trump and the Republicans are desperate

Delanie Bomar, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement that “the president is barnstorming the country, energizing our base, and supercharging Republican candidates in battleground districts and beyond. We have the resources to spend, and Republicans are full steam ahead to protect and expand our majorities.”

The Democratic National Committee said Trump and Vance are "desperately trying to rally their base as the midterm elections approach and Republicans face defeat.”

“Donald Trump and JD Vance started a deadly and costly war with Iran that sent the economy spiraling and pushed prices even higher, and now — in the final stretch to the midterms — they’re desperately pleading with voters to 'give (them) another chance,'” said DNC deputy communications director Kendall Witmer.

In Oklahoma, Trump will campaign with Republican Mike Mazzei, who is running against Democratic state House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson in the race for governor.

Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Kevin Donohoe said Trump’s campaign rally shows that Republicans “are in full-on panic mode.”

“This race continues to get more competitive — and national Republicans are right to be worried about Mazzei,” he said.

The event will be held on the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, putting Trump in the company of just a handful of U.S. presidents who have visited tribal nations while in office.

Before his evening Oklahoma stop, Trump will tour a truck manufacturing facility in Texas, where Republicans are spending heavily to try to bolster state Attorney General Ken Paxton in a Senate race. Paxton faces a very competitive challenge from Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

Paxton was planning to be with Trump at the official White House event Thursday in Denton, two campaign officials familiar with Paxton’s plans said on the condition of anonymity to discuss the candidate’s schedule before it was made public.

Vance is also stumping for GOP candidates

Trump will be campaigning in more politically competitive areas in the days and weeks ahead as he embarks on his travel blitz, but Republican officials will not send him to places where they think his presence could drag down their candidates, according to a person familiar with the party’s strategy who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Trump’s Oklahoma visit, and likewise one on Friday to Alabama, are aimed at hitting two targets with one stop, the person said.

Republican officials have noted that Durant is close to the Dallas and Fort Worth media market, meaning Trump’s message will also be carried to Texas voters, and he’s expected to talk about Paxton even while addressing voters in the neighboring state.

His Friday stop in Mobile, Alabama, is aimed not only at boosting Sen. Tommy Tuberville as he runs for Alabama governor but also at shoring up support in Florida’s adjacent panhandle for Republican Rep. Byron Donalds. Donalds is running for Florida governor against David Jolly, the Republican-turned-independent who is now running as a Democrat.

Donalds' campaign in heavily GOP Florida comes as Republicans there have faced some turbulence and voter concerns about affordability and artificial intelligence data centers have become central issues.

While Trump is in Oklahoma and Texas, Vance will stump with Donalds in central Florida on Thursday.

Vance’s visit to Lakeland comes a day after the vice president campaigned in Texas. He rallied with Republican candidate Eric Flores, who is in a tight U.S. House race in south Texas.

Vance, speaking in Harlingen, Texas, on Wednesday, acknowledged broader discontentment over the high prices in the U.S. but shifted the blame away from Trump and Republicans.

“I know that there are people out there who are frustrated by the pace of progress,” he said, but "we have spent every single day fighting for you, digging ourselves out of the hole that Joe Biden left us in.”

Trump will also campaign on Saturday in Vandalia, Ohio, and on Monday in Grand Island, Nebraska.

Trump is expected to campaign for the GOP almost daily

In a meeting on Capitol Hill this week, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles described privately to GOP senators that Trump will have a near-daily sprint of campaigning ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.

Wiles showed Republicans the president’s upcoming travel schedule, which attendees described as extensive and almost every day, all across the country.

West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said that White House officials are “acknowledging the headwinds” but that “they have a strategy, and we have a strategy,” including money that the president’s operation will continue to deploy.

Capito also defended the White House’s plan to send Trump to traditionally conservative territory, arguing that he can motivate the Republican base not just where he travels but elsewhere in the country because he has such a broad reach.

“He can get more of his voters out — that are going to be our voters — than anybody else,” Capito said.

___

Associated Press reporters Seung Min Kim in Washington, Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Ava Sophia Hernandez was last seen in the 7100 block of Glen Haven, near Walzem Road in northeast Bexar County. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

Hernandez is 5 feet, 3 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes, BCSO said.

Anyone with any information on Hernandez’s whereabouts is asked to contact BCSO at 210-335-6000 or email the BCSO Missing Persons Unit at missingpersons@bexar.org.

The episodes have highlighted the vulnerabilities in AI security and raised questions over how the fast-growing technology can be developed safely as its usage becomes more widespread globally.

Industry critics have argued that many concerning events, including AI agents' hacks of external websites, are the result of security lapses on the part of the companies building the technology. But the AI agents' capabilities have raised widespread concerns about the possibility bots could break away and work toward their own agenda.

Below are some notable events:

Sept. 28: AI agents try to hack Canadian government website

AI agents tried to hack into a Canadian government website, according to research lab and AI evaluator Transluce.

The researchers said the agents carried out a series of “apparently failed rudimentary hacking attempts” on Library and Archives Canada on May 28 and June 9.

“We do not confidently attribute these attempts to OpenAI, but they exhibit tactics consistent with prior observed agent activity that we have attributed to OpenAI in a similar timeframe,” Transluce said in a blog post.

The group said it reported the attempted hack on Sept. 28 to the Canadian government, which said in a statement it was aware of reports of suspected AI agent activity, but that there was no sign government systems were compromised.

OpenAI said it was aware of the reports.

“We’re reviewing these findings and have provided an initial briefing to Canadian officials conducting the government’s review,” the company said in a statement.

Sept. 28: OpenAI halts rollout of a new model

The San Francisco-based company said it was delaying the release of a new model, called GPT-6.1 Astra, out of safety concerns voiced by its researchers. The company said the model had demonstrated leaps in completing tasks, but OpenAI needed to balance that capability against unauthorized behavior. “We have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment,” said Saachi Jain, OpenAI’s head of safety systems.

Sept. 25: OpenAI says its agents interacted with US government websites

As part of a review of unanticipated behavior by its AI models, OpenAI said it discovered agents had interacted with several U.S. government websites in unexpected ways. The company's models accessed publicly available information on websites operated by the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as U.S. Census Bureau data. OpenAI said it did not find evidence of a compromise or vulnerability. On the same day, Transluce said it found that agents appearing to originate from OpenAI attempted a hack on the website of the Education Department's civil rights office, which did not succeed.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on social media that there is an “extensive and ongoing review related to our agents’ use of internet access during training and evaluation.” The day after the disclosure, the company announced it was pausing the training of its most advanced models.

Sept. 24: Australia’s prime minister raises concern on breach

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said an OpenAI agent infiltrated the public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal on June 18. The portal hosted aggregate data about health spending and drug subsidies. No personal information had been accessed, the government said.

Albanese said the artificial intelligence company took too long to reveal the incident. The prime minister made the breach public following a telephone conversation with Altman. OpenAI said in a statement “our models took actions we did not intend.”

Sept. 18: Google says its Gemini AI hacked 3 companies

Google confirmed its Gemini AI model hacked three companies in May as part of a test of its cybersecurity capabilities. The company, which disclosed the hacks after an inquiry by The Wall Street Journal, said the model guessed passwords in one case and found passwords and credentials in a public repository in the other two cases. As in earlier such cases, the tests were being run by Irregular, a startup that describes itself as the “first frontier security lab."

Aug. 5: Meta's Muse goes rogue

Meta disclosed one of its AI models accessed the internet on its own and hacked another company. The company said that a “misconfiguration” during cybersecurity testing by Irregular inadvertently allowed one of its models to access the internet. A spokesperson for Irregular said the Meta episode involved a test-environment issue that was disclosed a week earlier by Anthropic.

July 30: Anthropic says its systems hacked 3 organizations

Anthropic said its artificial intelligence models hacked into three other organizations during testing. Anthropic, the San Francisco-based AI company behind Claude, posted on its website that it discovered the three incidents after reviewing more than 141,000 evaluation runs. In all three incidents, the AI models were tasked with a “capture the flag” cybersecurity challenge, which Anthropic said has been one of the ways it assesses a model’s cyber capabilities.

The models were given a fictional scenario and told a piece of secret information, or the “flag,” had been hidden on a different machine on the network with the objective of breaking in and retrieving it, it said. Anthropic said it reached out to the organizations, but it did not name them publicly.

July 21:

The Hugging Face incident

The ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced that its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own in what the company called an “unprecedented cyber incident.”

A week earlier, AI startup Hugging Face said, it had detected an intrusion into its data processing systems that it suspected was caused by an AI agent autonomously acting on its own.

OpenAI said its AI used stolen credentials and discovered a previously unknown vulnerability to access Hugging Face servers. It was working with reduced guardrails because it was supposed to be in an isolated testing environment known as a sandbox.

___

AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed to this report from London.

Outside groups aligned with the two major parties have pledged heavy spending in a battle for control of closely divided legislatures in at least a half-dozen states. But that's just the tip of the spear in their political jousting.

In numerous other states, the parties are striving to make or break a legislative supermajority — an important threshold that allows them to enact laws with little regard to dissent. And in several states, competitive gubernatorial races could determine whether one party achieves a political trifecta, grasping hold of both legislative chambers and the top executive spot.

Party control of state governments can shape policies on contentious issues including abortion, school choice, data centers and the use of law-enforcement surveillance cameras. In a few states, the electoral outcomes this cycle could also have congressional redistricting implications for 2028.

The state races also carry significant implications for Trump's agenda, because the elected officials can either aid or resist his immigration enforcement actions, social safety net limitations and efforts to alter voting procedures.

All told, voters in 46 states will choose more than 6,100 lawmakers in November, accounting for about 83% of all legislative seats nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-six states will hold gubernatorial elections.

Trump's approval ratings could swing state legislatures

Historically, the party of the president typically loses U.S. House seats in midterm elections. That also is true of state legislative seats.

In midterm elections over the past 50 years, the president's party has lost an average of 7.9% of its house and assembly seats up for reelection in states, according to research by Steven Rogers, a political science professor at Saint Louis University. In Trump's first midterm, in 2018, Republicans lost 8.7%, Rogers said.

A similar showing this year could spell the end of Republican control of legislative chambers in Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Minnesota currently has the nation's tightest margins, with an even split between Democrats and Republicans in the House and a one-seat Democratic edge in the Senate.

Trump's poor public approval ratings could play a role in those states. For voters choosing state house and assembly candidates, presidential approval typically has three times the impact of state legislative approval, Rogers said.

Edith Jorge-Tuñón, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, conceded that her party is in a defensive position.

“I think we knew going into this cycle, Democrats have an advantage,” said Jorge-Tuñón, whose group works to elect Republicans to legislative seats and statewide offices. But she argued that voter frustration with Democratic leadership in states like Minnesota or Oregon could provide a buffer against that advantage.

Racine could be key to Wisconsin political control

Wisconsin provides an example of how political power could swing. Democrats haven't fully controlled Wisconsin's government since 2010. But new legislative districts, ordered by the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court, give Democrats a shot at flipping both Republican-led chambers.

Democrats’ hopes run through downtown Racine. Located along the shores of Lake Michigan north of Chicago and south of Milwaukee, Racine is a Democratic stronghold known both for its rich manufacturing past and as the kringle capital of Wisconsin. Danish immigrants brought the buttery, oval-shaped pastry to the area in the 1800s, and bakeries in downtown Racine continue to make the sweet treats and ship them around the country.

Under Republican-drawn maps enacted in 2011, most of Racine was removed from the 21st Senate District to make the seat safe for Republicans. But the new map added back the city’s north side and more Democratic-favorable areas in Milwaukee County and removed conservative rural areas.

The Republican incumbent decided to retire rather than seek reelection under the more competitive lines, further bolstering Democratic hopes.

Democrats are optimistic they will pick up the two seats needed to flip control of the Senate in November. They need to flip five seats to gain control of the Assembly. An open governor's office, also on the ballot, gives them a shot at full control.

“In a year like this with the president and his war jacking up the prices of gas, Democrats are in a really strong position,” said Will Karcz, spokesperson for Wisconsin Senate Democrats.

A single seat could sway power in some states

In North Carolina, Republicans need to gain just one state House seat — without losing any Senate seats — to reestablish a three-fifths supermajority. That threshold is important because it gives Republicans the ability to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein without needing any Democratic votes.

Iowa Republicans face a similar math equation to regain a two-thirds legislative supermajority, which could matter even more if Democrats win the race to replace Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who chose not to seek reelection.

A loss of just one state Senate seat could cost Republicans a supermajority in Florida. Meanwhile, a pickup of one seat could result in a new Democratic supermajority in New York.

Among other battlegrounds, a swing of just a few seats could break a Republican supermajority in Missouri and gain Democratic supermajorities in Colorado and Nevada.

This year's state elections could affect 2028's congressional elections

If Democrats are able to win full control in Minnesota, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, they could use their new trifectas to redraw U.S. House districts ahead of the 2028 elections. They would be copying tactics employed by Republicans ahead of this year's elections in states such as Texas and Florida and by Democrats in California.

Republicans currently hold 20 of the 33 total congressional seats in those three northern states. So Democrats could make notable gains if they redraw districts to their advantage.

In Arizona and Michigan, where Republicans also hold an edge in congressional seats, redistricting would be more difficult because the task is assigned to an independent commission. California was in a similar situation. But Democratic lawmakers there placed an amendment on the statewide ballot last year allowing them to sidestep a commission to enact a new congressional map.

Both major parties are openly fundraising off the partisan redistricting stakes.

“Every election in this moment … potentially is about redistricting,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

Attendees at The Texas Tribune Festival heard from politicians, authors, academics, journalists and entertainers. There were documentary screenings, book signings and meet-ups. If you missed it — or want to relive it — we’ve selected 23 of our favorite conversations to release in podcast form. And plan to come see us again in 2027.

You can also listen on Spotify or Apple.

The Trump Administration is pushing for a 90-day ban on diesel exports intended to rapidly lower climbing fuel prices for consumers, a proposal that, if enacted, will hurt the constellation of Texas refineries in the Gulf Coast and deal a blow to the state’s economy, industry leaders said.

Politico first reported the news of the ban.

Texas refineries turn millions of barrels of crude oil into diesel and jet fuel daily for several industries, such as agriculture and aviation. They also sell the product abroad.

Texas contributes about a third of the nation’s diesel, processing about 6.3 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration. About 1.5 million barrels are sold overseas.

Now, the Trump administration is pushing companies to curtail such exports and keep that fuel at home to increase supply and lower volatile fuel prices amid the U.S.-Iran war, as rising gas prices become a political liability ahead of the November midterm elections. On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration that allows the use of dyed diesel, which is functionally the same as diesel but reserved in farming and construction, to ease prices.

The proposal has put President Donald Trump at odds with an industry he pledged to bolster by cutting regulation during his presidential campaign. Curtailing exports, many in the industry fear, will force them to downsize operations and lessen supply. Doing so could devastate parts of the energy sector, the bedrock of the Texas economy that employs hundreds of thousands of workers and pays billions in taxes.

“Banning exports of diesel would cripple domestic jobs, lead to fuel shortages here at home and put power in the hands of China and Russia by forcing our allies to turn to those countries to meet their needs,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association. “America’s energy leadership is needed now more than ever, and the best way to protect Texas and American consumers is to encourage continued investment in infrastructure which means more production, pipelines, processing and refining.”

“Global disruptions to the supply chain will eventually be resolved and Texas will emerge stronger and consumers better protected than ever. A ban today means a weaker America tomorrow and should be rejected by all Americans.”

CITGO, a major Texas refiner with operations in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Corpus Christi, said it represents roughly 690,000 barrels a day of refining capacity, and it relies on domestic and international markets to balance production and maintain reliable operations.

“An immediate ban on diesel exports would eliminate outlets for approximately 1.3 million barrels-per-day of U.S. diesel and create a significant product containment challenge across the U.S. Gulf Coast, which supplies 90% of these exports,” a CITGO spokesperson said in a statement. “The product containment challenge would force Gulf Coast refineries to reduce crude runs which, in turn, impacts overall fuel supply.”

Most of the crude oil that comes from Texas is known as light crude, a chemically complex and expensive liquid that, when refined, turns into diesel and jet fuel and is the cheapest way to make gasoline, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president of energy and innovation at the University of Houston. Refineries also import oil from Canada and Venezuela, called heavy crude, which is better to process into diesel. The fuel is used for heavy duty vehicles, such as trains and trucks.

In the months since the war broke out, Gulf Coast refineries have been producing fuel at full capacity, Krishnamoorti said. But if those companies are unable to sell and ship the product elsewhere, the refiners will begin to downsize their operations and process less diesel fuel, thus dwindling the supply. Price increases will follow as a result.

“Once they start to see that they’re not going to be able to maximize profits, they have less incentive to find ways to keep their refineries going at full strength,” Krishnamoorti said. “If they start to go offline … you start to see a roll-on impact on gasoline prices because it will be in short supply.”

Winding down operations will impact the processing of other kinds of fuel, such as jet fuel, said Jack Balaggia, executive director of the KBH energy center at the University of Texas at Austin. And the country is lacking the infrastructure, such as pipelines, to transport the diesel across state lines for U.S. customers, he said.

“When you quit making as much diesel, you also quit making as much jet fuel and gasoline so those prices are going to go up when the storage facilities fill up,” Balaggia said at the Texas Tribune Festival. “It sounds like a simple problem and a very simple solution, but it is not. It is very complex … We live in a world market for crude oil and crude oil product, you cannot isolate yourself from the world market. Putting all rhetoric aside, it’s not going to work.”

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a major financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. University of Houston has been a financial supporter within the past five years. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.

About the elected seat: The Texas Supreme Court is the state’s highest civil court, the final arbiter of major issues of state law. Justices are elected to six-year terms in partisan elections, but if a justice steps down before their term expires the governor appoints their successor. Gov. Greg Abbott, a former member of the court, initially appointed seven of the nine current justices. All of the current justices are Republicans; there has not been a Democrat elected to the bench since the 1990s.

What’s at stake: The Texas Supreme Court interprets the state Constitution to decide issues of major importance, like whether state laws can remain in effect or if elected leaders are overstepping their roles. They get to decide which cases to review, and their rulings — as it pertains to purely state law — are final, giving the nine justices huge influence over the laws of Texas. (The U.S. Supreme Court can overrule a state supreme court in cases that involve federal law.) In recent years, the Supreme Court upheld Texas’ near-total abortion ban and prohibition on gender-transition care for minors; weighed in on pandemic protocols for elections and evictions; and intervened to delay the execution of Robert Roberson, a death row inmate accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter. The court also has the power to create rules for the judiciary, including recently affirming that judges can decline to perform same-sex marriages based on sincerely held religious beliefs. Four of the nine spots on the court are on the ballot this year, including the chief justice position.

Candidates at a glance:

Place 1, Chief Justice

Campaign site

Jimmy Blacklock

Republican, incumbent

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $783,574
• Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $381,700

💰 Major donors this year:

• Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, the state’s leading advocacy group for limiting businesses’ legal liability – $25,000
• Hunton Andrews Kurth PAC – $15,000
• Jackson Walker LLP PAC – $10,000
• Valero Energy Corporation PAC – $10,000
• TREPAC-Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee – $10,000
• Texas Alliance for Life PAC (Spent money in support of the candidate. This may have been done without the candidate’s knowledge or consent.)

Experience:

• Chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court since January 2025
• Appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by Abbott in January 2018
• Served as Abbott’s general counsel from 2015 to 2018, and worked under him at the Texas Attorney General’s Office from 2009 to 2015
• Clerked for Judge Jerry Smith on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
• Graduate of Yale Law School

Political ideology: Blacklock is a Republican who touts his strict adherence to the plain text of the Constitution, a judicial philosophy known as “originalism” adopted by the conservative legal movement. Before he became a judge, he oversaw legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act, defended Texas’ abortion laws and fought against benefits for same-sex couples, among a slew of other cases.

In the news:

• Texas Supreme Court rejects Abbott’s request to remove Democratic Rep. Gene Wu from office over redistricting protest, The Texas Tribune (2026)
• Legal fight over SpaceX beach closures hits Texas Supreme Court, The Texas Tribune (2026)
• Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Warns Dallas Judge Over Courtroom Mask Mandate, Texas Scorecard (2026)
• Texas Supreme Court ‘Decisively’ Answers State Commission on Judicial Conduct About Same-Sex Ceremonies, The Texan (2026)
• Texas Justices End Case Assignment System in Austin, San Antonio, Bloomberg Law (2026)
• New Texas Supreme Court chief justice calls for judicial raises, changes to bail laws, The Texas Tribune (2025)
• Jimmy Blacklock named new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, The Texas Tribune (2025)
• He’s been a Texas Supreme Court justice for a month. Now Jimmy Blacklock must become a candidate., The Texas Tribune (2018)

Endorsements:

• Gov. Greg Abbott
• Anti-abortion groups Texas Alliance for Life and Texas Right to Life
• Texas Civil Justice League, a group focused on electing judges who support restricting lawsuits against businesses

How to contact:

contact@jimmyblacklock.com

Campaign site

Maggie Ellis

Democrat

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $53,034
• Raised Jan. 1-June 30: $33,766

💰 Major donors this year:

• Democratic Women of Comal County – $2,500
• Elizabeth Davis, retired – $3,500
• James Gilbreath, attorney at Walters Gilbreath PLLC – $2,632
• Todd L. Kelly, attorney at Lone Star Legal – $1,000
• Sharon Richardson, retired – $1,000

Experience:

• Justice on Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals since January 2025
• Previously worked in private practice with a focus on juvenile and family law
• Former assistant district attorney at the Travis County District Attorney’s Office
• Former administrative law judge
• Former public school teacher and foster mom

Political ideology: Ellis is a Democrat who is running on a platform of removing politics from the judiciary and expanding access to justice. She has said she decided to run for the seat after the Texas Supreme Court issued guidance saying judges did not have to perform same-sex marriages, a decision she called “an attack on our community and our Constitution.”

In the news:

• For Texas’ highest courts, two Democratic races decided, one GOP race goes to runoff, The Texas Tribune (2026)
• Republican sweep in Texas also extended to state’s appellate courts, The Texas Tribune (2024)
• UT alumna becomes first openly queer woman elected to Texas Court of Appeals, The Daily Texan (2024)
• Overcoming Poverty, Abandonment, Texas Woman Running for Judge, Spectrum News (2019)

Endorsements:

• AFL-CIO
• Coalition for Democratic Allies, a Central Texas organizing group
• Austin Young Democrats
• Bexar County Young Democrats
• Liberal Austin Democrats
• NxNW Democrats, an Austin-based group
• Stonewall Democrats of Austin
• The Caucus, a Houston LGBTQ+ political advocacy group
• Sabine Area Central Labor Council

How to contact:

maggie@maggieforjustice.com

Place 2

Campaign site

James Sullivan

Republican, incumbent

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $590,381
• Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $317,601

💰 Major donors this year:

• Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, the state’s leading advocacy group for limiting businesses’ legal liability – $25,000
• Bracewell PAC – $10,000
• Jackson Walker L.L.P PAC – $15,000
• Baker Botts Amicus Fund – $10,000
• Kelly Hart PAC – $10,000
• Texas Alliance for Life PAC (Spent money in support of the candidate. This may have been done without the candidate’s knowledge or consent.)
• Texans for Life Committee LIFE PAC (Spent money in support of the candidate. This may have been done without the candidate’s knowledge or consent.)

Experience:

• Appointed by Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court in January 2025
• Served as Abbott’s general counsel and deputy general counsel
• Served as assistant solicitor general when Abbott was attorney general
• Clerked for Judge Thomas B. Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• Graduate of Harvard Law School

Political ideology: Sullivan is a conservative Republican who has said he will “run through a wall for the rule of law” and promises “bold, relentless, conservative judging.”

In the news:

• Newest Texas High Court Member Seeks Austin Federal Judgeship, Bloomberg Law (2025)
• New SCOTX Justice Sullivan Once Ran Afoul of the Fifth Circuit for Tone of Rehearing Petition, Texas Lawbook (2025)
• Jimmy Blacklock named new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, The Texas Tribune (2025)

Endorsements:

• Gov. Greg Abbott
• Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group
• Texas Civil Justice League, a group focused on electing judges who support restricting lawsuits against businesses

How to contact:

P.O. Box 11583

Austin, TX 78711

Campaign site

Chari Kelly

Democrat

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $105,425
• Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $57,056

💰 Major donors this year:

• Benny Agosto Jr PC, managing partner at Abraham Watkins – $5,000
• Randy Howry, partner at Howry Breen & Herman LLP – $5,000
• Jack E. McGehee LP, founding partner at a trial firm – $5,000
• Yvonne Puig, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP – $5,000
• Steven Samples, attorney at Samples Ames – $5,000

Experience:

• Has served on Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals since 2019
• Former felony prosecutor for the Travis and Comal County district attorney’s offices
• Former assistant attorney general in the Civil Medicaid Fraud unit at the Texas Office of the Attorney General
• Former staff attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• An Army veteran, Kelly was a paratrooper and captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps where she worked as a defense attorney at Fort Hood and Joint Base San Antonio

Political ideology: Kelly is a Democrat who says she is a “committed defender of the Constitution.”

In the news:

• Texas appellate justices appear skeptical of Attorney General Ken Paxton defense that he’s exempt from state’s whistleblower law, Texas Tribune (2025)
• Democrats sweep 3rd Court of Appeals races, Austin American-Statesman (2018)

Endorsements:

• AFL-CIO
• Austin Young Democrats
• Bay Area Democratic Movement
• Liberal Austin Democrats
• University Democrats
• Sabine Area Central Labor Council

How to contact:

chari@charikelly.com

Place 7

Campaign site

Kyle Hawkins

Republican, incumbent

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $216,374
• Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: 106,770

💰 Major donors this year:

• Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, the state’s leading advocacy group for limiting businesses’ legal liability – $25,000
• Bracewell PAC – $10,000
• Valero PAC (State) – $10,000
• Texas Apartment Association PAC –  $5,000
• Davis, Gerald & Cremer PC, a Texas energy law firm – $2,500
• Texans for Life Committee LIFE PAC (Spent money in support of the candidate. This may have been done without the candidate’s knowledge or consent.)

Experience:

• The newest Supreme Court justice, Hawkins was appointed by Abbott in October 2025
• Served on the transition team for the Trump administration’s Department of Justice as counselor to the U.S. solicitor general
• Attorney in private practice at Lehotsky Keller and Gibson Dunn
• Served as Texas solicitor general from 2018 to 2021, and assistant solicitor general from 2017 to 2018
• Law clerk to Judge Edith Jones on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Samuel Alito on the U.S. Supreme Court

Political ideology: Hawkins is a conservative Republican who, as an attorney, has litigated major cases against the Affordable Care Act and Planned Parenthood, and testified to Congress about constitutional issues with the Voting Rights Act.

In the news:

• Former Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins joins high court, The Texas Tribune (2025)
• New Texas Supreme Court Justices Take Oath Under Alito’s Watch, Bloomberg Law (2026)

Endorsements:

• Gov. Greg Abbott
• Texas Civil Justice League, a group focused on electing judges who support restricting lawsuits against businesses

How to contact:

Website contact form

Campaign site

Kristen Hawkins

Democrat

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $301,668
• Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $279,197

💰 Major donors this cycle:

• The West Law Firm – $35,000
• Muhammad Aziz, attorney at Abraham Watkins Nichols Agosto Aziz & Stogner – $10,000
• Marcus Spagnoletti, attorney at Spagnoletti Law Firm – $10,000
• Kherkher Garcia LLP, a Houston personal injury law firm – $10,000
• Robert Hillard and the Robert C. Hillard LLP – $6,500

Experience:

• Judge of the 11th District Court in Houston since 2017, where she led the court’s response to COVID-19 and has been appointed to oversee two multidistrict litigation proceedings, including the Astroworld lawsuits
• Previously ran her own private practice focused on Social Security disability claims
• Served as tax master, presiding over cases involving delinquent property taxes, for a swath of Harris County for five years

Political ideology:

• Hawkins, a Democrat, is running on her experience as a trial court judge. She said the high court could benefit from the perspectives of district judges, who are often tasked with implementing Supreme Court rulings and see their effects on parties, lawyers and judges. Hawkins is a strong believer in access to jury trials, and said appellate courts should be cautious in overturning jury verdicts.

In the news:

• For Texas’ highest courts, two Democratic races decided, one GOP race goes to runoff, The Texas Tribune (2026)
• History is Made as Texas’ Oldest Court Gets First Woman Judge, Law.com (2017)
• All of the Astroworld lawsuits will be handled by one Houston judge, a judicial board ruled, Houston Public Media (2021)

Endorsements:

• Bexar County Young Democrats
• Liberal Austin Democrats
• The Caucus, a Houston LGBTQ political group
• Texas AFL-CIO

How to contact:

kristen@judgehawkins.com

Place 8

Campaign site

Brett Busby

Republican, incumbent

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $1.3 million
• Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $580,995

💰 Major donors this cycle:

• Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, the state’s leading advocacy group for limiting businesses’ legal liability – $25,000
• Vinson & Elkins Texas PAC, associated with the major Houston law firm – $25,000
• Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP Texas Committee, associated with the global law firm – $10,000
• Centerpoint Energy, Inc. PAC – $10,000
• Bracewell PAC – $10,000
• Texans for Life PAC (Spent money in support of the candidate. This may have been done without the candidate’s knowledge or consent.)

Experience:

• Appointed by Abbott to the Supreme Court in 2019
• Former justice on Texas’ 14th Court of Appeals in Houston from 2012 to 2018
• Former appellate attorney in private practice
• Clerked for Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court

Political ideology: Busby is a Republican who, before becoming a judge, worked with conservative legal groups like the Federalist Society, the Alliance Defending Freedom and First Liberty. Since joining the court, he has advocated for expanding access to legal services and civic education.

In the news:

• Texas can tax Velo oral nicotine products as tobacco, state Supreme Court rules, Denton Record-Chronicle (2026)
• TCEQ can withhold documents related to cancer-causing emissions for now, Texas Supreme Court rules, KERA News (2026)
• Gov. Greg Abbott appoints Brett Busby to Texas Supreme Court, The Texas Tribune (2019)
• Texas Senate confirms Brett Busby for Supreme Court post, The Texas Tribune (2019)

Endorsements:

• Gov. Greg Abbott
• Texas Civil Justice League, a group focused on electing judges who support restricting lawsuits against businesses
• Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group

How to contact:

campaign@brettbusby.com

Campaign site

Gisela Triana

Democrat

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of June 30: $128,786
• Raised between Jan. 1-June 30: $9,425

💰 Major donors this year:

• FVF Law, an Austin personal injury law firm – $2,500
• Kirker Davis LLP, an Austin family law firm – $2,500
• McGinnis Lochridge, a Texas based law firm – $2,000
• Richardson Firm PLLC – $500
• Carlos Soltero, attorney at Maynard Nexsen – $500

Experience:

• Justice on Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin since 2019
• Previously served as judge of the 200th District Court, taking office in 2005
• Justice of the peace and county court-at-law judge from 1994 to 2004

Political ideology: Triana is running as a Democrat. When she ran for the same seat in 2020, Triana said the all-Republican makeup of the court made it overly “result-oriented and beholden to special interests,” and criticized their rulings allowing evictions and debt collections to resume during COVID. 

In the news:

• Texas Democratic women trounce male opponents in judicial primary election, The Texas Tribune (2020)
• Editorial: Our Supreme Court picks in the Democratic primary, San Antonio Express-News (2020)
• Court says Ken Paxton’s case against Austin and Travis County for issuing New Year’s curfew is moot, dismisses case, The Texas Tribune (2021)
• In Democrats’ low-information judicial primaries, gender and ballot names may drive voters’ decision, The Texas Tribune (2020)

Endorsements:

• Liberal Austin Democrats
• University Democrats
• Texas AFL-CIO
• Panhandle Democrats

How to contact:

giseledtriana@yahoo.com

Disclosure: Kristen Hawkins, Planned Parenthood and Texas Civil Justice League have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune within the past five years. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.

Pike, 50, was alive and loudly snoring after the attempted lethal injection and taken by ambulance from the prison, her attorneys said. She was being treated at a hospital, but they said they hadn’t been told about her condition.

She had been scheduled for execution at 10 a.m. Wednesday for the killing she committed at age 18 and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. An appeals court stopped the lethal injection just an hour before it was to start and hours later the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that stay.

Officials gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys said in court filings late Wednesday.

Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement that he has ordered “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred” and that the remaining scheduled execution will not take place this year.

“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” he said.

The Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement that it “followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.”

The state's execution protocol calls for a secondary set of drug syringes to be administered “if the inmate is not deceased” after the first set. It does not spell out what happens if the subject is alive after the second set.

Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike experienced is “singular and unparalleled.”

Seven other people have survived medical problems due to an execution team's failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has stayed alive after receiving the drugs used in such executions, she said.

Media witnesses detail the execution process

Media witnesses observing from a separate room said officials raised curtains to the execution chamber at 7:27 p.m., showing Pike strapped to a gurney.

“I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life and that is in love,” she said in her “last” words. She described herself as at peace.

But Pike remained awake and at one point raised her head and asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way. It was not clear what she was referencing.

By 8:26 p.m., execution witnesses reported that the second dose of pentobarbital had been administered.

Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at 8:53 p.m. At that time there was an announcement to escort media witnesses out of the area.

Lawyers for Pike filed an emergency motion late Wednesday to the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in “unnecessary agony” and it was violating her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment. They also filed motions in the Sixth Circuit court and a district court.

It was the second time this year that Tennessee has been unable to carry out an execution: In May state officials called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing three people in 1994, after executioners tried and failed for over an hour to place an IV to administer pentobarbital.

Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of the fatal stabbing and beating in 1995 of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, their classmate at a job training facility in Knoxville. The case garnered widespread attention in part because of a pentagram that was carved on Slemmer’s body, and other elements of the crime stoked fears of Satan worship during the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and 1990s.

Stay of execution was swiftly appealed

Pike was initially scheduled to be put to death in the morning, and witnesses had gathered at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville when the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to issue a stay. That court said a delay was needed to consider whether Pike’s allegations of childhood sexual abuse were fully considered at her sentencing.

The attorney general’s office appealed to the Supreme Court, saying that halting the execution at the last moment traumatized Slemmer’s family and rewarded “abusive delay tactics” by Pike’s attorneys.

Later in the day, the high court cleared the way for the execution to proceed. The conservative majority did not explain their order, while the three liberal members signed a dissent that said Pike’s claims deserved a closer look.

Pike did not deny committing the killing, but her supporters argued that the state should consider her age at the time, her mental illness and her allegations of severe sexual abuse.

Case renewed debate on the death penalty for teens

As the execution date drew near, debate renewed over the death penalty for young offenders.

Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said Pike’s death sentence is an outlier because other 18-year-olds in Tennessee have had such sentences vacated.

After the killing, Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. In her clemency petition, she said she only wanted to fight Slemmer but killed her in a frenzied attack when she couldn’t “put the brakes on.”

“I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done,” Pike said in a statement.

Victim's mother says she is waiting for death sentence

Slemmer’s mother had traveled to Nashville in the hopes of witnessing the execution of her daughter’s killer. She told The Associated Press on Saturday that she had waited decades to see Pike’s sentence carried out.

“Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” May Martinez told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Saturday.

Martinez could not be immediately reached by telephone for comment after the execution was halted.

The killing rocked the city of Knoxville. Prosecutors said Pike, fearing Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, lured her to a wooded area on Jan. 12, 1995. Pike cut Slemmer with a box cutter and beat her with a large chunk of asphalt. Shipp, Pike’s boyfriend, has admitted that he was the one who carved a pentagram, a star-shaped symbol associated with Satan, into her body.

Shipp was 17 when the crime happened and received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. Pike was the only one sentenced to death.

Executions of women are rare in the US

Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 18 women have been put to death, representing about 1% of all executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Pike would have been the 30th person executed in the U.S. this year after Florida carried out an execution on Tuesday.

Tennessee announced in 2024 that it was switching from a three-drug series for lethal injections to the single drug pentobarbital. That came more than two years after the state abruptly halted the execution of Oscar Smith and acknowledged that it had failed to ensure its lethal injection drugs were tested properly.

___

This story has been updated to correct that Pike had been scheduled for execution at 10 a.m. local time, not 11 a.m. and that the lawyers filed an emergency motion to the Tennessee Supreme Court, not U.S.

___

Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Ed White in Detroit, Hallie Golden in Seattle and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.

Trustee Jose Macias told KSAT that he was informed that a girl stabbed a boy at the middle school, located on Binz Engleman Road near Woodlake Parkway on the Northeast Side.

The “student-related incident” happened during a scheduled lockdown drill Wednesday morning, according to Judson ISD’s Director of Communications Lexie Greathouse. The incident then led campus administrators to place the school on a hold.

“During the response, a weapon was located and immediately confiscated,” Greathouse said in an emailed statement.

Macias said the girl had multiple knives inside her backpack. She was arrested, and her initial detention hearing is set for Thursday morning.

KSAT asked the district if the knives recovered were used in the stabbing this afternoon, but has not heard back yet.

“The situation was quickly contained. Appropriate disciplinary action is being taken, and the matter has been referred to law enforcement for further review,” Greathouse said.

KSAT asked Greathouse if any student was transported to the hospital, but we did not immediately hear back.

“The district has contacted all Metzger MS parents,” Greathouse said. “If they have additional concerns, you can direct parents to campus administration for specific questions regarding their child.”

Read also:

• TEA: Districts using Bluebonnet Learning curriculum show improved student achievement in first year
• FLOOD WATCH in effect tonight through Friday
• VIA prepares for possible detours during rain event forecasted for the San Antonio area

Every year, flash floods happen across the city as heavy storms move through the area, often during hurricane season. Bexar County officials monitor 178 low-water crossings, updating road closures when they occur.

Drivers warned to ‘Turn Around, Don’t Drown’

While more seasoned residents know which places to avoid, newer residents may not know which areas are most prone to flooding:

Salado Creek at I-35:

When heavy rain falls, the water pools up on the access roads, resulting in closures in the area.

Basse Road and 281:

After heavy rains, Olmos Creek will quickly rise, flooding the roadways it runs through.

Pinn Road:

Pinn Road and Highway 151 has been the scene of some notable high-water rescues before. Leon Creek runs below the road, leaving it prone to flooding.

Lower levels of I-35:

The lower levels of I-35 tend to shut down after heavy rains lead to flash floods on the highway.

While those are some of the most well-known flooding spots, intersections around San Antonio can also flood, depending on where the rain falls.

San Antonio Fire Department’s 10 most dangerous low-water crossings since 2015

• Old Seguin Road at Salado Creek (46 rescues)
• Old O’Connor Road, located north of Lookout Road (31 rescues)
• Hollyhock Road, positioned 600 feet west of Babcock Road (20 rescues)
• Pinn Road (14 rescues)
• Spencer Lane, located east of Balcones Heights (13 rescues)
• Ira Lee, north of Austin Highway (12 rescues)
• Sleepy Hollow at Sunburst (10 rescues)
• Gibbs Sprawl Road at Rosillo Creek (10 rescues)
• West Commerce Street from Pinn Road to Military Drive (9 rescues)
• North Loop, around 150 feet from West North Loop (8 rescues)

Find the latest on the storms here from KSAT’s meteorologist, including forecasts, warnings and watches and an interactive radar.

The San Antonio Fire Department has compiled a list of the 10 most dangerous flood-prone areas, based on the number of high-water rescues from 2015 through 2025. The same handful of areas have resulted in dozens of rescue calls.

“You could be thinking ‘Oh, I’m just going to go. It only looks like an inch of water. I’ll be fine,’” SAFD spokesman Joe Arrington said. “That inch of water could stall your vehicle out, then you’re stuck, and who knows when a wall of water arrives, quickly rising water is coming downstream. So it’s not worth the gamble.”

>> Click here for the latest forecast

Arrington said the list is not necessarily just low-water crossings.

The area around Seguin Road at Salado Creek, which Arrington said includes the nearby Interstate 35 access roads, tops SAFD’s list, with 46 rescue responses.

“It doesn’t have to be raining here. It can be raining on the far North Side, but that water has to go through here eventually,” he said in a Tuesday interview.

It only takes about six inches of fast-moving water to knock an adult off their feet, according to the National Weather Service. A foot of water can wash away most cars, and two feet is enough for trucks and SUVs.

The list can be viewed in its entirety below:

• Seguin Road at Salado Creek (46 rescues)
• Old O’Connor Road, located north of Lookout Road (31 rescues)
• Hollyhock Road, positioned 600 feet west of Babcock Road (20 rescues)
• Pinn Road, one-quarter mile south of West Commerce (14 rescues)
• Spencer Lane, located east of Balcones Heights (13 rescues)
• Ira Lee, north of Austin Highway (12 rescues)
• Sleepy Hollow at Sunburst (10 rescues)
• Gibbs Sprawl Road at Rosillo Creek (10 rescues)
• West Commerce Street from Pinn Road to Military Drive (9 rescues)
• North Loop, around 150 feet from West North Loop (8 rescues)

The city said it is urging residents to prepare for flash flooding as multiple storms are possible throughout this week.

If you encounter a flooded road, it’s best to turn around and find another route.

Read also:

• Understanding disaster anxiety, weather-related PTSD in South Texas

Click here to see reported outages across the state of Texas.

Stay Informed

As always, Your Weather Authority team will keep you updated. You can get the very latest forecast and check out the interactive radar anytime by bookmarking our weather page and downloading the KSAT Weather Authority App - available for both Apple and Android devices.

To keep up with the weather situation, please download the KSAT Weather Authority app for Apple or Android and allow notifications for updates, including livestreams from KSAT meteorologists.

Want to share what you’re seeing with KSAT12’s meteorologists? Submit photos and videos here, and your submission may get featured on KSAT.com or on air.

More resources:

• Map: Emergency road closures at low water crossings in San Antonio, Bexar County
• Current power outages in Bexar County, tips for residents with energy outages from CPS
• Avoid these notorious roadways prone to flooding during heavy rain in San Antonio
• Find the latest forecasts and alerts on our weather page
• Live doppler radar

• Avoid these notorious roadways prone to flooding during heavy rain in San Antonio
• Find the latest on the storms here from KSAT’s meteorologist, including forecasts, warnings and watches and an interactive radar.

Bexar County low-water crossing status

Read more about the map below and find the full version at BEXARflood.org.

About the map above, via Bexarflood.org:

“Each dot on the map indicates a location of a Bexar County HALT sensor - HALT stands for High water Alert Lifesaving Technology. The sensors detect rising water and send real time information to this website: green means the road safe, yellow means the water is rising and red means the road is closed. By subscribing to alerts through this website, you can receive text or email alerts when low water crossings you choose to monitor have water over the road.

“Bexar County has installed more than 150 HALT systems in our community to warn drivers to turn around with either flashing lights or a combination of flashing lights and gates.

“The map was developed through a partnership between Bexar County, the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority. These partners monitor local weather and road conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

• Get weather alerts based on your location from the free KSAT 12 Weather app. Click to download on iPhone OR click to download on an Android phone.

Hill Country and statewide road closures

Read more about the map below and find the full version at DriveTexas.org.

More tips from KSAT:

Remember, ‘Turn Around, Don’t Drown’: Tips for staying safe while driving in the rain

Read more: CPS Energy offers power outage tips

Live Doppler Radar

>> FLOOD WATCH in effect through Friday

Statewide road closures

Read more about the map below and find the full version at DriveTexas.org.

Get weather alerts based on your location from the free KSAT 12 Weather app. Click to download on iPhone OR click to download on an Android phone.

More tips from KSAT:

• Remember, ‘Turn Around, Don’t Drown’: Tips for staying safe while driving in the rain
• Read more: CPS Energy offers power outage tips

Live Doppler Radar

For more information on traffic you can click here to view our traffic page on KSAT.com. To view more on the current weather conditions, click here.

Click the links below for current road closures.

• San Antonio road closures
• Bexar County road closures
• TxDOT highway conditions

Below is a map of notable low water crossings in San Antonio.

“Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions,” the GLAMOS Swiss glacier monitoring service and Swiss Academy of Sciences said in a statement released Thursday.

The trend has worsened in recent years: Over the past five years alone, the volume of ice in Switzerland has declined by nearly a fifth, the experts say.

The report testifies to the latest concerns that global warming is wreaking havoc on Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent.

“The warming that we are experiencing now can be attributed 100% to anthropogenic climate change. It’s as simple as that,” said Matthias Huss, who heads GLAMOS. “Without human emissions or fossil fuels we wouldn’t have any warming at the moment.”

This year’s ice volume loss continues trend

The record retreat of glacier ice in Switzerland came in 2022, when summer heat, low winter snowfall and an unusual smattering of reddish dust blown in from the Sahara darkened the glaciers and caused them to absorb more heat.

Huss said the snow cover in winter was important for two reasons.

“On the one hand, it protects the bare ice from melting. The longer you have snow, the longer you avoid the loss of old ice,” said Huss in an interview at the Federal Polytechnic Institute ETHZ, where he is a glaciology professor.

“On the other hand, the snow is important also for generating new food for the glacier. The more snow you have, the higher the potential to keep some of the snow at high elevation and to form new ice,” Huss added.

The great thaw in Europe’s legendary Alps is not alone: Experts say global warming helped to destabilize a Himalayan slope that collapsed in August and unleashed catastrophic and deadly flooding across Nepal. Satellites have shown vast shrinkage of glaciers in places like Greenland and Antarctica over the last half-century or so.

Percentage drop rises as overall ice volume falls

In Switzerland, in absolute terms, volume lost has been less than that in 2003, but the percentage decline this year is greater. That’s because the total volume today is roughly a third of that 23 years ago. Back then, the relative loss was 3.5% of total ice volume in Swiss glaciers.

Such accelerated ice melt has had an impact in Switzerland — the loss of 2.2 trillion liters (581 billion gallons) from July to September amounts to four times the annual consumption of water in the country of about 9.1 million people. Switzerland gets more than half of its electricity from hydropower.

But the impact of accelerated glacier melt ripples far beyond: Switzerland is the water tower of Europe, and feeds some of the continent’s most important rivers: the Danube, Po, Rhine and Rhone.

The experts say the “extreme melting” faced by Switzerland’s glaciers this year included a decline in the average thickness of individual glaciers between 2-1/2 and 4 meters (about 8-13 feet) — and a reduction of up to 10 meters (33 feet) on the tongue of some glaciers.

It is ‘almost too late’ to save Switzerland's glaciers

The expert teams have fanned out to assess runoff and crevices caused by the running water through the glaciers, in part by dumping red dye into the streams to track the water flows.

The Allalin, Clarident, Rhone and Aletsch glaciers — Aletsch being the largest in the Alps — were among the glaciers to experience their biggest melt on record this year.

“We just need to stabilize the climate by reducing CO2 emissions and this will help the glaciers,” said Huss, of GLAMOS, though he added that it is “almost too late” to save those in the Swiss Alps.

"For the ice in the polar regions like the ice sheets, there it’s not yet too late," he said. “There, we can make a difference and we need to make a difference in order to limit sea level rise, for example, a factor that is a fundamental threat to billions of people living along the coast.”

Max Fried dominated the Red Sox in the playoffs for the second straight year, Cody Bellinger and Luis García Jr. homered, and the Yankees rolled to a 9-2 win Wednesday night that completed a two-game sweep.

“We enjoyed tonight. We got a lot more work to do,” Bellinger said.

New York will face AL East champion Tampa Bay in an AL Division Series starting Saturday.

“The fans were electric from the first pitch and the boys were hungry. We got a young, hungry team here," Yankees captain Aaron Judge said as teammates sprayed him with bubbly during the clubhouse celebration. “This makes me feel young every single time.”

Judge missed this series because of a calf injury and isn't sure whether he will play against the Rays, who beat New York 7-6 in the season series.

“Saturday’s a long ways away," he said.

Clinging to a 2-1 lead after Willson Contreras homered to end Boston's 26-inning postseason scoreless streak, the Yankees broke open the game with a six-run sixth after Spencer Jones reached on a wild pitch while striking out leading off — with the help of a video review.

García, acquired at the trade deadline, had three hits in his first postseason start, and Bellinger had four RBIs that included a three-run homer capping the sixth-inning burst that put New York ahead 8-1.

“Step one,” said Bellinger, who caught the ceremonial first pitch from his dad, Clay, a 2000 Yankees World Series champion. “Now we got to go into Tampa and play against a tough team."

Boston, which reached the playoffs after rebounding from a 32-46 start, lost last year's wild-card matchup after defeating the Yankees in the opener.

“Regardless of all the special things that happened this summer, and there was quite a few, the goal is to win the World Series and that ended for us tonight, so it’s frustrating,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. “There’s a lot of things you can say, but in the moment right now, I think the guys only care that we lost. And it’s going to take some time to get over that.”

Boston, which also got a seventh-inning homer from Nick Sogard off Will Warren, was missing leadoff hitter Roman Anthony because of a hand injury. The Red Sox were held to a .117 average in the series (7 for 60) with 18 strikeouts and outscored 18-2.

Every starter had a hit for New York, which batted .382 in the series. Boston's bullpen had a 20.25 ERA.

“We played great baseball in a lot of ways here, obviously anchored by our two great starters," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Yankees batters hit .450 (9 for 20) with runners in scoring position after finishing 19th among the 30 teams with a .246 RISP during the regular season.

“I feel like it’s a whole new level from regular season to these last two days,” Austin Wells said.

A day after Cam Schlittler led New York to a 9-0 win, Fried pitched three-hit ball over six innings to win a postseason game for the first time since the 2021 World Series clincher with Atlanta.

New York started eight left-handed hitters against Sonny Gray, back on the mound where his career derailed during a dismal Yankees stretch in 2017 and ’18.

García's fourth-inning homer put the Yankees ahead and Bellinger, one of the top lefty-on-lefty hitters in the major leagues, added a fifth-inning RBI single against left-handed Erik Miller, who had just relieved.

Gray was disappointed he wasn't allowed to face Bellinger.

“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time. I think that’s a fact,” Gray said. "I would’ve liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that's the competitor I am. And, yeah, I think you can probably ask the guys and they felt the same way. So I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt convicted.”

Jones struck out both to start and end the bottom of the sixth, a weird half-inning that included a wild pitch, throwing error, stolen base, bunt single and intentional walk to Ben Rice that preceded Bellinger's homer.

"I can’t believe they were willing to face a guy like Belli with men on base there," Rice said.

Garrett Crochet, who beat the Yankees in last year's Wild Card Series opener, hadn't pitched since April 25 because of left shoulder inflammation when he bounced a sweeper off Adley Rutschman's chest. The catcher picked up the ball and threw to first, where umpire John Libka signaled that Jones was out. The Yankees appealed and the call was reversed by the video umpire at the commissioner's office.

“I couldn’t believe he was there,” Boone said. "I saw the ball squirt away a little bit. I didn’t think that much of it, and looked up and I was, like, 'Oh, he’s safe.'''

Jones swiped second and kept going to third when Rutschman’s throw skipped into center. Rookie George Lombard Jr. singled for his first postseason RBI, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Trent Grisham loaded the bases with a bunt single.

Wells' sacrifice fly against Garrett Whitlock increased the lead to 4-1, Ryan McMahon hit an RBI groundout and Rice, who had four hits and six RBIs in the opener, was intentionally walked. Bellinger reached down and pulled a changeup into the right-center field seats.

Fried struck out six and walked one. He has allowed one run over 12 1/3 innings in the two Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.

“Definitely wasn’t sharp from the get-go but just wanted to challenge them, not try to give any free passes, especially in the first inning," Fried said.

After a night of celebration and a day off, the Yankees will head to Florida on Friday.

“There’s just so much more to do,” Bellinger said after the big night with his father on hand. “So obviously enjoy the moment, understand how cool it is, but keep on going.”

Up Next

New York RHP Gerrit Cole (10-9, 3.61), who would have started a third game against Boston, is likely to start Game 1 against the Rays.

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Bueckers waved toward her backcourt mate, but she wasn't telling Ogunbowale to get out of the way. She was telling her to get open.

After all, Bueckers knew who the hot hand was — and it wasn't the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year who is in her first playoff series.

Ogunbowale took a pass from Bueckers on the left baseline, dribbled toward the corner and hit an off-balance corner 3-pointer, sending the game to overtime and her on the way to a WNBA playoff-record 45 points as the Wings won a thriller 108-100 on Wednesday night, forcing a Game 3 in their first-round series.

The deciding game will be Friday night in San Francisco, where the Valkyries won the series opener by 24 points.

Golden State is trying to advance in the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s second season. The Wings are trying to reach the semifinals for the second time in six postseason appearances since moving to the Dallas area in 2016.

Ogunbowale opened the extra period of Game 2 by banking in a 3, then hit another one to put Dallas ahead for good at 103-100 with 1:46 remaining. The four-time All-Star easily topped her previous playoff best of 24 points after scoring 10 points on just seven shots in the series opener.

“We felt like we got pushed around out there when we played in San Francisco and especially me personally I don’t feel like I was aggressive,” said Ogunbowale, who was 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, 12 of 23 overall and 16 of 18 on free throws. “I didn’t know what I would score. I was going to shoot regardless because I just feel like seven shots isn’t enough to win playoffs and I have to be aggressive whether it’s going in or not.”

Bueckers, who scored 10 points, was mired in a 3-for-13 shooting night that included an air ball on a 3-pointer with the Wings trailing by three in the final two minutes of regulation. But she assisted on Ogunbowale's tying 3, and again on a the banked 3 to start OT. Bueckers had four assists.

“For us to do what we did today without Paige having the type of game that she always has offensively for us, to come out with a win is huge,” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said. “We had other people step up.”

Ogunbowale's shot for a 93-93 tie with 4.1 seconds left in regulation of Game 2 was followed by Gabby Williams getting called for an offensive foul on the inbound play after a Golden State timeout.

That call was reversed on replay, so instead of Aziaha James having a chance to give Dallas the lead at the free-throw line, there was a jump ball at center court with 3.0 seconds to go. After a scramble for the loose ball, Golden State's desperation shot was way off target, and after the buzzer.

Williams scored a career-high 36 points, regular season or playoffs, but missed all six of her shots in the final 1:31 of overtime to finish 12 of 23 from the field.

“We got one at home, and we got to bring our best,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “That was not our best. Tomorrow’s got to be clear minds, clear focus, clear game plan, and then be ready to go for the game at home.”

Ogunbowale scored 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime — 11 in each period. She passed her previous overall career high of 41 points with the 3 that put Dallas up for good.

Dallas' Alysha Clark tied her playoff career high with 21 points, and Aziaha James added 13.

Kaila Charles scored 14 points for the Valkyries, and Kayla Thornton had 13.

With the scored tied at 98 in the extra period, Ogunbowale and Tiffany Hayes had to be separated after making contact. Both were called for flagrant fouls, and each made a pair of free throws with 2:26 remaining.

The Valkyries didn't score again, shooting 2 of 12 in overtime.

___

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

The plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The shaken passengers from the FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed Wednesday evening in Israel on another flight, as onlookers cheered. Israel's emergency services said they treated three passengers with minor injuries.

It was not clear what motivated the attack, which led Israel to scramble warplanes amid concerns about a possible hijacking. In a CNN interview aired on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker was an Omani national and was being interrogated in Saudi Arabia, where he was arrested.

Aviation experts were surprised the plane did not crash after a descent so extreme that most of the rudder was ripped off the tail.

“We’re going to die,” passenger Naama Bershadski recalled thinking as she closed her eyes and prayed.

A video shared by Netanyahu's office showed passenger Yaniv Hayoun, who grappled with the attacker, wearing a bloodied shirt and hugging the prime minister, who told Hayoun: “I look at you and I see a lion. I see a great hero."

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident “at length” by telephone and that it seemed as though the copilot “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job. And, he stabbed the pilot.”

Responders said they knew they had seconds to act

Hayoun, who Netanyahu identified as a plumber, said he and others pushed their way into the cockpit, where he saw the alleged attacker seemingly trying to destroy the controls.

“The door apparently wasn’t locked, and we managed to open it,” Hayoun told journalists at the airport. “What made it difficult for us was the (other) pilot himself. He had been stabbed and was on the other side of the door.”

Hayoun told Netanyahu that as people wrestled with the attacker, he grabbed the controls and pulled them the way he had seen on television shows. Then other crew members took over. FlyDubai said the aircraft was secured by on-duty crew “who diverted and landed the aircraft safely.”

Another responder, dentist Shota Musayev, told journalists they realized they had just seconds to take control of the plane before a “critical event.” They also feared another attacker might be on the plane, so “we spread a few more people inside the plane so that if something happened, we would be able to simply take control.”

Musayev then attended to the wounded pilot: “He was just praying the whole time and was in contact with me, and I was afraid we would really lose him.”

Video footage on social media reviewed by The Associated Press showed two men on the plane’s floor, bloodied and wounded.

Netanyahu identified the captain as Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen, and noted his “extraordinary bravery.” The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Machchhar was hospitalized in stable condition.

“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic midair disaster,” Netanyahu said on X. “He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.”

Israel's foreign ministry said the people on board were from Israel, India and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.

FlyDubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while an investigation takes place. Netanyahu said that he spoke with the UAE’s president, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.

The incident came at a busy travel time as the Jewish High Holy Days with school and work breaks wrap up. In addition, national elections will be held on Oct. 27 and many Israelis plan to fly back to vote, since Israel doesn’t permit absentee voting from abroad.

Netanyahu had warned in recent days of unspecified, heightened security threats. The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered a series of wars.

Aviation experts marvel that the plane didn't crash

In the chaos about two and a half hours after leaving Dubai, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to Flightradar24, which identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8.

According to a statement by Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, the plane landed there at 9:45 a.m., an hour after making a distress call.

“Suddenly the aircraft started to fall down, like, a massive turbulence, like a massive G force, for 20 or 30 seconds,” passenger Almog Italie said.

Former United Airlines pilot and aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said he was surprised that the plane was able to land safely after most of the rudder was ripped off the tail during the extreme descent.

“That was a serious descent and strong aerodynamic forces on that rudder for that to happen. I’m just amazed the aircraft didn’t come apart,” Arroyo said.

Another aviation safety expert, Jeff Guzzetti, said that given the rate of descent, it may not have been possible for the plane to level out if it had fallen below 10,000 feet.

“It is remarkable they were able to pull out of that dive. What saved them is there was enough altitude left for them to recover,” said Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S.

A panicked mayday call as the flight sought place to land

A person who heard the flight’s communications with air traffic control described the plane being turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in Tabuk, while passengers screamed in the background.

The person said the pilot’s voice was trembling as he called “mayday” and said a hijacking was taking place and ambulances would be needed. But Saudi Arabia initially denied clearance to land and directed him to Jordan. The plane was told to wait for clearance from the Jordanian military and then turned away.

The pilot then returned to Saudi Arabia and said he had to land in Tabuk. The air control operators gave no reason for the refusals. The person who heard the communications spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he spoke with his counterpart in the UAE and they agreed to work together “against extremist elements seeking to harm security and undermine stability in the region.” The general Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE said it was investigating a security incident.

An official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was under investigation.

Israelis have made emergency landings in Saudi Arabia before

Israelis were targeted in a string of hijackings and airplane attacks by Palestinian militants in the 1960s and 1970s. Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world, including on Israel-bound flights.

The emergency landing in Saudi Arabia was not the first for a plane carrying Israelis home. The kingdom does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but ended its longstanding ban on Israeli flights overflying its territory in 2022.

Since then, Saudi Arabia has coordinated emergency landings for Israeli passengers, including in 2023 when a plane experienced an electrical malfunction.

The UAE has become a popular vacation destination for Israeli tourists since the countries normalized ties in 2020. FlyDubai is the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates airlines.

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Magdy reported from Cairo, Scharf from Jerusalem and Funk from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Sam Metz, Aamer Madhani and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Ami Ben Tov in Tel Aviv, Israel, Adam Schreck in Bangkok, Darlene Superville in Washington and Giovanna Dell'Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Xander Bogaerts drove in the first run for the surging Padres, who followed up their 8-0 victory in Tuesday's opener with another dominant mound performance. The Cubs led the majors in runs and the NL in homers this year, but they managed just eight hits — seven singles — over 18 innings against San Diego's inspired staff.

Ethan Salas drove in a run while becoming the youngest player to catch a postseason game in major league history for the Padres, whose 20-3 surge since Sept. 5 has them looking like a threat in the NL. With their fifth playoff series victory in the past seven years, the Padres advanced to face the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers in an NL division series this weekend.

“It's our entire group coming together, finding ways to win ballgames over and over,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said between puffs on a cigar in the Padres' beer-soaked clubhouse. “This feels great, but we've already been to this part before, and we're all so hungry to go farther.”

One year after the Cubs eliminated the Padres in three tough Wild Card games at Wrigley Field, the Padres reversed the result in two romps before frenzied sellout crowds at Petco Park.

“It’s nice to finish in two,” manager Craig Stammen said. “Saves our bullpen a little bit, and we can decide who’s going to start Game 1. We haven’t decided that yet, but it definitely sets us up better with two days off. Get those guys fresh and ready to go.”

Nico Hoerner had half of the Cubs’ hits in the series, and he drove in Chicago’s only run in the fourth inning. He also got their only extra-base hit of the series with a ninth-inning double off Mason Miller, but the Padres’ vaunted closer calmly finished the save and set off another massive celebration on the field.

“It didn’t go well here,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We just didn’t play well enough. They’re playing really well. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively, obviously. Look, when you’re in this position, you’re going to be disappointed. You’re going to feel unfulfilled, and that’s just dominating everything you feel right now. Maybe as you reflect, I think I can get to some better places. Right now, that’s all I feel.”

Probable NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong and veteran slugger Alex Bregman struggled mightily atop the Cubs’ lineup in San Diego, going a combined 0 for 15 with a walk and eight strikeouts over these two games. Bregman played just over a week after he was hit in the face with a foul ball.

“Those were the two guys we marked as we don’t want those guys to beat us in this series,” Stammen said. “We tried our best to set up our pitching to handle them. In the first game, we were just lucky we got out to a bigger lead. It’s a lot easier to pitch to those guys with a bigger lead.”

After hitting two homers in the first inning of Game 1, the Padres waited until the second inning of Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead. Ty France led off with a double off Kevin Gausman and scored on Bogaerts’ single before Salas hit a line-drive flyout to center, scoring Jackson Merrill.

Salas, the prized 20-year-old prospect recalled Sept. 1, also became the youngest player to appear in a postseason game for the Padres.

Chicago finally scored when Seiya Suzuki singled and eventually came home on Hoerner’s ground ball to center off Nick Pivetta. Stammen immediately yanked his starter in favor of his intimidating bullpen, and Bradgley Rodríguez escaped a bases-loaded jam.

Rodríguez also pitched the fifth to earn the victory in his postseason debut.

“Those guys, they're so good at what they do,” Pivetta said. “It was a pleasure to watch.”

After Bogaerts’ double chased Gausman in the fourth, Sheets crushed a 100.8 mph fastball from Daniel Palencia into the right-field bleachers. Sheets, the fan-favorite outfielder who is playing with a nagging plantar injury in his left foot, delivered his second career postseason homer and his first since 2021 as a White Sox rookie.

“That was one of the cooler home runs I've ever seen,” Merrill said.

The shot was the Padres’ first pinch-hit postseason homer since 2005, and their long-suffering fans’ cheers rattled the park.

Up next

Game 1 of the division series is Saturday in Milwaukee. The Padres took four of six from the Brewers this season, even sweeping a three-game series at Petco Park in August.

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And top starter Sonny Gray wasn't happy about being lifted after only 70 pitches.

“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order the third time. I think that’s a fact,” Gray said. “I would have liked to have been trusted in that moment.”

For the second consecutive season, the Red Sox were sent home for the winter by their biggest rivals as the New York Yankees rolled to a 9-2 victory Wednesday night and a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series.

Boston was outscored 18-2 overall and left to lament a miserable finish to this roller-coaster ride of a season that included Tracy taking over when Alex Cora was fired in April.

Tracy's decision-making came under scrutiny after both playoff games against the Yankees. In Boston's 9-0 defeat a night earlier, Tracy pulled rookie starter Payton Tolle after 4 2/3 innings and 83 pitches in a 1-0 game.

Last year, the Red Sox won their Wild Card Series opener before losing to New York in a deciding Game 3 as they got overpowered by Cam Schlittler, who pitched another playoff gem against his hometown team Tuesday night.

“To have it end here two times in a row is tough,” shortstop Trevor Story said.

Facing a Yankees lineup missing injured slugger Aaron Judge, the Red Sox gave up 26 hits in two games despite a pair of effective performances from their starting pitchers.

At the plate, Boston mustered only seven hits and finally snapped a 26-inning postseason scoring drought that dated to last year when Willson Contreras homered just over the right-center fence in the sixth Wednesday.

“It’s obviously been an eventful year," Tracy said. "In the moment right now you can’t think much more other than anything but the fact that we just lost a playoff series.”

Needing a victory to extend their season, the Red Sox sent Gray to the mound and the 18-game winner certainly gave them a chance. Boston trailed 1-0 in the fifth when the right-hander allowed a two-out single to Ben Rice that put runners at the corners.

Tracy then yanked Gray, eager to hand the ball to baseball's best bullpen during the regular season.

“I felt good. You know, I felt crisp. I felt sharp. I felt like I was just out there competing. And yeah, I mean, I got clipped for a solo homer and then some singles, but I felt like I stayed on the attack throughout. I was just executing what I wanted to do," Gray said. “I’m frustrated, for sure. You know, not ready for it to end. A lot of emotions.”

Asked about the move, Contreras put his finger over his lips to zip them shut.

“It’s not enough when you have talent or you have data or you have computers that’s telling you what to do, because this is baseball," he said. "The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day you are going to have to need experience and veteran guys to win games.”

In both games of the series, Tracy gave the ball to left-handed reliever Erik Miller after taking out his starting pitcher.

On Tuesday, Rice greeted Miller with a 423-foot solo homer to straightaway center field.

On Wednesday, Tracy summoned Miller to face a different left-handed hitter, Cody Bellinger — who batted .274 against lefties this season and .259 versus right-handers. In fact, his .310 batting average against left-handers over the past two years was the best of any left-handed hitter in the majors.

Bellinger made Tracy and the Red Sox pay, lining an RBI single to right field.

“We’re struggling to score runs,” Tracy said. “And when you get in spots where you're struggling to score runs and you’re already trailing, you feel like you’ve got to be aggressive and go.”

Back from a shoulder injury, ace starter Garrett Crochet entered in the sixth for his first outing since April 25 and first relief appearance since 2023 with the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander opened with a strikeout, but Spencer Jones reached safely on a wild pitch, and Crochet never got an out.

Bellinger's three-run homer off right-hander Garrett Whitlock capped a six-run inning that made it 8-1, and the Red Sox were done. A bullpen that led the majors with a 3.00 ERA during the regular season finished this series with a 20.25 ERA after giving up 15 runs, 15 hits and seven walks in 6 2/3 innings, with a .484 opponents' batting average.

Boston's latest downfall in the Bronx was a crushing end to a wild 2026 season for the Red Sox, who stumbled to a 32-46 start. Tracy was the skipper at Triple-A Worcester before getting promoted to interim manager in Boston, and the team finally began to take off with a four-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park in late June.

After clinching a wild-card spot last week, the Red Sox removed the interim tag and named Tracy the 49th manager in team history, signing him to a three-year contract that runs through the 2029 season, with a club option for 2030. The team also exercised the 2029 and 2030 options on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.

“I wasn't there for the highs and lows,” Crochet said. “For this team to do what it did do, to make it to this point, was nothing short of miraculous.”

Led by Gray and Contreras, among others, the Red Sox went on a 15-game winning streak in July that equaled a franchise record and used a 32-5 surge to climb back into contention. They became the fourth team in major league history to reach the postseason after falling 14 games under .500, and the first to qualify after losing as many as 44 of its first 75.

Gray, who can become a free agent after the World Series, went around the clubhouse to hug each of his teammates following Wednesday's defeat.

“I'm proud of what we accomplished,” the pitcher said. “We were left for dead there for a while.”

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Sidelined since Sept. 16 by a strained right calf, Judge went to the Yankees' Double-A ballpark in Somerset, New Jersey, for live batting practice Wednesday as he tries to work his way back from a leg injury to be available later in the postseason.

“Saturday’s a long ways away, but I’m doing everything I can, all morning, night, during the game, everything to prepare myself to be ready to go,” Judge said after Wednesday night's 9-2 win. "So I want to be in there. So we’ll see what happens.”

Judge did not join teammates along the first-base line for introductions before the Yankees' 9-0 win in Tuesday's opener of the best-of-three series.

“I think he was getting treatment,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Judge ran in the outfield before Tuesday night's game and on Wednesday went to Somerset to hit. He returned to the Bronx in time to watch Game 2.

A three-time AL MVP, Judge was limited to 66 games this season. The 34-year-old slugger hit .241 with 18 homers, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS, including .174 with one homer and three RBIs in September.

Left-hander Ryan Weathers, sidelined with a left forearm flexor strain since Aug. 22, was to throw a bullpen at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

Boone said right-hander Clarke Schmidt won't pitch again this year. The 30-year-old relieved on Sept. 16 at Minnesota in his first big league appearance since Tommy John surgery on July 11, 2025, then was put on the injured list with right biceps inflammation.

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Carter Eslick, 20, also received three years of supervised probation during a sentencing hearing in Coconino County Superior Court. Eslick had pleaded guilty to a felony hazing charge in the Jan. 31 death of Colin Daniel Martinez, 18, at an off-campus house.

An autopsy found Martinez died of alcohol poisoning with a blood-alcohol content of 0.425% — more than five times the state's legal limit for drivers 21 and over.

Martinez was among four Delta Tau Delta pledges who shared two bottles of vodka to ensure they vomited, according to court documents. Witnesses reported adjusting Martinez’s sleeping position and checking his pulse and breathing to look for signs of alcohol poisoning throughout the night, the documents said.

Martinez's parents appeared remotely in court, still grieving their son, and said they want accountability and reform within Greek life, Phoenix television station azfamily.com reported.

Eslick was the fraternity’s pledge master at the time and was responsible for welcoming new members. He apologized Wednesday to Martinez's family and said he takes “full responsibility for the hand I played in that ritual.”

Coconino County Attorney Ammon Barker said no sentence can undo the harm to the Martinez family.

“My hope is that this case helps people understand the serious dangers of hazing and encourages them to speak up and intervene before another family experiences this kind of loss,” Barker said in a statement.

Judge Stacy Krueger said Eslick knew what he did was dangerous and was troubled that no one spoke out against it.

Eslick could face additional jail time if he doesn't meet the conditions of probation, which include creating and delivering 305 anti-hazing presentations and keeping the court updated on his progress. He also can't use alcohol or drugs unless prescribed.

The university suspended the fraternity after Martinez’s death, and the national organization later closed the NAU chapter.

Hilton presented himself as a change agent, saying that years of Democratic dominance in Sacramento had diminished the state in business, education and quality of life. “We've got to try something different,” he said in the matchup on CNN.

Becerra depicted Hilton as President Donald Trump's handpicked choice for the job, and repeatedly invoked the president's name throughout the debate. The president is widely unpopular in the state outside his conservative base.

“You can hear Donald Trump” in Hilton's responses, he said at one point.

The debate played out just days before mail ballots are expected to begin arriving at homes in advance of the Nov. 3 general election. Looking to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, Hilton is appealing to voters who he says are frustrated by the state's punishing cost of living, high taxes and long-running homeless crisis. Becerra is promising to bring down household costs, too, while continuing to push back against Trump’s agenda.

While both highlighted the state's challenges, they also cast it as a land of opportunity, with Hilton praising the state's “rebel spirit” and Becerra saying it has allowed countless people to achieve the American dream.

A September poll conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies found that Becerra had a sizable lead over Hilton. A Republican has not won a statewide election in heavily Democratic California since 2006.

Hilton has been holding a steady string of public events to try to attract voters' attention, while Becerra has run a lower-key campaign.

Hilton thanked CNN “for bringing Xavier out of hiding,” a dig at his rival as the debate got underway.

Candidates trade barbs over experience

Becerra mocked Hilton's experience as a “talking head” for Fox News, where he was a commentator.

“You can’t expect a guy who has never been in office like this to go in there and do the right job,” Becerra said at one point.

Hilton cast Becerra as a guardian of the status quo, saying he has “no arguments and no solutions and nothing to say about how he would change anything about how California is run.”

But after an hour on stage, it appeared neither candidate landed the kind of stinging blow that would dramatically reshape the race. Many of the criticisms they traded echoed attack lines often heard on campaign stops in recent months.

Hilton has Trump's endorsement, but that could be a liability at a time when the president's popularity has been sliding while gas and grocery prices climb. Trump has had a long-strained relationship with California, where he was trounced in his three runs for the White House.

The two rivals emerged from a chaotic primary that saw former Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell exit the race — then announce he would leave Congress — following allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him, while billionaire Tom Steyer ran the most expensive political advertising campaign in the country in a losing effort for the Democratic nomination.

Hilton has vowed to bring down the price of gasoline to $3 a gallon, about half the current cost; cut in half residents’ utility bills, now among the nation’s highest; and eliminate state income taxes on the first $150,000 in earnings.

Becerra has been leaning into his long resume in government as he maneuvers to take charge of the state. He spent more than 35 years in state and federal office, including leadership roles in the U.S. House, as California’s attorney general, and as former President Joe Biden’s health secretary. “The governor’s office is not a place with training wheels,” he likes to say.

Hilton at times sought distance with Trump. Asked about Trump's unfounded attacks on election integrity in California, Hilton said, “I’ve got confidence in what we saw in the primary and in this process." He went on to criticize the tone Democrats use to assume the outcome in the governor's race is a foregone conclusion.

Immigration debate turns personal

Hilton revisited criticism of Becerra’s tenure as the federal health secretary, including his handling of migrant children who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021.

The children were processed in tents before being taken to emergency shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Some of the shelters were criticized by child welfare advocates as having inadequate conditions. They would then be placed with a family member, relative or sponsor.

A New York Times investigation found that the health department failed to thoroughly vet sponsors, and many of the children went on to work exploitative jobs. It also found Becerra pushed to move children through the system faster and that the agency could not reach tens of thousands of minors after they left federal care.

Becerra responded that he was recycling “Trump talking points.”

“Trump left a system for care of these immigrant kids that had been dismantled because he doesn’t want them here,” Becerra said. “We changed all that. I am proud of the record.”

Asked whether he would assist in helping the Trump administration carry out mass deportations despite state laws that limit cooperation with federal law enforcement, Hilton noted his own background as a child of European immigrants and said his goal is “to lower the temperature on this whole question.” He pledged to protect “legal immigrant communities" and prioritizing removing “dangerous criminals.”

“You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me," Becerra responded. Hilton called that accusation “disgraceful.”

The state has spent billions on homelessness, with little in the way of results. Becerra said as governor, “We will make sure the encampments are cleared.” Hilton responded, “This absolute scandal shames our state.”

Benny Caldera, a 40-year-old Converse resident, was arrested at 3 a.m. Wednesday by DPS, booked into Bexar County Jail and charged with a felony for a terroristic threat against a public agent. He was then promptly re-arrested by the FBI on additional federal charges and transferred into federal custody, DPS said.

A spokesperson for DPS said in a social media post that there was “lots of misinformation circulating online” about Caldera being released on a $75,000 bond, which the post and another from DPS’ account said was not true. Bexar County Jail records online do state that Caldera was “released on bond” and listed a bond amount of $75,000, which state Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, called “a joke” in his own post about Caldera.

An email from Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw sent to Capitol staff obtained by The Texas Tribune said the individual arrested was the “main suspect” in a planned attack with suspected co-conspirators intended for Thursday. A statement from DPS about Caldera’s arrest made no mention of any other suspects or arrests.

DPS’ statement and Spaw’s email said there would be increased DPS presence at the state Capitol while an investigation is ongoing. The agency later said there is “no reason to believe that there is an ongoing threat” to the Capitol.

The FBI was involved in assisting with the initial arrest as well, DPS said. An FBI spokesperson did not respond to an immediate request for comment, and Bexar County Jail records do not specify what federal offense Caldera was charged with.

There are no legislative hearings or events scheduled for Oct. 1, according to the Capitol legislative website.

In a social media post, Gov. Greg Abbott thanked DPS and the FBI for their roles in arresting Caldera. “Texas will NOT tolerate threats of violence against our Capitol,” he said.

In June 2025, DPS arrested a man in La Grange for threats that prompted the evacuation of the Texas Capitol, which occurred the day of a large “No Kings” protest at the Capitol and downtown Austin. The man was released from jail a few days later.

Alejandro Serrano contributed to this report.

It is not yet clear whether he will need surgery. Anthony was sidelined from early May to late August with an injury to the same hand.

“We did everything we could to be back this year and play, which we did,” Anthony said Wednesday in the tunnel outside the Red Sox clubhouse at Yankee Stadium before Boston's 9-2 loss gave New York a two-game sweep. "Going forward, we haven’t really even talked about it today."

Batting leadoff as Boston's designated hitter in his playoff debut Tuesday night, Anthony struck out in both of his at-bats against Cam Schlittler, then was removed for a pinch hitter with the Red Sox trailing by two runs in the sixth inning of a 9-0 loss.

Boston manager Chad Tracy said Anthony felt discomfort in his right hand after a couple of checked swings.

“After I came back, the hand was never really fully 100%," Anthony said. "For me it was to a point where it was tolerable and I was taking certain swings that were sketchy and I was still able to come back and recover enough to just be in there every single day. But ultimately I just took a few swings here recently where that wasn’t the case.”

The team sent Anthony to Boston in a car after the game. He arrived about 3 a.m. and had new MRIs on Wednesday morning.

“Additional damage to some muscles in his wrist that weren’t there before,” Tracy said.

The 22-year-old Anthony returned to Massachusetts because the medical staff there was familiar with his injury from earlier this season.

“My thoughts are kind of all over the place,” he said. “Feelings and emotions of, you work all this year to put yourself in a position to just be good enough to go in the playoffs and for this to happen, it just doesn’t feel real.”

Anthony wasn't sure whether the injury is something he'll have to manage going forward.

“Given the point where we were at this year and all the different things that I tried and the different shots that I took and the routes that I went, I think — never really rested a ton, right? — so I don’t necessarily know the answer to that,” he said. “Once we saw it today, it was more so about like, all right, this is what it is. You can’t go. It’s not in the team’s best interest for you to play tonight. So get back there. Root your guys on and be a good teammate. And then once, like I said, once we get past the series, it’ll be one of those things where we reassess regardless of what happens and kind of go from there.”

Anthony missed 101 games from May 5 to Aug. 29 with the earlier injury to his hand.

“There’s been periods of time since he’s come back where he’ll get a zinger and feel something. And then it dissipates and we’re good to go,” Tracy said. “That’s not been an uncommon occurrence since he’s come back. But yesterday, as you went through those two at-bats, it got worse.”

The club announced Anthony was diagnosed with a right hand strain, and Major League Baseball approved a Red Sox roster substitution. Anthony was replaced on the Wild Card Series roster by infielder Curtis Mead, obtained from Washington in late July for pitcher Connelly Early.

“I’ve been experiencing some things with the swings and the check-swings over the past six weeks. Last night just felt a little bit more intense, a little bit more worse than past swings that have been lingering a little bit longer than the ones I was used to,” Anthony said.

“It was just super alarming and it got to a point where it was tough to grip a bat. I knew then and there that this was a little bit more similar to the one earlier in the year. That’s why we decided to go get imaging."

Mead got hit by a pitch in his first game with the Red Sox at the Athletics on July 27 and was placed on the injured list with a broken left wrist. He hasn't played in the big leagues since.

One of baseball’s premier prospects when he debuted in the majors last year, Anthony batted .245 with five home runs, 15 RBIs and a .735 OPS in 55 games this season.

“Hopefully he’s going to be healthy for next year,” Abreu said. “It’s a big loss for us, but we still have to play the game and try to win the game today.”

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The Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement that it received “credible information about an individual planning a violent attack" for Thursday in Austin. Officials did not provide details about the alleged plot, citing an ongoing investigation.

The tip came in Tuesday evening, and SWAT officers made the arrest about 3 a.m. Wednesday at a residence in Converse, near San Antonio.

Benny Caldera Jr. was charged with making a terroristic threat against a public servant, a felony, the DPS statement said. He made bond, according to online court records in Bexar County, but DPS said later Wednesday that Caldera was in federal custody after being arrested by the FBI to face additional federal charges.

DPS did not provide further details, and the FBI's San Antonio press office did not immediately respond to an email late Wednesday seeking comment.

Messages were left seeking comment from John Bunk, an attorney listed for Caldera.

DPS notified state lawmakers about the threat and arrest early Wednesday. The Capitol remained open during regular operating hours.

Gov. Greg Abbott said DPS was assisted by the FBI in making the arrest.

"Texas will NOT tolerate threats of violence against our Capitol," the governor said in a statement on social media.

The response came as oil and fuel exports neared prewar levels with alternate routes.

On an Israel-bound FlyDubai flight from Dubai on Wednesday, a copilot stabbed the pilot and then apparently tried to crash the jetliner carrying around 170 people, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker, and the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage is available here.

Iran indicates it received official US response to latest offer on ending the war

Iranian officials indicated Wednesday they have received an official U.S. response to Tehran’s latest proposal to end the seven-month war, which U.S. President Donald Trump had publicly rejected just days earlier.

The officials did not say what the response contained and whether it was a rejection.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the U.S. response to President Masoud Pezeshkian at a Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told the state-run IRNA news agency.

“We will make every effort to bring the agreement to fruition and will firmly stand up for the rights of the Iranian people,” Pezeshkian said. “The agreement must now be based on a win-win strategy.”

The Cabinet meeting followed Araghchi’s return to Iran after traveling to New York for last week’s United Nations General Assembly, where officials held indirect talks with U.S. officials and also met with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders.

Copilot stabs captain on Israel flight before passengers stop attack

A copilot stabbed a captain in an apparent attempt to crash a jetliner Wednesday as it was flying 174 people to Israel. Passengers burst into the cockpit and wrestled with the attacker as the plane descended sharply, witnesses and Israel’s government said.

A pilot on a FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel stabbed another pilot Wednesday and then apparently tried to crash the jetliner carrying around 170 people, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker, and the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

The plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The shaken passengers from the FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed Wednesday evening in Israel on another flight, as onlookers cheered. Israel’s emergency services said they treated three passengers with minor injuries.

It was not clear what motivated the attack, which led Israel to scramble warplanes amid concerns about a possible hijacking. In a CNN interview aired on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker was an Omani national and was being interrogated in Saudi Arabia, where he was arrested.

— By Samy Magdy in Cairo, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem, and Josh Funk

Israeli strikes kill 5 Palestinians and wound 19 in Gaza

Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians and wounded 19 in Gaza, hospital officials said Wednesday, the latest of almost daily attacks since Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire nearly a year ago, halting the heaviest of the fighting.

Officials at Shifa Hospital said an Israeli strike killed a woman and critically wounded her husband in Gaza City, while another struck a bus, killing four and wounding at least 14. Elsewhere in the territory, a strike in Khan Younis wounded four Palestinians, officials at Nasser Hospital said.

Israel’s military didn’t immediately respond to questions about the bus strike, but said it was reviewing information about the strike in Khan Younis.

Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,400 Palestinians since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which maintains detailed records that are generally seen as reliable. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant attacks over the same time period, while two more were killed by friendly fire.

Hundreds of mourners in Gaza City also held a vigil Wednesday for 105 people killed during the war and whose bodies were recovered in the past several days from the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes.

US troops withdraw from Iraq

The U.S. military said Wednesday that it had completed the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group.

Baghdad touted the move as a sign of the country’s growing strength and sovereignty. It was also celebrated by Iran-backed groups, but raised concerns among some other Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region.

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the withdrawal in a social media post, saying it “marks the end of a very expensive excursion into Hell.”

“It has been a long time, with very bad decision-making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place, but soon, that will be part of History,” Trump said.

Oil and fuel exports near prewar level with alternate routes

Alternate export routes and a U.S.-protected route through the Strait of Hormuz have helped restore oil and fuel exports from the Gulf to near prewar levels, according to figures from data firm Kpler.

Exports through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal — along with a pipeline to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman and a U.S.-protected route that guides tankers at night — have been a key workaround after the threat of Iranian attacks disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Kpler said during a Tuesday podcast.

About 21.8 million barrels per day of crude and fuel products made from crude are being shipped weekly, on average, compared to the prewar baseline of 23.3 million barrels per day, Kpler said.

“We are not at pre-conflict levels, but we are getting close to there,” said Matt Smith, Kpler's director of commodity research.

Still, the workarounds are time consuming and expensive.

Egypt’s president says Suez Canal revenue down $20 billion

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi says that the Suez Canal has lost a cumulative $20 billion in revenue since the Hamas-led attack on Israel unleashed the war in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, and because of maritime navigation disruptions from the Middle East conflict.

During a televised meeting on Tuesday with Cabinet members, top military leaders and local governors, el-Sissi blamed the government’s tight budget and little education and health spending on the volatile geopolitical situation that led to increases in food and energy prices.

Traffic was significantly disrupted after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels began targeting vessels heading to Israel through the Suez Canal after the start of the war in Gaza.

Saudi Crown Prince says he is confident kingdom can deter all foes

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de-facto ruler says his kingdom is capable of deterring its enemies as the oil-rich country remains embroiled in a proxy war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“Your country possesses highly efficient human and military capabilities, capable — by the grace of God Almighty — of repelling threats and deterring them completely, regardless of their sources,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday at the inauguration of a new session of the unelected advisory Shura council.

The Houthis recently captured the strategic port city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands, extending their reach toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a maritime route through which about 12% of global trade passes. They, along with allied militias in Iraq, also have attacked Saudi oil facilities and sought to prevent Saudi tankers from using the strait, disrupting the kingdom’s oil exports.

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

Nicolas is a four-year member and captain of the varsity soccer team.

He’s been named First-Team All-District, Academic All-District three years in a row and was named to the All Area Team and Defender of the Year in District 28-6A last season. Nicolas is also a member of the San Antonio FC Pro Academy.

He’s a member of the National Honor Society, maintains a 3.8 grade point average and is ranked in the top 30 percent of his class. Nicolas plans to attend college and major in business administration with a concentration around sports management.

The new hurricane, Rachel, is expected to develop rapidly and could become a major one with sustained winds topping 111 mph (178 kph). The storm was far offshore, however, and posed no threat to land.

Parts of New Mexico, meanwhile, looked less and less like the months of drought that dried up reservoirs and caused hungry bears to roam into neighborhoods in search of food. Wednesday marks the end of the second wettest month ever in Albuquerque, with National Weather Service records dating back to the 1800s.

Flood warnings in the southwestern state remained in effect, despite the storm slowing.

“There’s a lot of standing water in the fields and near some homes,” National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Lundeen said of one area where water overtopped a minor dam.

Floodwaters threatened the state's famous chile crop at harvest time. And the Rio Grande that ran dry through a long stretch of the state was overflowing.

The damp and stormy pattern is consistent with an El Niño year of above average Pacific storm activity.

Soggy weather slogs off to the east

From Colorado and across the Great Plains to Iowa, as much as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain fell Tuesday and into Wednesday, with some areas seeing even more.

More storms were expected in Texas and Oklahoma after one in Amarillo, Texas, flooded streets and spawned a tornado Tuesday night. Storm totals in the Amarillo area topped 3.5 inches (9 centimeters).

The weather was the remnant of tropical systems including Hurricane Polo, a Category 3 hurricane that made landfall overnight Monday on the Baja California peninsula and then farther inshore.

In southern New Mexico, ongoing rain threatened to rot red chiles as the harvest wraps up. Mold and disease will put stress on the plants in the field, said Preston Mitchell, a Hatch Chile Association board member.

“There will be nobody picking chile for at least five or six days,” Mitchell said. “All these growers whose fields were flooded, everything’s toast. Everything that’s out there is done.”

But most of about 100 people who sought refuge from potential flooding in chile-growing Dona Ana County were headed home from shelters Wednesday, county officials said.

As the weather cleared, water stopped spilling over an earthen flood-control structure in the area that held without failing.

Acting Gov. Howie Morales declared a state of emergency that made $3.75 million available through local governments to help affected people get temporary housing, healthcare, food and transportation.

Rachel is the latest in a busy Pacific hurricane season

Mexican authorities remain on alert in the states of Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco due to Hurricane Rachel.

In the state of Jalisco, schools were closed Wednesday in 30 municipalities as a precautionary measure.

Rachel was located about 200 miles (320 km) west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico. Its maximum sustained winds were around 90 mph (150 kmh), according to an advisory from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

The cyclone was moving northwest at 7 mph (11 kph) and was forecast to turn toward the west-northwest and west later this week, moving away from mainland Mexico and passing south of the Baja California peninsula.

The hurricane center said the Mexican government had discontinued all coastal watches and warnings. But it warned of possible isolated rainfall totals of up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) and heavy surf along the coasts of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco states.

In Jalisco, the bodies of three people -- two children ages 3 and 15, and their mother -- were found Sunday after the family went missing due to a river flooding in the city of Talpa de Allende, before Polo made landfall. The father is still missing, according to the Jalisco State Civil Protection agency. A tourist also is missing due to strong waves in Puerto Vallarta, but the agency says that case is not linked to Polo either.

In the central Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Nolo threatened dangerous conditions for parts of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area. Formerly a hurricane, the storm drenched parts of Hawaii’s Big Island over the weekend. Its maximum sustained winds were near 50 mph (85 kph).

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Mikella Schuettler and Wufei Yu in Phoenix, Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City and Julie Walker in New York City contributed reporting.

Cecilia Mueller, 47, was first arrested in connection with the alleged incident on April 27, 2026.

According to police, the alleged assault happened with a student several times while she was a teacher at Lewis Elementary School for nearly 12 years, until June 2019.

Mueller is no longer affiliated with the district, and records show her teacher educator certificate is also indefinitely suspended.

According to Bexar County jail records, Mueller was indicted on two first-degree felonies and three second-degree felonies.

Those charges include three counts of indecency with child sexual contact, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of continuous sexual assault of a child under 14.

Mueller’s next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13, records show.

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Keith Sonderling, who was confirmed 47-41, has been the acting secretary since April and has served in multiple roles within the department over the course of his career. He was picked for the job after the White House announced that Lori Chavez-DeRemer would be leaving her post to take a job in the private sector. Her exit followed multiple allegations that she had abused the power of her position.

Sonderling was a senior advisor in the department during Trump’s first term and later served as a Republican member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He also taught about the laws the department enforces as an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He returned to the department in Trump’s second term and was confirmed as deputy secretary in March of last year.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said it was clear Sonderling was qualified for the position when the committee he chairs advanced his nomination to the full Senate.

“I’m confident that he will protect workers, help businesses create more jobs, and help workers navigate AI-driven changes in the workforce,” Cassidy said.

Democrats opposed Sonderling's confirmation, citing administration policies at the department they disagreed with, including management of some Department of Education grant programs at Labor. That’s been happening as Trump works to fulfill his campaign pledge to close the Department of Education entirely.

The Labor Department's mission is focused on administering federal labor laws to guarantee workers’ rights to fair, safe, and healthy working conditions.

“I fear any vote to confirm you is for more of the same: to strip overtime protections for our workers, to undercut our unions and to let giant corporations get away with robbery, literally,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said during Sonderling's confirmation hearing.

Discussion

At 300 PM GMT (1500 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Hanna was located near latitude 33.4 North, longitude 43.6 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the east near 5 mph (7 km/h). A turn toward the east-northeast is expected later today with an increase in forward speed on Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. The remnant low should gradually weaken during the next couple of days.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 1008 mb (29.77 inches).

Watches and Warnings

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Land Hazards

None.

During a meeting on Thursday night, the exchange began when Street questioned City Manager Brian Rowland about numbers in the proposed budget.

Street said she had previously sent questions to Rowland but did not receive the information she was seeking until she arrived at the meeting.

“I’m not voting for a budget where I can’t get answers prior to the meeting or even in the meeting,” Street said. “I don’t know why you expect me to just roll over and say yes when we have not had any discussion over these items.”

Street also raised concerns about pay for firefighters. She said firefighters should be making at least $20 an hour, similar to police officers, and said the department had been waiting more than four years for a pay increase.

Street said she would not support a budget unless that raise was included.

Street said she was not given clear answers about firefighter pay, but Rowland tells KSAT there were multiple opportunities for questions to be addressed.

“It’s called gaslighting,” Street said in an interview with KSAT.

The council voted to remove Street during the Sept. 24 meeting over what city officials described as disrespectful behavior.

“I will say something at every meeting, which may force them to say I’m being disrespectful again,” Street told KSAT. “But I’m sorry, I’m allowed to address my government. And if they don’t like my tone, I’m really sorry. This is what God gave me. And that’s how I speak. I’m not beating around the bush. I’m calling it as I’m seeing it.”

Rowland said Street’s conduct violated the city’s decorum policy.

“While being disrespectful is not a crime, actually, it’s against the decorum policy,” Rowland said.

Dispute over firefighter pay

Street’s questions focused in part on firefighter compensation. She said firefighters should earn at least $20 an hour and questioned how a proposed $2 increase would be distributed.

“What he told me was they got a $2 increase, but it was up to them somehow to disperse that money,” Street said.

Rowland said council members and residents had multiple opportunities to participate in the budget process, including two budget town hall meetings held outside regular council meetings.

Rowland said Street did not attend either town hall. Street said she believed she attended one and said Rowland did not answer her questions there either.

Street also said she sent Rowland a list of questions about the budget 10 days before the meeting but received few answers.

The city manager also said Street attended part of a City Council retreat but did not attend the full retreat.

Budget approved amid tension

The budget was ultimately approved before its scheduled adoption on Oct. 1. The council, excluding Street, approved the budget including a property tax increase expected to bring in about $857,000 more than the year prior.

Rowland said the budget proposal already included increases for firefighters and public works employees.

“We were focusing on firefighters and public works pay for an increase that was already in the budget,” Rowland said. “When we start pitting departments against departments, we break down employee morale.”

Street said she will continue asking questions at future meetings.

“I’m going to keep asking the questions. He could start answering them,” Street said when asked about mending the working relationship between her and Rowland.

Rowland said Street does not have to agree with him but added that she has made his job as city manager “more difficult.”

The council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Oct. 8.

Street said she will continue to speak up at future meetings, even if officials again consider her tone disrespectful.

She said she will continue to ask direct questions and will not “beat around the bush.”

The crossing at the top of that list is Old Seguin Road at Salado Creek. SAFD has responded to 46 high-water rescues there since 2015, more than any other spot on its list.

The second-worst location is Old O’Connor Road, just north of Lookout on the Northeast Side, with 31 high-water rescues since 2015.

On the Northwest Side, Hollyhock Road about 600 feet west of Babcock has had 20 high-water rescues.

On the West Side, Pinn Road just south of West Commerce has had 14 high-water rescues since 2015. When the water gets high enough, crews will shut down the entire road.

SAFD said six inches of moving water can knock a person off their feet, and about 12 inches can sweep a vehicle away.

Downtown, San Pedro Creek is not on SAFD’s top 10 list, but two people were swept away in the creek during the Aug. 28 storms. One person was rescued and one died.

Click here to view the full list of high-water rescues.

The city posts real-time updates on barricaded roads at the link here.

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The Trump administration had granted visas, albeit with severe restrictions, to Iran’s president and foreign minister and their delegations to attend the annual meeting of world leaders despite the hostilities between the two countries.

While President Masoud Pezeshkian left New York a day after speaking at the United Nations last week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had remained behind ostensibly to participate in indirect talks with the U.S. on opening the Strait of Hormuz, ending the conflict and resuming negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

According to some accounts, Araghchi had planned to stay in New York until Wednesday.

After little progress was made in weekend meetings between Iranian and Qatari mediators, Rubio lost patience and told the Iranians on Monday that Araghchi and his delegation had to leave New York immediately, according to the two officials, who were familiar with the decision and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration process.

Rubio, according to one official, determined that the Iranians had “overstayed their welcome” and that since the high-level meetings at the U.N. were over, they should leave.

Ararghchi and his team departed New York very early Tuesday.

The Iranian U.N. delegation on Wednesday denied that they were ordered to leave.

“The Iranian delegation left New York on Monday evening, in accordance with the schedule that had also been communicated to the U.S. Department of State in advance on September 17,” the delegation wrote on its official X account. “Having achieved nothing, the State Department has resorted to propagating baseless and worthless news.”

Rubio’s decision was first reported by Axios.

The officials did not say what the response contained and whether it was a rejection.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the U.S. response to President Masoud Pezeshkian at a Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told the state-run IRNA news agency.

“We will make every effort to bring the agreement to fruition and will firmly stand up for the rights of the Iranian people,” Pezeshkian said. “The agreement must now be based on a win-win strategy.”

The Cabinet meeting followed Araghchi's return to Iran after traveling to New York for last week's U.N. General Assembly, where officials held indirect talks with U.S. officials and also met with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders.

Araghchi and his delegation were ordered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to leave New York earlier than planned, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration process. They departed New York very early Tuesday.

Araghchi briefed the Cabinet on his trip to New York and the meetings he held there, including Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Mohajerani said had been conveyed through mediators.

Araghchi last week said he floated the proposal to reopen the strait in a week if the U.S. agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.

Trump swiftly rejected the proposal, saying Iran wanted to make a deal because it was “losing so badly” but that its offer “would not be acceptable.” Despite Trump's public rebuff, mediators continued working with Iran and the U.S. to try to broker a deal to end the fighting and open the strait, according to officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled new sanctions on Tuesday targeting people and companies around the globe that it accuses of being financial facilitators or enablers of Iran’s military supply chain.

The latest action is part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.

Ten people and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan now face sanctions over accusations of procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran’s defense ministry as it fights its now seven-month war against the U.S.

Iran's economy is spiraling further

Iran's economy, under heavy strain before the war started, has been in a free fall since the conflict began in late February.

The country's currency fell to a record low on Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar in a stark reflection of how the war in the Middle East has steadily eroded the Iranian economy.

The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.

Trump on Wednesday, in an Oval Office exchange with reporters, threatened to “blow them up” if the U.S. and Iran don't forge a deal soon.

“It’s going to end very soon, one way or the other,” Trump said.

At the onset of the conflict, he predicted that the war would last just weeks. More recently, Trump said he expects it won't end until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections in the U.S.

Iranians face soaring prices for medicine amid US blockade, sanctions

Medication prices are soaring in Iran and some treatments have become hard to find, leaving patients and their families scrambling as a U.S. blockade and stepped-up sanctions squeeze the country’s pharmaceuticals industry.

Some medicines have more than tripled in price, further straining Iranians’ finances seven months into the country’s war with the United States and Israel. Prices for food and other goods have skyrocketed even as unemployment has risen and the currency, which hit a record low this week, has lost half its value.

The war has become an economic endurance test. Iran has tried to push world energy prices higher with attacks on the region’s oil shipping routes; the United States, in turn, has aimed to wreck Iran’s economy by blockading its ports since June and slapping it with increasingly tough sanctions.

Iran executes 2 men on charges of violence during January protests

Also on Wednesday, two men were executed in Iran over their role in violence during nationwide anti-government protests in January, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Citing the country's judiciary, IRNA said the men took part in unrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad that left four members of the security forces dead earlier this year. Their death sentences were upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court before being carried out Wednesday morning.

The unrest began Dec. 28 amid anger over Iran’s collapsing currency and worsening economy and quickly spread across the country, with demonstrators increasingly calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Iranian authorities responded with a deadly crackdown.

Rights groups say thousands were killed and tens of thousands arrested, while Iranian authorities have reported a substantially lower death toll.

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AP writers Michelle L. Price and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting.

But while Trump and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan — a two-term senator and long-time advocate for the pipeline project — described it as a fait accompli, South Korean officials were more cautious, saying they needed to assess the project's commercial viability before committing to the investment.

The announcement was the second time in three days that the president used promises of big projects to try to elevate Senate candidates in states where Trump won comfortably each time he has run — but where Republicans are now in surprisingly competitive races just weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. On Monday, Trump made a similar-styled announcement about a massive steel plant in Iowa.

But South Korea’s participation in the Alaska project — an 807-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline connecting Alaska’s North Slope to a liquefied natural gas export terminal in the southern part of the state —“has not been finalized,” said Han Jeoungae, secretary-general of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s liberal Democratic Party. She said that she believes Trump’s comments were “intended to emphasize the U.S. position.”

“We will decide whether to invest in the Alaska LNG project only after thoroughly reviewing it in accordance with our domestic legal procedures and based on the principle of commercial viability,” she wrote on Facebook.

Trump and Alaskan leaders in the Oval Office did not describe the project as pending. Trump praised Sullivan —who is facing a competitive challenge from Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman — for pushing it forward, saying “He’s been working on this deal and other deals in Alaska, the pipeline, for almost 20 years, and we’re now getting it done."

Sullivan thanked Trump and his cabinet for their work on the deal. “Mr. President, this one is huge for Alaska,” Sullivan said, adding that he’d been working on it “relentlessly.”

Peltola, Sullivan's Democratic challenger, also praised the project and Trump's advocacy for it, saying in a statement that she had been part of the bipartisan push to bring it “closer to reality" and looked forward to “continuing this bipartisan work with the President as Alaska’s next United States Senator.”

Trump is hitting the road to promote his administration's actions

The push to deliver big projects in areas where GOP candidates could use a boost comes as Trump's approval ratings have sunk ahead of the midterm elections.

Even Trump himself has begun acknowledging that Republicans could face an uphill climb in their push to retain control of both chambers of Congress after November. “We have to turn this around,” he said on Wednesday, suggesting his administration hasn't done enough to promote its accomplishments.

“I’ve done a very bad job of explaining," the president said during an earlier event in the White House East Room. He's promised to try to rectify that by spending much of the next month on the road campaigning. He begins that swing on Thursday with trips to Texas and Alabama, followed by Ohio on Saturday and Nebraska on Monday. All four are normally solidly red states.

Democrats are targeting Alaska and Iowa

On Monday, Trump announced plans for a $15 billion steel plant to be built by a Minnesota company owned by an Indian industrial conglomerate in Iowa, where Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson is in a close U.S. Senate contest with Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek for the seat being vacated by retiring two-term Republican Joni Ernst. Hinson spoke in the Oval Office during the announcement.

Democrats need to gain a net of four seats in the 100-member Senate to overtake Republicans and gain a majority, and the seats in Iowa and Alaska are among those they're targeting.

Trump's announcements come as voters express concern about near-record fuel prices related to the unresolved war with Iran and as majority Republicans in Congress are facing voters dissatisfied with Trump's handling of the economy.

In a late-July poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only about one-third of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, and about 7 in 10 described the economy as poor.

___

Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea. AP writers Tom Beaumont contributed from Des Moines, Iowa and Meg Kinnard from Columbia, S.C.

According to the KSAT Weather Authority, widespread rain is expected and flooding is possible Thursday, especially during the first part of the day.

>> Click here for the latest forecast

Any evening classes, college operations and events after 5 p.m. have been canceled, the district said.

“We will continue to monitor the weather closely and work with the National Weather Service,” the district said. “We will share any urgent updates through our Alamo Alert emergency notification system. Please also check your Alamo email regularly for the latest updates and information.”

This story will be updated if any other delays or cancellations are announced.

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The White Sox used a big first inning and a three-run homer from Chase Meidroth to propel them to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday to sweep their AL Wild Card Series.

“I’m proud of the guys and certainly happy for them as they’re probably the only ones in this country that believed that they could be in this spot," manager Will Venable said. “And they maintained that belief in the beginning of the season and went throughout the season maintaining that, and they made it happen. So it’s awesome to get to this point.”

It's the first time Chicago has won a playoff series since beating Houston in the World Series in 2005. Under the direction of Venable, the second-year skipper, and with a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV, the White Sox advanced to face AL Central champion Cleveland in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Cleveland.

“It means everything for our fans,” Meidroth said. “They have been incredible all year. So the main thing was getting back to Chicago for some postseason baseball, and so we’re really blessed that we get to do that.”

The White Sox, who lost 100 games in each of the last three seasons, are the only team in major league history to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth.

The AL West-winning Astros went 81-81 to become the first team to reach the postseason without a winning record. Their recent playoff woes in Houston continued Wednesday as they dropped their ninth straight home playoff game in a ninth trip to the postseason in the last 10 years.

Chicago pounced on the Astros for four runs in the first inning a day after scoring three in the first two innings of a 6-3 win. Houston ace Hunter Brown was lifted after getting just two outs and wasn’t helped by a sloppy defense which committed two first-inning errors.

He was 6-0 with a 2.39 ERA in six career starts against the White Sox before Wednesday’s debacle.

The Astros clawed their way back into it with solo home runs from Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve to trail by 1 entering the sixth inning.

AJ Blubaugh, who opened Game 1, and Peter Lambert, pitching on two days’ rest, combined to retire the next 13 batters after Brown exited. Chicago’s next baserunner came when Lambert walked Andrew Benintendi to start the sixth and then walked Tristan Peters.

Bryan Abreu came in, and Meidroth smashed his fifth pitch off the wall in left field to push the lead to 7-3. He yelled on his entire trip around the bases to the delight of a patch of White Sox fans seated near the visitor’s dugout.

“I was looking for something middle up,” Meidroth said. “He’s had my number all year, really good fastball, so I got something middle up and I was able to cash in for the team. So, yeah, that was awesome.”

Houston faced boos for a second game in a row from an unusually thin crowd. It’s a second straight playoff trip where the Astros have been swept at home in the wild card after losing both games to Detroit in 2024.

Now they’ll face an uncertain future with manager Joe Espada’s contract set to expire at season’s end after general manager Dana Brown was fired last month.

“We fought back and we set our goal to win this division and we accomplished that,” Espada said. “We wanted to play deep in October. We came short on that. But just the way our guys stayed together and were able to get this far, extremely proud of our team.”

It was a disappointing series for Houston slugger and AL MVP-favorite Yordan Alvarez, who managed only a single with two strikeouts in eight at-bats in the series.

Altuve’s shot to the seats in left field in the fourth inning got the Astros within 4-3. It was the 28th postseason homer of his career, which is second in MLB history behind Manny Ramirez (29).

“We’re all sad,” Altuve said. “We wanted to go to the World Series and win it. But today is sorrow for the final day of the season."

The Astros had a shot to take the lead before Meidroth’s homer. They loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Anthony Kay retired Altuve on a fly out to end the inning.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The indictment against 36-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz of Orlando was unsealed Wednesday by a Los Angeles County judge.

Ortiz, appearing in court wearing yellow jail clothes, spoke only to her attorney, who entered a not guilty plea for her. The judge then ordered her held on $2.6 million bail.

The move came a day after another judge ruled that Ortiz is mentally competent to stand trial. The secret grand jury proceedings were held as Ortiz was undergoing months of psychiatric evaluation. The jurors returned their indictment June 18, but it was kept under wraps for three months until the judge ruled on her competency. Now, a case that appeared stalled — possibly permanently — is on a fast track to trial.

No one was injured in the March 8 shooting. Authorities allege Ortiz drove a Tesla up to the gates of the Beverly Hills-area property of the singing superstar and her rap star partner, A$AP Rocky, pointed an AR-15 style rifle out the window and fired at least 20 rounds toward the property and the neighboring house.

“This is a person who wanted to kill Rihanna,” Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said outside court. “Everyone else was collateral damage.”

Bullets tore through the Airstream trailer, according to a police report. Shots also struck the wall of their home's nursery, where their three small children were with their nanny. Rihanna’s mother and several staffers also were in the home, and authorities say she also fired shots toward a neighbor's house.

Both Rihanna and her mother, Monica Fenty, testified to the grand jury, as did Hollywood agent Tracey Jacobs, the owner of the neighboring house who was home at the time and is listed among the victims in the indictment.

Their testimony remains under seal but will become public in about two weeks unless the defense seeks to keep them secret and the judge agrees.

Rihanna told investigators just after the shooting that she “suddenly heard approximately ten loud sounds like something banging on metal,” and pulled Rocky out of a bed and onto the ground. She said she opened curtains and saw bullet marks in the windshield right in front of where she had been standing.

Deputy Public Defender Derek Dillman, Ortiz's attorney, did not speak to reporters outside the courtroom, and a message seeking comment from the public defender's office on the indictment was not immediately answered. Other than her not guilty pleas, her lawyers have not publicly addressed the charges, saying only that they would work to defend her rights.

Investigators said that on the day of her arrest, Ortiz told them: “I wasn’t attempting murder.”

Ortiz was charged with very similar counts in March. The new indictment supersedes those charges. The secret grand jury proceedings allow prosecutors to skip California’s preliminary hearing process, where evidence must be presented publicly to see if a trial is merited.

The indictment also charges Ortiz with 10 counts of assault with an assault weapon — one for each of the people on the two properties — and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper. It names the couple's three children Rza, Riot and Rocki, all under age 5, as victims. The assault weapon counts carry a stiffer sentence than the original charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Ortiz was the registered owner of the rifle, which she obtained in Florida, authorities said.

She could get life in prison if convicted of all counts.

Reports have been sealed on the psychiatric evaluations that paused the case shortly after it began, and there was no public discussion of the details of her mental state.

Prosecutors have not said anything about a motive or cited any connection between Rihanna and Ortiz, a longtime licensed speech pathologist. But in videos posted on Facebook and YouTube in the months before the shooting, Ortiz made increasingly angry comments on Rihanna that sometimes took the form of threats, at one point calling her a “devil.”

A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has had 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “We Found Love,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Disturbia.”

Some residents have questioned whether another trauma center could help reduce emergency room wait times. University Health spokesperson Leni Kirkman said trauma centers are designed to treat patients with severe injuries, including those caused by car crashes, gun violence and falls. They do not serve the same purpose as general emergency departments, she said.

“Trauma is not an emergency room,” Kirkman said. “Trauma center is a whole hospital. Trauma teams are activated when a patient is injured. Not sick, not a heart attack, not a stroke, but when they suffer an injury that might require surgery.”

Kirkman said the most seriously injured patients need the resources and expertise available at a Level I trauma center. While she explained that San Antonio has 13 trauma centers, most are level three and four, which are responsible for lower-level traumas.

“Every hospital can’t be a level one trauma center,” she said. “First of all, there are not enough specialists to staff them, and it is extremely expensive to operate a level one trauma center, so they are very important resources in their region.”

Kirkman said the number of trauma cases requiring the highest level of care has declined, even as San Antonio’s population continues to grow. Kirkman said spreading those patients across more facilities could affect the experience and training available at University Health and Brooke Army Medical Center.

In a statement, BAMC said patient volume is crucial to patient care and military medical readiness. Kirkman said BAMC also brings battlefield medical expertise to the San Antonio community.

She said reducing the number of patients treated at the city’s existing Level I trauma centers could affect highly trained surgeons, specialists and trauma research.

“When it’s your loved one, you want somebody who has done it multiple times before they are operating on your loved ones,” Kirkman said.

The decision ultimately rests with the Department of State Health Services, but in a committee meeting Tuesday, District 4 Councilman Edward Mungia, District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Galvito, and District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzales cited a lack of information and concerns about limiting healthcare options.

District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears said that an added trauma center would ultimately hurt BAMC’s military mission, and leaders at the Pentagon were concerned.

Methodist has not filed official paperwork with DSHS to upgrade its trauma services yet, but city leaders said Tuesday that they would begin taking steps on Oct. 1. Methodist has not responded to KSAT’s inquiries for comment.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• San Antonio City Council seeks more data on proposed Methodist trauma center upgrade
• As Methodist Healthcare seeks new trauma center, city leaders want to protect BAMC military mission

The attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana contend that the laws in California, Massachusetts and New York undermine their abortion bans and their states' sovereignty. Federal regulations allow prescriptions for abortion pills to be made by telehealth and filled by mail, and the three GOP states want to keep the pills out and punish out-of-state providers for sending them.

“This is the first time we've seen a state or group of states suing other states to challenge the validity of shield laws,” said Mary Ziegler, a University of California, Davis, law professor and author of seven books on abortion law and history.

The Supreme Court can hear disputes between states directly, though it rarely does. If the top court weighs in, it could short-circuit existing lawsuits.

Louisiana and anti-abortion activists have been frustrated with a lack of federal action by President Donald Trump's administration against medication abortion. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over its rules allowing mail-order prescriptions. The Supreme Court in May preserved access to abortion medications as that case plays out.

“We need and deserve the opportunity to be able to enforce our laws against those who have chosen, despite their knowledge of the illegality, to continue to foster abortion in our state,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said during a news conference with Murrill and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin.

Thirteen states ban abortion in all stages of pregnancy, which the Supreme Court allowed in its 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Most Democratic-controlled states adopted abortion protections, including eight with laws intended to protect providers who prescribe abortion pills for patients in states with bans.

Louisiana and Texas have pursued criminal charges and civil claims against doctors based in New York and California. Officials in California and New York have refused to cooperate, citing their shield laws.

“Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas are asking the Supreme Court to let them impose their abortion bans on New York and punish our doctors for providing legal health care,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Wednesday.

Ziegler said Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana would have a stronger case if they had first tried to get the highest court in one of the three other states to force its officials to cooperate. She also said the lawsuit's timing is odd — six weeks before November congressional midterm elections that could prove difficult for the GOP.

“This may be an example of the political incentives not being the same for state-level Republicans versus federal Republicans,” she said. “If you're running in a contested race, calling attention to abortion is not a great idea, but if you're Louisiana attorney general, you're not really in that position.”

But Rachel Rebouche, a University of Texas law professor, said suing other states has been a potential legal strategy for GOP states since the first shield laws were enacted.

“That it’s taken this long is kind of remarkable,” she said.

Even before Roe was overturned, abortion pills were the most common means of ending pregnancies in the U.S., and telehealth makes abortion available even where it's banned. The three GOP attorneys general said hundreds of patients in their states use pills to end pregnancies each month.

Also on Wednesday, Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana filed a lawsuit against 30 out-of-state abortion pill providers and their officers, accusing them of false advertising and other misconduct harming patients in states with abortion bans.

FDA scientists have repeatedly found the regimen safe and effective, though the agency is now reviewing its rules.

Councilmembers reviewed a revised proposal, which is a similar, delayed version of the one they considered three months ago. Under the new plan, rates could bump an average monthly bill by roughly $13 to $17 by 2030.

Instead of raising rates in July under the initial proposal, residential rates would go up 6.9% on Jan. 1, 2027 and be raised again by 6.5% in 2028, between 4.5% and 7% in 2029, and between 4% and 6.6% in 2030.

The range of rates in the latter two years of increases dips slightly lower than what was presented in June, 4.5% and 4% instead of 5.5% and 5%.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said she supports a potential SAWS rate increase, citing the need to replace aging infrastructure and protect the city’s drinking water.

During KSAT Q&A on the 6 p.m. newscast, Jones said SAWS needs additional money for major upgrades, including work on pipes that are more than 100 years old.

“I think it is an appropriate time for us to invest in the infrastructure,” Jones said. “It will require a rate increase. The SAWS team has worked very hard to make sure that it’s as small as it can be. But at the end of the day, some of these projects are over $200 million.”

SAWS officials have said the money would help fund critical infrastructure projects as the utility works to maintain reliable service and keep drinking water clean.

City Council is expected to vote on the proposed rate increase next week.

Read more:

• SAWS is back with a new rate proposal; what’s changed?

Judge Dustin Howell said that the case against Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, should proceed after prosecutors presented body-worn camera footage of the encounter in Austin, in which Garces Perez allegedly struck a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with his driver's side mirror.

Garces Perez is charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His case has sparked widespread outrage across the Texas capital city and brought renewed criticism from Democrats of President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration.

Garces Perez appeared in court in a wheelchair and wearing a sling on his arm

With a bullet still lodged in his back, Garces Perez appeared in court in a wheelchair. His attorneys said he still urgently needs medical care, 10 days after being shot. He also wore a sling on his arm and needed help putting on a headset to listen to a translation of the proceedings.

The defense called the charges against Garces Perez “retaliation” and argued that the camera footage was inconclusive because it didn't fully capture the moment when he allegedly tried to flee.

The hearing also included testimony from Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Rick Bazan, who signed the criminal complaint charging Garces Perez with assault. The defense argued that Bazan, whose agency is the investigative arm of ICE, could not confirm whether the ICE agent was actually hit by the car mirror since no federal investigators interviewed the agent directly. Bazan also couldn't explain why officer allegedly struck by the mirror was not wearing a body-worn camera.

Footage provided Wednesday in court shows officers pulling Garces Perez over Sept. 20 in Austin, where he was making deliveries for DoorDash.

The video showed Garces Perez giving officers his drivers license through a crack in his window and then asking in Spanish if he can park his car so that a relative could come retrieve it. The officer demanded Garces Perez get out of the car multiple times, to which he asked if he could park his own car so a family member could come retrieve it. After a back and forth, Garces Perez abruptly and rapidly drives off.

Prosecutors show video but not of the shooting itself

Prosecutors presented a video from cameras at a nearby business showing the ensuing high-speed chase through residential streets. The shooting itself was not captured on the footage shared in court.

The federal officer who shot Garces Perez wasn’t wearing a body-worn camera. The immigration officer who did have a camera was driving in a separate car and turned the camera off during the pursuit.

Garces Perez said he was struck by a law enforcement SUV and spun around before he was shot. Federal officers told investigators, however, that Garces Perez attempted to strike an officer with his car at the end of the chase before the unidentified officer fired his weapon.

The accusations against Garces Perez recall previous claims made by immigration agents after other high-profile shootings similarly accusing drivers of weaponizing their vehicles. In a handful of cases, the allegations have been undermined or walked back after the release of body-worn camera footage, drawing renewed scrutiny about the DHS’s reliance on vehicular stops to execute arrests.

The man's lawyer accuses ICE of denying him medical treatment

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, one of Garces Perez's immigration attorneys, accused ICE of denying him medical treatment for his bullet wound.

“ICE’s conduct has been so egregious, that physicians, nurses, medical ethicists and health advocates have come together to demand his release,” she said outside court after the hearing.

Garces Perez entered the U.S. in 2024 using CBP One, a program begun under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to schdule appointments with U.S. authorities to be considered for asylum. President Donald Trump ended the program on his first day back in office.

Garces Perez was an asylum seeker and had a valid work permit, according to his lawyer. She said a judge later issued a deportation order after Garces Perez missed an immigration court hearing because the notice had been sent to a former address.

Judge Howell said he denied Garces Perez bond on the basis that he could be a flight risk to Venezuela, where he has a child.

His attorneys have filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent his removal from the U.S.

___

Riddle reported from Los Angeles.

>> Click here for the latest forecast

Patrick Steck, the assistant director of the department, said according to team members, a number of those in the unhoused community have heard about the rain forecast.

He said that is good to hear, but they are working to make sure those who have not heard get the weather alert.

Steck said everyone the outreach team speaks to is being encouraged to find higher ground, especially those who live in or near drainage ditches or culverts.

Last March, a 61-year-old woman who reportedly lived in a drainage tunnel drowned after she was swept away. Her body was found in Woodlawn Lake.

Six months later, another tragedy hit when another woman and a man known to be part of the unhoused community were found dead near Salado Creek.

They too were believed to have been swept away.

Steck said to prevent loss of life, those who do not have shelter need to be informed as early as possible about potential safety risks and dangers, such as avoiding drainage systems and other low-lying areas.

“So, number one is getting the word out about what’s coming. So, we’re monitoring the weather forecasts,” Steck explained. “Every time they come out from the weather service, which is several times per day, we’re keeping a track of that internally and then getting that message (out).”

Something else the city is doing to ensure the unhoused community is aware of the potential flooding danger in an area is putting up signs.

Steck said the signs are going up in areas where they know people live and sleep, but members of the outreach team missed them and could not tell them face-to-face that their spot could possibly flood.

The city is working with local nonprofits like Close to Home, Haven for Hope, Corozan and the Salvation Army to offer resources.

Steck said the city’s outreach team will be back out Thursday to check on the people in areas they have already stopped by to make sure they are safe and to also hand out rain ponchos.

If you see someone who may need assistance, you can call or share the number to the Community Connections Hotline at 210-207-1799.

Read also:

• Texas deploys emergency crews, equipment ahead of severe weather threat
• After $16K in damage, West Side homeowner prepares for another storm
• Gov. Greg Abbott discusses how Texas will prepare for this week’s flood threat

The transcript, which has not been publicly released, raises new questions surrounding the local district attorney's decision not to prosecute anyone at the time.

In recent days, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has maintained the woman's first account to police didn't include allegations that she was drugged, incapacitated beyond the ability to consent, or forced into sex. Yet, he also said he had reopened the investigation based on new information in the woman's lawsuit, which was filed this month.

Cornell has agreed to bring in outside lawyers to independently investigate how the university handled the woman's allegations, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

The woman initially went to Cornell's campus police about three weeks after the alleged attack that began on Oct. 19, 2024, then went back on Nov. 14 and 15, 2024, to be interviewed.

“Yes. It was coercion, yes,” she told a campus police officer, according to the transcript obtained by CBS. According to CBS News, she said she was “completely and totally incapacitated” before some of the sexual abuse.

The woman acknowledged she had been drinking alcohol and used drugs the night she visited the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, and that she had gaps in her memory.

She also told police she was comfortable with an initial sexual encounter with two of the men, but not with what happened later, when other men began to enter the room.

“And then, of course, I was being hit at the same time. Physically hit very, very hard," she told police, according to the transcript. “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped," it said she told investigators.

The woman, identified only by the pseudonym Jane Doe in the lawsuit, filed a complaint Sept. 16 saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She became completely incapacitated while fraternity members were sexually assaulting her, she said.

Van Houten didn't immediately respond to emails and phone messages from The Associated Press on Wednesday, but he told CBS News he never saw the transcript of the woman's interview when his office declined to bring charges, and relied instead on a statement written by a campus police officer but signed by the accuser.

Van Houten has released a summary of that statement, with some of her direct quotes included. He has defended his office’s decision not to do additional investigation after the woman first came forward.

“There were no question marks. There was no additional need to find information because we had all of the information that the police collected from Jane Doe through her very detailed, very comprehensive statement that she provided,” Van Houten told CNN earlier this week.

Cornell University first publicly disclosed that it was investigating the woman's allegations on Nov. 8, 2024, the same day she first went to police. The school sent students an email warning them that a person had reported they had been sexually assaulted at a fraternity house and coerced into consuming drugs. Cornell suspended the Chi Phi fraternity the same day.

In another public statement to students in late November 2024, Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff said campus police were investigating “deeply disturbing allegations of drug abuse and sexual violence” at the fraternity house.

Later, Cornell appointed a task force designed to address sexual assault on campus. But with the district attorney's decision not to pursue charges and the university's internal disciplinary investigation shielded from the public, attention on the matter waned.

Cornell said in a statement this week that it supported the decision to reopen the criminal investigation, adding that its own investigation had led to some students being disciplined or expelled. The Chi Phi chapter remains barred from campus, but the university has declined to release more information on discipline for individual students, citing privacy rules.

Earlier this week, Hochul called for a new investigation into the university's handling of the matter. In a post on social media Wednesday, she said she had spoken with Kotlikoff and he “agreed to bring in outside counsel for an independent investigation.” Cornell confirmed it had agreed but declined additional comment.

“This culture has to stop. And in New York, we’re going to do everything we can to stop it,” Hochul said.

Benny Caldera Jr., 40, was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony terroristic threat against a public servant, records show. The charge is a third-degree felony.

DPS said the department received information Tuesday about a planned attack on the Texas State Capitol scheduled for Oct. 1, 2026.

DPS and FBI agents arrested Caldera around 3 a.m. at his Converse home, according to DPS. The investigation is ongoing.

Caldera was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on a $75,000 bond, jail records show.

The Texas Capitol remains open during regular operating hours, DPS said.

Suspicious behavior can be reported through the iWatchTexas mobile app, online at iwatchtx.org or by calling 844-643-2251.

Read also:

Girl stabs boy at Metzger Middle School, Judson ISD board member says

Maria Salazar, who lives on the city’s West Side, said the storm left her neighborhood looking like “a war zone” after trees were uprooted and fell through her roof.

Weeks later, Salazar is still waiting for repairs to be completed. She said she hopes the work will be finished within the next few weeks, barring any setbacks.

With more rain in the forecast, Salazar said her first concern was whether the unfinished portions of her home could withstand the weather.

Her carpenter told her the repairs should be able to handle the rain, but Salazar said she remains nervous, particularly because of a tree near her home.

“My neighbor has a tree; I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

The latest storm threat is expected to be driven more by heavy, widespread rain than destructive winds, according to KSAT’s Weather Authority. The rainfall could create a risk for flooding in parts of the area.

For Salazar, the possibility of more rain brings back memories of the damage she experienced last month.

“I’m hoping we don’t get any water, but I have PTSD, so I have towels ready and candles going,” she said.

Salazar said the storm uprooted trees that fell onto her home and caused significant damage. The repairs have cost her more than $16,000, not including cosmetic improvements.

She is now focused on protecting what she can, including items with sentimental value that remain inside the damaged portion of her home.

Among those belongings are her daughter’s quinceañera items from about 15 years ago, along with photographs and photo albums.

Because the damaged area is not safe to enter, Salazar said she cannot retrieve the belongings unless she can reach them from outside.

With another storm approaching, she is considering getting a tarp to help protect the area.

Read also:

• Gov. Greg Abbott discusses how Texas will prepare for this week’s flood threat
• How school districts plan for inclement weather during athletic events

And no matter which way they go, the bond vote could also effectively put the Spurs arena project back onto the ballot, albeit in a roundabout way.

The city’s five-year bond programs are typically crammed with major infrastructure projects like overhauling failed streets, drainage projects, park improvements, new greenway trails, and fire and police stations. Across the city, staff estimate there are 304 potential projects worth $5.8 billion.

“Our need will always outweigh our capacity,” City Manager Erik Walsh said during a Wednesday council briefing.

This time, the gap is especially noticeable.

The bond programs, which require voter approval, are backed by city property taxes. But because of sagging property values, the city estimates it only has the capacity for a $442 million bond program in 2027. That’s compared to the $1.2 billion program voters approved in 2022, which also included the city’s first housing bond.

Staff also recommended raising stormwater fees on residents’ San Antonio Water System bills to make room for another $175 million worth of drainage projects outside of the bond program. That would be in addition to the SAWS rate increase the council is also considering.

Staff say if property values recover sooner than expected, the city could put together another bond program before the five-year program is over.

Some councilmembers, miffed that needed projects may have to sit on the back burner even longer, want to pursue a larger bond program — perhaps $1 billion or more.

“People on our sides of town are demanding more things, their fair share, and they haven’t been getting that,” Edward Mungia (D4) said.

But under that approach, if property values don’t rise quickly enough to cover debt payments, which the city doesn’t expect they will, the property tax rate would have to go up instead.

And any increase would be on top of the 3.9% tax hike the City Council just approved as part of its regular operating budget and another increase planned for next year.

“If we go and we raise the amount of this bond by increasing taxes, we’re going to have something of a holy war on our hands over this bond package,” said Marc Whyte (D10), who was one of four votes against the budget tax increase.

Walsh promised staff would provide councilmembers with “worst case scenarios” to see how much residents could see their tax bills go up.

Project Marvel infrastructure

Part of that bond could include $35 million worth of infrastructure needs around the city’s planned downtown sports and entertainment district, known as Project Marvel. That amount assumes the Texas Department of Transportation provides about 80% of the funding for several projects.

That’s a dramatic drop from the $220 million to $250 million staff initially presented in June 2025, but city officials say they’ve dropped or scaled back some of the major projects.

For instance, there is no plan for a new parking garage within the new proposal and no complicated “single-point urban interchange” for Durango Boulevard and I-37. Work on Durango Boulevard would include improvements, but not a complete overhaul.

Part of the non-binding term sheet for the Spurs arena deal, though, says the city’s $489 million share is subject to voter approval passage of a bond program to support infrastructure improvements for the district.

If that fails, Walsh told KSAT, “We would have to reexamine where we’re at with the whole thing.”

At least one council member said they wanted to see those projects separated into their own proposition for voters to consider, and Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones asked about dipping into a pool of hotel-related state tax dollars the city’s using to fund the arena, known as the Project Finance Zone (PFZ), instead, to fund those downtown projects, and possibly others.

She also asked about using city-controlled tax capture districts known as Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZ) to fund potential bond projects.

“I think as we’re, you know, all looking at how do we get as much done here, looking at all the various pots, we want to also explain to folks, ‘Hey, we have taken those things that can be paid for with other pots of money. We’ve done that to protect as much of the bond capacity as possible,’” she said.

Read also:

• San Antonio ethics board fines Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez $1,000 over Facebook post
• San Antonio City Council seeks more data on proposed Methodist trauma center upgrade
• San Antonio lacks thousands of streetlights, and not everyone wants them

The laws ban employers from using the technology to predict a worker's emotional state by using their biometric data, require employers to send written notices to workers if AI is responsible for mass layoffs and ban employers from relying on AI to decide to fire someone.

The Democratic governor also signed an executive order to require state agencies to continue to refer to the technology as “artificial intelligence” instead of the term “ super intelligence ” President Donald Trump recently ordered U.S. diplomats to use.

“AI should expand opportunity — not come at the expense of workers and families,” Newsom said in a statement. “As this technology reshapes the workplace, California is putting people at the center.”

He sharply criticized Trump at an hourlong event with reporters Wednesday for not passing comprehensive federal AI regulations at a time when industry leaders are warning about the technology’s risks. Trump said Tuesday that top tech leaders signed a voluntary accord to “self-police” AI development.

The governor signed a law this month requiring operators of AI chatbots to perform risk assessments before rolling them out and an executive order requiring the state to consult with experts to further improve oversight over the industry.

“We have to do a lot more in the absence of federal leadership,” Newsom said, leaving the door open for the possibility of calling lawmakers back for a special session to further tackle the issue.

The news conference came on Newsom's last day to sign or veto bills before he terms out in January. He started the event by signing a law creating a tax credit program aimed at helping local news organizations — including newspapers, digital outlets and TV stations — hire and retain journalists. Newsom criticized what he called Trump's assault on a free press, pointing to the president's barring of news organizations from the White House.

Newsom also spoke about the upcoming midterms, which will decide control of Congress. He involved himself early in that fight by leading Democrats last year in a redistricting battle to improve their chances of winning more House seats. He's said repeatedly that the stakes are high if his party doesn't succeed in November.

“There will not be a free and fair election in 2028 unless we take back the House of Representatives,” he said Wednesday.

Asked if he's set a deadline for himself to decide whether he'll run for president in 2028, Newsom hedged, saying “that moment will arrive when it arrives.”

Former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who, like Newsom, hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, has also said she’s considering running for the job in 2028. Newsom told CNN recently that he wouldn’t run for president if she entered the race. He said the two haven't spoken since that interview aired.

Newsom weighed in on a proposal to temporarily raise taxes on billionaires that will be on the ballot in November, which he's consistently opposed. He said he respects supporters of the measure, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who are committed to addressing income inequality in the country.

“He's spot on about the balance between the rich and the poor,” Newsom said. “On this issue, we fundamentally disagree.”

Newsom's remarks came hours before a gubernatorial debate between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton.

“You're going to ask me, ‘Are you going to watch the debate?’” he said. “No.”

The last U.S. troops left an air base in northern Iraq under a deal between Baghdad and Washington.

Trump, in a social media post, described the withdrawal by a Sept. 30 deadline as “orderly." Appearing soon after at a White House event celebrating Hispanics, he spoke at length about the withdrawal and said, “It’s been a long time with very bad decision making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place. It was a quagmire. For many, many years it lasted. But soon that part of history will be over.”

He said the shift was a victory for the U.S., Iraq and a sign of victory over the Islamic State group.

The withdrawal, agreed on two years ago, comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war between the United States and Iran that has also sometimes spilled over into Iraq, with Iran-backed militias firing on U.S. troops and the U.S. striking the groups' strongholds.

Trump’s comments came as his own decision earlier this year to launch the war with Iran has been compared to the Iraq war for its undefined mission as it nears its seventh month.

Appearing at the White House, Trump made that comparison, arguing both that his one-day military action in Venezuela earlier this year to capture now former President Nicolás Maduro and the Iran war compared favorably, taking far less time and with fewer deaths of U.S. troops.

In recent years, Washington has sought to shift its focus from the Middle East toward Asia, but that shift has been inconsistent, with the Pentagon alternating between reducing its Mideast presence and then finding itself engaging in new conflicts — including the ongoing war in Iran.

Baghdad touted the end of the U.S. mission as a sign of the country's increasing strength and sovereignty.

The withdrawal was also celebrated by Iran-backed groups but raised concerns among some other Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region, where many fear a resurgence of the Islamic State group as well as more attacks by Iran-linked groups, possibly emboldened by the departure of U.S. forces.

Meanwhile, questions loom around the future of the Iraqi militias, which the Baghdad government has sought to disarm, with little success so far.

A new phase in Iraq after decades of US involvement

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that U.S. troops and equipment had completed an “orderly departure” from the air base in Irbil, in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

“This milestone reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region,” he said. “It also marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship.”

He added that the U.S. military “will continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to our Iraqi partners.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi presided over the handover ceremony and described the U.S. withdrawal as the beginning of a “new phase, one defined by Iraq’s sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, the unity of its decision-making, and balanced partnerships with its friends.”

He said Iraqi security forces will continue the fight against IS and the government will ensure that non-state groups no longer hold weapons.

Trump in his remarks on Wednesday lavished praise on al-Zaidi, calling him “outstanding,” a “fantastic guy, friend of mine,” and someone who “will hopefully be able to handle things very well.” He also appeared to try to take credit for al-Zaidi's leadership, saying that the Iraqi leader was “running for election” and “wasn’t given even a chance and I endorsed him and politicked for him a little bit, and he ended up winning in a virtual landslide.”

Al-Zaidi was not on the ballot but was selected as prime minister when Iraq’s dominant parliamentary bloc nominated him after weeks of internal debate among its member parties and Trump publicly announcing his opposition to the coalition's previous choice.

U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein. They departed in 2011, but three years later, Iraqi authorities invited a smaller U.S.-led mission to fight the Islamic State group, which had rampaged across Iraq, seizing large swaths of territory.

With the extremist group reduced to scattered sleeper cells, Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind the mission down.

U.S. troops pulled out of bases in most areas of Iraq last year but maintained a small presence of hundreds of troops in the semiautonomous northern Kurdish region. Bases there have regularly come under attack since the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran on Feb. 28. Iran-backed Iraqi militias also have coordinated with Yemen’s Houthi rebels to attack Saudi Arabia.

The future of militias remains unclear

The Iraqi government initially linked the Sept. 30 deadline for U.S. withdrawal to the disarmament of non-state armed groups by that date.

While a handful of less-influential militias have agreed to turn over their weapons, powerful groups close to Iran rejected the prospect or set conditions for disarming that the government would be unlikely to meet.

Al-Zaidi has since walked back the deadline. He told The New York Times earlier this month that the deadline for militia disarmament has been pushed to June 2027.

The effects of the U.S. withdrawal may not be immediately visible, particularly since the U.S. military presence had already been scaled down. But officials in Iraq's Kurdish region have expressed anxiety about the departure and particularly about the removal of U.S. air defense systems.

The Kurdish regional government's Peshmerga Ministry said the Kurdish region had faced more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile attacks during the recent U.S.-Iran conflict.

“The departure of the United States from the Kurdistan Region under these complex regional circumstances, without the provision of a defense system, is a matter of concern,” the statement said.

Iran-allied groups in Iraq, meanwhile, have celebrated the U.S. withdrawal.

“The expulsion of the occupation forces, defeated, from the land of Iraq is the beginning of full sovereignty,” Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official with the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement.

He added a warning to al-Zaidi and his government not to carry out American plans, threatening that “any government that does not work for the benefit of the people will be overthrown by all means.”

Kataib Hezbollah leader Ahmad al-Hamidawi took a somewhat more conciliatory tone, calling on the group's fighters to halt their military activities “with the exception of targeting hostile aircraft violating the country’s airspace.”

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, said in a statement that negotiations with the government over the regulation of weapons have not resulted in an agreement and that it was “not bound by any timeline or agreement” announced by the government or political entity. The group said it is open to “any dialogue that guarantees Iraq’s sovereignty and dignity.”

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Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Noem, who was tasked with leading President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown from January 2025 to March 2026 and previously served as South Dakota's governor, is seeking a divorce from Bryon Noem in their home state. The two married in May 1992 and have three children.

The filing, submitted to the court in April but posted online on Monday, comes after questions arose earlier this year about the nature of Kristi Noem's relationship with a top adviser. The complaint, filed in Hamlin County, South Dakota, notes “irreconcilable differences” as grounds for the divorce.

Kristi Noem's attorney, Michael Sabers, confirmed that she has filed for divorce and said she will reserve further comments for the legal process.

Tim Bottum, Bryon Noem's attorney, said his client is “saddened that the marriage is ending" and will welcome the opportunity to share his perspective if court proceedings become necessary.

“Bryon’s priority is to protect the family and move forward as loving parents and grandparents,” Bottom said in a statement.

A day before Noem was ousted from her post in Trump's cabinet, members of Congress questioned her about an alleged extramarital affair with Corey Lewandowski, a special government employee and one of her lead advisers at the time. He was Trump’s first campaign manager in 2016 and appeared to play an outsized role in Noem's department, even though his position was supposed to have a limit on days worked.

Noem denied the allegations that they were having an affair, dismissing them as “tabloid garbage.”

Once a close ally to Trump, Noem became a liability for the Republican president as questions arose over her conduct following the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration officers. Noem characterized both Renee Good and Alex Pretti as aggressors, contradicting videos from the scene and descriptions of their deaths from bystanders. She also faced criticism from fellow Republicans for her spending at her department.

Trump nominated Markwayne Mullin, then a U.S. senator from Oklahoma, in Noem's place and made her a special envoy for The Shield of the Americas, a new security initiative focused on the Western Hemisphere.

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Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

With new faces on the coaching staff and on the hardwood, the Spurs said the team is focused on taking the right steps early in the preseason.

Veteran guard Devin Vassell and second-year forward Carter Bryant spoke with reporters after practice Wednesday. Vassell acknowledged the discipline it takes to approach the preseason day by day and not look too far ahead.

“It’s human nature. You want to be back in that situation, but you can’t skip a day, you can’t skip training camp, you can’t skip preseason, you can’t skip opening night, you can’t skip the long back-to-backs,” Vassell said. “You can’t sit here and just say, ‘Ah, you snap your fingers and you’re back in the Finals.’ It just doesn’t work like that.”

Even though the Spurs are coming off a Finals season, a return to that stage is not guaranteed.

“We can’t fast-forward anything, so we just take it day by day,” Vassell said.

Bryant said he is focused on staying present.

“I’m just trying to win basketball games. Just understanding what I can provide to this team and how I can be successful and how we can be successful as a collective,” Bryant said.

Both players said the team’s chemistry has picked up where it left off, including with the new additions.

The Spurs will host their first preseason game Oct. 8 against the Atlanta Hawks at the Frost Bank Center.

Don’t forget to catch KSAT Sports’ preseason special that day, starting at 6:30 p.m. Our KSAT crew will be live at the Frost Bank Center.

More Spurs coverage on KSAT:

• Spurs Media Day: ‘Haunting’ NBA Finals emotions fuel Spurs entering 2026-27 NBA season
• Spurs reflect on NBA Finals loss, desires to win a championship on media day 2026
• What Spurs fans should know about ticket resale and dynamic pricing

It was an electric scene for fans at Truist Park — at least for those who decided to show up.

There has been a noticeable number of empty seats in Atlanta and Houston for day games during this week's Wild Card Series, with the Braves drawing 30,127 fans for Game 1 on Tuesday that started at 2 p.m. local time, well below the 41,108 capacity. The Astros announced that 34,011 fans attended Tuesday's 4 p.m. Game 1 at Daikin Park, also well below its 41,168-seat limit.

It's not the first time this has happened.

Since MLB permanently expanded the playoffs to a 12-team bracket in 2022, just six of 26 afternoon Wild Card Series games through Tuesday have reached or exceeded stadium capacity. Seven games failed to reach even 85% capacity. The Braves-Phillies game on Tuesday was 73.2% full, which is the lowest since the postseason expanded, according to research from Sportradar.

On Wednesday, the crowds were slightly better. Game 2 of the Braves-Phillies series had an announced crowd of 37,150 while Game 2 of the White Sox-Astros matchup had 36,015 in attendance.

The main issue for day games is obvious: It's hard for fans to attend day games during the week — particularly in late September and October — because people have to work and children are back in school. It doesn't help that those game times are announced with only a few days' notice.

Still, it's a less-than-ideal atmosphere for some of the most important contests of the year.

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm shrugged off the smaller crowds before Wednesday's game, saying his team just wants to win games and advance.

“I don’t think anybody on our team is really focused on how many people are showing up here," Bohm said. "It’s just kind of -- I think, like you said, it’s a 2 o’clock game in the middle of the week, so I think that might have something to do with it.

“That doesn’t take away from what’s going on on the field and kind of the stakes of all that in our minds.”

All three ALWCS games in Cleveland last year between the Guardians and Detroit Tigers started at 1:08 p.m., and none drew more than 30,000 fans. The Tampa Bay Rays had just 19,704 for an ALWCS opener against Texas in 2023 that started at 3:08 p.m., the lowest attendance for a non-COVID MLB postseason game since the 1919 World Series.

MLB declined to comment on the attendance numbers, but the league spreads its wild-card games throughout the day on purpose so they have their own television window and capture the largest viewing audience possible. NBC is paying the league roughly $200 million per year to host “Sunday Night Baseball” and the Wild Card Series during a three-year deal agreed to last November.

The Astros fans who did attend Tuesday's game were in a bit of a foul mood, peppering the team with boos as they fell behind 5-0 by the fifth inning on the way to a 6-3 loss. Astros manager Joe Espada said he understood the fans' frustration but hoped for a better atmosphere on Wednesday.

“I do want our fans to know that we love them and we need them,” Espada said. “They’re part of what we are trying to accomplish here. They’re part of our family.”

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AP Sports Writers Charles Odum in Atlanta and Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this story.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Shili Chen and Shouyong Zhang, both 77, were briefly in court Wednesday for an arraignment on the charges that was postponed until Thursday. Jennie Otis, a public defender representing Zhang, declined to comment. Chen told the judge through an interpreter that she didn’t have the money to hire an attorney. A public defender will be assigned to her case Thursday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Diane Meier told her.

Jonathan McKinsey, a 40-year-old gaming engineer for The New York Times, was shot to death in the parking lot of a sports complex in Dublin, east of San Francisco. A police sergeant was driving nearby and saw him on the ground as witnesses began calling 911 and pointing out the couple in their vehicle, who were still near the scene, Dublin Police Services said in a news release.

Police detained the couple as they were driving away in the parking lot and found a gun in Chen's possession. Prosecutors said Zhang admitted to shooting McKinsey during a later interview, and another firearm was found in the car that he admitted to using during the crime.

Prosecutors also said surveillance video was recovered showing both Chen and Zhang shooting the victim.

Chen and Zhang's murder charges included additional allegations of lying in wait and using a firearm.

Court records show McKinsey's killing came during a contentious divorce with Jang and a custody battle over the couple's three young children. In petitions for restraining orders filed last year, the couple accused each other of physical, emotional and psychological abuse going back more than a decade. McKinsey, who is transgender, alleged that both Jang and her parents were verbally and physically abusive regarding a gender transition he underwent years ago.

In his petition for a protection order, McKinsey alleged that Chen had directed anti-LGBTQ slurs at him and his oldest child.

He also accused Jang of being physically and emotionally abusive during medical procedures related to his transition. He alleged Zhang punched him in the chest while he was recovering from double mastectomy surgery.

Victim had been charged with misdemeanor child abuse

McKinsey was arrested last October and charged with misdemeanor child abuse for allegedly hitting their oldest son. Police said he acknowledged having slapped the child. Prosecutors also charged him with endangering their youngest child after deputies responded to the family’s home to talk with him and found their 2-year-old had been left home alone, according to court documents.

McKinsey pleaded not guilty to the charges and alleged in court records that he had been set up by his wife, who had left the house without telling him the child was sleeping in a crib upstairs. He was released from jail on the condition that he complete 12 parenting classes. At the time of his killing, McKinsey was out on bail and had been trying to enter a mental health diversion program.

It was also in October that Jang obtained a domestic violence protection order against McKinsey.

Jang said in her filing that in 2010 McKinsey had grabbed her by the forearms during one argument and caused her to hit the corner of a coffee table, fracturing a vertebra in her upper back. She also said that in 2023 she called the police to their home after McKinsey pushed their oldest son hard on the head. Jang also accused McKinsey of emotionally abusing her mother.

Victim filed a competing protective order request

McKinsey in December filed his own request for domestic violence protection against Jang, alleging years of abuse that included her hitting him in the head with a frying pan. He later filed for divorce and sought more time with the three children, noting that he had been limited to two hours of supervised visits per week since last fall, Alameda County court documents show.

In late August, McKinsey was granted unsupervised visits in public twice a week.

The killing occurred a week before a hearing was scheduled in McKinsey and Jang’s divorce case. The couple had been married since July 2011.

McKinsey joined The New York Times in January 2023. He was director of engineering for New York Times Games and based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the paper said. A spokesperson declined to comment further.

In a Wednesday order, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that the proposed consent decree was a “fair, reasonable, and good faith approach to address the competitive harms” alleged by the states' lawsuit. Paramount, which was bought by Skydance just last year, previously called the antitrust challenge the last hurdle ahead of closing its Warner merger.

The companies now expect to complete the deal on Oct. 6. Shortly after Martínez-Olguín's ruling Wednesday afternoon, Paramount also announced Ynon Kreiz — who is toy giant Mattel's current chief executive — will soon join as co-CEO alongside David Ellison.

In a statement, Ellison said Paramount's merger with Warner marks a “transformational moment for our industry” and that he and his new co-CEO will lead a business that is “creator-first, tech-forward and built to scale globally.”

A Paramount-Warner marriage will bring together two of Hollywood’s last five legacy studios. HBO Max, a library full of titles including “Harry Potter” and cable networks such as CNN will also find themselves under the same roof with CBS, the likes of the “Top Gun” franchise and the Paramount+ streaming service.

That further concentrates power in an industry already run by just a handful of major players. And many critics of the deal have decried the states' settlement, arguing the terms are too weak.

The final antitrust fight

Paramount touted clearances for its Warner acquisition from regulators worldwide over recent months, including the Trump administration's Justice Department in the U.S.

But in July, top prosecutors from 12 states — led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta — sued to block the merger altogether. They alleged a Paramount-Warner combination would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly movie theatergoers and cable customers.

Last week, the states agreed to settle those claims through new commitments from Paramount, including pledges to increase film production in the U.S. over the next five years, grant millions of dollars to a fund aimed at supporting workers displaced by the merger and establish new editorial monitoring of CNN and CBS.

Martínez-Olguín didn't greenlight the terms right away — maintaining at a Thursday hearing that the court isn’t merely a “rubber stamp” on a settlement of this kind and that she, like many others, had questions. The judge granted outside critics of the settlement (including members of the Block The Merger coalition and the League of United Latin American Citizens) a brief window to share their opposition. She also instructed Paramount and the states to respond to concerns raised by Democratic Sen. Cory Booker.

By Wednesday's order, however, she concluded that the hopes for settlement terms to go further "do not rise to the level of legal violations upon which the Court can reject the parties’ negotiated resolution.”

The Writers Guild of America, which had filed its own suit shortly after the states in July, also reached a settlement agreement with Paramount last week — concluding that it couldn’t continue its legal fight alone.

Ongoing criticism of the deal

The Block the Merger coalition on Wednesday maintained the states' settlement was a “toothless” deal.

“In years to come, we’ll be able to point to this failure to put consumers over the monied interests of corporate consolidation as the tipping-point moment for media in this country," Block the Merger said in a statement. But, the group added, “if there is one discernible benefit to the approval of this corporate takeover, it’s that people are now wide awake and paying attention — and their anger is not going to fade away."

Before agreeing to settle, Bonta previously said the states would only consider “robust” structural remedies. The bulk of the eventual settlement outlined behavioral requirements, at least in the immediate future, with some potential “court enforceable” penalties if Paramount breaks promises down the road.

Even so, most of the company’s new commitments only last five years. Paula Blizzard, an attorney for California, said in Thursday's hearing that the states eventually settled on terms that didn’t “last forever” because the industry is changing — while immediate divestments, or even the complete blocking of the deal that they initially demanded, could open the door to further acquisitions.

Among those new commitments include a pledge from Paramount to increase spending on film production in the U.S. — by at least an additional $1.5 billion over the next five years — and promises to release at least 30 films each year, a figure Ellison already touted earlier in his quest for Warner.

The states’ settlement would require Paramount to distribute 30 films in theaters each year for the next two years — and 32 films in each of the three years after that. The fine print notes that only 50% of those movies would have to be “produced or jointly produced” by the combined company. If Paramount fails to meet these film outputs, the states say it will have to divest from Miramax Studios and pay $30 million for each missed film toward healthcare and retirement trust funds associated with the Writers Guild of America and other industry unions.

Paramount also agreed to commit $47.5 million to help fund training and career development for workers displaced by the merger, again over the next five years ($9.5 million each year).

Meanwhile, when it comes to cable, the states' settlement orders the company to negotiate deals for current Paramount-owned and Warner-owned basic cable channels separately over the next five years. If Paramount violates those terms, a court may order future divestments.

The company must also form a “News Editorial Independence Board” to monitor news operations at CBS and CNN within 180 days of completing its Warner acquisition. But critics point to editorial turmoil already seen at CBS under Skydance ownership — and aren’t convinced this new body will move the needle much.

Per court documents outlining the settlement’s terms, Paramount’s new editorial body will be made up of five “active or retired” journalists with at least 10 years of experience — all appointed by, and reporting to, the combined company’s board of directors for three-year terms. Beyond his CEO title, Ellison is Paramount’s current chairman and is set to remain in the top spot after the Warner acquisition closes.

While joining the rest of the states in the wider settlement, Colorado and Washington declined to sign off on the editorial board terms. And prosecutors like Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who wanted a full divestiture of CNN and CBS, said last week he wished the deal could have gone further.

Including billions of dollars in debt, Paramount’s buyout of Warner is currently valued at about $111 billion based on outstanding shares.