A large group of Democrats joined most Republicans in passing the bill by a 235-191 vote. The law's renewal still faces an uncertain path to passage, with a sign-off needed from the Senate and President Donald Trump.

While the Senate could eventually be amenable to oversight measures added by the House, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said late Wednesday that another short-term extension will likely be needed ahead of the Friday deadline. House leaders added separate legislation banning a central bank digital currency to win more votes, and Thune said that part of the bill is “dead on arrival” in the Senate.

Still, the passage in the House was a breakthrough for Republican leaders after Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in the day secured the support of several Republican holdouts to advance the bill to a final vote. The chamber had been unable to pass a long-term extension since Republican leaders earlier this month staged a hectic late-night effort to extend the surveillance program, only to see multiple bills fail on the floor.

“Two-thirds of the president’s daily national security briefing comes from intelligence collected by that statute,” Johnson said about the program. “We cannot allow it to go dark.”

Warrants remain central to the fight

The debate centers on a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that allows the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze communications from foreign targets without a warrant. In doing so, the agencies can incidentally sweep up communications involving Americans who interact with foreign targets, an element of the program many lawmakers find unacceptable.

“The intel community always just comes in and says, ‘People will die if you do this,’” Republican Rep. Chip Roy said Tuesday, arguing in favor of a warrant requirement. “Well, I’m sorry. A lot of Americans died to give us and protect that Fourth Amendment right that we don’t have government looking at our stuff.”

The House bill does not include the warrant requirement. Instead, it would impose new oversight measures, including a monthly civil liberties review of U.S. person queries by an official within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, with any violations referred to the Intelligence Community’s inspector general.

The bill would also create criminal penalties for officials who knowingly misuse the system or falsify compliance, order a government audit of targeting practices and require new procedures to expand congressional access to FISA court proceedings.

House Democrats took turns criticizing the extension on the floor ahead of Wednesday evening’s planned final vote. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, derided the measure as a “three-year blank check” that comes “without any meaningful guardrails.”

“Under this bill, FBI agents will still collect, search and review Americans' communications without any review from a judge,” said Raskin.

Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, spoke in favor of the extension, calling the program “without question, the most important foreign intelligence tool." Himes, who voted for the extension, said the bill makes guardrails on the program "marginally and modestly stronger.”

There are hurdles ahead in the Senate

Both chambers are expected to scramble Thursday to pass a short-term extension of the law ahead of the Friday deadline — even as they continue to negotiate the longer-term renewal.

Thune said Wednesday afternoon that the Senate would try to quickly pass a 45-day extension. But any one senator can hold that up, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has already indicated he won't go along. Wyden, who has long pushed to reform the law, will instead seek to pass a three-week extension with some additional provisions, according to his office.

Another obstacle in the Senate is that the House linked the surveillance renewal with the separate digital currency legislation — a proposal Thune has said would be “very, very hard to pass."

Senators from both parties said they were committed, though, to ensuring that the law doesn't expire.

“There is clear consensus in the Senate as to how important it is,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

___

Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

The review was conducted as part of the Food and Drug Administration’s Operation Stork Speed project — billed as the “largest and most rigorous” to date. It found that the infant formula supply is safe, agency officials and outside experts said.

“There’s no reason not to use any available formula” in the U.S., said Dr. Steven Abrams, a pediatrics professor at the University of Texas at Austin who reviewed the findings.

FDA officials tested more than 300 samples of commercial infant formula between 2023 and 2025 for heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury. They also tested for pesticides, chemicals found in plastics known as phthalates, and PFAS, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, sometimes called “forever chemicals.”

Levels of all the contaminants were undetectable or very low, the agency reported. The heavy metals detected were well below U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits for drinking water, the agency reported. No pesticides were detected in 99% of samples. The FDA found no detections for 25 of the 30 PFAS compounds tested.

Outside experts generally agreed with the government’s assessment, noting that small amounts of substances such as heavy metals are naturally occurring in the environment. But others, such as phthalates and PFAS, are not.

“These chemicals are completely synthetic,” said Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a pediatrics professor at UW Medicine and the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. “The detection of some of these compounds at all is concerning.”

It points to the need for further monitoring of formula — and of the larger U.S. food supply, she added.

The Trump administration launched Operation Stork Speed in March 2025, promising to review safety and quality standards for infant formula in the U.S. for the first time in decades.

It built on previous FDA efforts to review substances like heavy metals in infant foods, which can cause problems with brain development, learning and behavior in children, Abrams said.

To date, the FDA does not have enforceable limits for heavy metals in infant formulas, unlike the European Union, Canada and Australia.

Some consumer advocacy groups have called on the FDA for years to establish firm limits for contaminants. Last year, Consumer Reports published an analysis of 41 U.S. infant formulas with results suggesting that many had worrisome levels of heavy metals and other contaminants.

However, that analysis used its own level of concern, setting it far below European Union standards. That report garnered wide public attention and prompted some parents to stop using commercial formula, even when it was necessary, Abrams noted.

Abrams called for the FDA to continue monitoring infant formula for contaminants and to share the results.

Abbott, one of the nation's largest formula makers, urged the FDA to set scientific standards for contaminants in infant formula.

“We believe that producing infant formula at scale in the U.S. is a matter of national security,” Abbott spokesman John Koval said in an email. “These results affirm the safety of our current domestic supply.”

___

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

The allegations in the disturbing case stretch back to 2023 — just a year after the singer's first single made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The 21-year-old has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have said he did not cause her death.

Here's a look at the timeline of the investigation, the allegations and the career of D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke.

2022: Burke's music goes viral

Burke, a content creator who began making his own music to accompany the video game montages he would post online, goes viral on TikTok for his song “Romantic Homicide.” The song ultimately peaks at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, and Burke signs with Darkroom and Interscope Records.

November, 2023: Prosecutors say the abuse begins

Burke allegedly begins to sexually abuse Rivas Hernandez, who was 13, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. She was described by authorities as a runaway, and court documents say she lived with Burke in Los Angeles.

Feb. 17, 2024: Investigators first contact Burke about Rivas Hernandez

Investigators have said Rivas Hernandez was reported missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, a town about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, several times before her death. According to prosecutors, Riverside County authorities contacted Burke about her during one disappearance. He told authorities he was unaware she was a minor and had last had contact with her a few days earlier. Los Angeles sheriff's deputies checked out Burke's house looking for Rivas Hernandez and also informed him she was 13.

She returned home two days later, prosecutors say, and her parents took her phone away. They allege that Burke paid $1,000 to a junior high classmate of Rivas Hernandez to give her a phone so he could keep in contact with her.

April 5, 2024: Rivas Hernandez is reported missing

Rivas Hernandez's family reports the seventh grader missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, for the last time.

Prosecutors allege that in the months that followed, she spent lots of time with the singer and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London and Texas to meet his family.

November 2024: The two break up

Burke and Rivas Hernandez “broke up” but continued to have contact, according to prosecutors. She returned to her home in Lake Elsinore at some point.

April 11, 2025: Burke makes his Coachella debut

Burke performs at the music festival Coachella and goes viral again — this time for face-planting hard on the stage during a failed backflip attempt. In an interview with The Associated Press during the festival, Burke talked about using social media feedback from fans to refine his set lists. “I am my fans and my fans are me. And we work in tandem with each other and it's such a beautiful poetic kind of thing that we have,” he said.

April 22, 2025: Rivas Hernandez and Burke argue in text messages

“The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together,” prosecutors said in a document outlining evidence in the case.

April 23, 2025: Rivas Hernandez is last known to be alive

Prosecutors say they believe Burke stabbed Rivas Hernandez to death “on or about” April 23, the day they say she was last heard from. Prosecutors say Burke killed Rivas Hernandez because she threatened to expose their inappropriate relationship and posed a threat to his career.

Burke sent a rideshare car to pick up Rivas Hernandez from her Lake Elsinore home and drop her off at his Hollywood Hills home at around 10:10 p.m. that night.

Prosecutors allege Burke sent text messages beginning at 10:30 p.m. asking Rivas Hernandez where she was to conceal that he had killed her.

At 11:30 p.m., he texted Rivas Hernandez's cell again asking where she was and drove away from his home to a remote area of Santa Barbara County.

April 24, 2025: Burke ordered a shovel online

Prosecutors say Burke used the Postmates delivery app to have a shovel delivered to his home.

April 25, 2025: Burke releases debut album, ‘Withered'

Burke releases his first album, “Withered.” In social media posts and media interviews, he describes using a recurring motif in his music and videos — an alter ego character he calls “IT4MI,” after “itami,” a Japanese word for pain. “He's basically like the evil version of me," Burke said in a YouTube interview with the “Tape Notes” podcast published May 2025. Burke's videos sometimes depict the character blindfolded, in a shirt that appears covered in blood.

May 1, 2025: More tools are ordered

Burke ordered two chainsaws to be delivered to his home, according to prosecutors. They were ordered using a fake name.

May 5, 2025: Authorities say Rivas Hernandez's remains are mutilated

One of the felony charges against Burke is “unlawful mutilation of human remains." Prosecutors say Rivas Hernandez's arms and legs were severed from her body on or around May 5.

In a subsequent filing, prosecutors allege Burke cut up Rivas Hernandez in an inflatable pool in his garage. DNA evidence that matched hers was later found in the area.

Burke returned to the remote part of Santa Barbara County two more times, and Rivas Hernandez's passport was found in the area in January 2026, according to a prosecution filing.

They also allege that Burke kept the girl's body in the front trunk of his Tesla. “He lied to his friends, business associates, and others who noticed the strong smell of decay in and around his home and vehicle," prosecutors said in a filing.

In late July, before embarking on a tour, Burke parked the car around the corner from his home.

Aug. 5, 2025: Burke launches tour

Burke's tour for the album “Withered,” begins with a show in Del Mar, California. He also released an official Fortnite anthem, “Locked & Loaded,” on Sept. 3. The collaboration with video game creator Epic Games echoed his start in the music world, when he would create and post Fortnite montages online.

Sept. 8, 2025: Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body is discovered

One day after she would have turned 15, Rivas Hernandez's badly decomposed remains are discovered in body bags inside the trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke, prosecutors say. The 2023 Tesla Model Y had been towed from an upscale neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills where it had been sitting, seemingly abandoned. Police searching the vehicle found a cadaver bag covered in bugs with Rivas Hernandez's head and torso inside. A second bag containing her arms and legs was found underneath the first, according to court documents.

Sept. 17, 2025: Burke's home searched

Authorities searched Burke's home and found blood evidence that matched Rivas Hernandez's DNA. They also found the inflatable pool that they say was used to dismember her, with several cut marks in it, according to a court filing.

Sept. 19, 2025: Burke’s remaining tour dates are canceled

The remaining dates of Burke's tour, which had been scheduled to wrap up Nov. 4 in Warsaw, Poland, are canceled. The AP confirmed that he was also dropped by his label, Interscope Records, at some point in 2025.

Oct. 6, 2025: A funeral service is held for Rivas Hernandez

Multiple news outlets reported that Rivas Hernandez's family held a funeral service for her on at the Queen of Heaven Cemetery and Mortuary in Rowland Heights, California.

Nov. 24, 2025: Police block release of coroner's report

In an unusual move, police block the release of the coroner's report on Rivas Hernandez's death. The medical examiner's office said in a statement that it had received a “court order, initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), to place a security hold” on the case. The order said no records or details, including the cause and manner of death, could be released until further notice.

February 2026: Burke revealed as the target of a secret grand jury probe

The grand jury investigation into the case was kept under seal, as is standard in grand jury proceedings. But some documents were made public by an appeal of subpoenas by Burke's mother, father and brother that was filed in Texas. The court filings said the Tesla was registered in Burke's name at the address of his subpoenaed family members, and that the “target may be involved in having committed the following criminal offenses against the laws of the State of California, to wit: One count of murder.”

April 16, 2026: Burke is arrested

Burke is arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with Rivas Hernandez's death and is held without bail. The Los Angeles Police Department announces the arrest on social media pages, posting photos of several officers wearing tactical gear and holding weapons approaching a home.

April 20, 2025: Burke is charged with murder

Burke is formally charged with murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body. The charging documents also allege several factors connected to the crimes that could lead to a harsher sentence if Burke is convicted. Those circumstances include allegations that Burke was “lying in wait” for Rivas Hernandez, who entered his home and was never seen again; that she was a witness to an investigation into the lewd and lascivious acts committed against her; and that Burke allegedly killed her for financial gain.

___

Boone reported from Boise. AP Music Writer Maria Sherman and journalist Liam McEwan contributed.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office shared what they said the evidence in the case would show in a court filing that provided the first detailed allegations of the killing and efforts to cut apart Rivas Hernandez's body and get rid of evidence.

The court filing said D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11, began sexually abusing her when she was 13 and he was 18, and killed her when she threatened to reveal their inappropriate relationship.

“Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out,” the filing said.

Burke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other counts. His lawyers have said he is innocent and did not cause Rivas Hernandez’s death.

Her body was found decomposing in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills in September of last year.

Prosecutors said they had obtained text messages that showed their sexual relationship, including child sexual abuse images of her on his phone.

“The messages reveal the victim’s jealousy over defendant’s relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together,” the document says. “She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life.”

The filing said he sent a rideshare car to pick her up on the night of April 23, 2025, from her hometown of Lake Elsinore some 80 miles (129 km) outside of Los Angeles. The two exchanged messages until she arrived at his Hollywood home, after which her phone went silent permanently.

They allege he sent her a late-night message asking where she was in an attempt to cover up the killing.

The court filing is intended to outline the evidence that prosecutors plan to present at a preliminary evidentiary hearing beginning May 26, when a judge will determine whether there is probable cause to go to trial. The defense has not publicly provided its version of events.

The document says Burke bought two chain saws online used them to cut apart her body in an inflatable pool in his garage, where the girl's DNA was later found.

“Defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim’s body,” prosecutors said in the brief.

Burke drove to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of his home to get rid of evidence three times, the document alleges. Her passport was found there in January.

On April 24, the day after her death, he gave a radio interview and had a record-release party promoting his debut full-length album, “Withered,” which was released the following day, prosecutors said in the filing.

Prosecutors allege he kept her body in his Tesla, and lied to friends and business associates who asked about the smell.

The body of Rivas Hernandez had so degraded that examiners couldn’t even determine her eye color. She had braces at the time of her death, and a tattoo that read “Shhh ....” on the inside of a finger as well as his name, according to the report. Two fingers were missing — as were parts of her arms and legs.

Prosecutors had not previously described how they believed Rivas Hernandez was killed or given details on their relationship. An autopsy report said she was killed by penetrating wounds.

Prosecutors said the parents of Rivas Hernandez reported her missing from her home in Lake Elsinore in February 2024. After the February report, Riverside County Sheriff’s detectives contacted Burke, but he told them he had only met her once and did not know she was a minor.

After she returned home that February, her parents took away her cellphone but Burke drove to her hometown and paid a friend of Rivas Hernandez $1,000 to give her a phone so they could communicate.

She was reported missing again in April 2024. The document said that year, she spent much of her time at Burke’s home in the Hollywood Hills and traveled with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family.

The defense attorneys asked Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo at a hearing Wednesday to seal the document, but she declined. They had no comment outside court.

Burke was arrested on April 16 and pleaded to first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a dead body. He is eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors said they have not decided whether to seek it.

The singer began making music for YouTube videos he created of the video game Fortnite when he was a teenager.

The songs he wrote and recorded on his phone were a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. The music made him a phenomenon on TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Homicide,” have more than a billion plays. In 2023, he released two EPs and opened for SZA on tour.

He performed at last year's Coachella music festival just a few weeks before prosecutors said Rivas Hernandez was killed and his album was released. He was on tour promoting it in September when the body was discovered and his name became publicly attached to the case. It would be seven months before he was arrested.

KSAT reported the latest threat last Friday. A 13-year-old was charged with terroristic threats against Nimitz Middle School after allegedly making threatening calls and social media posts.

Justin Simmons, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said these are serious crimes with serious consequences that can fall under federal jurisdiction.

“We’re going to do everything we can from local, state and federal to try and find the people that are committing these crimes and hold them to account,” Simmons said.

He said school threats and hoaxes are a huge burden on law enforcement as manpower, equipment and time are wasted.

The crimes unnecessarily cause panic and fear for both students, parents and the community.

Simmons said that it is the nature of the communication — how the threats and hoaxes are delivered — that could cross over the threshold to federal charges.

“So generally, if you send an email, make a phone call, send a text message, post a threat on social media,” Simmons said, “all of those are going to have some kind of interstate nexus that allow federal law enforcement to step in and investigate and eventually my office to charge those types of offenses.”

He said those charged can face at the least five years in prison, but if anyone dies or is injured as a result of a school threat or hoax, the punishment can increase.

“If somebody’s seriously injured, the punishment range goes up, 10, 20 years. If somebody dies as a result of your threat or hoax, you can get up to life in prison.”

Simmons also said consequences of being convicted of this federal crime could go beyond incarceration.

He said a felony conviction would appear on your record when potential employers conduct a background check and being a felon would prohibit you from possessing a firearm legally under federal law.

He stressed there are no excuses for committing these crimes.

“Just saying that you did it on social media for fun, that’s not a defense. A joke is not a defense,” Simmons said. “Even if you weren’t the one who directly makes the threat, if you’re a party to it in any way, you face the full consequences that the actual caller or messenger would face.”

“There are serious consequences committing these crimes regardless really of your age,” he added.

KSAT also contacted an official with the FBI San Antonio Field Office regarding the recent school threats.

In a statement sent to KSAT, Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran said in part, “The FBI and our state and local partners take every threat seriously, including hoaxes targeting schools and public places.”

“They are not jokes. If you see a threat of violence or are asked to make a threat on someone’s behalf — report it immediately to local law enforcement,” the statement read.

FBI and all law enforcement continue to urge the public: If you see or know something, say something.

Besides the possibility of federal charges, those charged with making hoax threats can also face local and state charges.

Tips about school threats can be shared with school administrators and local city police.

They can also be shared anonymously to Crime Stoppers by either dialing on the phone **T-I-P-S (8477) or online on the Crime Stoppers website.

Another option to submit tips is to the FBI by going to tips.fbi.gov.

Read also:

• San Antonio Park Police officer arrested after assaulting woman, BCSO says
• Search underway for man accused of threatening to kill Karnes County judge, KCSO says
• 2 accused of cutting gas line off multiple North Side business vehicles, incident report says

Trump made the threat after Merz earlier this week said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington’s lack of strategy in the war. Trump has also repeatedly railed against NATO for the alliance's refusal to assist the U.S. in its two-month-old war.

“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump said in a social media post.

Merz had said earlier Wednesday that his personal relationship with Trump remained “as good as ever,” but he had “had doubts from the very beginning about what was started there with the war in Iran.”

During his first term in the White House, Trump also moved to cut U.S. troops in Germany because he said the country spent too little on defense.

In June 2020, Trump announced he was going to pull out about 9,500 of the roughly 34,500 U.S. troops who were then stationed in Germany, but the process never actually started. Democratic President Joe Biden formally stopped the planned withdrawal soon after taking office in 2021.

The U.S. has several major military facilities in the country, including the headquarters for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, Ramstein Air Base and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest American hospital outside the United States.

Merz met with Trump at the White House in March, just days after the U.S. and Israel began their bombardment of Iran. At the time, Merz told Trump that Germany was eager to work with the U.S. on a strategy for when the current Iranian government no longer exists. Merz also expressed concern that an extended conflict could do great damage to the global economy.

His concern, like many other European leaders, has only grown as the U.S. and Iran have yet to come to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which about 20% of the world global oil supply had flowed prior to the start of the war. It has been effectively closed since the conflict began on Feb. 28.

“We are suffering considerably in Germany and in Europe from the consequences of, for example, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” Merz said Wednesday, hours before Trump posted his threat on social media. “And in that regard, I urge that this conflict be resolved.”

Merz added that his government was "on good speaking terms" with the Trump administration.

Trump, for his part, has hardly been containing his frustration with Merz.

On Tuesday, he wrote: “The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump added that it was no surprise “that Germany is doing so poorly, both economically and in other respects!”

___

AP writer Pietro De Cristofaro reported from Berlin.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court’s conservative majority found that Louisiana district represented by Democrat Cleo Fields relied too heavily on race. Chief Justice John Roberts had described the 6th Congressional District as a “snake” that stretches more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) to link parts of Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

“That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the six conservatives.

The effect of the ruling may be felt more strongly in 2028 because most filing deadlines for this year's congressional races have passed. Louisiana, though, may have to change its redistricting plan to comply with the decision.

It is unclear how much of the provision — known as Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — remains.

When he signed the bill —the main way to challenge racially discriminatory election practices —into law more than 60 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson called it “a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory on any battlefield.”

In her dissent for the three liberal justices, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the court's “gutting of Section 2 puts that achievement in peril.”

Her sentiment was shared by former President Barack Obama, who said the decision showed “how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy.”

In a statement, Fields said the decision's "practical effect is to make it far harder for minority communities to challenge redistricting maps that dilute their political voice.”

Potential political fallout

The voting rights law succeeded in opening the ballot box to Black Americans and reducing persistent discrimination in voting. Nearly 70 of the 435 congressional districts are protected by Section 2, election law expert Nicholas Stephanopoulos has estimated.

Alito wrote that "allowing race to play any part in government decisionmaking represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context.” He said Section 2 is effectively limited to instances of intentional discrimination, a very high standard.

Kagan said the upshot of the decision is that states "can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power.”

Reaction to the decision broke along partisan lines.

“This is a complete and total victory for American voters. The color of one’s skin should not dictate which congressional district you belong in. We commend the court for putting an end to the unconstitutional abuse of the Voting Rights Act and protecting civil rights,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote in an email.

The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called the decision “appalling.” Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state said it was the latest in a long line of attacks by President Donald Trump and the conservative court “against the fundamental right of every American citizen to vote.”

She said Democrats remained poised to regain the House majority in November “despite this corrupt and targeted assault on the voting rights of Black and Brown Americans from the Supreme Court.”

A ruling Trump likes

Trump had touched off a nationwide redistricting competition this year to boost Republican chances of preserving their House edge. The president said some states should redraw their maps and he called the decision the "kind of ruling I like.”

Legislatures already are free to draw extremely partisan districts because of a 2019 Supreme Court decision.

Wednesday's ruling came out as Florida legislators debated a proposed redrawing of the state’s congressional lines, submitted by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and intended to give the GOP a chance to pick up as many as four seats in the state’s U.S. House delegation.

Democrats in the Florida Senate urged the Republican supermajority to delay debate, at least long enough to allow lawmakers to read the decision and consult lawyers about how it might affect DeSantis’ proposal. Republicans refused and the Legislature approved the new map.

In the Supreme Court's Louisiana ruling, the justices did an about-face from a decision in a similar case from Alabama less than three years ago that led to a new congressional map for the state that sent two Black Democrats to Congress.

The Alabama decision also prompted Louisiana lawmakers to add a second majority Black district. About a third of Louisianans are Black and they now form majorities in two of the state’s six congressional districts. Alabama has a separate appeal pending at the Supreme Court

Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the three liberals to form a majority in the Alabama case, the same term in which the conservative-dominated court ended affirmative action in college admissions. Both joined Alito's opinion Wednesday.

Roberts has long eyed Voting Rights Act

The chief justice has been at the center of the effort to limit the use of race in public life. He has had the Voting Rights Act in his sights since his time as a young lawyer in the Reagan-era Justice Department.

“It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race,” Roberts wrote in a dissenting opinion in 2006 in his first major voting rights case as chief justice.

In 2013, Roberts wrote for the majority in gutting the law’s requirement that states and local governments with a history of discrimination, mostly in the South, get approval before making any election-related changes.

“Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions,” Roberts wrote.

Barring extraordinary action, the broader impact probably will be felt in 2028, when Republicans potentially can replace more than a dozen Democratic-held House districts that were previously protected under the Voting Rights Act.

“The Voting Rights Act as a means to protect minority voters from vote dilution is essentially dead,” said Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie Mellon University who has served as an outside legal expert in multiple Voting Rights Act cases.

___

Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, La., Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Bill Barrow in Tallahassee, Fla., and Lisa Mascaro and Seung Ming Kim contributed to this report.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

From one big man to another, Shaq gave Wemby some major love on “Inside the NBA” while talking with his castmates Tuesday, April 28.

“I think Wemby is the first perfect big man that’s ever (been) created. Can shoot, free throws, play defense, play offense, he’s a great team player,” Shaq said. “I’m happy for the Spurs. Happy for Wemby. For me, he’s a joy to watch.”

Shaq isn’t known for handing out compliments to the current batch of NBA bigs, having indicated they are soft and abandoning the paint to shoot 3-pointers. But Wemby is built differently, and Shaq realizes that.

The four-time NBA champion also said Wembanyama is closing in on the top spot among NBA big men.

“In two years, he will be right next to Jokic (Denver’s Nikola Jokic) as the best big in the league,” Shaq said. “Right now, he’s No. 2 but not far behind. He’s playing excellent basketball and I’m happy for the young fella.”

Wembanyama is up for the 2025-26 NBA MVP award along with Jokic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Now in this third season, Wembanyama helped the Spurs beat the Trail Blazers 4-1 in the first round. He averaged 21.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game in that series.

More Spurs coverage on KSAT:

• Timberwolves or Nuggets? Spurs await next opponent ahead of Western Conference semifinals
• Spurs’ Keldon Johnson had ‘amazing’ season, Trail Blazers’ interim coach says
• Where to find Spurs murals across San Antonio as team chases sixth championship

The Metropolitan Police said the attack in the Golders Green area left two men, ages 34 and 76, hospitalized with knife wounds.

Counterterrorism police are investigating whether the stabbings are linked to recent arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in the British capital. Detectives are investigating a potential Iranian link to those attacks, but police said that it's too soon to say whether Wednesday's stabbing is connected.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a meeting of the government's emergency committee and vowed to “deal with the roots of antisemitism and extremism.” Buckingham Palace said that King Charles III was “deeply concerned.”

Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley said that it was “another horrendous act of violence directed against our Jewish communities.”

But some British Jews expressed anger at authorities' failure to keep them safe. Rowley faced shouts of “shame on you” and “resign” from bystanders when he made a statement to media at the scene of the stabbings.

Attacker immobilized by police

The security organization Shomrim said that a suspect “was seen running along Golders Green Road armed with a knife and attempting to stab Jewish members of the public." It said that the suspect was detained by Shomrim members and arrested by police, who used a stun gun on him.

Surveillance camera footage showed a man beside a bus stop donning a kippah, or traditional skullcap, before a passerby with a knife lunges at him.

Rowley said the suspect, whose name hasn't been released, had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues.”

Arson attacks in recent weeks targeted Jewish sites in London, including a charity's ambulances in Golders Green and a synagogue a few miles away.

“Today is somewhat worse because it’s a physical attack against two human beings,” resident Anthony Silber said. “It’s shocking to hear, shocking to listen to, shocking to watch for those that saw, but it’s not a surprise.”

Britain’s Jewish community is long established, but tiny as a percentage of the population, numbering about 300,000. The northwest London suburb of Golders Green is one of its epicenters, home to kosher restaurants, Jewish schools and several dozen synagogues, as well as large Asian and Middle Eastern communities.

The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust charity. The group recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, up from 1,662 in 2022.

In October 2025, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur and fatally stabbed one person. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.

Iran link to arson attacks under investigation

Since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, there have been a string of arson attacks on Jewish sites and opponents of the Iranian government. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged over the arsons, which haven't caused injuries.

Counterterrorism officers are investigating whether the arson attacks were the work of Iranian proxies. Several have been claimed online in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia. Israel's government has described the group, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

An online claim in the same name also took responsibility for Wednesday's stabbing. But security experts say the name may be a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

However, the U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting Iranian opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year ending in October.

Britain’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said that Jews face a campaign of violence and intimidation and that words of condemnation are no longer sufficient.

“This must be a moment that demands meaningful action from every institution, every community, every leader and every decent person in our country," he said. “This is a hatred that we must face down together."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the world must “wake up” to a rising wave of anti-Jewish hatred.

“In one of the great capital cities of the West, it has become dangerous to openly walk the streets as a Jew,” Herzog posted on X. “This is an unacceptable situation.”

___

Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this story.

• TONIGHT: A front kicks up isolated storms (30%), possibly severe
• THURSDAY: Intermittent, isolated showers/storms (30%)
• FRIDAY: Cool, showers and storms likely (60%), windy
• WEEKEND: Cool mornings, beautiful afternoons

FORECAST

TONIGHT & TOMORROW

Isolated storms are likely this evening and tonight, and although coverage will be limited, they could become strong/severe with localized large hail and high wind gusts.

A cold front will slowly move through tonight and pretty much stall tomorrow, so intermittent and localized showers/storms are likely tomorrow. However, don’t expect much in terms of overall accumulation - it won’t be a washout.

FRIDAY

Friday will bring a variety of weather to the area. It’ll be cool with many spots struggling to get out of the 60s. Additionally, showers and storms will develop across South-Central Texas, with the best shot for rain being in the Hill Country and points northward. The farther north you go, the higher the rainfall totals. Some heavy rainfall and street flooding will be possible in these areas. Also know that northeast winds will gust as high as 35 mph. Cooler, drier weather will funnel into the area by Friday evening.

WEEKEND

Expect beautiful weather! Both Saturday and Sunday will start with lows in the 50s and afternoon highs in the 70s under mostly sunny skies.

QUICK WEATHER LINKS

• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
• Hourly and 10-Day Forecast
• Download FREE KSAT Weather Authority App: Up-to-date forecast information and livestreams from trusted local meteorologists.
• KSAT Connect: Share your weather photos.

Michael Barrientes Vela’s individual trial began on Tuesday and ended in the late afternoon on Wednesday.

Court records show a jury found Michael Barrientes Vela, 23, not guilty of assault of a peace officer, but convicted him of resisting arrest. He received 180 days in the Bexar County Adult Detention Center and one year of probation.

Michael Barrientes Vela is the youngest of three brothers who were accused of assaulting police who responded to a paramedic in trouble call at a Northwest Side auto dealership on April 30, 2024.

He was also charged with resisting arrest, according to Bexar County court records.

His brothers, Anthony Barrientes Vela, 27, and Carlos Barrientes Vela, 32, are still awaiting trial.

Read also:

• 2 accused of cutting gas line off multiple North Side business vehicles, incident report says
• San Antonio Park Police officer arrested after assaulting woman, BCSO says

Charles laid flowers at the National 9/11 Memorial and the royal couple spoke with victims' relatives, first responders and local dignitaries before traveling to other events midway through a four-day diplomatic trip to the U.S. to mark 250 years of American independence.

The royal couple capped their whirlwind day in the city with an appearance at an early evening reception for one of the king’s charities, the King's Trust, where Charles spoke of the enduring cultural bond between the people of the U.K. and U.S. as one “rooted in shared creativity, enterprise, and values.

“Reminding us that we are truly greater together, that’s the point,” he said.

The four-day trip is Charles’ first state visit to the U.S. since he became king. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, made four state visits to the U.S. Her last visit to New York was in 2010.

Honoring victims at the 9/11 memorial

Charles and Camilla began their public schedule in the city by paying tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, including 67 British nationals.

They were greeted at the National 9/11 memorial plaza in Lower Manhattan by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then walked to one of the memorial’s two pools, where parapets bear the names of the victims of the attacks. Charles placed an arrangement of flowers on a parapet before the couple silently bowed their heads in a moment of reflection.

The king and queen then shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with a group of attack survivors, first responders and victims’ relatives, some of whom held photos of their lost loved ones. The gathering came ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

The visit to the memorial took place under the usual security precautions New York affords visiting world leaders and heads of state. Police snipers perched on rooftops. Heavy trucks were used as blockers to close off intersections. The memorial plaza and streets surrounding it were closed to the public.

Meeting New York's mayor

Among the crowd at the memorial were New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, all Democrats.

Mamdani — who was born in Uganda to parents from India, both former parts of the British Empire — shook hands with the king, and the two appeared to greet each other warmly. They spoke only for a few seconds.

Earlier in the day, Mamdani said he hoped to keep the event’s focus on 9/11 victims and not pursue a political conversation. But pressed by a reporter, Mamdani had said that if he were to speak with Charles under different circumstances, “I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.”

The gem, one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, is part of the Crown Jewels. Seized by the East India Co. after the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1849, it was given to Queen Victoria and is on display in the Tower of London. Countries including India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have claimed ownership.

Spending time with 9/11 victims' loved ones

Anthoula Katsimatides was among the Sept. 11 victims' relatives who spoke with the royal couple. Her brother, John Katsimatides, died at the World Trade Center.

“I found it extremely sweet that I was allowed to hug the queen,” she said. “She was quite endearing, as was the king. I also told him that I thought he was adorable.”

Katsimatides said the queen asked her if she came to the memorial often.

“I said that I do because I find it to be a place of peace and calm and also remembrance,” Katsimatides said.

King visits an urban farm, queen goes to the library

The king also toured an after-school, urban farming effort in Harlem that works with young people affected by food insecurity.

At Harlem Grown’s 134th Street Farm, he planted lavender and mustard seeds with children, saw a chicken coop and watched a live food demonstration that educated children about food and nutrition.

“I like your hair,” a student told the king, who replied, “Do you? Good.”

Later, the king attended a gathering of business leaders at Rockefeller Center, including executives from top American companies, including Google, OpenAI, JPMorgan Chase, and Comcast.

The queen, meanwhile, visited the New York Public Library, where she chatted with actress Sarah Jessica Parker during a walk through the building as a crowd of onlookers watched from across Fifth Avenue.

Camilla delivered a new Roo doll to add to the library’s famed collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals, as the beloved children’s character turns 100 this year.

The five dolls currently on display — Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Kanga — were the inspiration for the characters in A.A. Milne’s children’s books. They were owned by the English author’s son, the real-life Christopher Robin, in the 1920s. The dolls were donated to the library in 1987 and are a centerpiece of the library’s collection of children’s literature. Roo, in the books, was a small brown kangaroo and the son of Kanga.

A charity gala

Earlier in the week, the king and queen joined President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump for events at the White House. The king delivered a rare speech before Congress -- the first by a British monarch since his late mother in 1991 -- followed by a formal state dinner at the White House.

The monarchs are expected to make stops in Virginia before wrapping up their U.S. visit back at the White House on Thursday with a formal farewell from Trump. Charles then travels solo to Bermuda on his first visit as king to a British overseas territory.

In their last public event of the day in New York on Wednesday, the king and queen attended a gala reception at Rockefeller Center.

Singer and songwriter Lionel Richie, who has worked with the King's Trust for four decades, introduced the royal. Also present were Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, lifestyle icon Martha Stewart and fashion designer Donatella Versace.

The king closed his brief remarks in a packed wing of the gallery space by joking that he was disappointed he wouldn’t get to hear Richie sing.

“I don’t know how he does it. He must gargle with port or something.”

___

Collins reported from Hartford, Conn.

___

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

Jose Ochoa and Mayte Terrie Reeves filed the joint lawsuit Monday in Bexar County.

On April 21, their home was the second to explode in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive, near Thousand Oaks Drive. The San Antonio Fire Department said the explosions were likely related to a natural gas buildup.

>> What we know about the North Side home explosions that hospitalized 5

Ten households were evacuated following the explosions. According to the lawsuit, Ochoa and Reeves were evacuated after the first explosion but were then told it was safe to return home.

The lawsuit states natural gas had leaked underground from a CPS Energy line, forming a “volatile gas cloud” inside their home, causing the second explosion and fire.

Ochoa and Reeves sustained serious and permanent physical injuries and damages, their lawsuit claims.

A hospital spokesperson told KSAT on Wednesday that Reeves was in serious condition while Ochoa was in “good” condition.

A CPS Energy spokeswoman told KSAT the utility does not comment on active litigation.

Ochoa and Reeves accuse CPS Energy of failure to maintain its system, failure to equip and train employees to safely perform work and failure to inspect the work performed near their residence.

They are requesting a jury trial and more than $1 million each in damages.

KSAT has reported on at least three other lawsuits over home explosions apparently tied to natural gas, in which CPS Energy is named.

A utility spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday night CPS Energy had settled a lawsuit for $50,000 over a May 2020 explosion that happened after a man lit a cigarette.

And though a jury in a case over a May 2021 explosion issued a $109 million verdict last year, the CPS Energy spokeswoman said the utility only ended up paying $3 million.

A third lawsuit over a May 2025 explosion that followed another lit cigarette is still ongoing.

The CPS Energy Board of Trustees met on April 27, nearly one week after the explosions. The utility has not answered KSAT’s questions about what led up to the explosions.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation into the explosions. The federal agency expects to release a preliminary report in about 30 days, which will “contain factual information gathered during the initial phase of the investigation.”

A probable cause of the explosions, as well as any contributing factors, will be released in a more comprehensive report in approximately 12 to 24 months, the NTSB said.

North East Independent School District math teacher Kimberly Nowell and her husband Tim, a pastor at Wayside Chapel, were also injured in the explosions along with their daughter, Ali.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Where San Antonio residents can find gas alarms following explosions in North Side neighborhood
• What happens next in federal investigation of North Side home explosions
• San Antonio council members call for special session following North Side home explosions

The war has cost $25 billion so far, according to Pentagon numbers presented to the House Armed Services Committee during a contentious hearing ostensibly focused on the administration’s 2027 military budget proposal. It would boost defense spending to a historic $1.5 trillion.

While Republicans focused on the details of military budgeting and voiced support for the Iran operation, Democrats grilled Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the ballooning costs of the war, the huge drawdown of critical U.S. munitions and the bombing of a school that killed children. Some lawmakers also questioned President Donald Trump's dealings with allies and his shifting justification for the conflict.

Hegseth dismissed the criticism as political and rebuked lawmakers who pushed him for answers.

“The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth said.

Democrats press Hegseth over reasons for war

Wednesday's hearing stretched nearly six hours as Democrats and some Republicans questioned Hegseth over the war and his ouster of several top military leaders.

In one tense exchange, Hegseth told Democratic Rep. Adam Smith that Iran’s nuclear facilities were obliterated in 2025 strikes by the U.S., prompting Smith to question the Trump administration’s reasoning for starting the Iran war less than a year later.

“We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat,” said Smith, the ranking Democrat on the committee. “Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated?”

Hegseth responded that Iran “had not given up their nuclear ambitions” and still had thousands of missiles.

Smith said the war “left us at exactly the same place we were before.”

Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor for the world’s oil, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and posed problems for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. The U.S. has imposed a naval blockade of Iranian shipping and three American aircraft carriers are in the Middle East for the first time in more than 20 years.

Democrats accused Hegseth of misleading Americans about the reasons for the conflict and said rising gas prices are now threatening the pocketbooks of millions of people in the U.S.

“Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one and so has the president,” said Rep. John Garamendi of California, who called the war “a geopolitical calamity," a “strategic blunder" and a "self-inflicted wound to America."

Hegseth blasted Garamendi's remarks.

“Who are you cheering for here?” he asked the lawmaker. ”Your hatred for President Trump blinds you” to the success of the war.

Hegseth defends firings of top military officers

The defense secretary faced intense questions from Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat, about his decision to oust the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, one of several top military officers to be dismissed since Trump took office again.

Houlahan said George was deeply respected by members of the military and Congress and asked why Hegseth fired him. Hegseth's response that “new leadership” was needed failed to satisfy Houlahan.

“You have no way of explaining why you fired one of the most decorated and remarkable men,” Houlahan began, before Hegseth interrupted her. “We needed new leadership,” he repeated.

The Pentagon also announced this month that Navy Secretary John Phelan was stepping down. Hegseth previously removed Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Jim Slife, the Air Force's No. 2 leader and others, while Trump fired Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said that while Hegseth is empowered to make personnel changes, he shared what he called “bipartisan concern” about the firings.

“We had a huge bipartisan majority here that had confidence in the Army chief of staff and the secretary of the navy,” Bacon said. “And I would just point out it may be constitutionally right ... but it doesn’t make it right or wise.”

Hegseth has said the changes are part of building a “warrior culture” at the Pentagon.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina defended Hegseth's personnel moves, saying he is “trying to innovate and trying to change the way we do business.”

“I’m glad that you’re firing people," Mace said. “There are people there that are getting in your way. They need to go.”

Democrats ask about war's cost, while Republicans back Trump on Iran

Hegseth detailed plans to increase pay for service members and upgrade munitions while also announcing that, as of Tuesday, the Pentagon had released $400 million in previously appropriated military aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

But the Iran war dominated the debate.

While a fragile ceasefire is in place, the U.S. and Israel launched the war Feb. 28 without congressional oversight. House and Senate Democrats have failed to pass multiple war power resolutions that would have required Trump to halt the conflict until Congress authorizes further action.

Republicans say they back Trump’s wartime leadership for now, citing Iran’s nuclear program, the potential for talks to resume and the high stakes of withdrawal. Still, GOP lawmakers are eager for the conflict to end, and some are eyeing future votes that could become an important test for the president if the war drags on.

Democrats questioned Hegseth over the war's economic impact and rising gasoline costs, noting Trump's promise to lower consumer costs. Hegseth responded by citing the threat posed by Iran.

“What is the cost of Iran having a nuclear weapon that they wield?” he said.

The U.S. and Iran appear locked in a stalemate. Trump told Axios on Wednesday that he is rejecting Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the U.S. blockade.

Both blasts in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive critically injured three people and sent another adult to a local hospital for further treatment.

Two house explosions in one neighborhood on one night spurred KSAT to revisit its most recent coverage of reported house and apartment explosions since 2020.

In all, KSAT has reported on at least 13 different residences dating back to the start of the decade. Some of these explosions were considered minor. Others took months or years to reach their conclusions. The aftermath of others is not yet determined.

In timeline form, here’s how KSAT kept up with those stories throughout the years.

2020

May 10: According to San Antonio firefighters, two neighbors helped rescue an East Side man from his burning home after they heard an explosion.

The man lived at a home located on the 1700 block of East Highland Boulevard. He was taken to a local hospital with extensive burns.

Fire crews said a gas leak likely caused the fire.

One year later, the man injured in the fire filed a $1 million lawsuit against CPS Energy.

According to the lawsuit, the fire sparked after Paul Mason, who rented the home, lit a cigarette. He claimed the utility was negligent in the upkeep of its natural gas lines.

A utility spokeswoman confirmed CPS Energy had settled the lawsuit for $50,000.

July 22: San Antonio firefighters quickly knocked down a fire that created a small explosion inside a Northwest Side home.

The fire was found in the attic and no one was in the home at the time, an SAFD battalion chief on scene said.

The fire in the 6000 block of Beaver Trail appeared to have started in the electrical or HVAC system, the battalion chief said. As a result, there was a small explosion.

No injuries were reported.

2021

May 1: One East Side resident suffered serious injuries and lost their home after a fire and explosion.

At the time, a San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson said three people were trapped inside the home. Firefighters rescued one person, and two women escaped on their own.

According to SAFD, the fire started due to a ruptured gas line, which caused a small explosion.

The family later filed a lawsuit against CPS Energy.

Nearly four full years later, in February 2025, a Bexar County jury found CPS Energy negligent and handed down a $109 million verdict in favor of Virginia Rymers and her son, Robert.

A CPS Energy spokeswoman said the utility only ended up paying $3 million.

Nov. 10: A man suffered multiple burns after his Southwest Side apartment unit exploded.

The man told fire crews he lit a cigarette while cooking. He then saw a blue flame and felt the impact of the explosion.

Neighbors also reported smelling a strong odor of gas.

One woman told KSAT she got out of her bed around 11 p.m. due to the smell.

“It started smelling sour, like gas, and I moved to the living room,” the woman said. “Not even five minutes later, I laid down, and I ended up on the other side of the wall.”

2022

Dec. 9: A late-night explosion at a home underground rocked the far Southeast Side and killed four people.

The blast happened near K-Bar, a construction company located in the 9700 block of Presa Street near the Interstate 37-Loop 410 interchange.

Upon arrival, fire crews confirmed one dead at the scene. The San Antonio Fire Department confirmed the second death the following day.

By the end of the weekend, investigators said two others were found dead. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed the following identities:

• James Gus Kalisek, 61
• William Thompson, 57
• Roger Huron Jr., 36
• Ashley Autobee, 28

Rainy conditions, at the time, hurt investigators’ ability to piece together what happened. One woman told KSAT the explosion momentarily prevented her from returning home.

During a Dec. 13, 2022, press briefing, former SAFD Chief Charles Hood said the explosion happened in a home approximately 12 feet below ground.

The home had a tunnel with concrete walls reinforced with rebar and was built on a 75-acre site that was owned by a man, wife and brother.

SAFD Division Chief Doug Berry from the Arson Bureau said some people on the property reported smelling gas prior to the explosion.

Berry said a propane tank connected to the home was being investigated as a possible cause.

2023

Nov. 28: According to SAFD, a driver drove his car too fast into the garage of a Northwest Side home and hit a water heater.

The collision dislodged the water heater and caused a gas leak. The car caught fire, which then began to spread throughout the home.

During the fire’s spread, a woman — the driver’s wife — inside the home suffered burns to her hands, torso and face. She was transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment.

Fire crews considered the home a total loss.

2024

July 16: An explosion in broad daylight led to a series of KSAT reports in Floresville.

City officials said the explosion was caused by a crew installing fiber optic lines in the area near H Street and Ninth Street hit an underground gas line.

The blast flattened one home and damaged at least a dozen other properties nearby.

Floresville City Manager Andy Joslin initially said the city could have had its findings completed and released by July 18, 2024.

However, a series of delays caused mounting frustration among Floresville residents. A councilwoman threatened legal action against the fiber optic company in charge of installing the lines.

One reason for the delay, according to the city, was the completion of the Texas Railroad Commission’s (TRC) explosion report.

On Dec. 10, the commission released the report. In it, the TRC reported that CenterPoint Energy responded to the scene on July 16, where an odor of gas was present.

While no gas leak was detected, the CenterPoint Energy technician continued to search for a potential leak. It was later revealed that 4C Unlimited, a contractor tasked with installing the fiber optic lines, did not report possible damage to the gas line to CenterPoint Energy.

Two hours later, at approximately 2 p.m., a home on H Street exploded.

After the report’s findings were discussed at a Floresville city council meeting, city staff put the report in the hands of residents impacted by the blast.

Aug. 10: No one was injured after an explosion at a West Side apartment complex.

The explosion left eight units ruined in the 2700 block of Observation Drive.

While the blast appeared to be related to natural gas, fire officials at the time said they were still investigating its exact cause.

2025

May 31: An explosion and fire inside a Northwest Side home left a man who lived there with serious injuries.

A San Antonio Fire Department battalion chief told KSAT that the man was in his living room lighting a cigarette when his home exploded and burst into flames.

The man, who rented the home, had approximately 45% to 50% burns on his upper torso, the battalion chief said at the time.

Two days after the explosion, the man — later identified as Fabian Xavier Garcia-Wells — filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and CPS Energy.

The suit, which was filed on June 2, 2025, alleges that the explosion was the “result of a natural gas leak.”

Garcia-Wells’ lawyers also claim the city and CPS Energy were negligent to not “hire, equip and train competent and skilled workers, employees, contractors and subcontractors” to work in and around the home contributed to the explosion and his injuries.

Oct. 10: Quick-thinking neighbors were instrumental in the rescue of a Schertz woman trapped in her home following an explosion.

According to one of the neighbors who brought her out of the home, she appeared to have cuts and serious burns on her face and body. She was later loaded into an ambulance.

Another neighbor, a plumber, told KSAT he smelled gas before the blast and suspected the cause may be due to a possible gas leak.

At the time, CenterPoint Energy said it was still investigating the cause of the explosion.

2026

Jan. 9: San Antonio fire crews said an explosion localized within the garage of a Northeast Side home didn’t cause much damage to the rest of the property.

Additionally, two people suffered minor burns, but both were expected to fully recover.

Fire officials said a lithium-ion battery on a charger contributed to the explosion.

April 21: Two adults and a child suffered burns and were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition after an explosion in a North Side neighborhood.

SAFD said the first fire was extinguished “very quickly” and was likely related to a natural gas buildup.

Approximately two hours later, and just a few houses away from the original blast, KSAT crews heard a second explosion that sent two more adults to a local hospital.

In all, officials said three of the five victims hospitalized are in critical condition.

More recent news coverage on KSAT:

• What we know about the North Side home explosions that hospitalized 5
• Federal investigation underway after North Side home explosions injure 5

The “explosion of emotions inside” came after the 56th-ranked Potapova beat Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 on Wednesday at the Madrid Open to become the first “lucky loser” to reach the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event.

She almost gave up the victory, squandering three match points in the second set and having to come back from 3-1 down in the third against the former No. 1-ranked player. It's been an impressive run considering Potapova lost in the qualifying tournament and only got a place in the main draw as a so-called lucky loser following the withdrawal of another player.

“I (had) a few match points in the second set, on serve, but I couldn't manage my nerves at that time,” she said. “It seems that this tournament keeps giving me second chances and I keep using them. So yeah, supper happy.”

Russia-born Potapova said she got a boost when her boyfriend, Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor, arrived to watch.

“I was a little bit gone mentally in the third set. I didn’t believe in myself at that moment,” she said. “But big respect to my boyfriend who came just on time. He kept telling me, ‘You can do this, we are all together here, just keep going.’”

Potapova said Griekspoor is “not scared” of telling her anything.

“I just played, and mentally he kept me there,” she said. “It just happened at the such important moment, and it gave me a lot of energy. Mentally, I think he got this match. I did it physically. He did it mentally.”

She next will face Marta Kostyuk, who defeated Linda Noskova 7-6 (1), 6-0.

The women's tour said Potapova was the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 or Tier I semifinal since the format’s inception in 1990. She has won four straight matches, including against world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.

“I didn’t expect myself being in the draw again because at first they didn’t take my name as a lucky loser,” she said. “And then the days kept on going and nobody was injured or pulling out. Then the last moment I got the information, literally 30 minutes before the (first-round) match, that I was given a chance to step on court here again.”

She said she had been just enjoying “some nice days” in the Spanish capital, with no expectations.

“Maybe that’s the key. You don’t need to be always so zoomed in and so locked in on the tournament,” Potapova said. “Maybe it’s just a matter of sometimes just enjoy yourself and enjoy the journey.”

She said it feels like “a miracle” to have advanced so far.

“It’s pretty rare when you get the second chance and that you go almost all the way,” Potapova said. “But ... I always say, if you got it, maybe you deserved it. I’m happy that I didn’t waste it, and I was able to convert it and to be here now.”

___

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

At Texas Biomedical Research Institute, scientists are developing a new type of flu vaccine that could provide protection for several years instead of just one season.

Right now, health experts say the reason for yearly flu shots comes down to how quickly the virus evolves.

“Because the flu virus is constantly changing, then you need to get a flu vaccine every single year,” said Dr. Lee-Ann Allen, executive vice president of research at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.

Each year, global health organizations try to predict which strains of the virus will be most common — but it’s not an exact science.

“It’s a highly educated guess and that’s why it’s not perfect,” Allen said. “The WHO (World Health Organization) … are making an educated guess in the winter about what they are going to need next fall.”

Researchers say the new approach focuses on identifying parts of the virus that don’t change as much, allowing for longer-lasting protection.

“The new vaccine would be setting up a situation where you could first identify components of the flu virus that didn’t change so much,” Allen explained.

The goal is to create a vaccine that targets those stable elements — essentially a “common denominator” in how the immune system responds.

If successful, scientists say it could mean people only need a flu shot every few years instead of annually.

“Maybe people would only need to get a flu vaccine, say, every five years instead of every single year,” Allen said.

The research is still in progress, but scientists say they are moving toward the next phase.

“I think we’re getting closer to having certainly animal trials and then ideally, clinical trials,” Allen said.

While a yearly flu shot is still recommended for now, researchers say this work could eventually change how often people need protection — and how the flu is prevented in the future.

Read also:

• San Antonio researchers developing first-ever measles treatment

A dyslexic teenager from a working-class background, Welch struggled with his college entry exams and took a job installing tires after leaving school at age 15. When he lost that gig, he lined up at the Liverpool job center. The job board featured a funeral director's listing — a “great career," he's sure, but “pretty grim" — and an advertisement for a charity event where entrepreneurs could win business grants.

Welch took that one and, less than 24 hours later, found himself inside a church filled with vintage furniture and friendly grandparents. It looked nothing like ABC's “Shark Tank," but he recalls feeling very much like one of the reality show's contestants as he described his proposal to sell cheaper tires to niche customers like his friends who drove souped-up cars.

That was Welch's first interaction with the then-Prince's Trust, which became known as The King's Trust when King Charles III became Britain's ruling monarch in 2023. “It wasn’t a well thought out plan, really,” said Welch, who is now based in Florida. “But they backed me. And they backed my enthusiasm. And they gave me a chance.”

Generations of Brits can tell stories similar to Welch, thanks to The Prince's Trust and The King's Trust, which have been supporting young people launch their careers since 1976, when then-Prince Charles took his Royal Navy severance pay and established the charity at a time of great economic distress for the United Kingdom. In the past 50 years, the King's Trust says it has reached more than 1.3 million young Brits through its education and employment initiatives, creating numerous success stories including those of celebrated actor Idris Elba and noted fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.

As Charles and Queen Camilla continued their first state visit to the U.S. since he became king, they nodded to The King's Trust with a gala Wednesday in New York, as the charity works to deepen its impact in more than two dozen countries including the United States. Attendees included Anna Wintour, Charlotte Tilbury, Donatella Versace, Lionel Richie and Martha Stewart.

At the event, Charles emphasized that “potential and latent talent truly knows no bounds once you help develop it.”

“I won't see the long-distance future,” he told attendees. "But I'm enormously grateful to you all for what you can all do as supporters to help this vital endeavor, to champion the next generation, ensuring their talent and ambition continue to strengthen our societies for many years to come.”

Members of the British Royal Family have traditionally served as patrons of charities, boosting awareness and fundraising for existing organizations in the areas where they rule as nobles. Observers say Charles' lasting interest in young people's employment is evident as he continues lending his title to its expanding work.

Giving young people an opportunity

The trust's programs reach young people through schools and established nonprofit partners. They include Get Hired, which helps young people land their first jobs, and the Development Awards, a grant that helps them afford purchases to advance their careers such as a laptop or professional clothing.

The Enterprise Challenge is an afterschool program where students develop businesses that address a problem in their community.

“What we see every time is that young people want to be helped. They want to be taken seriously,” said Jeremy Green, a trustee of the King’s Trust Group Company and chair of the King’s Trust USA. "And it’s not just giving them money. It’s giving them opportunity.”

LaKenya Sharpe, principal of The Collins Academy High School in the Chicago neighborhood of North Lawndale, said being taken seriously by such an organization has meant the world to her students. They won King's Trust US' Enterprise Challenge for launching a business that grows and sells fresh vegetables to stores in their area, which lacked access to stores that sold produce.

The “babies” in her community often feel as if no one pays attention to them, she said.

“This shows that they can achieve anything," Sharpe added. "Their belief now is ‘Oh, other people are watching. Other people are seeing this.’ And they ask "How far can this go?" My answer is, “It can go as far as you guys take it. Don’t let anything limit you.'”

Highlighting philanthropic ties between the US and UK

Wednesday's gala aims to showcase “the very best of British-American philanthropy through the individual arts, culture, investments between the two countries,” according to The King’s Trust USA CEO Victoria Gore.

The gala arrives at a moment of unusual tension between the elected leaders of the two longstanding allies. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support the United States’ war in Iran has angered President Donald Trump.

Charles noted the “wonderful opportunity” to celebrate “the enduring cultural bond” between the two countries, whose relationship he said is “rooted in shared creativity, enterprise and values.”

“Reminding us we are truly greater together. That's the point,” Charles told attendees.

The trust’s leaders emphasized they'd been planning anniversary celebrations long before the recent rift. But Charles' emphasis on the country’s deep philanthropic ties could serve as a reminder of their shared interests, said JP Tribe, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Liverpool who has written about royal patronages.

Tribe hoped the gala showed “that both countries have and can continue to engage in very positive public benefit activity that helps the most disadvantaged in our society.”

Expanding in the United States

The King's Trust US has set a goal to reach 1,000 young people in the United States this year.

Their biggest partner in that effort is City Year, the education nonprofit that introduced The Collins Academy to The King’s Trust and sends young adults to help teach in schools nationwide. AmeriCorps members are helping them pilot a version of the “Get Hired” program. They're also relying on the nonprofit Per Scholas and Maryland school districts to test some other programs.

Gore said student participants tend to be very focused on their immediate communities. The goal is to show them they can have an impact where they live.

"Keeping employment in communities and keeping people in communities is actually the key to everyone’s success," Gore said.

Welch said it doesn't require giant investments to make an impact. He received a 500 pound ($677) grant and, perhaps more importantly, a mentor who provided office space for the nascent company that he’d eventually sell for 50 million pounds ($68 million) to Michelin.

He said the blueprint for The King's Trust's expansion to succeed already exists. It's just a matter of building relationships with on-the-ground partners who can reach the people with the most need.

“What we see in Chicago, what we see in Orlando, is really no different -- with obvious local nuances," said Welch, who launched his latest venture the Anglo Atlantic advisory and investment firm. "But it’s not very different to what we see in Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester.”

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Thomasz Szabo, 27, was a prolific participant in a dangerous form of online harassment that has become an increasingly common occupational hazard for public officials across the American political spectrum.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of nearly five years for Szabo, who pleaded guilty last June to conspiracy and threats charges. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., also sentenced him to three years of supervised release after his four-year prison term, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office.

“This administration will not tolerate attacks on the institutions and individuals who serve this country,” Pirro said in a statement.

Szabo gets credit for the roughly 20 months he already has served in jail.

In 2018, from Romania, Szabo began creating chat servers for him and like-minded users to engage in internet trolling. By late 2020, he had expanded his online activities to include swatting, which involves making hoax threats to provoke emergency police responses at targets' homes. Others joined him in making the bogus threats.

“Despite (or because of) the fact that they resulted in far greater harm to the victim and society, these activities offered much more entertainment value to the defendant and his followers, since swatting and bomb threats often resulted in an observable real-world impact,” prosecutors wrote.

Szabo was charged with Nemanja Radovanovic, of Serbia, whose case hasn't been resolved.

Another Szabo associate was charged separately in Florida. Alan Filion was sentenced at age 18 in February 2025 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to making approximately 375 swatting calls between August 2022 and January 2024. Filion was a juvenile at the time of his criminal conduct but pleaded guilty as an adult.

In December 2023, Szabo told Radovanovic that they should pick targets from both the Republican and Democratic parties because “we are not on any side,” their indictment says. A day later, Radovanovic and Filion embarked on a swatting spree targeting at least 25 members of Congress or their relatives and dozens more state and federal government officials, according to prosecutors.

“Over and over, police departments and other first responders were hijacked by the defendant and deployed to fictitious emergencies,” prosecutors wrote. “As a result, fewer personnel and resources were available to respond to real emergencies.

On Jan. 19, 2024, Secret Service agents questioned Szabo after Romanian authorities searched his home. He was extradited from Romania to the U.S. in November 2024, officials said.

Adrian Zayas, 18, was taken into custody around 2 a.m. Wednesday, after deputies responded to a noise complaint coming from a vehicle.

Deputies found Zayas, who was an off-duty probationary detention deputy at the time, in the vehicle playing loud music, the sheriff’s office said.

BCSO said its deputies checked Zayas for any active warrants and found one out of Medina County for possession of a controlled substance, which dated back to February 2025.

Although the charge dates back to before Zayas’ time with the sheriff’s office, the warrant was issued while he was employed with BCSO. Therefore, the release stated that Zayas was immediately terminated from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

Since it is a probationary dismissal, BCSO said Zayas’ termination is considered permanent.

“The former employee has no legal recourse to contest this dismissal,” the release stated.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar stated that his office takes “a zero tolerance policy” toward criminal misconduct.

“We have always taken, and will continue to take a zero tolerance policy toward criminal misconduct. This applies to both on duty and off duty conduct,” Salazar said. “Great job by our patrol deputies in doing a thorough investigation after the initial noise complaint, and acting appropriately.”

According to a KSAT Investigates analysis, Zayas is the third BCSO deputy arrest of 2026.

Zayas was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on a $2,000 bond, but has since been released, jail records show.

More crime coverage on KSAT:

• Man arrested, charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, sheriff says
• San Antonio elementary school teacher charged with continuous sexual assault of child, police say

The incident happened just before 4 a.m. on April 27 at Premier Window Tinting, which is located in the 3600 block of Evans Road. SAPD officers responded to the scene approximately seven hours later.

The business, Premier Window Tinting, posted on Nextdoor, saying, “Two men cut wires underneath company vans, creating a serious safety hazard and risk of harm to our drivers.”

The post claimed that the suspects parked across the street at a grocery store near Bulverde Road and walked over to allegedly vandalize the company vehicles.

According to the incident report, a woman reported that one of the men involved in the incident was a former employee.

The former employee was apparently upset after he decided to depart from the business unannounced, the woman told SAPD. He had requested his last paycheck and was upset with how long it took to receive it, the incident report also said.

Read also:

• Data: DWI arrests during 2026 Fiesta drop compared to last year’s event, tie 5-year low
• Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive arrested in San Antonio, DPS says
• GCSO: 2 arrested after deputies recover $250K+ worth of stolen seafood from cargo truck in Guadalupe County

Rolando Lopez Jr., 36, faces charges for assault causing bodily injury on a family member, records show.

The sheriff’s office said they responded to a domestic violence call around 6 p.m. Tuesday near the 47000 block of Sahara Valleys.

The woman told deputies Lopez assaulted her during an argument at a traffic light. She had an injury on her face and lip, the sheriff’s office said.

Lopez was placed on administrative duty. He has been employed by San Antonio Park Police for eight years, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

San Antonio Park Police are investigating the alleged assault.

Lopez is the fourth SAPD officer arrested this year, according to KSAT Investigates’ count.

Read also:

• Probationary detention deputy fired after arrest for possession of a controlled substance, BCSO says

“I worry these attacks are battering this institution and putting at risk the things that really matter to the public,” Powell said in remarks at a press conference after the Fed announced its decision to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

Powell’s decision to stay — the first time a Fed chair will remain on the board as a governor since 1948 — denies President Donald Trump a chance to fill a seat on the central bank’s seven-member governing board with his own appointee. The Senate Banking Committee earlier approved Powell’s successor as chair, Trump appointee Kevin Warsh, on a party-line vote. Powell will continue as a Fed governor, possibly until January 2028. Warsh, if confirmed, will take a seat currently held by Stephen Miran, a previous Trump appointee, whose term ended in January.

Powell's move could make it a bit harder for Warsh to engineer the rate cuts that Trump has demanded, and Warsh advocated for last year, economists say.

“It probably means it will take Warsh a little bit longer to build the consensus he is trying to build,” said David Seif, chief economist for developed markets at Nomura, an investment bank.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on X Friday that her office was ending its probe into the Fed’s extensive building renovations because the Fed’s inspector general would scrutinize them instead. But she added that her office could reopen the investigation if “the facts warrant doing so.” And Pirro had said previously that she would appeal a court ruling that threw out subpoenas her office had issued.

Powell said Wednesday he had been assured by the Justice Department that the appeal wouldn't result in a reopening of the probe unless a separate investigation by the Fed's inspector general finds evidence of criminal activity.

Apparently, that didn't bring Powell the closure he felt is needed.

“I’m waiting for the investigation to be well and truly over with finality and transparency," he said. "I’m waiting for that and I will leave when I think it appropriate to do so.”

The Fed Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting but signaled it could still cut rates in the coming months, moves that attracted the most dissents since October 1992. Three officials dissented in favor of removing the reference to a future cut, while a fourth, Miran, dissented in favor of an immediate rate cut.

The dissents underscore the level of division on the Fed's 12-member rate-setting committee ahead of the end of Powell's term as chair on May 15.

“Developments in the Middle East are contributing to a high level of uncertainty about the economic outlook,” the Fed said in a statement after its two-day meeting. “Inflation is elevated, in part reflecting the recent increase in global energy prices.”

Trump responded to Powell's decision late Wednesday on his social media website: “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell wants to stay at the Fed because he can’t get a job anywhere else — Nobody wants him,” Trump posted, using his nickname for the Fed chair.

Warsh has promised “regime change” at the central bank and may make sweeping changes to its economic models, communications strategies, and balance sheet. He has argued in favor of rate cuts, as Trump has demanded, but he will likely find it harder to implement them with inflation topping 3%, above the Fed’s target of 2%.

When asked if he believed Warsh would stand up to political pressure from Trump, Powell answered, “He testified very strongly at his hearing, and I take him at his word.”

The three officials who dissented against hinting that the Fed may reduce borrowing costs were Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Fed; and Lorie Logan, president of the Dallas Fed. The regional Fed bank presidents have historically been more likely to dissent, while the Washington-based governors more often support the chair.

The dissents could renew tension between the Trump administration and the bank presidents, who White House officials have previously criticized.

Beth Ann Bovino, chief economist at US Bank, said the dissents demonstrated that Fed policymakers are “very independent" and will likely be on hold for months longer. She has forecast a rate cut in December but now isn't sure. Wall Street investors on average don't expect a reduction until well into next year, according to futures pricing.

Powell's decision to stay on could worsen tensions with the Trump administration and would create what some analysts refer to as a “two Popes” scenario, with a chair and former chair both on the Fed’s board. In that case, divisions among policymakers could increase, if some decided to follow Powell's lead rather than Warsh's.

Powell dismissed the notion that his staying on could cause dissension, saying, “My intention is not to interfere," later adding that, “I’m not looking to be a high profile dissident or anything like that."

Still, Powell said he remained concerned about the Fed's independence from the White House, which he said is essential to its ability to set rates to benefit the public, rather than in response to political pressure. When the Fed raises or cuts its short-term rate, over time it affects the cost of mortgages, auto loans, and business borrowing.

Fed independence remains “at risk,” he said. "We’re having to resort to the courts to enforce our ... ability to make monetary policy without political considerations. We’ve had to do that and we’ve been successful so far, but that’s not over, none of that has concluded yet.”

The unusual situation comes while the economic picture remains unusually murky, putting the Fed in a difficult spot. Inflation has jumped to 3.3%, a two-year high, as the war has sharply raised gas prices. That makes it harder for the central bank to reduce rates. The Fed typically leaves rates unchanged, or even raises them, if inflation is worsening.

At the same time, hiring has ground almost to a halt, leaving those without jobs frustrated by the difficulty of finding new ones. Typically, the Fed cuts rates when the job market is weak, to spur more spending and job gains.

But layoffs also remain low, as employers appear to be following a “ low-hire, low-fire ” strategy. Many Fed officials have suggested that as long as the unemployment rate is low, the central bank doesn't need to cut rates to spur more spending and hiring. Unemployment declined to 4.3% in March, from 4.4%.

___

AP Writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report.

In a news release, Uresti encouraged residents to take precautions when purchasing vehicles online after a person was scammed out of $25,000 on Monday.

“Just today, a person who did not speak English was scammed out of $25,500 after seeing a Spanish-language advertisement for the sale of a vehicle,” Uresti said.

Over the past four weeks, Uresti stated that four people were scammed out of amounts ranging from $1,000 to more than $25,500.

From November 2025 to February 2026, the release said other people lost between $6,000 and $18,000. Other buyers were also scammed out of amounts that reached $42,000, Uresti said.

The Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office said many of the fraudulent transactions happen through informal meetups in parking lots and other public places.

Uresti recommended that people meet sellers at one of their tax offices before making a payment. He also said to avoid transactions when the seller won’t accompany the buyer to their office and to remain cautious when deals seem too good to be true.

More news coverage on KSAT:

• Probationary detention deputy fired after arrest for possession of a controlled substance, BCSO says
• McAllen mariachi band released from ICE custody to open for Kacey Musgraves at Gruene Hall

The company earned $26.77 billion, or $10.44 per share, in the January-March period, up about 61% from $16.64 billion, or $6.43 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 33% from last year to $56.31 billion. Meta was expected to earn $6.67 per share on revenue of $55.6 billion, per the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

“We had a milestone quarter with strong momentum across our apps and the release of our first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “We’re on track to deliver personal superintelligence to billions of people.”

About 3.56 billion people used at least one of Meta's apps on a daily basis in March, which declined slightly from December. That decline is due to internet disruptions in Iran and the restriction on access to WhatsApp in Russia, company leaders said in a post-earnings call.

Meta expects total revenue for the second and current quarter to be in the range of $58 billion to $61 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $59.48 billion.

The company also updated its projected capital expenditures for the year to be in the range of $125 billion to $145 billion, increased from the previously announced range of $115 billion to 4135 billion. Meta said the change reflects its expectations of higher component pricing and, “to a lesser extent,” additional data center costs.

Meta’s stock price was down more than 6% in extended trading after the numbers came out.

When Meta posted its initial forecast for 2026 spending at the close of last year, it said the year-over-year growth was driven by increased investment to support Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts. Since then, the company has said it is laying off about 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 workers, as it continues to ramp up spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and highly paid AI-expert hires.

“Investments in data centers are part of a massive gamble by Big Tech firms to win the AI race, to develop artificial general intelligence and to drive massive revenue and profits in the future," said J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, in a statement. “But the risks associated with alienating the top-tier human workforce that took years to build too often goes unnoticed.”

Meta ended March with nearly 78,000 workers, up 1% year over year.

While speaking on a post-earnings call about AI agents and AI-powered products Meta is developing, Zuckerberg said he doesn't believe AI will replace people, as many workers fear. “Instead, I think that AI is going to amplify people’s ability to do what you want, whether that’s to improve your health, your learning, your relationships, your ability to achieve your personal career goals and more,” he said.

Susan Li, Meta’s CFO, said on the same call that the first quarter showed strong execution across its core ads and engagement initiative, but also noted that legal and regulatory matters, could make a dent in progress moving forward.

The company is monitoring “ headwinds in the EU and the US that could significantly impact our business and financial results,” Li said as she noted that there has been increased scrutiny as of late on “youth-related issues.”

The jury in a landmark social media addiction trial in Los Angeles recently found the company liable for harms to a young woman who began using Meta’s platforms — as well as Alphabet's YouTube — as a child. Additional trials scheduled for this year and beyond “may ultimately result in a material loss,” Li said.

Trump, meanwhile, told Axios that he’s rejecting Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a lift of the U.S. blockade — a plan that would postpone discussions of Iran’s nuclear program.

Until now, Hegseth has avoided public questioning from lawmakers about the war, although he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine have held televised Pentagon briefings. Hegseth has mostly taken questions from conservative journalists, while citing Bible passages to castigate mainstream outlets.

Democrats quickly pivoted to the ballooning costs of the Iran war, the huge drawdown of critical U.S. munitions and the bombing of an elementary school that killed children. Some lawmakers have also questioned how prepared the military was to shoot down swarms of Iranian drones, some of which penetrated U.S. defenses and killed or injured American troops.

Republicans have said they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime leadership, for now, citing Iran’s nuclear program, the potential for talks to resume and the high stakes of withdrawal. Still, GOP lawmakers are eager for the conflict to end, and some are eyeing future votes that could become an important test for the president if the war drags on.

Here's the Latest:

USS Ford aircraft carrier heading home after record-breaking deployment, AP sources say

The world’s largest aircraft carrier had been at sea for more than 300 days, including participating in the war against Iran and capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements.

The ship broke the U.S. record this month for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June.

— Konstantin Toropin and Ben Finley

Trump says US is weighing reducing American troop presence in Germany

The president leveled the new threat that he may reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany as tensions grow with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.

“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump said in a social media post.

Merz on Monday said the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington’s lack of strategy in the war. Trump attacked Merz in a social media post Tuesday, saying the German chancellor “thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon” and “doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”

In his first term, Trump also moved to cut U.S. troops in Germany because he said it spent too little on defense.

Araghchi works the phones

In the absence of substantive negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been busy shoring up moral and rhetorical support in his country’s staring contest with America and Israel.

He spent Wednesday conducting a string of phone calls with the foreign ministers of India, Kenya and Poland, along with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric and Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament.

Official reports of these chats contained few details, but the Iranian government account of the meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Araghchi “informed his Indian counterpart about the situation in the region and the consequences of the continued illegal actions of the United States in threatening the freedom of international navigation, as well as the latest developments related to the negotiations to end the imposed war against Iran.”

Earlier this week, Araghchi conducted a whirlwind diplomatic tour, visiting Oman and Pakistan on Sunday then Moscow on Monday for a sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vance acknowledges he’s questioned missile stockpiles in the wake of the Iran war

The vice president, in an interview airing Wednesday on Fox News Channel, was responding to a report in The Atlantic that said he, in private, has repeatedly questioned the Pentagon’s depiction of the war and the depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles.

Vance was dismissive of the reporting but said, “Of course I’m concerned about, you know, our readiness because that’s my job to be concerned.”

He praised the military, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, but said, “It’s of course my job to ask these questions. It’s of course my job to make sure that we’re on top of every issue.”

Hegseth hearing c

oncludes after nearly six hours

Hegseth is exiting the House Armed Services Committee after a nearly six-hour hearing.

The hearing showed the partisan divide on Capitol Hill over the war with Iran. As Democrats questioned him on the economic costs and strategy of the war, Hegseth fired back that lawmakers were being “feckless” in their questioning. Republicans mostly stood behind the defense secretary, although a few questioned his reasoning for removing several top officials.

“At the end of the day, the Iran war is the biggest issue that we face,” said Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the committee.

Hegseth will be back on Capitol Hill tomorrow for a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Hegseth says he ordered officers removed from promotion list

Hegseth told lawmakers that he ordered the names of two female and two Black officers from a promotion list.

Hegseth was asked the question because Army Secretary Dan Driscoll previously testified before a congressional committee that he refused to strike the officers’ names because of their exemplary service.

Hegseth, who has been criticized for the firings of top military leaders, said that he did it.

“Every officer serves at the pleasure of the president,” Hegseth said. “And when they need to be removed in order to ensure we have the right leadership in those services, I will make those calls, regardless of what you might say from the dais.”

Hegseth says Pentagon released Ukraine aid funds

Hegseth told lawmakers that, as of yesterday, the Pentagon is allowing $400 million of Ukraine aid to be spent after months of delay.

The admission comes a day after Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell called out the Pentagon for withholding the funds in an editorial with the Washington Post.

“The Ukraine aid we passed months ago is now collecting dust at the Pentagon,” McConnell wrote in the Post.

Jay Hurst, the Pentagon comptroller, told lawmakers the funds can now be spent, but when the aid will actually reach Ukraine “depends on what they buy with the money.”

“We’re going to take the advice of the (European Command) commander” on how to use the funds best, Hurst added.

Iran–India diplomatic call follows Araghchi’s Russia visit

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a telephone conversation discussing rising regional tensions and diplomatic efforts, Araghchi’s official Telegram channel said in a post.

Araghchi said insecurity in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz stems from what he described as aggressive actions by the United States and Israel, adding they should be held accountable for global security and economic consequences. He also warned of the impact of U.S. actions on freedom of international navigation.

During his recent Moscow visit, Araghchi said Washington was seeking talks after failing to achieve its objectives. His regional tour included Pakistan and Oman, amid attempts to revive stalled negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

2 people killed in a clash with police in Iran

An armed group in the Gach Berin area in the city of Iranshahr opened fire upon encountering a police patrol, prompting officers to respond with heavy gunfire that stopped the group’s vehicle and killed two people, according to provincial police, as reported by the semi-official news agencies, Tasnim News Agency and Fars News Agency. Both Iranian outlets are close to state institutions.

Two others were wounded in the exchange, the police said.

The police added that a Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition were recovered from the vehicle after it was searched.

Iranshahr is in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. The province has been the site of occasional deadly clashes involving militant groups, armed drug smugglers and Iranian security forces. It is one of the least developed provinces of Iran.

Hegseth deflects questions on cost of gas by pointing to California

Americans saw the largest monthly jump in gas prices in six decades during the war with Iran. Yet, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to engage on that issue and instead pointed to typically higher gas prices in California.

Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee have asked Hegseth several times about the rise in gas prices. When Rep. Maggie Goodlander asked whether Hegseth knew the current nationwide average price for a gallon of gas, he responded that it’s “much higher in California.”

Republicans routinely lambast California’s higher gas prices that result from higher state taxes and environmental regulations in the Democratic-led state.

Goodlander responded that the current average is $4.23 a gallon and argued the defense secretary is ignoring the “impacts of this war on the American taxpayer.”

Trump cheers UAE plan to exit OPEC as ‘great’

The president said the oil-rich nation’s decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+ on May 1 could help calm the volatile oil market shaken by the Iran war.

“I think ultimately it’s a good thing for getting the price of gas down, getting oil down, getting everything down,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump says Putin offered to help US handle Iran’s enriched uranium as part of potential nuclear deal

Trump said Putin, during a phone call Wednesday, renewed his offer for Russia to serve as a third country that could deal with Iran’s 970 pounds of enriched uranium that the U.S. leader is demanding Tehran must surrender.

“He told me he’d like to be involved with the enrichment — if he can help us get it,” Trump said Putin told him. “I said, ‘I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine.’ To me, that would be more important.”

Top military advisor for Trump says troops should always follow lawful orders

The House Armed Services Committee hearing touched on a debate over how U.S. military members should evaluate whether orders they have received are lawful and should be followed under military protocol, especially as the military has carried out strikes on boats allegedly carrying narcotics.

The question, which came as the hearing reached over four hours, was asked by Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat who was part of a group of lawmakers investigated by the FBI last year after releasing a video reminding U.S. military members to defy illegal orders. Deluzio asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff what commanding officers should do if an enemy is trying to surrender.

Caine declined to discuss the issue in detail, saying that it would take him into a “partisan place,” but added that “officers and enlisted service members always follow lawful orders. There’s a checklist for them to do that.”

Life of imprisoned Iranian human rights activist in ‘imminent danger,’ foundation says

Dangerously high blood pressure and losing about 44 pounds (20 kilograms) rapidly have placed Narges Mohammadi’s life in “imminent danger,” according to a report by her foundation.

Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights activist and Nobel laureate, has been imprisoned for several periods since 2016 over her opposition to the death penalty and compulsory veiling. She is back in prison after being sentenced on Feb. 8 to 7 1/2 years on charges including collusion against state security and propaganda. The foundation said she suffers from persistent chest pain. She also experienced high blood pressure over the past three days, without responding to medication.

Despite confirmation from Iran’s medical examiner that she needs at least one month of specialized cardiac care, Tehran prosecutors have refused to grant a temporary suspension of her sentence, the report said. It added that her legal team, after a recent visit, said her condition has reached a critical point.

Congressman blasts Hegseth over troop deaths, says secretary should resign

Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan criticized Hegseth over the deaths of six American soldiers who were stationed in Kuwait and killed by an Iranian drone.

Ryan pressed Hegseth on whether intelligence showed the location was high on Iran’s target list and was indefensible from aerial attack.

“Yet you sent our soldiers from the 103d Sustainment Command there anyway. Is that true or false?” Ryan asked.

Hegseth said the military took proactive measures to protect American forces and that the soldiers who died are remembered every day.

Ryan quoted survivors of the attack who told CBS that they weren’t prepared to defend against a drone attack. The congressman also accused Hegseth of downplaying what happened and said he should resign.

Ultra-orthodox protests against draft law ripple across Israel

Ultra-orthodox Jews are protesting Israel’s draft law throughout Israel this week, including in Jerusalem, where police used stun grenades to disperse demonstrations on Wednesday.

The draft remains a political powder keg in Israel. The Ultra-Orthodox make up 13% of the population and oppose enlistment because they believe studying full-time in seminaries is their most important duty. Courts have demanded the government enforce a law mandating conscription. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — facing elections this year — relies on ultra-Orthodox parties to maintain his coalition.

The arrest of yeshiva students accused of draft dodging kindled this week’s demonstrations, including in Ashkelon, where ultra-Orthodox protesters broke into a military commander’s yard Tuesday, prompting condemnation from Netanyahu.

“It is unacceptable what they are doing to yeshiva students as if they were the worst criminals,” protestor Menahem Adri said in Jerusalem. “All we want is to sit and study Torah.”

Kremlin warns of ‘dire consequences’ if hostilities against Iran resume

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran war in a phone call with Trump on Wednesday, with the Kremlin stressing the “dire consequences” if hostilities resumed.

Speaking to journalists, presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Putin had told the U.S. president that a ground operation on Iranian territory would be completely “unacceptable and dangerous.”

Hegseth refuses to say why Army general was fired in tense exchange

Houlahan pressed Hegseth on why he fired the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George.

Hegseth refused to answer and didn’t deny the Democratic representative’s suggestion that he fired George via text.

Hegseth said he wouldn’t talk about the removal out of respect.

“However, I will note it’s very difficult to change the culture of a department that’s been destroyed by the wrong perspectives,” Hegseth said.

“So, Gen. George destroyed a culture?” Houlahan asked.

Hegseth said the department “needed new leadership.”

The congresswoman responded: “You have no way of explaining why you fired one of the most decorated and remarkable men who’s ever served this nation?”

“We needed new leadership,” Hegseth said. “That’s my answer.”

“And so your answer is a very immature way of responding to my request,” Houlahan said.

Hegseth hearing takes a 10-minute break

The testimony before the House Armed Services Committee has been going on for about three hours.

Democrats who urged troops to defy illegal orders face Hegseth

Four House Democrats are getting their first opportunity to publicly question Hegseth after they were part of a group of Democratic lawmakers who the FBI investigated after releasing a social media video last year that urged U.S. service members to follow military protocol and defy any illegal orders.

Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio and Maggie Goodlander, who all previously served in the military or intelligence agencies, now sit on the House Armed Services Committee.

Houlahan, who was the first Democrat in the group to question Hegseth, reminded the defense secretary that “Democrats, even Democrats in Congress, are patriots as well” and “admire and love our uniformed services.”

Still, they confronted Hegseth with tough questions about how long the U.S. would be at war with Iran and how he has led the Pentagon.

Hegseth refuses to say how much longer the Iran war could last or cost

Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan asked Hegseth, “How many more months, just by order of magnitude, do you think that you’re going to need to be able to conclude operations successfully? And how many more billions of dollars do you think you’re going to ask this body for?”

Hegseth refused to answer the question, saying that the U.S. military would never tip its hand to an adversary about how long it would be committed to the mission.

Trump says he’s rejecting Iran’s latest proposal, keeping blockade in place

The president told Axios on Wednesday that he’s rejecting Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a lift of the U.S. blockade. Iran’s proposal, shared with U.S. leaders this week, sought to postpone discussions around Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump told Axios he doesn’t want to lift the blockade until Iran addresses its nuclear ambitions.

“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing,” Trump said. “And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hegseth faces criticism over firings of US military leaders

Republican Congressman Don Bacon criticized the defense secretary over his ousting of admirals, generals and other top Pentagon officials. They’ve included Navy Secretary John Phelan and the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, and several others.

“We had a huge bipartisan majority in here that had confidence in the Army chief of staff and the Secretary of Navy,” Bacon said. “And I would just point out … you may have the constitutional right to do these things, but it doesn’t make it right or wise.”

Deadly Iran school strike still under investigation

Hegseth says that two months after a deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school killed more than 165 people, including many children, the incident remains under investigation.

That answer came after California Democrat Ro Khanna pressed the defense secretary on the costs associated with the strike.

Hegseth replied that “that unfortunate situation remains under investigation” but that he “wouldn’t tie a cost to that.”

Hegseth told reporters last month that the military assigned a general from outside of U.S. Central Command to investigate the strike. Still, he refused questions about what led to it while arguing that the U.S. does not target civilians.

Those comments came just days after The Associated Press reported that there was growing evidence that pointed to U.S. culpability for the Feb. 28 strike, which hit a school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base in Minab, Iran.

Hegseth responds to economic costs of war with Iran

The defense secretary faced intense questions from Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, about what American households would have to pay due to the economic repercussions of the war with Iran.

“Do you know how much it will cost Americans in terms of their increased cost in gas and food over the next year because of the Iran war?” Khanna asked.

Pete Hegseth retorted, “I would simply ask you what the cost is of an Iranian nuclear bomb.”

Khanna then accused Hegseth and the Trump administration of failing to live up to the president’s campaign promises of lowering the cost of living for Americans. He argued that Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would cause American households to pay thousands more dollars for gas and food.

“I’m sad for all the people who voted for Trump. I’m sad for them because you betrayed them,” Khanna said.

Hegseth says it’s unfair to call Iran war a quagmire

The defense secretary pushed back on Democratic criticisms that the Trump administration has led Americans into a “quagmire,” pointing out that the conflict is only two months old and asserting it has had great success against the Islamic Republic. The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dragged on for years, he said.

Trump said in early March that operations are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”

The U.S. and Iran do appear to be locked in a stalemate. Trump seems unlikely to accept Tehran’s latest offer to reopen the strait if the U.S. ends the war, lifts its sea blockade and postpones nuclear talks. The Iranians seem unwilling to give up their nuclear ambitions before ending the conflict.

Hegseth says US military considered that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz

He said the Pentagon “looked at all aspects” of the risk that Iran would blockade the strait. The claim came after Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, asked Hegseth if he considered “Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz winning.”

“I would say the blockade that we hold that doesn’t allow anything to come in or out of Iranian ports,” Hegseth replied.

So “we’ve blockaded their blockade,” Moulton said — that’s “like saying tag, you’re it.”

Caine declined to say if the risk of Iran closing the critical waterway was considered, but said the military always offers “a full range of military options that are carefully considered with the associated risks.”

The heated exchange was the latest between Hegseth and Democrats who have used the hearing to ask broader questions on the strategy behind the war in Iran and the Trump administration’s use of the military. Meanwhile, House Republicans have largely used their time asking very specific or detailed questions about the Pentagon’s budget and spending.

As TotalEnergies reports huge profits, protesters call for windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies

Climate activists protested outside a TotalEnergies petrol station in Paris on Wednesday after the French energy giant reported $5.4 billion in adjusted first-quarter profit, up 29% from a year earlier, as it “captured higher prices” despite production challenges due to the war in Iran.

The 350.org group said about 30 activists from several environmental organizations unfurled a banner reading, “TotalEnergies profits, we foot the bill.”

The group said war-related price spikes have cost French consumers and businesses more than $2.3 billion so far, urging the French government to “show political courage” by permanently taxing excess fossil fuel profits.

“While families watch their bills skyrocket, TotalEnergies posts some of its best financial results without even paying its fair share of taxes,” 350.org country manager Fanny Petitbon said in a statement. “We are witnessing an obscene transfer of wealth: the war enriches shareholders as it impoverishes citizens.”

Hegseth claims Americans support Iran war despite polling

The hearing has resumed, with a heated exchange between Democratic Rep. John Garamendi and Hegseth.

The secretary said the American people have supported the war’s mission of depriving Iran of a nuclear weapon, “despite your loose talk and words like quagmire.”

While an AP-NORC poll from March found that about two-thirds of U.S. adults said it’s “extremely” or “very” important to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, other polling suggests that most Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue of Iran more broadly.

Garamendi had lambasted Hegseth and Trump for the Iran war, calling it “a political and economic disaster at every level.”

1.24 million projected to face acute insecurity in Lebanon, UN report says

That’s nearly one in four of the population analyzed, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released by Lebanon’s Agriculture Ministry with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program.

The figures are projections and it remains unclear how the estimates were reached. The report notes that the current crisis follows seven years of compounded economic collapse and conflict.

“Compounded shocks are undermining agricultural livelihoods and impacting food security, highlighting the urgent need for emergency agricultural assistance to support farmers,” said Nora Ourabah Haddad, FAO Representative in Lebanon.

The e-commerce and technology company said that sales in its cloud computing unit were up 28% in the January-March period, the fastest increase in 15 quarters. Amazon Web Services had 24% sales growth in the fourth quarter, which followed the division's 20% growth in the third quarter.

The Seattle-based company also offered a bullish outlook for net sales in the current quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates. However, shares slid nearly 2% in after-hours trading before rising about 3%.

Investors were closely watching Amazon’s quarterly earnings to see if the company’s $200 billion investment in artificial intelligence, robots, semiconductors and satellites is starting to pay off. The planned expenditure for the year marked a 60% increase from Amazon’s $128 billion in capital spending last year and spooked investors, sending the stock down 11% in after-hours trading when it was announced in February.

CEO Andy Jassy defended the spending during the previous quarterly earnings call, saying Amazon expected long-term returns on its invested capital.

The results from the latest quarter underscored that demand keeps growing for Amazon's services and technology.

“We’re in the middle of some of the biggest inflections of our lifetime, we’re well positioned to lead, and I’m very optimistic about what’s ahead for our customers and Amazon,” Jassy said in a release Wednesday.

Amazon came out with its first-quarter earnings the same day as three other tech giants — Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet — were reporting theirs, giving investors a read on AI spending and cloud growth across the industry.

Big deals that Amazon signed with OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta this month gave the company solid momentum.

Amazon announced what it called a “major expansion” of its partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Tuesday, a day after the artificial intelligence company said it was loosening its ties to longtime backer Microsoft.

Last week, Anthropic agreed to commit more than $100 billion to Amazon’s AWS cloud platform over the next 10 years to train and run the artificial intelligence company’s Claude chatbot. The partnership will allow Anthropic to secure up to 5 gigawatts of Amazon’s Trainium chips to train and power their artificial intelligence models, Amazon said.

Also last week, Amazon said that Meta, which owns Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook, signed an agreement to power agentic AI on AWS’ Graviton chips.

Like other retailers, however, Amazon is experiencing higher tariff costs because of President Donald Trump’s foreign trade policies. Rising shipping costs as the Iran war affects oil and fuel prices also could cut into the company's e-commerce revenue.

Amazon this month said it would impose a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on some third-party sellers using its platform. The temporary charge was effective April 17 for many of the sellers that use Amazon’s fulfillment services, the company confirmed to The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Amazon has been speeding up order delivery times through a combination of robotics, AI technology and more efficient warehousing. In fact, speedier delivery helped Amazon dethrone Walmart in February from its status as the nation’s largest company by revenue, according to Fortune, which compiles a ranking of the top 500 U.S. corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years.

A new ultra-fast service called Amazon Now offers deliveries of orders from a selection of thousands of items in 30 minutes or less. The service is now available in various cities in India, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates and is being tested in several communities in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, the company said in February.

The company said on Wednesday that the service has expanded to parts of Tokyo and eight major cities in Brazil, bringing the total availability of Amazon Now to tens of millions of customers across nine countries. It plans to continue expanding the service in the U.S. and around the world this year, Amazon noted.

Amazon reported earnings of $30.3 billion, or $2.78 per share, for the three-month period ended March 31. That compared with $17.1 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the year-ago period.

Net sales rose 17% to $181.5 billion in the quarter, compared with $155.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts were expecting $1.63 per share on sales of $177.28 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue from Amazon Web Services reached $37.58 billion. Analysts were expecting $36.6 billion, according to FactSet.

For the current quarter, Amazon said it expected net sales will be in the range of $194 billion to $199 billion.

That would mean an increase of between 16% to 19% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts were expecting $188.96 billion in the current period, according to FactSet.

Officers responded to the crash just after 4:15 a.m. Wednesday in the 10600 block of Interstate 10 westbound, near Ramsgate Road.

According to an SAPD preliminary report, the driver of a Volkswagen, an 18-year-old man, was looking at his phone for directions before the collision.

The driver did not see the turnaround over the interstate and then crashed into a retaining wall, the report said.

SAPD said the driver, as well as a 15-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man, suffered significant injuries.

There are no criminal elements to the crash, police stated.

Read also:

• McAllen mariachi band released from ICE custody to open for Kacey Musgraves at Gruene Hall
• San Antonio mother of Camp Mystic camper killed during Hill Country floods testifies

Multiple law enforcement agencies are looking for Louis Sanchez III, who has active warrants for terroristic threat against a peace officer and failure to appear/assault causes bodily injury, deputies said.

KCSO said Sanchez is considered armed and dangerous. He also has a history of violent criminal offenses, according to the sheriff’s office.

Sanchez is believed to be in the Falls City area. However, deputies stated that he “moves around frequently.”

Anyone with information on Sanchez’s whereabouts is asked to contact KCSO at 830-780-3931 or any other law enforcement jurisdiction where he is located.

More crime coverage on KSAT:

• 2 accused of cutting gas line off multiple North Side business vehicles, incident report says
• Probationary detention deputy fired after arrest for possession of a controlled substance, BCSO says

The arena has a new name, the roster and coach are completely different, and the cost of attending a game has climbed sharply. But one thing remains consistent: fan enthusiasm.

As the Spurs advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs, fans are showing up in full force — even as ticket prices reach levels far above what they were during the team’s last deep postseason run.

In 2017, when the Spurs reached the Western Conference finals, first-round playoff tickets could be found for as little as $20 to $50. This year, upper-level seats for Round 1 were selling for around $150.

“The demand is through the roof,” said Jerome Cohen, owner of Best Tickets.

Cohen said ticket prices have risen across the board for live events, but San Antonio remains relatively affordable compared to other markets. Still, a long stretch without playoff success has contributed to surging demand.

“Ticket prices are up, still probably lower than most markets, but we just have such a high demand,” Cohen said. “After such a long dry spell of wins, people are just excited.”

The rising cost extends beyond tickets. At the former AT&T Center, jerseys in 2017 typically ranged from $70 to $110. At the current Frost Bank Center, those same items now sell for between $150 and $269.

The changes reflect broader growth in San Antonio. In 2017, Ron Nirenberg had just taken office as mayor, new river barges were introduced along the River Walk and a baby hippo named Timothy arrived at the San Antonio Zoo.

The Spurs themselves were also in a different place. Franchise centerpiece Victor Wembanyama was just 13 years old at the time, already standing 5-foot-11 and beginning his basketball journey.

Now, the team’s resurgence has sparked a new level of fan engagement. In-arena traditions have grown louder, and postgame celebrations — including honking car horns — now stretch well beyond downtown.

“It really goes to the culture of the team and the culture of the city,” one fan said. “We don’t have many sports franchises to root for, so it’s a one-horse town, and people get on, and it is exciting.”

The Spurs’ second-round opponent has yet to be determined. They will face either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Denver Nuggets as their playoff run continues.

More Spurs coverage on KSAT:

• Timberwolves or Nuggets? Spurs await next opponent ahead of Western Conference semifinals
• Spurs Jackals turn Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija’s chipped tooth into Game 5 punchline

Some officials were members of Mexico's progressive ruling party, Morena, posing a political conundrum for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as she seeks to offset mounting pressures from the Trump administration. Some of those politicians called the indictment a political attack on their party.

U.S. federal officials announced the charges in a news release. None of the defendants were in custody, but Mexico's government said shortly afterward that it had received multiple extradition requests from the U.S. without identifying those requested. It did not say how it would respond.

Morena party members indicted

The 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court are current and former government or law enforcement officials in Sinaloa, including Rubén Rocha Moya, 76, who has been governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state since November 2021.

Charges against Moya included narcotics importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, along with another conspiracy count. If convicted, he could face life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 40 years behind bars.

Rocha was a staunch ally of Sheinbaum's mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The governor enthusiastically backed the ex-president's “Hugs, Not Bullets” policy, which involved avoiding direct confrontation with powerful drug cartels. López Obrador built a political platform by railing against endemic corruption plaguing Mexican politics.

Rocha, the highest profile official charged, said he “categorically and completely rejects” the accusations as baseless and called them an “attack” on Mexico’s ruling party and its leaders.

“It is part of a perverse strategy to violate (Mexico’s) constitutional order, specifically on national sovereignty, ” he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday afternoon. “We will show them that this slander doesn’t have any sort of foundation.”

Ties to Sinaloa Cartel

Some of those named, according to the indictment, have themselves participated in the Sinaloa Cartel's campaign of violence and retribution.

The indictment alleged that they were closely aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as “Los Chapitos,” which is run by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the ex-cartel leader now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.

Authorities said the defendants played critical roles in helping the cartel ship fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the U.S. The Sinaloa Cartel is among eight Latin American crime groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.

“As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a release.

The indictment of Rocha, who was born in the same town as “El Chapo”, was particularly notable because the governor was embroiled in a scandal in 2023 involving the Sinaloa Cartel. His name was published in a letter written by a then-Sinaloa Cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction of the cartel and handed off to law enforcement in the U.S. In the letter, the capo said that when he was kidnapped he believed he was on his way to meet with Rocha.

In the years since, the cartels two warring factions have ravaged the northern Mexican state in their struggle for territorial control.

Among those indicted, at least three officials –- Rocha the mayor of Sinaloa’s capital, and a senator -– were affiliated with Sheinbaum’s party, Morena. A number of other officials held positions unaffiliated with Mexican parties.

It's not the first time the U.S. has brought drug trafficking charges against ranking Mexican officials. In 2023, Genaro García Luna — a former Mexican public security secretary under former President Felipe Calderón — was convicted by a U.S. court and sentenced to 38 years in prison after he was accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. He denied the allegations and is appealing his conviction.

Another balancing act for Sheinbaum

The indictment unsealed Wednesday come after U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson last week said that the U.S. administration would launch an anti-corruption campaign targeting Mexican officials he said were linked to organized crime.

"Corruption not only hinders progress, it distorts it. It increases costs, weakens competition, and erodes the trust upon which markets depend. It is not a problem without victims,” Johnson said.

Sheinbaum responded Monday by saying her government has not seen “any evidence” of the charges of corruption.

“Any investigation in the United States against any person in Mexico must have evidence reviewed by the (Mexican) Attorney General’s Office,” Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum’s government has already detained several local officials across Mexico in its ongoing crackdown against the cartels, fueled by pressure by the Trump administration.

The indictment has once again forced the Mexican leader to walk a political tightrope, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Washington-based Brookings Institution who specializes in organized crime.

If Sheinbaum doesn’t go after Rocha it will put strain on relations with the U.S. ahead of renegotiations of a free-trade agreement with the U.S. crucial to the Mexican economy, the analyst said. If she does arrest him, “it carries tremendous consequences for her politically” ahead of next year’s midterm elections in Mexico.

“Is she going to move to arrest Gov. Rocha and the other eight indicted politicians and attempt to extradite him to the United States? This is certainly what the United States wants,” Felbab-Brown said.

___

Associated Press writers Megan Janetsky, María Verza and Fabiola Sánchez reported from Mexico City, and AP writer Jennifer Peltz from New York.

Alphabet earned $62.6 billion, or $5.11 per share, during the January-March period, an 81% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 22% from last year to $109.9 billion. Both numbers easily surpassed the analyst projections that steer investors.

Alphabet's stock price rose more than 6% in extended trading after the numbers came out, setting up the shares to hit a new high during Thursday's regular session. The company's market value currently stands at $4.2 trillion, up from $1.9 trillion just a year ago. If the stock trades in a similar trajectory Thursday, Alphabet's market value could approach $4.5 trillion while creating more than $250 billion in additional shareholder wealth in a single day.

The stock market gains that Alphabet is producing are not being matched by other big AI spenders such as Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta Platforms, whose stock price plunged by about 6% in extended trading after disclosing an investment strategy being second guessed by investors. Meanwhile, Microsoft's shares also dipped, despite posting quarterly results that topped analyst forecasts.

Alphabet's performance in the past quarter CEO Sundar Pichai to celebrate the huge bets that the company has been placing on AI technology during the past three years. Those investments, Pichai said, “are lighting up every part of the business.”

As usual, digital ads fueled by Google’s dominant search engine propelled the growth as revenue from those operations shot up 16% from last year’s first quarter. It marked the fourth straight quarter that Google's ad sales increased by more than 10% from the previous year.

Google’s fastest growing division remains its Cloud division, which has been riding the AI boom to sell more products and services to corporate customers and government agencies such as the deal that it just struck with the U.S. military. Google Cloud’s revenue surged 63% from last year to $20 billion.

That growth is a sign that Alphabet’s spending spree on AI is producing dividends so far, although investors continue to worry that the Mountain View, California, company and its Big Tech peers are pouring too much money into a still-nascent and unproven technology.

Alphabet, though, is betting that it’s better to overspend on AI than being too stingy and risk behind left behind.

In a previous quarterly update released in February, Alphabet disclosed that it’s earmarking $175 billion to $185 billion for capital expenditures this year that will largely be devoted to building AI data centers and other tools tied to the technology.

In a reflection of management’s confidence in its strategy, Alphabet’s top finance executive Anat Ashkenazi told analysts on a conference call that this year’s capital expenditures may climb as high as $190 billion. And even if the spending runs that high, Askkenazi said it will “significantly increase” again next year.

All of that would be on top of $91 billion in capital expenditures during 2025.

“The key message is that Alphabet is no longer asking investors to underwrite AI spending on faith,” said Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro.

Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain had edged Bayern Munich 5-4 in France in Tuesday’s semifinal.

Viktor Gyökeres put Arsenal ahead at the Metropolitano stadium by converting a 44th-minute penalty kick. Julián Alvarez equalized for Atletico — also from the penalty spot — in the 56th.

Arsenal was awarded another penalty in the 78th after Eberechi Eze was brought down by David Hancko inside the area, but the call was overturned — several moments later — after a video review.

The second leg is in London next Tuesday, when both clubs will try to return to the final after a long absence and earn a chance to win the European title for the first time.

“Here you have to suffer. Many teams have suffered here, including some of the best in the world," Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said. "We had some good moments in the match and moments where we had to suffer. The margins are very slim. We are in an incredible position — the semifinal of the Champions League. We have to play in front of our people — it’s in our hands.”

In the league phase of the competition, Arsenal routed Atletico 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Atletico last made it to the Champions League final in 2016, when it lost to city rival Real Madrid.

“We tried,” Atletico midfielder Koke Resurreccion said. “We started losing with that penalty, which was doubtful, but the team recovered and we could equalize with a penalty ourselves. We had the opportunities to win, but it will all be decided in the second leg. I think we played a good match.”

Gyökeres broke the deadlock Wednesday from the penalty spot after he was brought down inside the area by Hancko, who was a bit late to the ball and slightly bumped the Arsenal striker from behind. The buildup came after Atletico lost possession in attack.

“Overall I think it was a tough game, we know it’s a tough place to come, but it’s only halftime,” Gyökeres said. “We know when we play at home, with our fans, it’s going to be different for sure and we just have to do our job, be at our best, and for sure it’s going to be a good game at home.”

Arsenal last appeared in the final in 2006, when it lost to Barcelona.

Atletico’s penalty came after a handball by Arsenal defender Ben White following a shot by Marcos Llorente. The call came after a video review. Alvarez converted the penalty with a firm shot for his 10th Champions League goal this season. He had to be replaced later in the second half with an apparent injury.

The penalty was Arsenal’s first attempt on target, but both teams had exchanged a few early chances. Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had made a nice save on a shot by Alvarez, and Martin Odegaard — who also was later substituted — had his dangerous strike from inside the area blocked by Atletico defenders.

Alvarez led the Atletico attack early but the connection with Antoine Griezmann and Ademola Lookman didn’t work well until the second half.

Alvarez almost curled in a free-kick strike after the break, and both Lookman and Griezmann had chances shortly afterward. Griezmann struck the post with a shot in the 63rd. Lookman, who had been doubtful to start because of a muscle injury, missed from close range later in the second half.

“We played a very good second half and had the chances to win the match,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.

Griezmann, who played his last Champions League match at home with Atletico, was named the most valuable player. The France star will join MLS club Orlando City this summer.

Many of the nearly 70,000 Atletico fans threw toilet paper from the stands before the match at the Metropolitano, creating a curtain of white paper.

___

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

The 6-3 ruling effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act's requirement that districts be drawn to give minority voters a chance to elect representatives of their choosing. One practical effect of that requirement was the protection of reliably Democratic-voting majority-minority districts, even in solidly red states where lawmakers could otherwise favor the GOP.

With that mandate now largely gone, Republican lawmakers across the country — and especially in the South — have a freer hand to eliminate Democratic-leaning districts and pad the total number of seats they can win to hold the U.S. House. There are more than a dozen such seats in Republican-controlled states.

Shortly after the ruling, Republicans were urging a review of their congressional maps in Louisiana, Tennessee and elsewhere.

Their immediate challenge is that the ruling came down well after filing deadlines for this year's primary elections — and in some cases, after those primary elections have been held. That means ballots are set and in some states early and absentee voting has already begun.

‘No time to waste’

The timing makes it difficult to tear up maps and draw new ones. In Louisiana, where the mandate to draw a second, Democratic-leaning majority-Black House district led to Tuesday's decision, the primary election for federal offices is set for May 16 — and early voting is scheduled to begin Saturday. Nevertheless, the state's governor, attorney general and legislative leaders were meeting to discuss how the state would respond.

Republicans have been scrambling to comply with President Donald Trump's directive to redraw maps to add more winnable House seats to stave off losses in the midterms. In a sign of the pressure for Republicans to take advantage of the opportunity, multiple hopefuls running for governor in GOP primaries called for immediate redraws.

“There is no time to waste," Rick Jackson, a businessman and GOP governor candidate in Georgia, said in urging a redraw there even as voting is underway for the May 19 primary. "Georgia must act now to ensure secure elections in Georgia and counter the Democrats’ national assault on our elections.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, running for the GOP nomination for governor in Tennessee, called for redrawing that state's congressional map to replace its lone, majority-Black Democratic congressional seat with one more winnable for Republicans — even though that state's deadline for candidates to get on the ballot was March 10.

In a social media post, Trump praised the opinion by “brilliant Justice Samuel Alito” for returning “the Voting Rights Act to its Original Intent, which was to protect against intentional Racial Discrimination.”

Primary calendar is the main obstacle to redrawing maps

Democrats have managed to largelycounter Republicans' push to draw more winnable seats in the round of mid-decade redistricting that started last year, but there is no clear way they could match the GOP's potential gains from the effective loss of the Voting Rights Act.

“It should not be lost on anyone that the Roberts court makes this decision at a time when Republican leaders across the country are foaming at the mouth to draw the American people out of a meaningful say in our elections,” former Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in a statement, referring to the court's Republican-nominated chief justice, John Roberts. "They want to retain illegitimately obtained power through the use of, among other things, now Supreme Court-sanctioned racial and partisan gerrymandering.”

Only one Republican state has a relatively clear path to gaining seats from the decision in time for the midterms — Florida. GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has called a special session to adopt his map that could give his party four new winnable House seats. DeSantis had been counting on the Supreme Court ruling as it did Wednesday, and his state's primary is not until August.

The Florida Legislature approved the new congressional map Wednesday.

Other states have to confront the unprecedented possibility of revising maps even as voters are casting ballots or the legal process of declaring intent to run for office has concluded.

“I don’t know what the implications are going be for the fall. It's pretty late,” said Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He said any redistricting decisions in the weeks ahead would be up to governors and legislatures.

Voting Rights Act ‘essentially dead’

In the longer term, the ruling clears the way for a drastic reshaping of the nation's political geography, at least by the time of the next presidential election year in 2028.

“The Voting Rights Act as a means to protect minority voters from vote dilution is essentially dead,” said Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie Mellon University who has worked as the court-appointed special master and mapmaker in multiple Voting Rights Act cases. “It's hard to imagine how this decision does not lead to additional GOP districts into the future.”

Cervas noted the Voting Rights Act isn't necessarily a partisan benefit for Democrats. Its most frequent use comes in local, nonpartisan races for offices such as school board or city council. But Republicans have long complained that Democrats have used the law to get winnable districts for their Black voters in red states that Republican-leaning white voters could never receive in blue states.

“For decades the left has spent hundreds of millions of dollars seeking to divide Americans along racial lines in a cynical pursuit of partisan power masquerading as civil rights,” Adam Kincaid, the National Republican Redistricting Trust’s executive director, said in a statement. “Today’s decision rebukes that divisive and unconstitutional effort.”

Democratic states might want to preserve minority districts

While the Voting Rights Act has helped preserve Democratic-leaning districts, those voters don't vanish just because of Wednesday's ruling. Republicans in some states cannot just eliminate all those districts without spreading enough Democratic voters around to jeopardize their own incumbents.

Likewise, the requirement that Democratic-leaning minority voters be concentrated in certain districts has occasionally hurt Democrats in states such as Michigan, lowering the number of swing districts they might win. The party could partly counter Republican gains by spreading minority voters wider in states it controls.

But there will be political pressure against that from some Black and Hispanic Democrats who want to ensure their communities still command the majority in certain districts. Democratic-controlled states also are more likely to have nonpartisan redistricting commissions that make their congressional maps less partisan and increasingly have adopted state-level versions of the Voting Rights Act to protect sometimes marginalized communities.

That will take time, but it all points to a far less regulated environment for mapmaking in the years to come.

That worries Thomas Johnson, a Black voter in New Orleans who was at the state Capitol to lobby on unrelated legislation Wednesday when the Supreme Court ruling came down. The majority-Black congressional district in which he lives can now be diced up by that state's Republican legislature.

“We are going to do all we can and continue fighting so our voices are heard,” Johnson said. “That’s all we want, to be heard.”

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta, Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

QUICK QUACK CAR WASH

804 S WW White Rd, San Antonio, TX 78220

Quick Quack Car Wash brings speed, convenience, and a touch of fun to San Antonio with its eco-friendly, drive-through car wash experience. Known for its signature duck-themed branding and modern facilities, the company offers a fast, automated exterior wash paired with free high-powered vacuums. With multiple locations across the city, Quick Quack has become a popular choice for drivers looking for an efficient and reliable way to keep their vehicles clean.

The service features options like triple-foam polish, paint sealant, tire shine, and the brand’s signature Ceramic Duck coating. Customers can also take advantage of the Unlimited Wash Club, which provides quick access through a dedicated lane for members. To celebrate a new location, Quick Quack is offering 12 days of free car washes from April 29 through May 10, giving the community a chance to experience its fast, three-minute clean.

LACOSTE BAKERY

4421 De Zavala Rd, San Antonio, TX 78249

Lacoste Bakery delivers an authentic taste of France to San Antonio, offering handcrafted pastries and breads made with traditional techniques. Owned by award-winning baker Vincent Lacoste, the boulangerie has built a strong following for its commitment to quality, using premium ingredients, including butter imported from France. The result is a lineup of flaky, buttery pastries that bring a true Parisian experience to the local community.

Signature items include classic croissants, fresh baguettes, cruffins filled with Biscoff cream, and Bavarian cream bowties. The bakery operates primarily as a takeout spot with limited seating, and popular items often sell out early in the day. With its focus on authenticity and craftsmanship, Lacoste Bakery has quickly become a must-visit destination for pastry lovers in San Antonio.

MATCHA CAFÉ MAIKO

7115 Blanco Rd, Ste 112, San Antonio, TX 78216

Matcha Café Maiko offers a unique dessert experience centered around premium Japanese matcha sourced directly from Uji, Kyoto. Known for its high-quality ingredients and attention to detail, the café specializes in matcha-based treats that highlight the rich, earthy flavor of finely ground green tea. The space provides a bright and inviting atmosphere, making it a popular destination for those seeking something both refreshing and distinctive.

Menu highlights include matcha soft serve, latte floats, shaved ice, and the Maiko Special, which features matcha cream, chiffon cake, mochi, and chestnuts. In addition to traditional offerings, the café also serves hojicha and ube desserts, along with newer additions like Korean corn dogs. With its blend of authenticity and creativity, Matcha Café Maiko continues to stand out as a go-to spot for specialty desserts in San Antonio.

Follow Texas Eats and David Elder on Facebook and Instagram for more food info, pictures, videos and giveaways.

• Facebook: @TexasEatsTV
• Instagram: @texaseatstv
• TikTok: @ElderEats
• Twitter: @TexasEatsTV

“It was kind of hard to see because of the debris,” Hester, 33, said Wednesday, standing amid the ruins of his home. “I was able to see the tornado. And all of my stuff go into the sky.”

Officials confirmed that a tornado on Tuesday tore through this small Texas city, sending five people to a hospital as it flattened buildings used for manufacturing and ravaged nearby homes. Police and firefighters said they feared the worst when they first saw the damage in Mineral Wells, home to about 15,000 people.

“We are most grateful for no loss of life in this event yesterday,” Mayor Regan Johnson told a news conference Wednesday. "When you see the destruction that's here, you can tell that’s really amazing.”

Hester and his wife searched through overturned furniture and scattered debris Wednesday for their two missing cats and any belongings they could salvage. Their roof was gone and the windows were blown out, along with the apartment's front and back walls.

“By the grace of God we are still standing here today,” Hester said.

Allison Prater, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, said the tornado touched down in Mineral Wells with winds of at least 120 mph (193 kph). The weather service sent a team Wednesday to survey the destruction 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Dallas.

Stormy week kills at least 3 people in Texas, Michigan

Violent weather has been plaguing parts of the South and Midwest. Two people died in North Texas last weekend as thunderstorms spawned destructive tornadoes, and a Michigan man was killed on Monday by a tree that toppled in a storm.

A hail storm damaged roofs, skylights and parked vehicles Tuesday at a zoo in Springfield, Missouri, and also killed one of its large birds. A female emu named Adam died from head trauma as hail fell at the Dickerson Park Zoo, spokesperson Joey Powell said Wednesday.

More severe storms were possible Wednesday across the South and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. The weather service said there was a slight chance of damaging winds and large hail across portions of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Tornado damage forces manufacturer to shut down

In Mineral Wells, local officials spoke with reporters Wednesday in a subdivision strewn with splintered lumber, fallen trees and other debris.

Fire Chief Ryan Dunn said five people injured in the storm went to a hospital for treatment. Others were treated for minor injuries by first responders.

“As we arrived on scene, we noticed there was a lot of debris, a lot of roofs off,” Dunn said. "And then we started seeing buildings collapse.”

Dunn said most of the area struck by the tornado is used for commercial and industrial purposes, though some homes were also damaged. At least two manufacturers suffered heavy damage.

One was Ventamatic, which makes large fans and other ventilation equipment in Mineral Wells. The company said on its website that employees evacuated ahead of the storm and none were injured. Operations were shut down Wednesday “due to severe damage and ongoing safety hazards,” the company said.

More than 9,000 homes and businesses were without electricity across Texas on Wednesday afternoon, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.us. About 230 of those outages were in the Mineral Wells area.

Mineral Wells officials declared a local state of disaster and imposed an overnight curfew that will remain in place Wednesday, Police Chief Tim Denison said.

___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

McManus plans to retire by the end of September, according to records obtained by KSAT Investigates.

The city released a survey containing eight mandatory multiple-choice questions (18 total) about opinions of SAPD and the qualities San Antonio residents are looking for in a police chief.

• How safe do you feel in your neighborhood?
• Have you had any interaction with SAPD in the past 2 years?
• How would you rate your overall confidence level in SAPD?
• What does SAPD do well?
• Where does SAPD need to improve?
• What should the police department’s top priority be moving forward?
• What should the next chief focus on most over the next 3–5 years?
• What are the most important qualities for the next chief?

The city partnered with the Police Executive Research Forum, a national organization, to help recruit law enforcement leaders, according to a news release.

City Manager Erik Walsh said the police chief is critical to San Antonio’s public safety and maintaining community trust.

“I’d like to encourage residents to share their thoughts to help us identify a leader who reflects the values and priorities of San Antonio,” Walsh said in the release.

The anonymous, short survey will close at 5 p.m. on May 18 and is available in both English and Spanish.

Read more:

• SAPD Chief William McManus announces plan to step down in September
• Data: DWI arrests during 2026 Fiesta drop compared to last year’s event, tie 5-year low
• San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ deputy chief of staff retires

The British actor may not have grown up in a moviegoing family, but he was still very aware the Spielberg thing as a '90s kid. It’s just in our psyche, O’Connor told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

There were Blockbuster nights, of course, with viewings of “E.T.” and he’s since caught up with the classics. But even he was taken aback by just how ingrained those quintessential Spielberg images were on his first day shooting “Disclosure Day.” They were on a backlot, he said, and there were dripping pipes and big beams of light and smoke and mist. It was an environment he recognized so vividly. All he could think was, “Wow, I’m in a Steven Spielberg movie.”

While very little is known about the plot of “Disclosure Day,” which opens in theaters on June 12, it's territory that Spielberg knows well. And it has been suggested by Emily Blunt, and confirmed by O'Connor, that it answers some questions raised by “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” O’Connor plays a cybersecurity expert who has a mysterious connection with Blunt’s meteorologist. He holds some truths that the men in suits don't want the world to know.

O’Connor spoke to the AP about the film, the secrecy, the awe of watching it for the first time and having “the greatest Steven Spielberg story.” Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: Have you been able to take stock of this whole experience?

O’CONNOR: It’s sort of still quite surreal. There have been many directors for me where it’s felt like kind of intensely surreal in the lead up to going and doing a movie with a person and then once you start, it sort of settles down and then the next thing you know you’re best friends with that director and it’s all just very normal. I do feel very close to Steven, but it still feels surreal having shot it. And every aspect of making this film was like a pinch-me moment, including seeing it for the first time. It’s sort of a dream for anyone.

AP: Was he what you expected?

O’CONNOR: He was more than I expected. He’s got this energy about him. He’s still so excited. He’s still like a child. He’s inquisitive. He is excited about performance. You know, there’s nothing better in the universe than hearing Steven by a monitor, crying or laughing or shouting with joy. He’s still, I imagine, that same director he was when he made “Jaws” or “E.T.” or any of those other classics. So yeah, he’s still got it. I can confirm he’s still got it

AP: What can you tell us about your character?

O’CONNOR: Daniel’s got some special powers. I’m resistant to saying that because I think it sort of overplays him in some ways. He and Emily’s character have this special bond between them and they’re not even aware of it. And the film really is pulling these two characters together. That’s sort of like the drive for these two, even if they’re unaware of it for half the movie.

Daniel has never really computed it and that’s sort of bubbling away underneath Daniel’s character. But he’s sort of an unglamorous hero. He’s your everyday guy and he’s found himself in this situation and he has to adapt and he is able to adapt, but, you know, he’s not a natural Tom Cruise.

AP: There’s a lot of secrecy around “Disclosure Day.” Was it like that on your end too?

O’CONNOR: There was, of course, a level of secrecy. When I received the script I was filming “Knives Out” and I was in a hotel and a motorbike turned up with the script, and a motorbike turned up to take away the script the next morning. That’s the first time that’s happened for me. It’s a very strange experience but it makes sense. You know, anytime you hear that Steven’s got a film coming out, everyone, myself included, wants to know what it is, so I totally understand why.

AP: What was the setup for watching it? Did it involve a guy showing up on a motorcycle again?

O’CONNOR: No, actually, not this time. It was just me and Emily and we sat in a screening room. You know, seeing any movie you’re in for the first time is a nightmare. It’s impossible to enjoy it fully because all you’re seeing is like, “Why do my ears look so big” or “Why do I stand like that I’m such a freak.” All those things are natural and so there is a little bit of competing with that, but this experience was unlike any other I’ve ever had. Emily and I were just in awe.

AP: You’ve been able to work with such a varied group of filmmakers and in all these different forms in your career.

O’CONNOR: That’s the thing I’m most proud of, I think … Getting to work with diverse artists and people like Alice (Rohrwacher) and Kelly (Reichardt) and Steven and Rian Johnson. They all work in very different ways and make very different films and tell different stories and ultimately that was my dream. I looked up to people like Gene Wilder, or like Robin Williams who’s able to make us roar with laughter and then have us in tears. I think that flexibility, that versatility is what I’ve always wanted in my career.

AP: Do you have a favorite Spielberg story?

O’CONNOR: I have the greatest, in my opinion, the greatest Steven Spielberg story. When it happened, I was sort of like punching the air for this very reason, knowing that when it comes to doing press for this film, I can tell the story, which is that I was halfway through the shoot and we had a scene coming up, which is quite an emotional scene and I was struggling with it. I was in my hotel room trying to prep it, as Steven does so brilliantly, and it’s extraordinary he’s so available to talk about these things.

I reached out to Steven, we discussed the scene, we talked about the emotion of the scene and how to access that and what we’re ultimately aiming to show in the story. And I felt quite satisfied, but not completely with it. And then I got a text from him quite late at night, just saying ,“The door is on the latch, just push.” And it made so much sense. I was like, “of course.” The character’s kind of got all this emotion, it’s built up and it’s like a door on the latch and you just push and it all comes out and it’s an emotional release. I was so thrilled with that note and I came in the next day and said, “Steven, you totally unlocked it for me that was amazing.” And he was like, “What are you talking about?”

I said, “The text about ‘the door on the latch just push’ it’s incredible.” And he laughed and said that that text was supposed to be for his wife. It became a very big joke for all of us. But it did unlock the scene for me, so, fair play.

AP: It’s so good, I almost don’t believe it.

O’CONNOR: I know. It’s ridiculous.

___

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

Cole Allen wore black pants, a black shirt and a red tie as he snapped the image in his room at the Washington Hilton, where Trump and hundreds of journalists were meeting for a gala Saturday night, authorities say.

The 31-year-old from Torrance, California, was captured when he tried to race past security barricades near the hotel's ballroom, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents tasked with safeguarding the event, investigators say.

New details emerged in a court filing made by prosecutors who want Allen to remain in custody. A hearing is set for Thursday.

The government said Allen repeatedly made online checks to keep track of Trump’s status that night, including live coverage of the president exiting his vehicle at the Hilton hotel. Investigators said preset emails with an “Apology and Explanation” attachment were sent at approximately 8:30 p.m.

“He intended to kill and fired his shotgun while trying to breach security and attack his target. Put simply, the defendant poses an uncommonly serious danger to the community if released pending trial. The defendant’s lack of criminal history and other personal circumstances do not alter this conclusion,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones wrote.

Trump, a Republican, was uninjured. A Secret Service officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the vest and survived.

Allen appeared in court on Monday and was charged with the attempted assassination of the president as authorities suggested an attack that disrupted one of Washington’s glitziest events had been planned for at least several weeks. Tezira Abe, a member of the defense team, said he “is presumed innocent at this time.”

Meanwhile, ahead of the Thursday hearing, a magistrate judge ordered a District of Columbia jail to allow Allen to have unrestricted visits with his lawyers. The attorneys complained that they hadn't been able to meet him privately.

“Mr. Allen was forced to sit inside of a locked cage in full, five-point restraints, and speak over a phone — of which there is only one — to be able to confer with counsel,” Abe and co-counsel Eugene Ohm said in a court filing. “Counsel were forced to sit in an open lobby area with jail staff and other attorneys standing nearby who could overhear the entirety of counsel’s side of the conversation.”

An FBI affidavit filed Monday revealed other details about the planning behind the hotel assault, with authorities alleging that Allen on April 6 reserved a room for himself at the Hilton where the event would be held weeks later under its typical tight security. He traveled by train cross-country from California, checking himself into the hotel a day before the dinner with a room reserved for the weekend.

Trump was rushed off the stage by his security team Saturday night and appeared at the White House two hours later, still in his tuxedo.

“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” the president said. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”

Gun control activists slammed the moves as dangerous and irresponsible just days after authorities say a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill the Republican president.

Among the more than 30 changes announced Wednesday is the proposed repeal of a 2024 Biden administration rule that sought to force thousands more firearms dealers across the U.S. to run background checks on buyers at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores.

That rule aimed to close what is sometimes called the “gun show loophole,” which allowed guns to be sold by unlicensed dealers who do not perform background checks to ensure the potential buyer is not legally prohibited from having a firearm. Gun rights groups and Republican-led states had challenged the rule in court, arguing it violated the Second Amendment and that Biden didn't have the authority to implement it.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the slate of revisions the “most comprehensive regulatory reform package in the history" of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Blanche said the changes bring gun regulations in line with Supreme Court precedent while cutting down on unnecessary burdens on firearms sellers and lawful gun owners.

“For too long, regulations were written without any real understanding of how firearms businesses operate, how lawful gun owners handle their firearms, or what truly improves public safety,” Blanche said.

Gun control groups accused the administration of catering to gun rights activists with loosened regulations they said would make the country less safe.

“Four days after the nation watched gunfire break out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the Trump administration’s answer is to gut commonsense gun safety laws and sabotage the only federal agency dedicated to keeping guns out of criminal hands,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement.

The changes were signed shortly after Robert Cekada, a longtime law enforcement officer, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead the ATF, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the country's gun laws. Cekada, who joined the ATF in 2005, has been been running the day-to-day operations of the agency for the last year as its deputy director.

Cekada is only the third person to be confirmed to lead the agency since the director’s position was made confirmable in 2006. The agency has mostly been led by acting directors, with both Republican and Democratic administrations failing to get nominees for the ATF position through the politically fraught process.

The ATF has long been the target of conservatives for its role in role in gun regulation, but Trump's Justice Department has touted the agency's role in taking illegal guns off the street and stopping violent crime.

“Rob is exactly the right person to lead the ATF at this moment,” Blanche said.

Florida's Republican-led Legislature is latest to act, approving new House districts on Wednesday that could help the GOP win several additional seats in this year's elections. That could offset Democratic gains in Virginia, where voters recently approved a new U.S. House map designed to flip several seats to Democrats.

Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But President Donald Trump last year urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterms. California Democrats reciprocated, and redistricting efforts soon cascaded across states.

Republicans believe they could win up to 13 additional seats from new congressional districts in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain up to 10 seats from new districts in California, Utah and Virginia. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that’s uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.

Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, potentially allowing them to obstruct Trump’s agenda.

Where new House districts were approved

New U.S. House districts have passed in eight states since last summer. Six took up redistricting voluntarily, one was required to by its state constitution and another did so under court order.

Texas

Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It has since overturned a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map because it was “racially gerrymandered.”

California

Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans

New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in February allowed the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It denied an appeal from Republicans and the Department of Justice, which claimed the districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters.

Missouri

Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map into law last September that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: A Cole County judge ruled the new map is in effect as election officials work to determine whether a referendum petition seeking a statewide vote complies with constitutional criteria and contains enough valid petition signatures. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit claiming mid-decade redistricting is illegal. It's scheduled to hear arguments in May on claims the new districts violate compactness requirements and should be placed on hold pending the potential referendum.

North Carolina

Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: A federal court panel in November denied a request to block the revised districts from being used in the midterm elections.

Ohio

Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts that improve Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.

Challenges: None. The state constitution required new districts before the 2026 election, because Republicans had approved the prior map without sufficient Democratic support after the last census.

Utah

Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans

New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts that could help Democrats win a seat. The court ruled that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters when adopting the prior map.

Challenges: A federal court panel and the state Supreme Court, in February, each rejected Republican challenges to the judicial map selection.

Virginia

Current map: six Democrats, five Republicans

New map: Voters in April approved a constitutional amendment authorizing new U.S. House districts backed by Democrats that could help the party win up to four additional seats.

Challenges: The state Supreme Court allowed the referendum to proceed, but it has yet to rule whether the effort is legal. The court is considering an appeal of a Tazewell County judge’s ruling that the amendment is invalid because lawmakers violated procedural requirements.

Florida

Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans

New map: The Republican-led Legislature in April passed revised House districts that could improve the GOP's chances of winning four additional seats.

Challenges: The state constitution says districts cannot be drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.

Where redistricting efforts were denied

Governors, lawmakers or partisan officials pushed for congressional redistricting in numerous states. In at least five states, those efforts gained some initial traction but ultimately fell short in either the legislature or court.

Maryland

Current map: seven Democrats, one Republican

Proposed map: The Democratic-led House in February passed a redistricting plan backed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore that could help Democrats win an additional seat.

Challenges: The legislative session ended in April without the Democratic-led Senate voting on the redistricting plan. The state Senate president said there were concerns it could backfire on Democrats.

New York

Current map: 19 Democrats, seven Republicans

Proposed map: A judge in January ordered a state commission to draw new boundaries for the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, ruling it unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in March granted Republicans' request to halt the judge’s order, leaving the existing district lines in place for the 2026 election.

Indiana

Current map: two Democrats, seven Republicans

Proposed map: The Republican-led House passed a redistricting plan in December that would have improved Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.

Challenges: Despite pressure from Trump to adopt the new map, the Republican-led Senate rejected it in a bipartisan vote on Dec. 11.

Kansas

Current map: one Democrat, three Republicans

Proposed map: Some Republican lawmakers mounted an attempt to take up congressional redistricting.

Challenges: Lawmakers dropped a petition drive for a special session on congressional redistricting in November, after failing to gain enough support.

Illinois

Current map: 14 Democrats, three Republicans

Proposed map: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in October proposed a new U.S. House map that would improve Democrats’ chances of winning an additional seat.

Challenges: The Democratic-led General Assembly declined to take up redistricting, citing concerns about the effect on representation for Black residents.

A Southwest ISD spokesperson told KSAT the district is investigating the incident at one of its middle schools involving a staff member and student. The district did not identify the school.

The employee was placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation, the district said.

The San Antonio Police Department is also investigating the case. KSAT has reached out to SAPD for more information.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Read also:

• Probationary detention deputy fired after arrest for possession of a controlled substance, BCSO says
• San Antonio elementary school teacher charged with continuous sexual assault of child, police say

Rafael Grossi said in an interview Tuesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency has satellite images showing the effects of the latest U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran and that “we continue to get information.”

IAEA inspections ended at Isfahan when Israel last June launched a 12-day war that saw the United States bomb three Iranian nuclear sites.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog believes a large percentage of Iran's highly enriched uranium “was stored there in June 2025 when the 12-day war broke out, and it has been there ever since,” Grossi said.

“We haven't been able to inspect or to reject that the material is there and that the seals — the IAEA seals — remain there,” he said. “I hope we'll be able to do that, so what I tell you is our best estimate.”

Images from an Airbus satellite show a truck loaded with 18 blue containers going into a tunnel at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center on June 9, 2025, just before last year's war started. Those containers, believed to contain highly enriched uranium, likely remain there.

Grossi says all Iran's nuclear sites must be inspected

The IAEA also wants to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordo, where there is also some nuclear material, the IAEA director general added.

Iran is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, whose five-year review is underway at U.N. headquarters. Under its provisions, Iran is required to open its nuclear facilities to IAEA inspection, Grossi said.

Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the agency. Grossi has said the IAEA believes roughly 200 kilograms (about 440 pounds) is stored in tunnels at the Isfahan site.

The Iranian stockpile could allow the country to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, Grossi told the AP last year.

Tehran long has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. President Donald Trump said one of the major reasons the U.S. went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons, even as he has insisted that the strikes last summer “obliterated” the country's atomic program.

Grossi told a U.N. press conference Wednesday that Iran declared a new uranium enrichment facility at Isfahan last June and that IAEA inspectors were scheduled to visit the day strikes began. He said the facility apparently was not hit in attacks on Isfahan this year or last.

IAEA has talked to Russia and others about taking Iran's highly enriched uranium

Grossi said the IAEA has discussed with Russia and others the possibility of sending Iran's highly enriched uranium out of the country — a complex operation that would require either a political agreement or a major U.S. military operation in hostile territory.

Trump said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his offer to help the United States handle Iran's enriched uranium. Trump said he told Putin it was more important the Russian leader “be involved with ending the war with Ukraine.”

Grossi, meanwhile, noted that “what's going to be important is that that material leaves Iran” or is blended to reduce its enrichment.

He said the IAEA participated in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in February but has not been part of recent ceasefire negotiations mediated by Pakistan. He said the agency has been in discussions separately with the U.S. and informally with Iran.

Trump told Axios on Wednesday that he’s rejecting Iran's latest proposal, which had called for postponing discussions on its nuclear program but ending its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial sea route for oil and natural gas shipments, if the U.S. lifts its blockade and ends the war.

Grossi told reporters Wednesday that Iran had a much smaller nuclear program with one type of centrifuge in 2015 when it agreed to rein in its nuclear program in a deal with six major powers. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in 2018.

The IAEA chief said negotiations now are a “completely different ballgame” because of Iran's “exponential progress” not only on enriching uranium but using the latest generation of centrifuges, different compounds and new facilities.

A deal between the US and Iran would take ‘political will’

It would take “political will” from Tehran to reach a deal, Grossi told AP, stressing that “Iran has to be convinced that it is important to negotiate.”

Iran's leaders say they are willing to negotiate and so does the Republican U.S. president, Grossi said, but “where the frustration kicks in, apparently for both, is that they do not seem to come to agreement, or be at an eye-to-eye level, on what needs to be done first, or on how.”

Calling himself a negotiator who likes to see a “flicker of hope,” Grossi noted that “one important thing is that there is apparently an interest on both sides to come to an agreement.”

Asked if he thinks the Iranians are serious about making a deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News Channel this week that they are skilled negotiators looking to buy time and that any agreement must be "one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

___

AP writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

Comey was indicted in North Carolina on Tuesday on charges of making threats against President Donald Trump related to a photograph he posted on social media last year of seashells arranged in the numbers “86 47.” The Justice Department contends those numbers amounted to a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Comey has said he assumed the numbers reflected a political message, not a call to violence, and removed the Instagram post once he saw some people were interpreting it that way.

The indictment is the second against Comey, a longtime target of Trump's ire dating back to his time as FBI director, over the past year. The first one, on unrelated false statement and obstruction charges, was dismissed by a judge last November. Now prosecutors pursuing the threats case face their own challenge of proving that Comey intended to communicate a true threat or at least recklessly discounted the possibility that the statement could be understood as a threat.

The indictment accuses Comey of acting “knowingly and willfully,” but its sparse language offers no support for that assertion. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has declined to elaborate on what evidence of intent the government has. But broad First Amendment protections for free speech, Supreme Court precedent and Comey's public statements indicating that he did not intend to convey a threat will likely impose a tall burden for the government.

“Here, ‘86’ is ambiguous — it doesn’t necessarily threaten violence and the fact that it was the FBI Director posting this openly and notoriously on a public social media site suggests that he didn’t intend to convey a threat of violence,” John Keller, a senior Justice Department official who led a task force to prosecute violent threats against election workers, wrote in a text message.

The case was charged in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the location of the beach where Comey has said he found the shells. He made a brief appearance Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, the state where he lives.

Comey didn’t speak or enter a plea during the appearance. But his legal team teed up at least one argument expected to be invoked, with defense lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald saying attorneys would argue that the prosecution is vindictive and selective and would ask prosecutors to save communications relevant for that motion.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick also rejected the government’s request to set conditions on Comey’s release, calling it unnecessary.

As FBI director, Comey oversaw the early months of an investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of that year’s election. Comey was fired by Trump months into the president’s first term, and the president and his supporters have sought retribution ever since over the Russia investigation.

What the law says on threats

The Supreme Court has held that statements are not protected by the First Amendment if they meet the legal threshold of a “true threat.”

That requires prosecutors to prove, at a minimum, that a defendant recklessly disregarded the risk that a statement could be perceived as threatening violence. In a 2023 Supreme Court case, the majority held that prosecutors have to show that the “defendant had some subjective understanding of the threatening nature of his statements.”

The court has also found that hyperbolic political speech is protected.

In a 1969 case, the justices held that a Vietnam War protester did not make a knowing and willful threat against the president when he remarked that “If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J,” referring to President Lyndon B. Johnson. The court noted that laughter in the crowd when the protester made the statement, among other things, showed it wasn’t a serious threat of violence.

Regarding the current case, Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says 86 is slang meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of” or “to refuse service to.” It notes: “Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of ‘to kill.’ We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”

Comey deleted the post shortly after it was made, writing: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence” and “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

Trump said Wednesday he believes his life was “probably” in danger as a result of the post, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “If anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86 — it’s a mob term for ‘kill him.'”

What the government will try to prove

John Fishwick, a former U.S. attorney in the Western District of Virginia, said the government will likely try to prove that Comey should have known better as a former FBI director.

“I think they're going to try to circumstantially say that you were head of the FBI, you knew what these terms meant and you said them out to the whole world as a threat to the president,” Fishwick said, though he noted such an argument would be challenging in light of Comey's First Amendment defenses.

Comey was interviewed by the Secret Service last year, and the fact he was not charged with making a false statement suggests prosecutors do not have evidence that he lied to agents, Fishwick said.

Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor, wrote in an opinion piece published Tuesday that “despite being one of Comey’s longest critics, the indictment raises troubling free speech issues. In the end, it must be the Constitution, not Comey, that drives the analysis and this indictment is unlikely to withstand constitutional scrutiny.”

“If it did,” he added, “it would allow the government to criminalize a huge swath of political speech in the United States.”

Blanche defended the prosecution at an unrelated news conference Wednesday but said the case would ultimately be for a jury to decide.

“I know that a grand jury returned a two-count indictment. I know this case was investigated for the past year. I do not know what a jury of his peers will do at a trial that will come at some point in the future,” he said.

___

Tucker and Richer reported from Washington.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's appearance before the Senate environment committee was his last of three budget hearings this week where he argued for sharply reduced funding for the agency, which already has seen its staffing reduced to its lowest level in decades under his leadership. During much of the week, the former Republican congressman from New York took an aggressive approach, responding to Democrats in the House and Senate with his own questions and at times accusing them of being unprepared or failing to care about the EPA’s track record.

Zeldin has eliminated major climate change programs, promoted deregulatory efforts he calls the biggest in American history and canceled billions of dollars in Biden-era environmental justice grants to halt what he calls “EPA’s radical diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.”

“This budget proposal captures significant efficiencies and a return focus on what Congress has directed us to do, demonstrating our commitment to a leaner, more efficient and accountable EPA" that directly benefits Americans, Zeldin told senators Wednesday.

The Republican administration’s proposed $4.2 billion EPA budget would sharply reduce support for state environmental programs and state-administered loans for water projects. It also would halt what it calls “radical climate research” and cut resources for enforcement and compliance. Officials asked for more money for faster project permitting and to address drinking water disasters.

“Zeldin has executed the fossil fuel industry’s agenda. A massive reckoning is coming," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

Aggressive responses to Democratic questioning

On budgets, Congress gets the final say and lawmakers commonly depart from White House requests.

Last year, they rejected most of Trump’s proposed cuts, reducing agency spending by just 3.5% despite an administration request to cut spending by more than half. Democrats said the new budget plan shows Zeldin is a friend to industry and ignores the cancers, asthma and other consequences of pollution.

“The budget proposal reads like a climate change deniers’ manifesto,” said Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. At a hearing Monday, she asked how the EPA can justify abandoning its duty to protect people in the United States “under the false flag of economic growth?”

The EPA has proposed rescinding a landmark finding that climate change is dangerous, loosening rules from the Biden administration limiting pollution from coal plants, and proposing to scrap greenhouse gas emission limits for certain vehicles.

In response to DeLauro, Zeldin asked where the Clean Air Act mentions fighting climate change and whether she had heard of a recent Supreme Court decision that restricted the EPA’s authority to write aggressive regulations.

“You do not have the right to say climate change does not exist, that it’s a hoax,” DeLauro said.

Zeldin said she should know about major Supreme Court decisions. “You’re just somebody who likes to have the microphone on."

DeLauro said the administration's behavior was “arrogant” and that it was ”making a mockery of what the agencies are all about.”

Zeldin told Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif., that data he cited on the agency's rollback of certain coal plant emissions limits was worthless.

“Have your dog pee on it. It is not accurate,” Zeldin said.

Harder's office later provided the EPA report from which it said the numbers came.

Zeldin's vision

Zeldin argued that even with less money, the EPA has continued to enforce environmental laws. As examples, he cited an agreement with Mexico to reduce sewage flows into the polluted Tijuana River and sped up work to address radioactive contamination in the St. Louis region.

That work complements strict adherence to the law, a departure from what Zeldin says was the regulatory overreach of President Joe Biden's Democratic administration that wanted to strangle vital industries such as coal.

Republicans were largely supportive of Zeldin’s message that the agency will be able to do more with less.

The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law provided tens of billions of dollars for drinking and wastewater loans through programs administered by states. That boost, however, ends this year, and the EPA’s proposed budget would cut off most of the agency’s support.

“It was never intended to be a new norm for spending,” said Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va.

But that would choke off money to remove harmful chemicals known as PFAS, which take decades or more to break down, from drinking water. The agency’s contention that better technology could do the job for less was unpersuasive, according to Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass.

“How do we get rid of PFAS in municipal water supplies with 90% fewer dollars?” he asked.

Zeldin responded that technologies were promising and then mentioned congressional earmarks. Lawmakers have used them to fund projects in their districts with money that would otherwise go to states for loans — a practice many experts have criticized.

“I know that members of Congress are going to raid it, and they have been doing it for a long time,” Zeldin said.

Auchincloss replied that Zeldin was not in charge of earmarks and that “hope is not a strategy.”

Zeldin was also questioned about industry influence on policymaking, with a particular focus on the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which has attacked environmental harms from products like fertilizer. The movement's biggest champion is Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, asked Zeldin whether he understood concerns from those advocates about industry influence at the EPA and the administration's support of more pesticides.

Zeldin called much of the lengthy question inaccurate and then mentioned plans to look at microplastics as a potential contaminant in drinking water and an upcoming review of the high-profile herbicide glyphosate.

“I get it, you have an agenda," Zeldin said. “I mean, I understand you’d like to have a gavel in your hand.”

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of the AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.

A tradition like no other

The band has built a global reputation over the years, with appearances at the Sugar Bowl, the Houston Rodeo and presidential inaugurations. But for Director Dr. Cliff Croomes, Fiesta Flambeau holds a special place.

“You’ve heard the saying, everything’s bigger in Texas, right? So, we’re just a representation of that. And when we come down the street, we want everybody to know, like the University of Texas is in full effect,” Croomes said.

Croomes has led the band for five years, but his ties to Flambeau run much deeper. A UT alumnus and member of the Class of 2001, he marched these same streets as a student — and later lined them as a high school band director at Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio.

“When I was at Mac and it was one of my favorite things, you know, I’d line the students up on the parade route and then I’d sneak off and get a barbacoa and a big red,” he said.

Even then, the magic of the night parade never left him.

“Like the lights and all of the energy, like that night parade, there’s nothing like it. I loved every minute of it,” Croomes said.

Now, he gets to give that same experience to a new generation of Longhorns.

“And to get to give them the experience that I had when I was in school is just a huge honor. And when I see them put on the uniform, you know I feel like I’m helping carry on the tradition,” he said.

Rock stars on the parade route

For many students, marching Flambeau is a first-of-its-kind moment — even if they don’t realize it yet.

“Especially the freshmen, because they don’t know what’s coming, you know, like all the confetti that happens or the cascarones on your head. They don’t know that’s coming and all that stuff just adds to like a really cool experience,” Croomes said.

That reaction from the crowd makes it even more memorable.

“You know, I don’t know if there’s another place in my country where you can have all of these band kids come together. Like before we line up to go on the parade route, we pass through all these high school bands and they just cheer, they’re all like, ‘Oh look, it’s UT, oh my gosh, it’s the Longhorn Band.’ And our students feel like rock stars, and I love watching freshmen see that for the first time because some of them used to be those high school kids,” he said.

A full-circle moment

Drum Major Hailey Hickerson is one of those students. She once marched these same streets with Johnson High School. Now, as a senior, she’s leading the entire parade.

“I just remember thinking like this is the coolest thing ever because I’d never done anything like that and then kind of when I came to UT and realized that we still got to do that I was so excited,” Hickerson said.

She remembers watching the Longhorn Band as a high schooler and dreaming of something more.

“One of the years when we were performing in the parade, I think we were a bit behind the band, but I saw them and I remember thinking, oh my gosh, because the University of Texas was always my dream school and I thought it was just so cool to see them when I was in high school and be like, I want to do that someday and so the fact that I’m here now is just like mind blowing,” she said.

For Hickerson and her fellow seniors, the emotions run high — because Flambeau is always the last major performance of the year.

“It’s kind of our last full band event of the entire year every year. And so all of the seniors who are graduating get super excited for it because it’s their last time being with the band and putting the uniform on and performing. And so it gets kind of like emotional, but everyone’s just there to make memories and have such a good time,” she said.

Croomes knows that feeling well. He tells his students to hold onto every moment in that uniform — because the number of times they’ll wear it is finite.

“And I say, you know, there’s only so many times you’re gonna wear the fringe. You know, so enjoy it every time you put it on,” he said.

“So, when that last time comes, you know, I’ll come and see how they’re doing and they’re most of them are like, ‘Don’t look at me, don’t look at me, I’m trying to hold it together.’ But you know it’s a special moment because they know it is the culmination of their whole Longhorn band career,” Croomes said.

It’s part of a routine he and other weather observers at Blue Hill Observatory and Science Center, a weather station 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Boston, have followed every day for the last 141 years. Using largely unchanged analog tools, they have built a continuous record of temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind and other measurements that can feed weather forecasts and scientific research.

“My routine is the same every day,” said chief weather observer Douglas, who has worked there since 1997, sporting a dark blue sweatshirt with the name of the observatory on the front. “The only thing that changes are the numbers and the weather itself.”

Blue Hill is the nation’s oldest continually operating weather observatory, according to executive director Alex Evans. Since 1885, staff and volunteers have relied on many of the same instruments, including mercury and alcohol thermometers, hygrometers that use human hair to measure moisture in the air, and that glass sphere on the roof tracking the hours of bright sunshine.

Keeping the same tools in the same place for nearly a century and a half, Douglas said, means that if they spot a change in weather patterns, they can be sure it’s real and not a result of new instruments measuring data differently than the old ones. Having a “tried and true database” as a reference is very important for climate research, he added.

___

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is a collaboration between the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing and The Associated Press.

___

As climate science has come under fire from the Trump administration, budget cuts and layoffs have swept through federal weather institutions since 2025. Blue Hill, as a private nonprofit, avoided much of this maelstrom. However, its continuing work is not a given. Funding opportunities are limited in this political environment, Evans said.

Blue Hill’s work, though seemingly outpaced by modern technology, serves not just to keep weather records, but also to connect ordinary people to climate science.

A continuous weather record in America makes climate change visible

Few weather observatories in the U.S. are as old as Blue Hill, and fewer still continue to collect data manually. Though similar methods are still used by networks of volunteers across the country that feed data to the National Weather Service, weather observatories — both private ones and those affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — have largely adopted automated digital systems since at least the 1990s.

Blue Hill sends a daily summary of its observations to the National Weather Service, which chief scientist Michael Iacono said may contribute to weather forecasts in some circumstances, and monthly summaries to the National Centers for Environmental Information, where they can be distributed to climate researchers. Local television meteorologists also receive the daily summaries and may use the observations in their broadcasts in rare cases, he said.

Inside Blue Hill’s round tower, which stands three stories tall with castle-like notches at the top, two weather observers, Douglas and Amanda Joly, share an office filled with the results of their daily work. Boxes with sun cards line the walls, wind-speed charts drawn on EKG paper fill the cabinets and computers store the spreadsheets where Douglas and Joly meticulously record temperature and humidity.

Having records that stretch back over 100 years “is really unique,” said Chris Fiebrich, a meteorologist at the University of Oklahoma. This “dataset is golden,” he said, because climate change involves slow trends so “you can only see that clearly if you have measurements that go way back, from before we had satellites” and other modern equipment.

Blue Hill’s records show, for example, a 5-degree Fahrenheit (or about 2.8-degree Celsius) increase in the average annual temperature at the observatory since 1885, and that two local ponds remain frozen during winter nearly three weeks less than they did then.

Observers can also spot the impact of climate policies. Since the 1990s, Blue Hill has recorded an uptick in bright sunlight duration after it reached a low point in the 1980s. Because air pollutants like particulate matter interfere with sunlight, cleaner air means more sunshine, so this uptick can partly be traced back to the Clean Air Act — a federal law passed in 1970 and amended in 1990 to improve air quality by reducing emissions of pollutants.

A third of Americans believe climate scientists understand “not too well” or “not at all well” whether climate change is happening, according to a Pew Research Center survey from 2023. Trump called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly last September, and has sought to undermine climate science.

At a time when “the word ‘climate’ is politically demonized in some circles,” said Alan Sealls, president of the American Meteorological Society, places like Blue Hill can be “a small part of many possible solutions” to make weather and climate science relatable to people, including children.

Blue Hill connects people to science

The road to Blue Hill Observatory is a winding asphalt track that weaves through forest and borders a ski lift; making the drive, one needs to carefully wend between hikers and dog walkers. At the peak, visitors can enjoy the westward view over the treetops or slip through an open arch into the observatory’s courtyard.

Annie Hayes, a local from Milton who visited Blue Hill in mid-March with her husband and two children, said that seeing how observers collect data builds deeper trust in the science, which otherwise can seem “a little bit of a mystery.”

The mercury barometers in the observers’ office — one of which the observatory believes to be the oldest such instrument in active daily use in the United States — are a case in point. “If somebody’s standing there seeing it while you’re explaining it to them … it becomes a little less scary,” said chief scientist Iacono.

Blue Hill’s barometers, which measure atmospheric pressure, consist of glass tubes and small containers of mercury — a shiny, silver-white liquid — housed in a wooden case on the wall. As air presses down on the exposed mercury, it is forced up the tubes, and how far it travels reflects changes in atmospheric pressure. This is where the pressure unit “inches of mercury” comes from.

Another instrument popular with visitors is the Campbell-Stokes recorder, used to measure hours of bright sunshine. Its glass sphere, mounted in a curved metal frame, acts as a magnifying lens, focusing sunlight onto a paper card and burning a streak along it as the sun moves through the sky.

As she pointed to the glass sphere on display in the history room, Amanda Joly, Blue Hill’s deputy chief observer, explained that this recorder, which dates back to 1898, was stolen in 1993 and later recovered. The upside of that burglary is that, while a modern duplicate does the job on the building’s roof, visitors are now free to interact with the old sphere — something kids love to do — and the observers don’t have to worry about it affecting the measurements.

Hayes’ family, which lives nearby, was checking out some rain gauges in the gift shop when facilities head Don McCasland told them about a new Blue Hill citizen science program, which will allow residents to collect and add weather data to a central database. The family plans to start using their rain gauge this summer.

It’s “a great way to involve the kids and get them excited,” said Hayes. “And who knows? Maybe they’ll find an interest and want to pursue it on their own, too.”

___

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

The court’s conservative majority found that the district, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields, relied too heavily on race. Chief Justice John Roberts had described the district as a “snake” that stretches more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) to link parts of the Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge areas.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said the Supreme Court “has humiliated and dismantled the life’s work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and every man and woman who marched, bled, and died for Black Americans to have an equal voice at the ballot box.”

The plaintiffs argued that Louisiana’s second Black-majority congressional district, drawn to correct a previously discriminatory map, has an unconstitutional racial basis and did not follow the standards for drawing a district, including compactness.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement, succeeded in opening the ballot box to Black Americans and reducing persistent discrimination in voting. Nearly 70 of the 435 congressional districts are protected by Section 2, election law experts estimate.

It’s unclear how much is left of Section 2, but the ruling could open the door for Republican-led states to eliminate Black and Latino electoral districts that tend to favor Democrats and affect the balance of power in Congress. President Donald Trump has already touched off a nationwide redistricting battle to boost Republican chances.

Here's the latest:

Congressional Black Caucus members vow to fight back

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus pledged to fight back after the Supreme Court decision and called for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Rep. Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat who chairs the caucus, told reporters that the decision allows politicians to “choose their voters instead of the other way around.”

“The Supreme Court has opened the door to a coordinated attack on Black voters across the country,” Clarke said. “This is an outright power grab.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, also of New York, said the decision came from “the Trump court” in “an effort to suppress the vote and rig the midterm elections and beyond.”

“At this moment in time, we’re urging everyone to summon the courage, the character, and the conviction of those heroes like John Lewis and Rosa Parks and so many others upon whose shoulders we stand,” Jeffries said.

The top Republican in Tennessee’s Senate warns of ‘logistical challenges’ to immediate redistricting

Tennessee lawmakers need to discuss whether it’s feasible to redistrict in light of the new court ruling, Senate Speaker Randy McNally said, since deadlines to file paperwork to run for office have passed, and candidates have already entered their races. The primary elections are Aug. 6.

The state’s current map is “strong, fair and legal” and has survived court challenges, McNally said in a statement.

Kentucky Gov. Beshear says the court decision underscores the importance of having Democratic governors

While much of the attention in Washington this year is on the battle for control of Congress, there are 36 governors races on the ballot in November.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the Supreme Court’s decision is a reminder of the significance of those races, since so many voting laws are crafted at the state level.

“One of the best ways to fight back is to elect more Democratic governors – who are on the frontlines of protecting and expanding fundamental freedoms and democracy in our states,” Beshear said in a statement. “We have 36 opportunities to do that this year and rulings like this show that the stakes have never been higher.”

Beshear is the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, a group focused on electing Democrats as state leaders.

Alabama Democrat whose district was created by a court order slams the decision

Rep. Shomari Figures, whose district was court-ordered after judges found Black voting power was diluted, said the ruling makes future discrimination claims harder to prove.

He warned it could prompt Southern states to redraw maps in ways that weaken Black voters’ influence. Alabama’s current map remains in place under a court order through 2030, although the state is appealing.

House GOP campaign chairman says redrawing maps is up to the states

Rep. Richard Hudson welcomed the court’s decision. “I was glad to see it come down,” he told reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

But the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee stopped short of saying he would encourage states to reconsider congressional district maps before the November election.

“I don’t know what the implications are going be for the fall,” the North Carolina congressman said.

“It’s pretty late,” he said. “We’ll see. It’s up to governors and legislators.”

Louisiana governor says the state is weighing its next steps

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said the state attorney general and legislative leadership are discussing “what our options are.” He said it could take at least a day to fully assess the high court’s decision.

In a post on the social platform X, the governor — who has close ties to Trump — said the ruling affirms that states can draw districts “for political reasons.” He said federal courts cannot require “race-based redistricting” or treat what he called partisan disputes as violations of the Voting Rights Act.

Obama says the ruling ‘effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act’

The nation’s first Black president issued a statement decrying the ruling as “just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.”

“The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome,” Obama, a Democrat, continued. “But that will only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers.”

Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn says the ruling will fuel redistricting fights and weaken Black representation

The South Carolina congressional district held by 85-year-old Clyburn, who for a time was the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, has been a focus for Republicans angling to pick up an additional seat.

Clyburn said in a statement that the Supreme Court had taken “a giant step backward,” one that “threatens to send our country deeper into the thicket of never-ending redistricting fights, with repeated aggressive map redraws, protracted legal battles, and relentless partisan tugs-of-war.”

South Carolina’s 2022 map, which packs Democrats into Clyburn’s district, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2024. Republicans have since tried to redraw the seat to flip it.

Trump says more districts should be redrawn after Wednesday’s ruling

The president said the decision, which could pave the way for other districts to be redrawn in the Republicans’ favor, is the “kind of ruling I like.”

“Some states don’t need to redraw, and some do,” Trump said, while noting that generally, he would want Republican state officials to revise the congressional maps.

Still, he wasn’t initially aware of what had happened. When asked by a reporter for his reaction to the decision, Trump asked when the ruling had come out.

“I’ve been with the astronauts,” he rationalized. “I’ve been with contractors because we’re trying to get the ballroom built.”

Georgia senator calls the decision a ‘huge step backwards’

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is Black, says he would not be in Congress without the Voting Rights Act and slammed the Supreme Court’s decision as a blow for racial justice.

“Make no mistake, this ruling harkens back to the darkest days of the Jim Crow era,” he told reporters.

Americans, he said, are being “further squeezed out of their democracy.”

Tennessee Republicans consider their options

Asked about the prospect of trying to redistrict the state’s Memphis-centered Democratic seat, Tennessee’s Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said in a written statement, “We are reviewing the recent opinion as I have conversations with the White House and other individuals.”

Alabama attorney general wants to apply the Supreme Court ruling to his state’s redistricting

Attorney General Steve Marshall said he wants to ensure Alabama’s congressional maps reflect voters’ will, not what he called an unconstitutional racial quota system.

The state is appealing a federal order requiring the state to continue using a court-drawn map with an additional district where Black voters are a majority or near it.

Marshall called Wednesday’s decision a “watershed moment” that means states “cannot be forced to gerrymander by race.”

He added that the high court recognized progress in the South and said laws from an earlier era no longer reflect current conditions.

A Black voter from New Orleans says he’s upset by the ruling

Thomas Johnson, a Black man from New Orleans who was visiting Louisiana’s Capitol on Wednesday, said he specifically feared the possibility that Republicans could redraw the state’s congressional map in a way that dismantles predominately Black districts.

“I feel like this is an embarrassing attack upon the minorities, particularly the Black community,” who he feels have little say in Washington.

Johnson is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, one of two Black Democrats from Louisiana in Congress.

“We are going to do all we can and continue fighting so our voices are heard,” Johnson said. “That’s all we want, to be heard.”

Louisiana’s other Democratic congressman says his seat isn’t safe either

While the Supreme Court ruled on the district represented by Rep. Cleo Fields, the other Democratic member of Louisiana’s U.S. House delegation is concerned about the fate of his seat, too.

“The reality is our maps were drawn together,” said Rep. Troy Carter, whose district includes New Orleans. “So that means if they’re all thrown out as unconstitutional, then the likelihood that new maps would be drawn that would in fact not only impact Congressman Fields but also impact me as well.”

Rights groups aren’t mincing words about the Supreme Court decision

Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said the decision is a blow to American democracy and one that will further erode trust in the Supreme Court among diverse populations.

“It’s a day of loss of any remnant or modicum of credibility of this Supreme Court to rise above partisan politics,” Nelson said. “It has elevated the principle of partisanship and politics over the right to vote.”

Wednesday’s decision is a “profound betrayal of the civil rights movement,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. Minority communities won’t just potentially lose a seat in Congress, she said, they’ll lose a voice on issues like healthcare, education and infrastructure.

“States can now point to partisan objectives to justify maps that strip voters of color of representation, and federal courts will have little basis to intervene,” she said.

A voting rights advocate doesn’t know if the ruling will spur redistricting this year

David Becker, the founder and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the ruling will allow lawmakers to reduce the power of minority voters — at least eventually.

“How it will affect 2026, I don’t know,” Becker said Wednesday on a call with reporters. “It could be open season now, but we’re also running out of time.”

Obama’s attorney general says this Supreme Court has earned an infamous place in history

Eric Holder, the former Obama-era U.S. attorney general whose administration lost a crucial voting rights battle in 2013, said Wednesday’s ruling amounted to “Supreme Court sanctioned racial and partisan gerrymandering.”

“The Court today ensures that it will be remembered as one of the most destructive and deeply irresponsible Courts in the history of our nation,” Holder said in a statement.

“It should not be lost on anyone,” he added, “that the Roberts court makes this decision at a time when Republican leaders across the country are foaming at the mouth to draw the American people out of a meaningful say in our elections.”

After leaving public service, Holder formed the National Redistricting Foundation to protect voting rights and challenge gerrymandered congressional and state legislative districts.

Candidate for Tennessee governor calls for redistricting after Supreme Court decision

Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor this year, called on social media for the GOP-supermajority state Legislature to reconvene and draw Tennessee’s only Democratic congressional seat to favor a pickup for Republicans.

The district centers on the majority-Black city of Memphis.

One top Georgia Republican calls for immediate redistricting, even with voting underway

Redrawing Georgia’s maps for the 2026 elections would be difficult because early voting is already underway for the May 19 party primaries, in advance of the November election.

A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and state Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to queries about immediate redistricting. State Senate Minority Harold Jones II, an Augusta Democrat, said he’s unsure of the prospects of quick action.

But one leading GOP candidate to replace Kemp urged the governor to act immediately, which could protect Republican power even if Georgia Democrats make gains this fall.

“Democrats nationally are trying to redistrict their way back to power, and what happened in Virginia is just the tip of the spear,” businessman Rick Jackson said in a statement. “There is no time to waste. Georgia must act now to ensure secure elections in Georgia and counter the Democrats’ national assault on our elections.”

Hakeem Jeffries slams the Supreme Court decision as ‘far right extremists’ thinking

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries accused the Supreme Court of being “far right extremists” and of voter suppression being “a way of life” for Trump and Republicans, in a strongly worded statement on social media.

“Republicans know they cannot win a free and fair election in November and so they are desperate to rig it. We will never let them succeed,” the Democrat wrote.

Jeffries has previously claimed Trump makes power grabs when it comes to voting.

When Trump signed an executive order in March to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and to restrict mail-in voting, Jeffries said it would make voting unnecessarily difficult of communities of color, people with disabilities and other key demographics.

King family ‘deeply troubled’ by Supreme Court decision

Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife Arndrea Waters King said in a statement that the Supreme Court decision “further weakened the Voting Rights Act.”

“This decision silences the voices of millions of voters of color by undermining the purpose of the VRA – securing and protecting the political rights of Black and Brown communities across the country,” they said. “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood that voting rights are the foundation of our entire democratic system. Without them, we are a democracy in name only. “

The couple are the founders of a civil rights organization called the Drum Major Institute.

Congressional Black Caucus says the Supreme Court has ‘signed the death certificate of the Voting Rights Act’

The 60 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is currently made up of all Democrats, said the ruling erased “decades of Black progress.”

“Republicans now have the ability to move forward with a nationwide scheme to rig congressional maps in their favor — to manufacture more districts for themselves by eliminating majority-Black districts, while stripping away the ability to challenge those racist, anti-Black maps in court,” the group said.

The caucus added this could open the door for huge redistricting changes in the South and vowed to initiate “any measure necessary” to find a legislative remedy, and called for a vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Inside the Supreme Court as the decision was announced

The already quiet courtroom went silent when Chief Justice John Roberts said Justice Samuel Alito would be reading the majority opinion.

Members of the audience listened raptly as he read, waiting to hear the depths of the Section 2 decision. Some in the audience nodded as Justice Elena Kagan read the dissent and said the majority had effectively finished a yearslong pursuit of the Voting Rights Act.

A Black voter in Alabama reacts to the court’s decision

Shalela Dowdy in Mobile, Alabama, said she’s worried the decision will lead to the rollback of an Alabama congressional district created in 2023, which she said gave previously ignored voters a seat at the table.

“It’s a setback. Putting it in the hands of the states on this level is dangerous,” Dowdy said. “There’s just been a history of the states not doing the right thing based off their state population.”

Dowdy, who is Black, was a plaintiff in a lawsuit that resulted in the creation of the new district, now represented by Rep. Shomari Figures.

She added that they are going to have to battle in court, and at the ballot box, to maintain representation: “The fight continues. You can’t get comfortable.”

Rev. Al Sharpton says the decision is a ’bullet in the heart of the voting rights movement'

“The Supreme Court has not just weakened a law, it has humiliated and dismantled the life’s work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and every man and woman who marched, bled, and died for Black Americans to have an equal voice at the ballot box,” Sharpton, the president of the National Action Network, said in a statement.

“This ruling does not just dishonor the generation that marched, it steals from the generation that hasn’t voted yet,” Sharpton added in the statement. “Black children growing up in this country deserve the same protections their grandparents bled for.”

He called on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act through federal legislation, a task that has proved elusive while Capitol Hill has been narrowly split between Democrats and Republicans.

Louisiana’s Republican attorney general applauds the decision

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she will work with fellow Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and the GOP-dominated Legislature to “provide guidance as we move forward to adopt a constitutionally compliant map.”

“The Supreme Court has ended Louisiana’s long-running nightmare of federal courts coercing the state to draw a racially discriminatory map,” Murrill wrote. “That was always unconstitutional—and this is a seismic decision reaffirming equal protection under our nation’s laws.”

Republican redistricting group hails the decision

The ruling is expected to be an enormous boost for Republican efforts to expand their number of winnable seats in the House of Representatives and state legislatures.

The GOP has long complained that Democrats turned the Voting Rights Act’s protections into a partisan weapon to gain seats.

“For decades the left has spent hundreds of millions of dollars seeking to divide Americans along racial lines in a cynical pursuit of partisan power masquerading as civil rights,” said Adam Kincaid, the National Republican Redistricting Trust’s executive director, in a statement. “Today’s decision rebukes that divisive and unconstitutional effort.”

The decision will likely reignite legal battles over congressional districts in southern states including Alabama

A federal court in 2023 ordered the creation of a new near-majority Black district which led to the election of Alabama’s second Black congressional representative.

Alabama is under a court order to use the new map through the rest of the decade, but the state appealed to the Supreme Court. Alabama has argued the court-drawn map is an illegal racial gerrymander.

Alabama House Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Pringle, a Republican, said he is hopeful that the Louisiana ruling means justices will rule in favor of Alabama in that appeal, eventually clearing the way for Alabama to draw its own map.

“I do believe the ruling today vindicates the state’s argument that the court illegally racially gerrymandered the state in its ruling,” Pringle said.

The Supreme Court decision is hugely consequential, but maybe not for the 2026 election

In most of the states where Republicans could benefit from eliminating Democratic districts that have majority Black or Hispanic populations, filing deadlines for congressional elections have already passed. In some, primaries have already occurred.

Barring extraordinary action, that means the most likely impact of Wednesday’s decision will come in 2028, when the GOP can potentially replace more than a dozen Democratic-held House districts that were previously protected under the Voting Rights Act.

“The Voting Rights Act as a means to protect minority voters from vote dilution is essentially dead,” said Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie-Mellon University who’s served as a special master in multiple Voting Rights Act cases.

Decision could cut Black political power in states and localities

Over time, the decision could result in a sweeping rollback to Black political power at the state and local level.

There are hundreds of Black state legislators in the South. There are many more Black officials on county and parish governing bodies, school boards and city councils that make decisions about policing, road paving and school districting that touch everyday lives.

In many cases, Black-majority districts that those officials represent have been carved out through decades of repeated Section 2 litigation. In states like Alabama and Mississippi, the racial cleavage is so deep that there are few Democratic state legislators who aren’t Black.

Wednesday’s ruling could let white majorities wipe out districts where Black voters exercise power, particularly where they are numerous but in the minority. That would be a change from today, where Black officials often exercise real influence, even on governing bodies where they are in the minority.

The trial centers on the 2015 birth of the ChatGPT maker as a nonprofit startup primarily funded by Musk before evolving into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852 billion.

Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017, gave his account of OpenAI’s early years, recounting how he lost confidence that Altman would keep it a nonprofit. Questioned by his lawyer Steven Molo, Musk said by late 2022 he was concerned Altman was trying to “steal the charity.”

"It turned out to be true,” Musk said on the witness stand, wearing his usual courtroom attire of a black suit and tie.

Altman, OpenAI's CEO, was in attendance at the federal courthouse in Oakland, California, although he was not scheduled to testify on Wednesday. The trial started Monday and is expected to last about four weeks.

Lawyers for OpenAI have rejected the allegations brought in Musk's civil lawsuit and said there were never promises that the company would remain a nonprofit forever. The company has argued Musk's legal challenge is aimed at undercutting OpenAI's rapid growth and bolstering Musk’s xAI, which he launched in 2023 as a competitor.

During cross-examination, Musk repeatedly pushed back on questions. OpenAI lawyer William Savitt was asking about emails Musk wrote before OpenAI's founding in 2015 on whether it would be better to make it a standard for-profit company and about tax deductions from his donations to the nonprofit.

“Your questions are not simple,” Musk said. “They are designed to trick me essentially.” Any simple answer, he said, would be misleading the jury.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stepped in, asking Musk to answer whether it's true or false that OpenAI was formed as a nonprofit in December 2015. Musk said in that case, the answer was yes, but added that it is not always simple, comparing it to asking “have you stopped beating your wife?”

“We are not going to go there,” the judge replied, to laughs in the courtroom.

Despite moments of levity, the stakes are high at the trial, which could sway the balance of power in artificial intelligence. Musk’s lawsuit seeks Altman’s ouster from OpenAI’s board. If Musk wins, it could derail OpenAI's plans for an initial public offering of its shares.

Musk’s decision to stop funding the company contributed to a bitter falling out between the former allies that's been evident throughout the trial. On Wednesday, Musk said his views on Altman and his OpenAI cofounders had three phases — from initial excitement to losing confidence to a period in late 2022 when he thought “wait a second, these guys are betraying their promise.”

Lawyers for OpenAI have said Musk sought to control the company for himself.

Musk repeatedly testified that while he initially sought a majority stake in OpenAI and control of four out of seven board seats, this would eventually be diluted when OpenAI grew and gained more shareholders. He compared it to his stake in Tesla, which he said is now around 15% after he initially had a majority stake when the electric car maker was founded over two decades ago.

OpenAI, however, claims there were no assurances that he would eventually relinquish his board majority.

No matter what age or school, we want to celebrate the graduates in your lives.

Submit photos to KSAT Connect, and your photos could be used on air and on KSAT.com! Only share photos taken by you or someone who has given explicit permission to share.

Check out some of last year’s submissions below:

To submit a photo, check out our guide below.

• Open the KSAT Weather Authority app OR visit the KSAT Connect web page. We recommend using the app for regular access to KSAT Connect!
• If you’re on the KSAT Weather Authority app, click the camera icon on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. You can also upload from the KSAT News app. Click here for instructions.
• Sign in or sign up for a FREE KSAT Insider (member) account by clicking the orange button with the text “Log in to Upload a Pin.”
• Once you’re signed in, you’ll click the orange button that now reads “Upload a Pin.”
• Click the blue button at the top to choose the photo or video you’d like to share.
• Select the channel and category.
• Tell us about your photo or video by including a description.
• The last step is to click the orange button at the bottom to upload.

A child was originally hospitalized in critical condition, but on Thursday a University Health spokesperson told KSAT the child is now in fair condition.

The hospital’s trauma unit is treating the child for burns suffered in the first explosion.

Crews responded to the initial fire around 6 p.m. Tuesday in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive, which is located near Thousand Oaks Drive.

Around 8:30 p.m., however, KSAT crews heard a loud “boom” and saw flames shooting out of a second home nearby.

CPS Energy sent KSAT an updated statement just before 10 p.m. on Thursday, where a spokesperson for the utility said for the first time, “Electric and gas services in the Preston Hollow subdivision are clear and safe.”

Marc Whyte, the District 10 councilman, said his office and the city are currently working on creating a website to give out updates on the investigation as they become available.

CPS Energy will keep its customer response unit at the Northeast Senior Center through Sunday.

In an updated statement sent on Sunday, the utility said its CPS Energy Customer Response Unit and gas team members are helping customers relight gas pilot lights and answering questions about natural gas service upon request.

CPS Energy is also arranging debris cleanup in the area and has assisted more than two dozen customers since Tuesday.

CPS Energy said if any customers at any point smell gas, they should leave the house immediately and call CPS Energy at 210-353-HELP (4357) or 911.

North East ISD teacher, pastor among those injured

Two adults and one child suffered burns and were hospitalized after the first explosion. Two additional adults were hospitalized as a result of the second explosion.

One of those hospitalized is a teacher at MacArthur High School. A North East Independent School District spokesperson told KSAT that the injured educator is Kimberly Nowell, who teaches math at the school.

Nowell’s husband, Tim, is a pastor at Wayside Chapel, a North Side church located in the 1700 block of Northwest Loop 410.

On Wednesday, April 29, a hospital spokesperson said Tim Nowell is in serious condition and Kimberly Nowell is in critical condition.

The couple’s teenage daughter also attends the school, according to a letter sent Wednesday to MacArthur High School parents and guardians.

“I have already met with our staff to inform them of this tragic situation,” MacArthur High School Principal Joaquin Hernandez wrote in the letter obtained by KSAT. “Additionally, Ms. Nowell’s classes are being supported with the assistance of our counselors and administrative team. Our priority is to ensure students have immediate access to support.”

According to Wayside Chapel, Nowell is a “student pastor” who has served in that ministry for more than 17 years.

Jason Uptmore, the church’s lead pastor, released a statement to KSAT on Wednesday afternoon.

“We are grateful that Tim, Kim, and Ali (the couple’s daughter) are stable,” Uptmore said, in part. “Tim and his family are deeply woven into the fabric of who we are as a church. We recognize that the road ahead will be long, but we are committed to walking with them.”

A Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) spokesperson identified the other two explosion victims to KSAT as Mayte Reeves and Jose Ochoa.

Reeves was previously in critical condition, but is now listed as “serious.” Ochoa is in good condition, the BAMC spokesperson said.

SAFD’s response

The first fire was extinguished “very quickly” and was likely related to a natural gas buildup, the fire department said.

The first house sustained significant damage and will likely be demolished.

In all, 10 homes along Preston Hollow Drive were evacuated following the explosions, SAFD Chief Valerie Frausto said.

Some residents can return home

District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte told KSAT all residents except for six households on Preston Hollow Drive can return home Wednesday night, April 22.

The six households who cannot return include the two homes where the explosions occurred and immediate neighbors on that side of the street.

Police said the residents on the other side of Preston Hollow Drive are on a different power grid, but the ones where the explosions happened are not.

Affected residents being housed in temporary accommodations

In a Facebook post from Whyte, impacted residents are being housed in Airbnbs temporarily as crews work to continue clearing the homes under evacuation orders.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the utility said its unit has “connected with more than two dozen residents.” Any additional impacted customers are encouraged to call 210-353-2783.

A CPS Energy spokesperson said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will lead the investigation into both explosions. Going forward, the utility will “coordinate any updates” with NTSB, the spokesperson said.

According to the agency’s statement earlier Wednesday, it shut off power in the area to keep customers safe.

Click here for the latest update on power outages.

In a statement Tuesday night, District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, whose district includes Preston Hollow Drive, said, “CPS will work with all displaced people on hotel costs.”

“Any displaced residents should call our office tomorrow and we will help them be reimbursed,” Whyte said.

In a follow-up statement on Wednesday afternoon, the councilman said he is standing “with those affected as they begin the recovery process.”

“We are deeply grateful for the swift and professional response from our first responders, as well as the continued support from the Red Cross, CPS Energy, and the Northeast Senior Center,” Whyte said on Wednesday. “Their efforts have been critical in ensuring public safety and assisting those in need.”

Whyte also said anyone impacted by Tuesday’s explosions are asked to contact the District 10 office.

If anyone thinks they smell gas in their homes, CPS Energy said they should leave their house immediately and call CPS Energy at 210-353-HELP (4357) or 911.

Lawsuit filed against CPS Energy

Jose Ochoa and Mayte Terrie Reeves filed a joint lawsuit on Monday, April 29, in Bexar County district court, accusing CPS Energy of negligence after they were injured in the explosions.

On April 21, their home was the second to explode in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive, near Thousand Oaks Drive.

According to the lawsuit, Ochoa and Reeves were evacuated after the first explosion but were then told it was safe to return home.

>> Lawsuit filed against CPS Energy after 5 injured in Preston Hollow Drive home explosions

The lawsuit states natural gas had leaked underground from a CPS Energy line, forming a “volatile gas cloud” inside their home, causing the second explosion and fire.

A CPS Energy spokeswoman told KSAT the utility does not comment on active litigation.

Ochoa and Reeves sustained serious and permanent physical injuries and damages, their lawsuit claims.

Ochoa and Reeves accuse CPS Energy of failure to maintain its system, failure to equip and train employees to safely perform work and failure to inspect the work performed near their residence.

They are requesting a jury trial and more than $1 million each in damages.

NTSB takes role of lead investigator

In a statement to KSAT on Thursday, April 23, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that it is investigating the natural gas-fueled explosions on Preston Hollow Drive.

The NTSB said its investigation will be centered around witness statements, available incident footage, the weather around the time of the explosions, pipeline operating practices and procedures, pipeline maintenance records, the extent and path of released gas or hazardous liquid and other information.

The federal agency expects to release a preliminary report in approximately 30 days, which will “contain factual information gathered during the initial phase of the investigation.”

A probable cause of the explosions, as well as any contributing factors, will be released in a more comprehensive report in approximately 12 to 24 months, the NTSB said.

When the homes were built

Bexar County property records show one of the homes involved in the explosions was built in 1993.

The other home was built in 2000, according to records.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• 5 hospitalized, 3 in critical condition, after home explosions on North Side, SAFD says

The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged and edged down by less than 0.1%, a day after slipping from its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite inched up by less than 0.1%.

The action was more dramatic in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in July jumped 5.8% to settle at $110.44 per barrel. That’s where most of the trading is happening in the Brent market, and it got as high as $111.84 later in the afternoon.

The highest price since the war with Iran began is $119.50 for the most actively traded Brent contract, reached last month. On Wednesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude for delivery in June, which is getting less trading action than July’s contract, briefly breached that mark and got above $120.

Oil prices have jumped this week as President Donald Trump appears willing to maintain the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships, which is preventing the country from making money by selling oil. Iran, in turn, is keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed to other oil tankers hoping to carry crude to customers worldwide as long as the blockade continues.

High oil prices helped push the Federal Reserve to announce Wednesday that it’s continuing to hold off on cuts to interest rates. While lower rates could give the economy a boost, they simultaneously risk worsening inflation.

Three Fed officials said they did not want to include anything suggesting more cuts may be coming in the central bank’s statement announcing the decision.

Treasury yields climbed in the bond market immediately afterward, adding to gains from earlier in the day due to rising oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.36% late Tuesday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, climbed more. It jumped to 3.93% from 3.84%, which is a notable move for the bond market.

Traders still largely expect the Fed to hold the federal funds rate steady through the end of this year, according to data from CME Group. But they eliminated nearly all their bets for a cut to rates in 2026 in favor of a small chance for a hike.

Still, the U.S. stock market held near its records as more companies joined the procession reporting stronger profit growth for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.

Visa jumped 8.3% after delivering stronger results than analysts expected, and CEO Ryan McInerney said consumer spending remained resilient in the quarter.

Starbucks climbed 8.4% after likewise reporting better results than expected, while saying customers spent more at each visit, particularly at its North American stores.

But those not meeting expectations have gotten punished. GE Healthcare Technologies dropped 13.2% after falling short of analysts’ forecasts. Robinhood Markets sank 13.2% after reporting growth in profit that was not as strong as analysts expected.

Booking Holdings swung between losses and gains and finished with a gain of 0.3% after the online travel company reported better results than analysts expected. It said the war with Iran is affecting its results and kept some potential customers from booking rooms during the quarter.

The company behind Booking.com, Priceline and other brands said it expects the conflict to continue affecting its business through the end of June. It could affect travel not only in the Middle East but also in major transit corridors, such as between Europe and Asia.

All told, the S&P 500 slipped 2.85 points to 7,135.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280.12 to 48,861.81, and the Nasdaq composite added 9.44 to 24,673.24.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.7% for one of the world’s strongest moves, while London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.2%.

___

AP Business Writer Chan Ho-him contributed to this report.

With the win, San Antonio advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2017. The Spurs are set to face either the Denver Nuggets or the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Minnesota leads the series 3-2, with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday, April 30.

What we know about the two teams

The Nuggets bring size and experience. If the Spurs face Denver, they will need a plan for Nikola Jokic.

In his previous game against Minnesota, Jokic recorded 27 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists in 38 minutes, along with two blocks. He has consistently posed problems for the Spurs.

Aaron Gordon is day to day with an injury and did not play in Game 5. Jamal Murray, in his ninth NBA season, adds veteran presence.

The Nuggets last won a championship in 2023, when Jokic was named NBA Finals MVP.

During the regular season, the Spurs faced the Nuggets four times and lost three of those matchups. San Antonio’s lone victory came in November, 139-136.

If the Spurs remain healthy and continue their rotation from the first round, they could have a competitive series against Denver. They showed they could perform in the postseason even when key players were unavailable, including when Victor Wembanyama was sidelined with a concussion.

The Timberwolves present a different scenario. Minnesota has been without star guard Anthony Edwards, who suffered a knee injury in Game 4. Although the injury was not season-ending, he was ruled out for the remainder of the series.

Minnesota could still advance without Edwards, but Denver would need to win the final two games to take the series.

In the regular season, the Spurs played the Timberwolves three times and lost twice. Their most recent meeting came in January, when San Antonio won 126-123.

The Spurs feature the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year, along with strong depth.

Wembanyama averaged 21 points in 18 minutes during the postseason. In his final game against Portland, he posted 14 rebounds, three assists and six blocks. He returned from concussion protocol and played with renewed energy.

“We knew they were not going to make things easy,” Wembanyama said after closing the series against the Trail Blazers. “It feels like a step forward, a job well done. I’m happy to see things moving in the right direction.”

Stephon Castle provided an aggressive presence late in the series as the Spurs adjusted to Portland’s physical play.

“Being able to come out with that kind of energy and set the tone defensively,” Castle said. “We all want to be in this kind of environment.”

Rookie Dylan Harper delivered a strong first-round performance. In Game 3 against the Trail Blazers, he scored 22 second-half points and grabbed 10 rebounds, becoming the youngest player to score 25 points as a reserve in a playoff game at age 20.

De’Aaron Fox also elevated his play, averaging 20.2 points in the series after averaging 18.6 during the regular season. Julian Champagnie capped off the first round with 19 points.

The Spurs, with multiple contributors, demonstrated consistency throughout the season.

Regardless of the opponent, the Spurs will face a competitive series in the next round.

Game 6 between Denver and Minnesota is scheduled for Thursday at 8:30 p.m. If necessary, Game 7 is set for Saturday, May 2. The time is to be determined.

More Spurs coverage on KSAT:

• Where to find Spurs murals across San Antonio as team chases sixth championship
• Spurs’ Keldon Johnson had ‘amazing’ season, Trail Blazers’ interim coach says
• Spurs announce second-round playoff ticket sales, fan experiences for home games

Several conservative justices appeared to be leaning in favor of the Republican administration's argument that the law limits what courts can do with a program known as temporary protected status, or TPS. The outcome could come down to how Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett vote.

The government is appealing lower court orders that blocked the Department of Homeland Security from immediately ending temporary protected status for people from Haiti and Syria. If the justices agree with President Donald Trump, authorities potentially could strip protections from up to 1.3 million people from 17 countries, exposing them to possible deportation.

The court has sided with the administration before and allowed the end of the program for people from Venezuela as lawsuits continue to play out.

The Department of Justice argues that the homeland security secretary has the power to end the program, and that the law bars judges from questioning those decisions. “The kind of determination that is at issue here is just the sort of determination that lies kind of at the heartland of what has been traditionally entrusted to the political branches,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer said.

Lawyers for about 350,000 migrants from Haiti and 6,000 from Syria say the government short-circuited the process and that judges can consider whether authorities followed all the steps laid out in the law.

‘This really is life or death’

Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, DHS has ended the protections people from 13 countries. Some who have lived and worked in the U.S. legally for more than a decade have lost jobs and housing in a matter of weeks, lawyers said. Returning to Haiti and Syria is out of the question for many people because those countries remain wracked with violence and instability, said Sejal Zota, co-founder and legal director of Just Futures Law.

“This really is life or death,” she said. Four Haitian women who were deported from the United States in February were found beheaded and dumped in a river several months later, lawyers said in court documents.

The administration appealed to the high court after judges in New York and the District of Columbia agreed to delay the end of protections. One judge found that “hostility to nonwhite immigrants” likely played a role in the decision to end protections for Haitians.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, home to a large community of people with protected legal status.

“Haitian people are here, they are homeowners, business owners, they’re working, they are paying taxes, so there will be a big impact in the economy,” said Rose-Thamar Joseph, operations manager of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, after listening to Supreme Court arguments.

Roberts look back at 2018 ruling

Federal authorities have denied that racial animus played any role in the decisions about legal protections. They also cite a Supreme Court decision from Trump's first term that rejected bias claims based on his social media posts and upheld a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries.

Roberts, though, questioned whether that the administration is asking for a “significant expansion” of the decision he wrote in 2018.

Barrett, who has two children adopted from Haiti, posed questions to both sides about the process and whether judges really can step in.

“Why would Congress permit review of the procedural aspect when really what everybody cares about much more is the substance?” Barrett asked a lawyer for Syrian migrants.

“I think it’s because Congress, and us, too, and the millions of people who live with TPS holders, have some faith in government,” lawyer Ahilan Arulanantham replied.

The court is expected to rule by the summer. Their decision will not technically be a final ruling on the issue, but could have far-reaching effects for immigrants as litigation continues.

Syrians were first granted protected status in 2012, during a civil war that lasted for more than a decade before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in late 2024.

Haitians joined the program in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and have been extended multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents.

‘I’m scared'

Maryse Balthazar was on vacation in the U.S. when the earthquake hit Haiti. She has now been in the U.S. for 16 years with temporary legal status. She has two children and works as a nursing assistant to the elderly. That profession relies on Haitian immigrants like her and would be hobbled by a Supreme Court decision that allowed their status to end, an industry group said in court papers.

For Balthazar, losing those protections would be devastating. She lost her home in Haiti to the earthquake, and another house she could have lived in was destroyed in a fire, possibly due to gang involvement. “I’d be homeless,” she said. “I’m scared … it’s a fear we are all living with.”

Other immigration cases the high court is considering this year include Trump's push to restrict birthright citizenship and the administration's power to revive a restrictive asylum policy.

___

Associated Press writer Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos in Springfield, Ohio, contributed to this report.

“Brain injury can change a life in an instant, and while medicine can help heal the body, AHIA cares for the person on the inside,” Executive Director Maureen DeFelice said. “We serve to help survivors and caregivers rebuild their lives in their new normal, surrounded by a community that truly understands what they’re going through because caring for the soul is just as essential as caring for the body.”

Acquired brain injury, often called ABI, is an injury that can be caused by a traumatic event or a non-traumatic medical issue. It is not hereditary or congenital. ABI can change how the brain works, affecting everything from movement and memory to mood and daily functioning.

DeFelice said those changes can be life-altering long after the initial injury.

“Brain injury leads to isolation, loss of job, friends, memories and ability to function,” she said. “It’s more than just an injury; it’s a loss of your whole way of life.”

AHIA works to reduce that isolation by offering monthly, in-person support groups for brain injury survivors and separate in-person groups for caregivers.

The organization also hosts a monthly virtual support group specifically for caregivers, providing a place to talk openly with others who understand the day-to-day challenges.

The organization also helps with practical needs through grants for people who have experienced moderate to severe ABI. Those grants can help cover expenses tied to recovery and quality of life, including education, home accessibility modifications, recreation and medical care.

The 25th annual Brain Injury Symposium

AHIA’s biggest annual education event is its Brain Injury Symposium, typically held during Brain Injury Awareness Month. The 25th Annual Brain Injury Symposium is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at the Pestana Lecture Hall at UT Health San Antonio. The full-day conference runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features expert speakers and educational presentations.

This year’s theme is “Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Recovery from Acquired Brain Injury,” focusing on how different specialties work together to improve outcomes for survivors and families across South Texas.

The event is produced by Catherine Torrington Eaton, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, who chairs the symposium committee. Maria Pollifrone, DO, an associate professor of brain injury medicine and associate program director of the PM&R residency in UT Health San Antonio’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, will serve as moderator.

Organizers said the symposium brings together medical professionals, rehabilitation specialists, caregivers and community partners for evidence-based education, networking and survivor-centered learning.

How to register

The symposium offers Continuing Education Credits (CE) for nurses, therapists, counselors and case managers. Anyone who would like to attend this event will need to complete registration before purchasing tickets.

The Alamo Head Injury Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals affected by brain injury through education, advocacy, and compassionate support across South Texas.

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.

The vote came just two days after Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his proposal and the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The decision could make it harder for Democrats to challenge Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts in ways that limit the influence of nonwhite voters.

DeSantis’ map could increase Republicans’ advantage in Florida’s House delegation to 24 to 4, up from the current split of 20 to 8. The potential four-seat gain is the same as what Virginia Democrats expect from a recent redistricting referendum, which is being challenged in state court there.

Florida's new districts are certain to face lawsuits as well, especially because the state constitution prohibits redistricting for explicitly partisan purposes. DeSantis and his aides believe those provisions will not be a legal barrier because they have been weakened previously by the Florida Supreme Court and again by Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Florida Republicans, comfortable in their supermajority in both legislative chambers, said little about the new districts during the whirlwind special session. The measure’s sponsor, Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, limited her remarks to careful answers about an “evolving legal landscape” as Democrats’ asked her about the redistricting effort.

“I believe that there is a likelihood that that map will be upheld against legal challenge,” Persons-Mulicka said.

Opposition was vocal but futile

Democrats, activists and some citizens to decried the process as a partisan power play to satisfy Trump, boost DeSantis’ future ambitions and hurt the majority of registered Florida voters who are not Republicans.

“Y’all are doing this because y’all’s daddy in the White House is injecting national political objectives into what should be a state-driven process,” Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, told her Republican colleagues before an 83-28 vote in favor of the measure.

The Florida Senate later approved the plan in a 21-17 vote.

Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, chided Republicans for yielding the redistricting process to DeSantis, whose second term expires in January.

“Last time I checked, we’re the ones who were supposed to be drawing the map,” she said, “and yet we are allowing y’all to continue to hold the water of the governor, who is a lame duck and just trying to figure out what his next job is going to be.”

Democrats diminished in metro areas

The new map reshapes districts in Democratic areas around Orlando, the Tampa-St. Petersburg area and in south Florida around Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The changes could cost Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others, their seats.

DeSantis and his aides said before and during the session that new map is necessary to account for population growth in suburban and exurban areas since the 2020 census and to ensure Florida has a “race-neutral” congressional plan.

The proposal presumed the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wednesday decision, which specifically struck down a Louisiana congressional district drawn for the electorate to be majority Black. Historically, Black voters have aligned more with Democrats, while a majority of white voters lean toward Republicans.

The changes in Florida include the effective elimination of one nearly majority Black south Florida district that was represented by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Black Democrat, until her resignation earlier this month.

Lawmakers fast-tracked the measures

From the session’s opening bell Tuesday morning, Republican leaders moved swiftly.

In one of just two committee hearings, Senate Rules Chair Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she wanted “everybody who has taken the time and effort to come to Capitol to have an opportunity to speak.” Then she declared each speaker would have 30 seconds.

“I know that doesn’t seem like a lot but it actually is, uh, if you’re concise,” she said.

Deborah Courtney drove more than two hours from from Jacksonville and noted that all citizen speakers expressed opposition.

“Why are you doing this redistricting now?” she asked senators. “I doubt that your phone have been ringing off the hook from your constituents going, hey, we need some new maps.”

Rob Woods came from the Tampa area, which under the new map could have no Democratic representation in the U.S. House. A Black man, Wood told senators he was a veteran who said he "bought in from elementary school” on notions of the U.S. as an equal-opportunity democracy.

Now, he said, “it seems as if we are back in that period of Reconstruction, moving back to Jim Crow.”

On the House floor, Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, sidestepped specifics about what factors went into the map. She repeatedly called it “race-neutral,” citing testimony from DeSantis aide Jason Poreda, who took sole credit for the map during the session and did not disclose the names of any architects. But asked about Poreda’s admission that he examined party affiliation and voting patterns, Persons-Mulicka balked.

“I cannot speak to the intent of the map drawer,” she said.

DeSantis unveiled the map on Fox News

Persons-Mulicka and Sen. Don Gaetz, who sponsored the map in the Senate, deflected questions about why DeSantis unveiled the plan on Fox News.

Gaetz, a Crestview Republican, confirmed he had no part in drafting the map and forwarded the governor’s proposal to other senators as soon as he received it late Monday morning.

There’s no guarantee that new maps across the country will play out the way two parties hope. For example, Texas based its revised lines largely on Trump’s performance in 2024, redistributing the president’s voters across more districts to pull them into the Republican column. But Trump’s popularity has waned since his reelection, including among Latino voters who figure prominently in the state.

Florida could face a similar conundrum. Creating more majority-Republican districts could leave margins thin enough to allow for Democratic victories, especially if there’s an anti-Trump backlash at the polls this year.

Some Republicans have expressed worry about that possibility, and a handful voted against the measure in the Florida legislature.

The governor already took a hit because of the session. He had wanted lawmakers to adopt state regulations on artificial intelligence, ostensibly protecting minors from harmful material, while rolling back vaccine mandates for students in Florida’s public schools. House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Republican but not a DeSantis ally, spiked both ideas.

DeSantis called it “political shenanigans.”

House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, lamented that Republicans still delivered DeSantis the big-ticket item that he wanted.

“On destroying our democracy, they’ve been aligned,” she said, “and that’s what we did here today.”

Experts warn that the rial’s slide is likely to further fuel inflation in a country where many imported goods, from food and medicine to electronics and raw materials, are affected by the dollar rate.

The blockade has cut into a key source of government revenue and hard currency by stopping or intercepting oil shipments. Iran’s leaders are betting that an economy built to be self-reliant under decades of international sanctions can endure the pain.

Four weeks into the ceasefire that has largely halted fighting in Iran, the U.S. and Iran remain locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passes in peacetime.

Iran's closure of the strait has put pressure on both sides and impacted the world economy, pushing up prices for food, fuel and other products made from petroleum. Frustration is mounting, as dozens of nations this week repeated calls to open the critical waterway for both humanitarian and economic relief.

Trump rejects Iran's proposal

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. Navy lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, he told Axios on Wednesday.

Iran’s proposal, shared with U.S. leaders this week, sought to postpone discussions around Iran’s nuclear program, leaving unresolved the disagreements that led the U.S. and Israel to go to war on Feb. 28.

“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing,” Trump told Axios. “And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

The Iranian proposal would have pushed negotiations on the country’s nuclear program to a later date, two regional officials said earlier this week. The officials with knowledge of the proposal spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations between Iranian and Pakistani officials.

One of the major reasons Trump has said he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Wednesday his government was continuing efforts to help ease tensions between the U.S and Iran following an initial round of direct talks on April 11.

Trump welcomes the UAE decision to exit OPEC

The United Arab Emirates decision to leave OPEC on May 1 could help calm the world's volatile oil market shaken by the war, Trump said.

“I think ultimately it’s a good thing for getting the price of gas down, getting oil down, getting everything down,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office.

Oil prices have been climbing steadily, and continued to surge on Wednesday.

Iran’s currency plummets after holding steady

Iran's rial had remained stable in the early weeks of the war, in part because there was little trading or imports. It’s slide began this week, hitting a record low Wednesday of 1.8 million to the dollar.

The hit comes months after a currency shock helped fuel nationwide protests in January, deepening public anger over rising prices and fears about the country’s economic future.

Iran’s economy has faced decades of sanctions, chronic inflation and a widening gap between official and open-market exchange rates.

Prices of basic household goods had already been rising before the rial’s latest fall, adding to pressure on families. Over the past two weeks, people buying daily essentials have faced higher prices for milk, yogurt, cooking oil, bread, rice, cheese and detergents.

The increases point to broader inflationary pressure in the economy driven by uncertainty, supply disruptions, higher transport and production costs and the continuing impact of the U.S. blockade. The rial’s latest slide is likely to add further pressure particularly on goods tied to imports, packaging and raw materials.

The cost of the war hits $25 billion for the US

The U.S. has spent an estimated $25 billion so far on the Iran war, a top defense official said during a Congressional hearing Wednesday.

Much of that has gone toward munitions, but the expenses also include running the operations and replacing equipment, Jules Hurst III, the acting undersecretary of war for finances, told the House Armed Services Committee.

___

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Collin Binkley, Stephen Groves and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

Mohammad Sharifullah faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years after his one-count conviction in an international terrorism case that President Donald Trump heralded last year during a speech to a joint session of Congress. Sharifullah didn’t testify at his weeklong trial.

Approximately 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, attack at the airport, where U.S. troops were conducting an evacuation operation when a lone suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near an entry point known as Abbey Gate.

A federal jury in Virginia convicted Sharifullah of providing material support to an Islamic State regional branch known as ISIS-K. But the jurors deadlocked on whether any deaths at the airport “resulted from” that conspiracy. Sharifullah could have faced a possible life sentence if the jury had unanimously decided that question.

Sharifullah didn't appear to have any visible reaction to the verdict. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga didn't immediately set a date for Sharifullah's sentencing.

The jury deliberated for roughly eight hours over two days. In a note to the judge, jurors indicated that they quickly reached a unanimous decision to convict Sharifullah of conspiracy but couldn’t agree on the element that could have significantly enhanced the severity of his sentence. The judge rejected a prosecutor’s request to give them more time to deliberate.

Defense attorney Lauren Rosen argued that prosecutors failed to present any evidence tying Sharifullah to the bombing besides his own words during hours of FBI questioning. Rosen said Sharifullah told FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear, possibly because he was afraid of being tortured in Pakistani custody before he was brought to the U.S.

“The problem was, he didn’t know much about what actually happened that day,” Rosen told jurors during the trial’s closing arguments. “The government has told you nothing about how this attack actually happened.”

Justice Department prosecutor Ryan White said Sharifullah played a crucial role in planning the Abbey Gate bombing and was involved in several other attacks by ISIS-K, including its March 2024 attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed roughly 140 people.

“The defendant thought nothing of killing,” White said. “For him, it was just another day at the office.”

A review by U.S. Central Command found that the Abbey Gate bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State group militant who had been released from an Afghan prison by the Taliban. Sharifullah recognized the alleged bomber as an operative he had known while incarcerated, according to an FBI affidavit.

A former Marine testified to Congress that he and others had spotted two possible suspects behaving suspiciously on the morning of the bombing but didn’t get permission to act. However, the Central Command review concluded that the snipers hadn’t seen the actual bomber and that the attack was not preventable.

A prosecutor assigned to the Abbey Gate case was fired last year after a right-wing commentator publicly criticized him over his work during President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration. Michael Ben’Ary’s ouster was part of a broader purge of Justice Department veterans deemed to be insufficiently loyal to Trump, a Republican.

During his most recent presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly condemned Biden for his role in the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal and blamed him for the Abbey Gate attack.

Biden’s White House was following a withdrawal commitment and timeline that the first Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 review by a government-appointed special investigator concluded decisions made by both Trump and Biden were the key factors leading to the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s military and the Taliban takeover.

White, the prosecutor, said Sharifullah told a journalist that he wanted to “catch and kill the crusaders” from the U.S. for invading his country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“This case is not complicated,” White said. “The defendant told you everything you need to know.”

Rosen said U.S. authorities accepted ISIS propaganda at face value when the group took responsibility for the airport bombing. She suggested that militants from a Taliban offshoot were manning Abbey Gate and could have been involved in the attack.

“You can’t base your verdict on mere conjecture and speculation,” Rosen said. “That’s what the prosecution is asking you to do.”

Almost two years later, federal authorities say a different man charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday was arrested with a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol he brought with him to Washington, D.C., on an Amtrak train from California.

It's just the latest security incident involving long-distance public ground transportation — and it won't be the last unless Amtrak and other companies find a way to address passenger screening and security at their stations, union officials who represent on-train employees say.

An Amtrak spokesperson declined to discuss security or to say whether Cole Tomas Allen followed the company's protocol for transporting firearms. Amtrak is working with federal investigators to provide his travel information, the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. A lawyer representing Allen notes he has no criminal record and is presumed innocent.

Policy for transporting firearms

Amtrak requires firearms on its trains to be declared, unloaded, secured in a hard case and to meet certain size and weight requirements. Those weapons are only allowed in checked baggage, similar to policies for firearms being transported via passenger airplane.

But unlike airports where passengers undergo Transportation Safety Administration screening of their carry-on bags and their person, train passengers are not screened by security officials, whether they board at the unstaffed station in unincorporated Lamy, New Mexico, or at the bustling Union Station in Washington.

Sean Jeans-Gail, vice president of government affairs and policy at the Rail Passengers Association, said Amtrak and many other ground transportation companies barred weapons on trains and buses after 9/11, but none put security measures in place to detect or screen every passenger for firearms. In 2010, Congress passed a law requiring Amtrak and others to allow firearms to be transported as long as they are checked.

In most cases, that means weapons are secured and placed on baggage cars accessible only by employees. But not every train has dedicated baggage cars. Several former Amtrak employees said when they don't have baggage cars, the bags are zip-tied and labeled to show a firearm is present so workers can see if they are tampered with.

“It is a little hard to take a train hostage, to say it is different than the post 9/11 concerns raised regarding an airplane,” Jeans-Gail said. “Amtrak has been safe from gun violence largely. The main incidents have been police shootings or interdictions.”

Incidents of concern

Railway worker unions started requesting Amtrak and other companies look at security during the COVID-19 pandemic, when enforcing a mask mandate on trains was difficult at best. They asked again after an influx of participants in the Jan. 6 riots came to Washington by train and rowdy behavior on the way home raised concerns.

Jared Cassity, the national safety and legislative director for the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division union, or SMART-TD, said Amtrak conductors and other on-train workers often don't speak publicly about incidents for fear of retribution from the company.

“Operator assaults are the most common conversations we have with our membership, but guns on trains is second or third in terms of concerns for workers,” Cassity said.

SMART-TD has had some luck pushing state legislation and has two bills pending before Congress. That legislation would clear up jurisdictional challenges making it easier to arrest and charge someone when a rail worker is assaulted during a trip and would make interfering with a rail worker during their duties a crime comparable to interfering with an airline employee on a flight.

Cassity said the conductor who identified the alleged potential mass shooter in 2024 had just taken union-sponsored security training. He received some recognition but the arrest didn't get much news coverage.

A 2022 fatal shooting on an Amtrak train near Lee's Summit, Missouri, did get media attention after the train didn't stop for staff to seek medical attention for the victim until it reached a station — delaying medical care. A federal jury said in 2024 that Amtrak should pay 90% of a $158 million award to the man's family, who had alleged negligence including failure to implement reasonable security measures.

Michael Callanan, a former Amtrak employee and now a rail safety consultant, said he's heard of other security incidents involving smuggling drugs and other illegal items because of the lack of security screenings.

“They never want to spend money on infrastructure or security,” Callanan said. “Maybe this shooter will be a significant enough of an event to push Amtrak to fund things.”

Callanan said Amtrak police officers are not comparable to TSA agents. He said they are mainly charged with patrolling stations, doing track checks and sometimes riding lines and walking trains, but one officer can have a huge amount of territory.

“There's one officer who I think patrols from Orlando to Miami,” he said. “Something has to be done to increase security.”

Geography presents a problem

Jeans-Gail said the Rail Passengers Association supports increasing Amtrak police patrols on trains, but isn't in favor of adding TSA-style security before boarding at the roughly 500 stations across the country.

“The thought of expanding that, even outside of the logistical issues, if you look at the experience of riding the Amtrak network it’s very impractical because it ranges from New York's Penn Station where it's very active, many points of access to the station, unlike an airport where all traffic is filtered to specific points,” he said. “Then you have Whitefish, Montana, on the other side of the spectrum — a rustic structure with not a lot of traffic.”

Cassity said that difference in security needs doesn't escape him. The union isn't expecting a one-size fits every station solution like airports, but he wants the conversation to start.

“We have to change the narrative about safety and realize something has to be done to prevent guns from getting onto the trains freely,” he said. “We sympathize with the challenge this is for Amtrak. ... When you start talking about how you secure the most rural places, and those being the majority of stations, it becomes a daunting, daunting task. ... But we need to have the conversation.”

Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, said it struck an oil pumping station near the city of Perm as part of efforts to target Russia’s energy infrastructure. The area is more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) from Ukraine.

Russian media reported the attack, though Perm Gov. Dmitry Makhonin said only that a drone hit an unspecified industrial facility, sparking a fire.

Russian officials have not been forthcoming about Ukrainian claims that Kyiv is carrying out more long-range attacks and that its domestically developed drones are increasingly accurate.

Speaking about Ukraine during a call with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Kyiv was inciting other European leaders and “prolonging the conflict,” presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Advanced drone technology has become a defining feature of the war as Russia’s bigger army presses its more than four-year invasion of its neighbor.

Ukraine claims it hit a key Russian oil hub

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video on Telegram showing a large plume of black smoke rising in countryside near a built-up area. Without specifying it was the Perm attack or what was hit, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was expanding the range of its long-distance strikes.

He called them a new phase in efforts to limit Russia’s ability to wage war by denying it crucial oil revenue.

It was not possible to independently verify the video.

The SBU claimed that most oil storage tanks were ablaze at the facility, which it said is owned by Russia’s pipeline operator Transneft and a key hub in the oil transportation system. The claims could not be independently verified.

The attack came a day after Ukraine struck the Tuapse oil refinery and terminal on the Black Sea for the third time in less than two weeks, prompting what Putin said could be “serious environmental consequences.” Local authorities said the fire had been “contained” by Wednesday.

Ukrainian drones exploit Russian vulnerabilities

Ukraine has escalated its long-distance strikes against Russian oil facilities in an effort to stop Moscow from gaining a financial windfall from a U.S. waiver on sanctions amid global supply restrictions caused by the Iran war, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Kyiv is exploiting the vulnerabilities of Russia’s large land mass, the Washington-based think tank said.

“Ukrainian forces will likely continue to exploit the large attack surface of Russia’s deep rear and overstretched Russian air defenses to launch more frequent and larger strikes against Russian oil infrastructure and military assets, supported by increased Ukrainian domestic drone production,” the institute said late Tuesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday its air defenses overnight intercepted 98 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Ukraine's weapon surplus could go to partner countries

After years of relying heavily on foreign military support, Ukraine is poised to export its sought-after drone know-how. Zelenskyy said Ukraine is producing a surplus of up to 50% in some types of weapons.

Military cooperation “is already underway” with countries in the Middle East, the Gulf, Europe and the Caucasus, he said on Telegram late Tuesday.

The deals involve the production and supply of drones and missiles as well as software and technology, according to Zelenskyy.

Kyiv has also handed a proposal to the United States for cooperation on drones, defense systems and other types of weapons for use in the air, on land and at sea, he said.

Russian nighttime attacks wound civilians

Russia hasn’t eased up on its own long-range attacks on Ukraine's civilian areas, damaging homes and infrastructure, regional authorities said.

Eight people were injured in an overnight attack on the northeastern Kharkiv region, the regional prosecutor’s office said.

In the northeastern Sumy region, officials said a 60-year-old woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of an attack.

In the southern Odesa region, Russian forces struck Izmail, damaging infrastructure facilities, according to the local administration. A district hospital building was damaged.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 154 of the 171 drones launched by Russia overnight.

___

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

The high court's unanimous ruling is a procedural victory for First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which is challenging a New Jersey investigation of its practices.

The conservative-majority court has given abortion opponents high-profile wins in recent years, most notably the watershed case that overturned the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. First Choice, though, had also drawn support from the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports abortion rights but backed the group's First Amendment concerns.

The Supreme Court's decision lets First Choice sue over a state-issued subpoena in federal court, though the ruling does not resolve the underlying case.

Lawyer Erin Hawley with the Alliance Defending Freedom argued the case, and said the group looks forward to taking up the case in federal court if New Jersey's attorney general decides to "continue these efforts on remand.”

Facilities often known as “crisis pregnancy centers” have been on the rise in the United States as Republican-controlled states enforce bans or restrictions on abortion and some steer tax dollars to the centers, which provide prenatal care and steer women to carrying pregnancies to term.

As Democratic-leaning states seek to protect abortion access, several have investigated whether the anti-abortion centers mislead women, including by implying they offer abortions.

In New Jersey, then-Democratic Attorney General Matthew Platkin sent a subpoena asking for donor lists and other information.

First Choice pushed back, arguing the investigation was baseless and the demand for donor lists threatened their First Amendment rights to free speech and association. They tried to challenge the subpoena in federal court, but a judge found the case was not yet far enough along. An appeals court agreed.

First Choice then turned to the Supreme Court.

They argued access to federal court is important in cases where government investigators are accused of misusing state power, and the ACLU agreed that subpoenas seeking donor information can scare away supporters.

The state argued that the information would only be used to ask donors whether they had been deceived about First Choice’s services, and the subpoena could not have threatened their First Amendment rights because the group hadn’t yet been required to turn over any information.

A court order is required to enforce the subpoena, and the judge overseeing the underlying case has so far only ordered the two sides to negotiate.

New Jersey also argued that allowing First Choice to sue could usher in a glut of lawsuits from the thousands of businesses that get similar subpoenas.

The Trump administration weighed in to support First Choice. The Justice Department argued that any impact would be relatively small since the decision would only apply to groups with similar First Amendment arguments.

In a memo late Tuesday to lawmakers, the Office of Management and Budget said money that President Donald Trump tapped to pay Transportation Security Administration and other workers through executive actions will be exhausted by May. It called on the House to quickly approve the budget resolution senators approved in an all-night session last week that would pave the way for full funding for the department.

“DHS will soon run out of critical operating funds, placing essential personnel and operations at risk,” the memo said.

The pressure from the Trump administration could help House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose narrow Republican majority has been stalled out, tangled in internal party disputes on a range of pending issues, including the Homeland Security funding. They have left the chamber at a virtual standstill.

The House was expected to vote as soon as Wednesday on the Senate budget resolution that is designed to unlock a multistep process to eventually fund the department. But by midday, House action again screeched to a halt. The administration has warned GOP lawmakers off making changes that could prolong passage.

“Restoring funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has never been more urgent, as demonstrated by recent events,” the memo said, a nod to the situation over the weekend when a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the annual White House correspondents' dinner that Trump, the vice president and top Cabinet officials were attending.

Homeland Security shutdown is longest ever

Homeland Security has been operating without regular funds for more than two months after Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without changes to those operations after the deaths of Americans protesting Trump’s deportation agenda.

While immigration enforcement workers have largely been paid through the flush of new cash — some $170 billion — that Congress approved as part of Trump's tax cuts bill last year, others, including TSA, have had to rely on Trump’s intervention through executive action to ensure their paychecks.

But with salaries topping $1.6 billion every two weeks, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said recently, those funds are drying up.

More than 1,000 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began, according to Airlines for America, the U.S. airlines trade group that called Wednesday on Congress to fully fund the agency.

“The urgency to provide predictable and stable funding for TSA is growing stronger by the day,” the group said in a statement. “Time and time again, our nation’s aviation workers and customers have been the victim of Congress’ failure to do their jobs.”

Complicated budget strategy ahead

House and Senate Republicans have embarked on a go-it-alone strategy, attempting to approve funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without Democrats. They want to provide $70 billion for those immigration operations for the remainder of Trump's term to ensure no further interruptions.

It's a cumbersome process, the same that was used last year to approve Trump's tax cuts bill, that will play out over several weeks.

The Senate launched the process last week, and is now waiting on the House to act. Once that budget resolution is approved, both the House and Senate are expected to draft the actual funding bill, a process that can take weeks.

In the meantime, Johnson is next expected to quickly turn this week to legislation that would fund the other parts of Homeland Security, including TSA, the Coast Guard and other agencies.

That bipartisan bill has support from Democrats and already passed the Senate a month ago, when Republicans reluctantly agreed to carve out the immigration-related funds that Democrats had opposed. But it has been stalled out in the House, as Republicans in that chamber disagreed with the Senate's approach.

___

Associated Press writer Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at https://apnews.com/hub/us-department-of-homeland-security.

The Republican administration adopted this strategy after federal courts thwarted President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop offshore wind development through executive action. Three agreements have been announced.

U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, are demanding information about the first and largest of the three. Under a deal made public in March, French company TotalEnergies is getting $1 billion — essentially a refund of its leases for offshore wind projects off North Carolina and New York— if it invests the money in fossil fuel projects instead.

Huffman said that is a “scam” and the administration is going to "light a lot of federal taxpayer money on fire if we let them."

In a letter sent Wednesday to TotalEnergies and provided to The Associated Press, Huffman and Raskin are letting the company know that Democrats have begun an investigation, are demanding documents and communications and are advising the CEO not to take the money. The letter outlines the ways they think the deal appears to be illegal.

“You can’t come into the United States and do a backroom deal like this, that just essentially treats the treasury as a slush fund, and walk away with a billion dollars," Huffman said.

Asked for comment, TotalEnergies pointed to its news release when the payout was announced. CEO Patrick Pouyanné said at the time that TotalEnergies renounced U.S. offshore wind development in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees, “considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest.”

Nearly $2 billion in payouts so far

In the latest deals announced Monday, the administration said Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind agreed to end their leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million, provided they invest equally in fossil fuels. Trump has gone all in on fossil fuels for generating electricity, which he says will lower costs for families, increase reliability and help the U.S. maintain global leadership in artificial intelligence.

Both Bluepoint and Golden State are co-owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and French energy giant Engie. Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, said that when market conditions change, “we must adapt.”

Opponents of offshore wind projects praised the administration for being creative.

“This is the latest strategy and we think it’s a winner,” Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, said Wednesday. Shaffer said the administration “is well within their rights to do this and private businesses can’t be forced to build anything.”

But to the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer of New York, it is a "bailout for fossil fuel donors dressed up as a deal.”

“Donald Trump spent years calling offshore wind subsidies a waste of taxpayer money," Schumer said in a statement. “Now his administration is handing nearly $2 billion of those very same taxpayer dollars to companies to abandon clean energy projects that would have powered millions of American homes and created thousands of good-paying union jobs.”

Once the deals are complete, Ocean Winds will have one remaining U.S. offshore wind project, SouthCoast Wind off Massachusetts. Its development has slowed under Trump.

Amber Hewett, senior director of offshore wind energy at the National Wildlife Federation, said forcing developers to abandon offshore wind energy for more oil and gas sets the U.S. further behind in efforts to curb climate change. Burning coal, oil and gas is the largest contributor to global climate change by far.

Lease buyouts are part of a campaign against offshore wind

When Trump returned to office in January 2025 he ordered a temporary halt to leasing and permitting for wind energy projects. His administration has paused work wind farms under construction, canceled plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and added an extra layer of review for wind and solar projects.

Federal judges allowed construction on the wind farms to resume, struck down the Day One order blocking wind energy development, and stopped the administration from requiring that all solar and wind energy projects on federal lands and waters be personally approved by Trump's interior secretary.

Energy law expert Kristoffer Svendsen said that after the administration's losses in the courts, the lease buyouts appear to be a last attempt to close down as many offshore wind projects as possible. He was not aware of any other arrangements where energy projects owners have been paid to walk away.

“This saga never ends. They continue to surprise the industry and those of us following the industry,” said Svendsen, assistant dean for energy law at the George Washington University Law School.

Svendsen said he expects to see energy companies head to markets in Europe and Asia because the future for new offshore wind development in the United States is “quite bleak.”

“At this point if you’re interested in offshore wind, you’ll most likely go to a jurisdiction where they want you,” he said.

The global wind industry installed a record 165 gigawatts of onshore and offshore wind last year, with 138 countries now powering their economies with wind energy, the Global Wind Energy Council said last week in its annual report. That is enough to power 118 million households. The Asian market, led by China and India, had 80% of the global total.

David Carroll, CEO and chief renewables officer for Engie North America, also thinks offshore wind will not advance in the United States in the next few years. He cited the administration's pulling of permits that were granted after years of work and much money spent, and the stopping of fully permitted projects under construction, eroding business certainty.

“The offshore wind industry does not have a strong future here in the U.S. And that’s unfortunate,” Carroll, who is chair of the board at the American Clean Power Association, said in an interview this month. “The Northeast needs more energy and that is one of the very key ways we can get energy in the Northeast.”

___

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

It will be the first time in nearly two decades — and in Russia’s 4-year-old war in Ukraine — that no military equipment will rumble through Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, the day Russia celebrates its most important secular holiday. The Kremlin has used it to showcase its military might and global clout, and it is a source of patriotic pride.

Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved military equipment and various weaponry every year since 2008. Smaller parades are held elsewhere across the country, including in cities like St. Petersburg.

The ministry cited the “current operational situation” as a reason for excluding military equipment, as well as cadets, from this year’s parade on the 81st anniversary of the victory. Ukraine has launched drone attacks deep inside Russia to counter Moscow’s more than 4-year-old invasion.

While the ministry did not elaborate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday blamed Ukraine, accusing it of “terrorist activity,” in an apparent reference to the drone strikes. In recent months, attacks have reached locations deep inside Russia, like the Baltic port of Ust-Luga to the north of Moscow, the Samara region near the border with Kazakhstan, and the Perm region in the Ural mountains.

“All measures are being taken to minimize the danger,” he told reporters.

The parade will feature “servicemen from higher military educational institutions of all kinds and certain service branches of the Russian Armed Forces” and a traditional military aircraft flyover, the ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call later Wednesday that he was ready to declare a ceasefire with Ukraine for the Victory Day holiday, according to presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov.

Ushakov said the Trump had supported the idea as the holiday marked “our common victory over fascism” in World War II.

Boosting national pride

World War II remains a rare point of consensus in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule, and the Kremlin has leveraged that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.

President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for over 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify the war in Ukraine.

“Traditionally, the parade of tanks, missile systems and other military hardware across Red Square has been central to these celebrations, providing powerful optics and reinforcing Russia’s image as the heir to Soviet victory in World War II," said Natia Seskuria, associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute.

"Removing this important element weakens the propaganda value of the event, particularly for domestic audiences, as it reduces one of the most visible symbols of Russian power and military prestige,” she told The Associated Press.

Security concerns are the most likely explanation, Seskuria said.

But there also could be practical military considerations, "including the need to preserve equipment, avoid highlighting battlefield losses, and reduce the exposure of valuable military assets,” she said,

"This decision signals a degree of vulnerability rather than strength, because even last year, Russia demonstrated a range of new tanks and drones in front of invited world leaders,” Seskuria added.

An 80th anniversary drew dignitaries

Last year’s parade on the 80th anniversary was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Fico will attend this year, too, along with other foreign dignitaries, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday.

It featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as drones carried on military trucks. Fighter jets flew over Red Square, too.

Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7, 2025, and authorities blocked cellphone internet in Moscow for several days to avert Ukrainian drone attacks.

In 2023, the parade was scaled down, with fewer troops and military equipment on display and no flyover.

In the Soviet era, the first Red Square parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany took place on June 24, 1945. Then it was held on May 9 several times after that, with the last Soviet-era parade taking place in 1990.

After the USSR collapsed, the parades resumed in 1995. That year, troops and veterans marched through Red Square, and a separate parade of military equipment took place at the sprawling Poklonnaya Gora World War II memorial. After that, parades were held every year. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities moved the parade to a later date, and it was held on June 24.

Several conservative justices appeared to be leaning in favor of the Republican administration’s argument that the law limits what courts can do to the program known as temporary protected status, or TPS.

Haitians and Syrians were among those from 17 countries with TPS, which allows migrants already in the U.S. to stay with work permits in 18-month increments, so long as the Department of Homeland Security Secretary deems their country of origin unsafe for return.

In President Donald Trump ’s second term, Homeland Security has ended the protections for 13 countries, exposing their migrants to potential deportation.

Here's the latest:

Lawyers and TPS holders await the Court’s decision

The International Refugee Assistance Project, which represents Syrian TPS holders in the lawsuit heard at the Supreme Court, says stakes are high.

“The Court now faces a choice about whether it will uphold the checks and balances at the heart of the Constitution or whether the President can run roughshod over the laws created by Congress,” said Sharif Aly, president at IRAP.

The Supreme Court, Aly noted, “faces a moral question of whether our country will destabilize countless families, communities, and the economy by stripping legal status from people who have it and sending them back to danger in Haiti, Syria, and beyond.”

A famously fast talker

One thing to know about Solicitor General D. John Sauer is that he talks fast.

The Solicitor General is the person tasked with arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court for the federal government. He or she is basically the federal government’s lawyer at the court.

If he or she isn’t personally arguing a case, it can also be assigned to an Assistant or another government attorney. The solicitor general also plays a role in deciding which cases the government will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Sauer was also the Solicitor General of Missouri from 2017 to 2023.

The speed at which Sauer talks has been a subject of debate on various legal chats on Reddit.

Skeptical Alito wonders who is considered white

Justice Alito was drilling down on Pipoly on the question of who is considered white and who is not.

At one point he listed off various nationalities like Syrians and Greeks and questioned whether Pipoly would consider them white. Pipoly generally answered that he didn’t know or hadn’t considered that question.

At one point Alito — who has Italian heritage — asked whether southern Italians were considered white and Pipoly answered that 120 years ago during the last wave of European immigration, they would not have been considered white.

Alito said he didn’t like “dividing the people of the world into these groups.”

Gorsuch queries court role in TPS

Justice Neil Gorsuch asks his first questions of the day, pressing the attorney for Haitian immigrants on whether the law lets judges step into Homeland Security’s decisions on TPS.

“I’m struggling with that,” he said, seemingly unconvinced by the immigrants’ process argument.

Race and TPS

Pipoly starts with the Haitian immigrants’ argument that the administration ended TPS for Haitians because of “racial animus towards nonwhite immigrants and bare dislike of Haitians.”

He repeats comments from President Trump, including a reference to Haiti as a “shithole country.”

A lower-court judge found that “hostility to nonwhite immigrants” likely played a role in the decision to end protections for Haitians.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats. Federal authorities have denied racial animus played any role in the TPS decisions.

‘Bombing happening now in Syria’

Justice Kavanaugh asked Arulanantham about how many Syrians have returned since the end of the Assad regime and whether those figures might have any relevance to the arguments.

Arulanantham said it doesn’t matter because there still wasn’t consultations with the State Department over country conditions in Syria.

He did note that many people have gone from southern Lebanon to Syria recently, but suggested it had more to do with the armed conflict in the region driving people out than any improvements in Syria itself.

Arulanantham said it’s “not the same thing as saying ‘We’re going from California to Syria.’”

“There is still active armed conflict. There’s bombing happening now in Syria,” he said.

Arguments about TPS for Haiti begin

Attorney Geoffrey Pipoly begins his arguments on behalf of Haitian TPS holders, who say that their country is unsafe and does not meet the conditions to receive them back.

More than 9,000 people were killed across Haiti last year, with the country now reporting a homicide rate of 76 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the world’s highest.

Gang violence also has displaced more than 1.4 million people, with armed men controlling more than 70% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and swaths of rural land north of it.

Hunger also is deepening, with gangs controlling access to key routes leading in and out of Port-au-Prince.

More than 5.83 million Haitians are expected to face acute levels of hunger from March to June, representing more than half the country’s population, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading international authority on hunger crises.

Skeptical questions from some conservatives

Justice Samuel Alito appears skeptical, raising questions about the immigration attorneys’ main argument that the administration short-circuited the process. He says the court would have to take an unusual read on the law for them to win.

Thomas also seems sympathetic to the administration on process. Kavanaugh, meanwhile, seems open to their arguments about foreign policy considerations.

Drilling down on consultations with State Department

A little bit more on that exchange between Arulanantham and Barrett.

She was drilling down into the question of how substantive the consultations have to be between the DHS secretary and State Department on whether country conditions are truly stable enough to terminate TPS.

“Let’s imagine the consultation happens. It’s a robust consultation. But everything that she hears cuts in favor of keeping TPS status and she says ‘I’m terminating it.’ Is that reviewable?” Barrett asked.

Arulanantham says in that case it’s not, but then goes on to argue that she really does have to make a substantive inquiry. And he argues that the consultation process makes for better decisions overall.

Barrett raises big-picture questions

Barrett comes in with a zoom-out question about the immigration attorney’s argument that Homeland Security didn’t follow the right process.

“Is this going to get you very much? If it’s just a box-checking exercise, why would Congress permit review of the procedural aspect when really what everybody cares about much more is the substance?”

Arulanantham says that it’s still important: “Congress, and us too, and the millions of people who live with TPS holders have some faith in government.”

TPS holders have two courtroom defenders

Two different lawyers are arguing for the TPS recipients.

Ahilan Arulanantham, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, is up now. He’s arguing the Syrian case.

Attorney Geoffrey Pipoly will represent people from Haiti.

Arguments turn to those defending TPS holders

Sauer has now finished his arguments. The court is now hearing from Ahilan Arulanantham, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who’s arguing for Syrian immigrants.

Arulanantham argues that the Trump administration’s is seeking an open-ended expansion of its immigration power. “The government reads this statue as a blank check,” he said.

Sauer: The T in TPS stands for ‘temporary’

Before wrapping up his argument, Sauer emphasized the issue of the temporary nature of TPS.

“Keep in mind this is temporary protected status,” he said.

He pointed out that a number of the TPS designations go back years, sometimes decades.

That goes to a key Republican complaint about TPS: they say that while it’s supposed to be temporary, it often ends up being extended repeatedly.

Kavanaugh asks about legislative/executive branch powers

Justice Brett Kavanaugh is asking why Congress would have barred courts from considering claims about TPS termination.

Sauer says those decisions should be left to the executive branch, arguing that the decision to grant to revoke protections can have foreign policy implications.

That’s an area where courts have generally given deference to the president.

How much research did Kristi Noem do before terminating TPS?

Some of the liberal justices have really pushed Sauer on the issue of how much the Homeland Security Secretary consulted with the State Department about country conditions.

Advocates have argued that former DHS chief Kristi Noem didn’t really conduct a substantive consultation with State about the conditions of the countries where they were terminating TPS and that means they’re potentially sending people back to countries where they’re at risk.

Sauer is arguing that the secretary can’t force the State Department to respond.

Justices question motives for terminating TPS

Liberal-leaning justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor

are questioning whether racial animus played a part in the administration’s decision to terminate TPS.

Sauer, the government’s lawyer, responded that he “strongly disagrees.”

Barrett asks about the racial dynamic

Justice Amy Coney Barrett jumps in with a question about constitutional claims the migrants have made, which include the argument that race played a role in the decision to end the protections.

She’s another key member of the conservative majority, and one with a personal connection to Haiti. Two of her seven children were adopted from the country.

The Trump administration has denied racial animus played a role in the decision, and Sauer argued the plaintiffs’ constitutional claims are “not a close call.”

Judges question administration lawyer

The three liberal-leaning justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, are grilling Sauer on his main argument.

Their focus: Even if judges can’t question the decision to terminate legal protections, why can’t they weigh arguments about whether Homeland Security followed the steps Congress laid out in the law?

Kagan losing voice & making jokes

Justice Elena Kagan is struggling with some voice issues.

She was questioning Sauer, stopped to cough, and then apologized.

Still struggling as she questioned Sauer further, she then joked that “the likelihood of me asking a follow-up is very diminished.”

That sparked some laughter in the court.

Sauer defends Kristi Noem’s decision-making

Sauer mentioned in his opening statement that when the secretary issued her TPS decisions the fact that her decisions were consistent was a “virtue and not a vice.”

That seemed to be in reference to criticism by immigration advocates that former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wasn’t doing a substantive consultation with the State Department when it comes to assessing country conditions and deciding whether it was safe enough for them to return home.

Roberts questions link to Trump’s original travel ban

Chief Justice John Roberts questions whether Sauer is seeking a “significant expansion” of the court’s ruling in Trump v. Hawaii, the case where the court upheld Trump’s travel ban for Muslim-majority countries during his first term.

Roberts holds a key vote on the court as both the chief and a member of the conservative majority who has voted against the administration in some cases, like the ruling that stuck down Trump’s tariffs.

And they’re off!

Arguments have started in the TPS case.

The justices first released a number of opinions before launching into oral arguments in this key case.

First up is the federal government. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argues that the law doesn’t allow courts to block or delay Homeland Security decisions, or question any of the steps along the way.

Court voids majority Black congressional district in Louisiana

The Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s second majority Black congressional district in a decision that could open the door for Republican-led states to eliminate Black and Latino electoral districts that tend to favor Democrats and affect the balance of power in Congress.

The court’s conservative majority found that the district, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields, relied too heavily on race. Chief Justice John Roberts had described the district as a “snake” that stretches more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) to link parts of the Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge areas.

The decision weakens a landmark voting rights law’s protections against discrimination in redistricting. It’s unclear how much is left of the provision, known as Section 2, the main way to challenge racially discriminatory election practices.

But first, some opinions!

The court is releasing several opinions on previous cases before getting into the TPS-related arguments.

In the first opinion, The court sided with a faith-based pregnancy center that raised First Amendment concerns about an investigation into whether it misled people to discourage abortions.

The high court’s unanimous ruling is a procedural victory for First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which is challenging a New Jersey probe of its practices.

The conservative-majority court has given abortion opponents high-profile wins in recent years, most notably the watershed case that overturned the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. First Choice, though, had also drawn support from the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports abortion rights but backed the group’s First Amendment concerns.

The Supreme Court’s decision lets First Choice sue over the subpoena in federal court.

TPS holders are demonstrating outside the Supreme Court

Dozens of immigrants who have been protected from deportation under a temporary status are beginning to gather in front of the Supreme Court to follow the arguments on the Trump administration’s attempt to end these protections for Haitians and Syrians.

The Supreme Court will weigh arguments at 10 a.m. The case has wider implications for more than 1.3 million people from 17 countries who have been living and working in the U.S., protected under TPS.

Immigrants and advocates outside the Supreme Court are demanding “equal justice under the law.”

TPS holders plan to offer their testimony. There are performances by musicians from TPS countries and by Los Jornaleros del Norte, a band from Los Angeles made up of current and former day laborers.

Who’s at the podium

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the government’s top Supreme Court attorney, will argue the case for the Trump administration.

Two lawyers will argue on the other side, since the court is considering the future of legal protections for people from two countries. Ahilan Arulanantham, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, will argue the Syrian case and attorney Geoffrey Pipoly will represent people from Haiti.

The new secretary gets the blame

This lawsuit originally was directed at Kristi Noem, who was Trump’s first Homeland Security secretary.

But when she was fired, and Markwayne Mullin was sworn in as the new DHS secretary, he also got the honor of being the person named in all the lawsuits.

Lawsuits tend to follow the head of the agency or department so when those people change, the new secretary or agency head takes over the role of being named in all the lawsuits, even if they happened before he or she took office.

This even happens when administrations change. For example, advocates sued the first Trump administration over its efforts to terminate TPS, specifically naming his DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

But by the time the case concluded six years later, it was Biden’s DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas who was named in the suit.

How temporary is temporary?

One of the key complaints by conservatives about TPS is that something that is supposed to be temporary essentially becomes permanent.

Republicans often point to TPS designations that are extended repeatedly, even after the reason for the original designation has long passed.

The TPS designation for El Salvador, for example, was first designated in 2001 following devastating earthquakes in the country.

But immigration advocates say there’s no time limit on TPS use, and the administration is trying to send people back to countries still in turmoil.

Conditions in Syria

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also known as the UN Refugee Agency, says that Syria’s operational contexts reflect a dual dynamic of large-scale returns and persistent humanitarian needs.

As of March 2026, 15.6 million Syrians required assistance, while over 1.5 million refugees and 1.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned since December 2024, according to the agency.

“Internal displacement remains high (5.5 million), underscoring that returns are occurring within a still-fragile system with strained absorption capacity,” said the UN agency in a report.

Conditions in Haiti

Haiti has not had a president since Jovenel Moïse was killed in July 2021 at his private residence.

The government hopes to hold the first round of elections by year’s end, but experts say that’s unlikely given the surge in gang violence.

A recent assessment from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) assessment reveals “grave protection risks and rapidly shrinking access to public services” for civilians in Haiti, as the country faces one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

The report notes that conditions could deteriorate further as political instability and violence and clashes between gangs and security forces continue.

“Millions of people in Haiti continue to face a compounding crisis of food insecurity, forced displacement, deadly disease outbreaks, and surging violence,” said Alice Ribes, emergency country director for the IRC in Haiti. “Public services in many areas have collapsed under gang rule, leaving people with limited or no access to clean drinking water, food, medical care, and education.”

Bill to protect TPS

On April 16, in a rare bipartisan moment, the House passed legislation that would extend TPS for Haitians.

The bill, pushed forward by House Democrats with a group of Republicans over the objections of the GOP leadership, would require a three-year extension of temporary protected status for Haitians by the Trump administration. That would allow hundreds of thousands of qualifying immigrants to remain in the United States without fear of deportation.

But it faces uncertainty in the Senate, and President Trump would almost certainly seek to veto it.

Democratic lawmakers urge the SCOTUS to support TPS

Democratic Senator Edward J. Markey and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, both of Massachusetts, Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, of Delaware, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, of Florida, asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reject the administrations attempts to terminate TPS.

They were joined by a coalition of senior, workers and advocates from the American Business Immigration Coalition, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, among other organizations.

“TPS holders serve as a backbone for families and our economy—caring for our elders and loved ones through illness, strengthening our communities, and making innumerable contributions daily,” Pressley. “Our message to the Supreme Court today is simple: do your job, uphold the law, save lives, and protect our communities.”

What the administration says

The administration’s claims that TPS holders can safely return to their home countries, where conditions have changed since the protection was originally granted.

Advocates argue that safe conditions do not exist for people to return to their countries of origin. They point out that the government is engaging in a contradiction, given that the State Department warns U.S. citizens not to travel to Haiti or Syria due to violence, instability, and limited access to basic services.

“These terminations have come without credible evidence that conditions have improved,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and Chief Executive Officer of Global Refuge, one of the largest faith-based nonprofit organizations serving refugees.

“The administration is essentially arguing two things at once: that these countries are too dangerous for American tourists, but safe enough to deport families to. Policy makers cannot credibly hold both positions at the same time,” Vignarajah said.

What advocates say

Immigrant advocates argue that the administration’s decision to end TPS is not based on conditions in the countries of origin. They contend that, on the contrary, it is part of a broader policy aimed at deporting not only those who entered the country illegally, but also hundreds of thousands of people who have been residing in the country legally.

“By trying to kill TPS, they are attacking people who are living and working here legally, paying fees and taxes, following all the rules,” said José Palma, coordinator at the National TPS Alliance. “They are de-documenting people… it’s cruel, arbitrary, pointless, needless, and wrong.”

Viles Dorsainvil, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Haitian Support Center, and a Haitian TPS holder, said “TPS provides dignity, stability, and hope... TPS represents more than protection. It represents the ability of families to stay together.”

Public Rights Project, a non-governmental that helps local governments with litigation, filed an amicus brief outlining the economic, workforce and public service impacts cities would face if TPS is revoked.

The brief was filed on April 13 on behalf of a coalition of 47 local governments, mayors and local leaders across the country urging the Court to preserve TPS.

Settle in for a lengthy session

The court has set aside 80 minutes for arguments, but it would be unsurprising if they last two hours or longer.

Justice Clarence Thomas goes first

In the post-pandemic era, the other justices allow the 77-year-old Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court, to pose a question or two before the free-for-all begins. In a second round of questioning, the justices ask questions in order of seniority. Chief Justice John Roberts, whose center chair makes him the most senior, gets the first crack.

Court begins at 10 a.m., Eastern time, but the livestream won’t start right away

The justices have some business to take care of before arguments get going. They’ll issue a decision in at least one case that was argued during the fall or winter, and the justice who wrote the majority opinion in each case will read a summary from the bench. Then, the court will ceremonially swear in lawyers to the Supreme Court bar. Once that’s done, the livestream should begin.

More than three dozen bills supporting raw milk have been introduced in statehouses across the nation, The Associated Press found. A growing number of states are making it legal to sell. Dairy farmers say they can barely keep it in stock, even though prices can exceed $10 or $20 a gallon.

Top government officials and internet influencers are helping drive this momentum. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downed shots of raw milk at the White House last May and previously promised to halt “aggressive suppression” of the product. On social media, posts about raw milk have surged in recent months, often touting unproven claims about its health benefits.

All of this alarms public health officials, who have long warned that unpasteurized milk can harbor risky germs. The current outbreak — tied to raw milk cheddar cheese from California-based Raw Farm — has sickened nine people with E. coli, half of them children younger than 5. One victim developed a serious complication that can impair kidney function for life.

Petra Anne Levin, a biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said she doesn’t understand the products' appeal.

“If you wouldn’t lick a cow’s underneath, why would you drink raw milk?” she said. “There’s a reason pasteurization is around.”

Pasteurization kills germs by heating the milk, commonly to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit (71.7 degrees Celsius) for at least 15 seconds. Experts say it has no significant impact on milk’s nutritional quality and has saved millions of people from foodborne illness.

But some consumers would rather drink their milk raw despite the risk. Recognizing this trend, advocates and critics alike are increasingly calling for federal regulation of the product.

“People want access,” said Mary McGonigle-Martin, co-chair of Stop Foodborne Illness, a consumer advocacy group. “Public health has lost the battle on raw milk.”

Raw milk legislation pops up across the nation

Bills favoring raw milk have been introduced in the current legislative session in 18 states, including those controlled by Democrats and Republicans.

AP searched legislation in all 50 states using the bill-tracking software Plural and analyzed bills for whether they expand or streamline access to unpasteurized milk or products made from it. More than 40 bills introduced as of late April would make it easier to buy, sell or consume raw milk.

Some would allow raw milk to be sold for human consumption for the first time. A bill in New Jersey’s Senate, for example, would create a raw milk permitting program.

“You can buy cigarettes. You can buy alcohol. You can buy quote-unquote legalized marijuana,” said state Sen. Michael Testa, a Republican sponsor. “Why shouldn’t someone be able to consume raw milk?”

If the bill becomes law, New Jersey would join more than three dozen states in allowing raw milk sales. Wider access will probably mean more outbreaks, said Donald Schaffner, a Rutgers University food science professor.

Other bills seek to manage, guide or expand already legal sales. A bill advancing in the Iowa House would make it easier for farmers to sell unpasteurized products by offering them at farm stores alongside foods like meat.

Its sponsor, Republican state Rep. Chad Ingels, said he was initially opposed to legalizing raw milk because of safety concerns.

“But it’s law now, and I’m very pro-local foods,” said Ingels, who expects the current bill to pass. “I just thought it made sense to allow those farm businesses to sell all their products in one location.”

Two bills in Missouri would allow unpasteurized dairy products to be sold in grocery stores, farmers’ markets or similar places as long as they include a label warning of the potential for harmful bacteria and herds are tested.

“We just want to make it more accessible, so that way, people have the freedom of choice,” said Republican state Rep. Bryant Wolfin, who sponsored one of the bills.

The legislation specifically invokes the Raw Milk Institute, defining “retail raw milk or cream” as being produced on dairy farms that in one bill meet standards set by the California-based organization, and in the other “have obtained listed status” from the institute.

The organization, headed by Raw Farm owner Mark McAfee, says its mission is to improve the safety and quality of raw milk, which is how Wolfin sees it. But Schaffner said the organization focuses on raw milk advocacy rather than managing risk. He pointed out that McAfee’s farm has been linked to numerous outbreaks.

It’s unclear how many raw milk bills will pass in statehouses this year. But there is also legislation being considered on a national level.

A bipartisan bill in the U.S. House would prevent federal departments, agencies or courts from restricting the movement of raw milk between two states where its sale is legal. Called the Interstate Milk Freedom Act, it was introduced in March by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree.

Whether it passes or not, there are steps the federal government could take to make raw milk more available, legal experts say. The FDA could revoke the ban on interstate sales. The agency could also create national raw milk standards and urge or incentivize states to enforce them.

FDA officials did not respond to questions about whether such actions are likely.

Raw milk risks are well-documented

Despite raw milk's popularity, scientists and public health experts warn against drinking it. Websites run by the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention point to the well-documented risks of serious illness from a host of germs, including campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli.

A CDC review counted more than 200 outbreaks tied to raw milk that sickened more than 2,600 people and sent 225 to hospitals between 1998 and 2018.

Another analysis found that raw dairy products cause 840 times more illness and 45 times more hospitalizations than their pasteurized counterparts.

Children are especially vulnerable to such illness, because their immune systems are immature and because they drink milk frequently, noted Alex O’Brien, food safety and quality coordinator for the Center for Dairy Research in Madison, Wisconsin.

Before milk standards were adopted more than a century ago, about 25% of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. were related to dairy consumption, O’Brien said. Now, dairy products account for about 1% of such illnesses. In European and American societies of the early and mid-19th century, research shows infant mortality rates were 30-60 times greater than today. In one example, thousands of infants died every year from a condition known as “summer diarrhea,” which was primarily caused by bacterial contamination in milk that worsened in the heat.

O’Brien, who grew up on a farm, said he knows people who drink raw milk and has consumed it himself in the past. Drinking it once might not hurt you, he said, but the risk increases with every exposure.

Understanding and accepting the risks of raw milk has become more difficult in this political climate, said Martin, the consumer advocate.

“They can’t grasp it, or they think it’s so rare it won’t happen to them,” she said.

Martin’s son, Chris, nearly died in 2006 after drinking raw milk contaminated with E. coli sold by Organic Pastures, Raw Farm's previous name. For two decades, Martin has worked to raise awareness of the dangers and hold suppliers accountable.

Mari Tardiff, of Ashland, Oregon, was hospitalized for five months after drinking raw milk contaminated with campylobacter in 2008. She said she tried it because she was interested in “a natural probiotic.”

Doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barré syndrome, caused by her campylobacter infection. She spent time on a ventilator and was temporarily paralyzed and unable to talk. When she got home, she used a wheelchair and slept in a hospital bed, relying on her husband to turn her every two hours so she wouldn’t get pressure sores.

“Your whole life is completely blown apart,” she said.

Still, she said she wouldn't tell other adults whether to drink raw milk — although she worries about giving it to kids.

“If you make a mistake, it’s one thing to come to terms with when you’re the one dealing with the consequences,” said Tardiff, now 70. “But holy moly … if I did something like that and one of my kids or my grandchildren was going through what I went through, I would never forgive myself.”

Raw milk supporters see an ‘exciting’ future, but concerns remain

Proponents of raw milk are gratified that it’s becoming more available. Even in states where it can’t be sold in stores for human consumption, people can get raw milk marketed for pets or join a “herd share” in which consumers buy a partial ownership in a dairy herd.

“I’ve been involved in raw milk for roughly 14 years,” said Ben Beichler, of Creambrook Farm in Middlebrook, Virginia, which relies on herd shares. “To see how public perception and political perception has altered over the years with raw milk is quite exciting.”

Beichler said safety is key.

“My family and my wife, who’s currently pregnant, drink about a gallon of our own raw milk every single day,” he said. “So if there’s anybody who has a vested interest in making sure our milk is safe, it is us.”

Beichler said his 150-cow farm works with a veterinarian on regular herd checks and has a safety process that includes sending milk samples to labs every week to test for common germs.

In Foristell, Missouri, Tony Huffstutter said his family tests their milk daily for bacteria in an on-site lab at their Twisted Ash Farm & Dairy, where they keep 15 cows and sell raw milk for $29 a gallon.

“You can’t just go out there, throw a bucket under the cow and start milking it,” he said. “There are so many steps in doing it right.”

He said raw milk shouldn’t be treated differently from other natural products such as spinach, which has been associated with past foodborne outbreaks.

“They don’t pasteurize the salad,” he said. “They don’t force you to only buy cooked salad.”

With raw milk gaining a foothold, Martin said she believes that the best action might be for the FDA to regulate it as strictly as pasteurized dairy products.

McAfee agrees. “High standards and testing should be part of that,” he said.

Schaffner, the food safety expert, also favors regulation. Although he has serious reservations about giving raw milk to kids, he calls himself “a raw milk libertarian” when it comes to adults.

“It’s kind of like legalization of weed, right?” he said. “If people want it, we should find a way to regulate it and do it safely.”

Then again, he said, there’s already a dependable way of making raw milk safe.

“It’s called pasteurization,” he said. “And it works really well.”

___

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

Paris Saint-Germain's 5-4 win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday felt more like an NBA game than a traditional soccer match and set new goalscoring records for the sport's biggest club tournament.

And it might not be just a one-off. The thrilling first leg of the semifinals in Paris points toward a growing trend as some coaches embrace a high-risk, high-reward strategy that is leaving fans breathless.

PSG coach Luis Enrique summed it up perfectly, telling French broadcaster Canal+ that "we deserved to win, but we also deserved a draw, and we would have even deserved to lose, because this game was that incredible.”

Soccer's new age of entertainers

Despite being the world's most popular sport, soccer has been criticized, in the United States in particular, because of the low-scoring nature of games, which can result in single-goal victories or even goalless ties over 90 minutes of play.

Compare that to the high octane, high-scoring NBA or NFL and it is understandable why soccer has taken time to fully grab the attention of U.S. fans.

But Champions League holder PSG is at the vanguard of soccer's new entertainers, with Luis Enrique an uncompromising coach, determined to reach new levels of excitement in his pursuit of dominance.

PSG became champion of Europe for the first time last year by beating Inter Milan 5-0 in the final in one of the most spectacular performances in the tournament's history. It completed a trophy treble for the French club, which also won its national league title and cup last season.

Luis Enrique also won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015 and on Tuesday became the fastest coach to record 50 victories in the competitions — proving his all-action approach is working.

The attacking trend is catching on

It is no surprise then that his methods are being echoed elsewhere. Not least by Bayern, which has blazed a trail through the Champions League this term under Vincent Kompany and already clinched the German title.

PSG, with 43 goals, is the highest-scoring team in the Champions League this season. Bayern is second with 42.

Tuesday's nine-goal thriller was the highest-scoring semifinal in the history of the competition and neither club is talking about changing its approach for the second leg in Munich next week.

“I asked my staff how many goals we think we’ll have to score, and we agreed on three,” said Luis Enrique. "We’ll show the same mentality. We’ll be going to win the match.”

PSG's Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele is also ready for another high-scoring affair.

“We won’t change our philosophy. We want to attack and so do they, so I think a great game is in the offing,” Dembele told Canal+.

Kompany, who was a serial title-winning defender for Manchester City in his playing days, is showing his offensive flair as a coach.

“It’s one thing to look at the goals conceded — normally, five goals away from home in a Champions League semi-final, you’re out,” he told Amazon Prime. "But if you look at the chances we created, we could have scored more. And that has to give us belief.”

A clash of styles

Soccer has always involved contrasting styles of attack and defense. Brazil has traditionally been a team that embraces the individual flair of its players. Italy has been more defensive and has nullified opponents' attacking strengths.

Two-time Champions League-winning coach Jose Mourinho has taken a more pragmatic approach to winning the competition — shutting opponents down with well-organized and powerful teams. Pep Guardiola, by contrast, has tried to dominate games with the ball and has won Europe's top prize on three occasions. That approach has sometimes been used to criticize him when, despite having some of the best players in the world at Man City, he has often fallen short in the Champions League.

It is refreshing to hear both Luis Enrique and Kompany accept the dangers associated with their all-out attacking soccer.

“It’s my job to accept nothing but perfection," said Kompany. "There was a part of the match that was inevitable, and that was the risks that we were both willing to take.”

More goals, more thrills

Higher scoring games are the trend in the Champions League. This season there is an average of well over three goals a game (3.51).

That is above last season's 3.27, which was the previous highest average.

Each of the last five seasons feature in the top seven high-scoring Champions League campaigns, pointing to a clear trend toward more attacking soccer since the turn of the decade. In only one of those years did the average drop below three goals a game — in 2022-23 when it dipped to 2.98.

The European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992. During the 1990s the average goals per game was 2.69 and that figure dropped to 2.59 from 2000-10.

It rose to just under three goals a game (2.95) from 2010-20 and so far this decade the average is three goals a game, with teams loading their lineups with attacking talent.

PSG is led by Dembele, who is flanked by brilliant wingers like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue.

Bayern has England captain Harry Kane, who took his season's tally to 59 goals in 51 appearances for club and country this season when opening the scoring on Tuesday. The German giant has also paid big money for France star Michael Olise and Colombia forward Luis Diaz. Both also scored at the Parc des Princes.

Barcelona is another leading proponent of thrill-first soccer, and features the spectacular Spanish teenager Lamine Yamal, Brazil winger Raphinha and goal-scoring icon Robert Lewandowski. But its German coach Hansi Flick has been criticized for being too open in Europe — most notably by losing 7-6 on aggregate to Inter Milan in last year's semifinals.

The good news for fans next week is that PSG and Bayern seem determined to stick to their attacking principles, which should serve up another thrilling clash.

“The game there will be the same game — a crazy game between two teams that want to win and score. We need to go there with the same mentality, the same personality, so we can do an amazing job there like we did here,” PSG captain Marquinhos said.

___

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

___

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

It won’t be the original, but it’ll be a dead ringer.

For a savings bond drive in 1950, the Treasury Department commissioned copies of the famously broken bell, one for each U.S. state and several territories. Except for the serial numbers, they were faithful replicas — right down to the Pass and Stow trademark and a faux crack.

There’s a small but growing group of “bell hunters” who’ve dedicated themselves to visiting as many of the replicas as possible. If they were a gang, Tom Campbell would be the ringleader.

“It was a casual thing that turned into an obsession,” Campbell, a graphic designer, said.

Let freedom ring!

Although Fort Collins, Colorado, is now his home, Campbell was born and raised in Philadelphia and visited the original Liberty Bell as a boy.

Ordered for the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, the bell cracked on its first test ring in the 1750s, was melted down and cast anew. There’s no evidence it was even rung on July 4, 1776; abolitionists rechristened it in the 1830s for the Bible verse encircling its crown, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof.”

No one knows exactly when or how the bell cracked again, but the last major attempt to restore it to ringing condition was in the 1840s.

Campbell didn’t know about the replicas until he moved to Denver in the late 1990s.

“I was wandering around, meeting a friend at a bar for a drink, and cut across the Capitol lawn and saw a full-size Liberty Bell sitting there,” he recalled. He read about the bond drive on a small bronze plaque, and a quest was born.

As Campbell and his wife, Dawn Putney, traveled the country, they began building bell trips into their itinerary. One day, she surprised him with his own website: tomlovesthelibertybell.com

“It was just a kind of a fun goof,” he said.

But three decades after he stumbled on that first bell, Campbell has become the go-to expert on these pieces of Americana.

From France, avec amour

The replicas were cast by the Paccard Foundry, run by a family who've been making bells in southeastern France since 1796.

They weigh the same as the original — 2,080 pounds (944 kilograms) — but differ from the OG bell in one very important respect: metallurgical makeup.

According to the National Park Service, the original was 70% copper, 25% tin and “small amounts of lead, gold, arsenic, silver, and zinc.” In a bell, those other metals amount to “impurities,” said Anne Paccard, the foundry’s communications director and chief for “art of sound” projects, like sculptures that feature bells.

“I must say that the original Liberty Bell is a very poor quality bell, metallurgically speaking,” she told The Associated Press in a recent email. “The bells we delivered in 1950 are made of a specific alloy of bronze called ‘airain’: 78% copper, 22% tin, nothing else.”

The Treasury bells toured the country on the backs of flatbed Ford trucks equipped with loudspeakers and festooned with red-white-and-blue banners.

“You could buy a savings bond, ring the Liberty Bell, have a party,” Campbell said.

At drive’s end, Treasury gifted the bells to the 48 states and the then-territories of Alaska, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The District of Columbia and the Treasury Department each got one as well. (Three others went to Tokyo, a church in Paccard’s hometown and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri, giving that state two bells.)

Trouble is, they came with no guidance and no funds to preserve them.

“A local or state historian described it to me as an 'unaccessioned artifact,’” Campbell said. “Not every state wanted them necessarily, and not every state knew what to do with them.”

Virginia held a contest, and the people voted to send the bell to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. It later went into a storage shed until finally finding a home outside a local fire station.

More than half have spent most of their lives outdoors. Time, neglect and exposure to the elements have taken their toll.

Some of the painted-on cracks have faded or disappeared completely. Others bells are displayed without their clappers and/or yokes, or in steel frames that prevent them being rung.

“At that point, it really transitions to more of a monument than a functional bell,” Campbell said. “And, to me, that’s kind of sad.”

But as the nation prepares to celebrate 250 years of liberty, some of those orphan bells are getting a new life.

Just like new... sorta

Kansas’ bell languished, disassembled, for years in a Capitol parking garage until state Sen. Elaine Bowers got involved. In October, the reassembled bell — resting on a heated concrete pad and supported by a custom-made wooden yoke, but still sans clapper — was given a place of honor outside the new Docking State Office Building.

“It just belongs here,” said a beaming Bowers as she stood beside bell No. 21. “It’s a fascinating piece of artwork, but also history that we all should be proud of.”

The Alabama and Idaho bells were shipped to the Bell Foundry Christoph in Charleston, South Carolina, for restoration and are expected to be home in time for the Fourth. Several other bells have also received recent touchups.

Campbell doesn’t set out to guilt states into fixing up and displaying their bells. But if his website happens to nudge them a bit, “maybe I’ll take a little credit for that.”

He’s also helped inspire a new generation of bell hunters.

By age 4, Zoe Murphy of Morris County, New Jersey, knew all the state capitals and their flags. At 5, she saw her first replica in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Now a 14-year-old high school freshman, she has her own website zlovesamerica.com. She’s visited 39 of the bells over the years, from Alabama to Wyoming and even far-off Alaska.

Zoe says traveling the country has given her a deeper appreciation for America’s “collective mix of people and our culture.”

Meanwhile, Campbell's recent visit to Arizona’s newly restored bell — which was touring the state, complete with a rope for the tugging — brought his toll up to 40. Why does the Liberty Bell resonate with him?

“The fact that a cracked bell is the symbol of the United States is really the perfect symbol of an imperfect union,” he said.

Nothing to see here

Try as they might, it’ll be nearly impossible for these Liberty Bell fans to check all the replicas off their list. Three replicas remain totally unavailable to the public this anniversary year, as far as Campbell can tell. Ironically, one of them is Pennsylvania’s.

For many years, the Treasury bell was the centerpiece of a museum in the former Zion’s Reformed Church of Allentown, where the original was briefly hidden to prevent the British redcoats from melting it down for munitions. But the building changed hands in 2023, and the bell is no longer accessible to the general public while the church is being renovated. (Local officials are placing a lighter, taller replica in front of the church for the anniversary.)

Last June, North Carolina’s bell was hoisted from its spot across from the Legislative Building in Raleigh amid a multiyear renovation of the state history museum. When the AP asked to see it, the request was politely denied.

“Our Liberty Bell is in a secure storage facility,” spokeswoman Mary Huntley said.

The only replica that's truly lost is the one sent to Washington, D.C., which went missing from storage in the early 1980s. Campbell suspects it’s long since been melted down.

“That’s 2,080 pounds of bronze,” he says. “So, that has a scrap value.”

But if anyone has information about the capital bell, feel free to give Campbell a ring.

___

Associated Press writer John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; and video journalists Thomas Peipert in Fort Collins, Colorado; and Ted Shaffrey in Mount Olive, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

SAWS reported a spill estimated at more than 100,000 gallons of water at 2:40 p.m. in the 5900 block of Bicentennial Drive East of Highway Interstate 10.

The spill was caused by a 24-inch collapsed sewer main due to recent heavy rain, according to a SAWS news release. By the time the release was sent, a SAWS crew had already been sent to repair the spill.

SAWS said domestic wastewater was coming out from the sewer main, and Rosillo Creek is an area that could potentially be affected by the spill.

SAWS recommends that individuals not swim in the creek, wash their hands before preparing or eating food, and wash their hands before contact with animals, soil or diapers.

A spokesperson for SAWS stated that the spill has been contained and corrected, and that cleanup activities are underway.

Read more SAWS coverage from KSAT:

• Amid talks of raising SAWS water rates, CEO receives $130,000 bonus

The Democrat with a personal fortune estimated at $2.4 billion wants wealthy people and corporations to pay higher taxes. He's endorsed by a progressive advocacy group that believes billionaires shouldn't exist. He founded one of the world's largest hedge funds yet he's the candidate taking the heaviest hits from business groups.

“I'm the billionaire who wants to tax other billionaires,” he's fond of saying, though he's given only tenuous backing to a billionaires' tax proposal likely to appear before California voters in November.

Steyer has long leaned into the contradictions between his business success and political views. While his hedge fund invested in fossil fuels, Steyer spent millions to protect a California law aimed at curbing planet-warming emissions. As a presidential candidate in 2019 vying to succeed President Donald Trump, another rich man, Steyer championed eliminating corporate money from politics.

“I’m not one of the people who begrudges people’s success,” Steyer told The Associated Press, referring to businesspeople who become wealthy in California. “If you’re going to come here and build a company and make a ton of money, great.”

“But you’re part of a system — you’re depending on a system built by, basically, poor people,” he continued. “If you aren’t willing to pay your fair share, I feel like you’re spitting on those people.”

His stances, often unpopular with other billionaires, have earned him staunch support from some and persistent skepticism from others. Despite his vast wealth, progressive supporters perceive him as “one of the good ones” who will stand up to monied interests. But critics in both parties view him as disingenuous and making unrealistic promises to appeal to voters. Democratic rivals accuse him of trying to buy the election, noting he's spending nearly 30 times the amount of his nearest party opponent on ads.

After decades of using his pocketbook to influence politics and policy, Steyer is now a leading contender in the race to govern the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies ahead of the June 2 primary. His former hedge fund's investments have been a persistent topic of criticism from his Democratic rivals.

“You made the billions that you're using to fund your campaign off fossil fuels,” former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter charged during Tuesday night's debate. Steyer responded by noting business groups are spending to oppose him: “That's how you know I'm for real.”

From businessman to megadonor

Steyer, 68, founded Farallon Capital Management in 1986 in San Francisco. He earned the respect of business peers for the firm's rapid success and learned to weather criticism from environmentalists for the company’s stakes in oil and coal. In 2012, he left and founded NextGen America, a group encouraging young people to vote.

Much of his political giving has focused on climate change, including a $5 million donation in 2010 to oppose a California ballot proposition that would have suspended a law requiring the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The climate law prevailed. Starting in 2013, he used the political arm of NextGen to back governor and U.S. Senate candidates seen as strong on climate with mixed success.

Steyer has spent more than $62 million on California ballot measures, including an unsuccessful effort in 2020 to keep a law that eliminated cash bail. He was one of the largest donors to a successful 2016 measure to tax tobacco products to raise money for healthcare for low-income Californians.

His contributions have been met with some cynicism. Longtime Sacramento strategist Rob Stutzman, a Republican, pointed to an ad Steyer paid for last year that prominently features him urging voters to support a redistricting ballot measure. It was an initiative championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Steyer had no involvement other than simply spending on advertising.

Steyer “has always been a self-promoter with his dollars,” Stutzman said.

Making friends and enemies

Steyer says he wants to tackle three main crises: climate change, California's high cost of living and threats from the Trump administration.

Hundreds of people gathered at a ping-pong club and bar in San Francisco recently to drink cocktails and nibble on hors d’oeuvres — on the campaign dime — as Steyer touted his commitment to fighting climate change. His plan is light on specifics but includes defending the state’s cap-and-trade program.

Some major environmental groups have endorsed him. Progressive organizations have also backed him, including Our Revolution, which was founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and advocates for ridding politics of corporate and billionaire influence. State Assemblyman Alex Lee, chair of the progressive caucus, said he's backing Steyer in part due to his support for a government-run healthcare system, an idea that's failed repeatedly in Sacramento.

Lee was hesitant to back a billionaire but said Steyer is different.

“He is someone who became wealthy in his lifetime,” Lee said, “but didn’t go off and become (Mark) Zuckerberg level.”

Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the nation's largest utilities, spent $10 million to oppose him. Steyer has vowed to “break up utility monopolies” to bring down Californians’ notoriously high electricity rates. One ad funded in part by PG&E says Steyer isn't a “different type of billionaire” as he claims. The California Chamber of Commerce says Steyer will raise costs, not lower them.

“His policy promises will cost billions, driving investment out of California and worsening the state’s affordability crisis,” chamber spokesperson John Myers said in a statement.

Steyer's 2020 presidential bid flopped

It remains to be seen whether money and endorsements will translate into votes. Some political observers say it would be evident by now if Steyer was poised to break away from the pack, given his spending blitz.

Money wasn't enough in the 2020 Democratic presidential contest. Steyer staked his campaign largely on appealing to voters of color, highlighting inequalities in healthcare access, the environment and criminal justice system. In South Carolina, he spent $24 million on ads — more than all the other candidates combined — but dropped out after finishing third.

He often garnered attention for his quirks over his policies — the red tartan tie and colorful belt he made part of his campaign trail uniform, his dance moves to a performance by rapper Juvenile.

Steyer had planned to spend $100 million, and his wealth proved a liability in a race where rivals including Sanders decried the existence of billionaires.

He's spent more in the California governor's primary alone, including on an ad attacking a rival. This time, he's being received differently.

“Tom Steyer is running on taxing the wealthy, supporting single-payer healthcare, and taking on corporate power — positions that are central to our movement,” Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese said in a statement. “That alignment with a pro-worker, anti-corporate agenda — and the urgency of this race — is why we are backing him.”

___

Associated Press politics reporter Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

The ruling will likely help Texas in its yearslong litigation over the electoral maps lawmakers drew in 2021, and opens the door to the state creating even more aggressively partisan maps going forward.

The 6-3 decision narrows how courts may interpret Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the seminal civil rights legislation signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. This provision, seen as the cornerstone of the law, outlaws practices denying or abridging the right of any citizen to vote based on their race, including political maps that dilute the electoral power of voters of color.

The upshot of Wednesday’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais is that plaintiffs will have to provide stronger proof to show that a state or county intentionally discriminated against voters of color. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said the four-prong test used to assess whether a state has diluted the vote for people of color needed to be updated for modern times.

“Vast social change has occurred throughout the country and particularly in the South, which have made great strides in ending entrenched racial discrimination,” Alito wrote. He also noted that the court’s 2019 decision to allow partisan gerrymandering “creates an incentive” for litigants to repackage partisan claims under the guise of race-based challenges.

While Wednesday’s ruling did not eliminate Section 2 entirely, Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent said it “renders Section 2 all but a dead letter” that will “eliminate the lion’s share” of claims brought under that part of the Voting Rights Act.

“The Callais requirements have thus laid the groundwork for the largest reduction in minority representation since the era following Reconstruction,” Kagan wrote. “Under cover of ‘updat[ing]’ and ‘realign[ing]’ this greatest of statutes, the majority makes a nullity of Section 2 and threatens a half-century’s worth of gains in voting equality.”

Texas has had at least one of its political maps blocked under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act every decade since it went into effect. With this limitation narrowed significantly by the court, the state could push to reconsider its current congressional, state House and Senate, and State Board of Education maps, a possibility some Republicans have already teased. The maps have been under litigation since they went into effect in 2021.

The governor of Mississippi has said he would call a special session to rapidly redraw the state’s voting maps if the court struck down Section 2. Other states are expected to follow suit, especially amid the redistricting arms race Texas kicked off last summer. But with Texas’ unusually early primaries already in the rearview mirror, Lone Star lawmakers may wait until the next regular session begins in January to embark on any redraws.

The high court’s decision set off a wave of outrage from Democrats. Texas House Democratic Caucus chair Gene Wu, D-Houston, said the ruling gave state legislatures a “permission slip” to crack and pack Black and Latino voters into districts “where their voices won’t matter.”

“According to this Court, a century of voter suppression in places like Texas and Louisiana is ancient history, no longer relevant to lawmaking and redistricting today,” Wu said.

Mike Smith, the president of House Majority PAC — House Democrats’ top super PAC — said the ruling was a “green light to rig House elections.”

“With Democrats on track to retake the majority in November, Republicans and their allies on the Court are scrambling to protect the rich and powerful instead of lowering costs and making life more affordable for American families,” Smith said.

Brandon Herrera, the Republican nominee for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, echoed the sentiment that the ruling will “likely have MAJOR implications for the midterms,” as he wrote on social media.

“Democrats are going to have to scramble to protect seats they thought were safe, kneecapping the momentum they thought they had to take the House,” Herrera said.

Louisiana-v-CallaisDownload

When that question appears on a Missouri ballot later this year, it will mark the first time since the modern income tax began over a century ago that a U.S. state legislature has asked voters whether to eliminate the tax. If they say “yes,” they will also be authorizing a sales tax expansion.

Missouri's unique proposal caps a five-year tax-cutting binge in states that flourished while governments were flush with cash during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and only recently abated as some Democratic-led states embraced higher tax rates on millionaires. During that time, almost every state made either permanent or temporary reductions to some type of tax, whether on income, sales, property or gas. And more than half the states that levy income taxes reduced their top tax rate.

Those tax cuts seldom were offset by increasing other types of taxes. But Missouri's new measure implicitly acknowledges that it's hard to eliminate an income tax without raising other revenues to keep government running.

When did the income tax begin?

Congress gained the power to tax income with the ratification of the 16th Amendment in 1913. Many states adopted their own income taxes over the ensuing years, including Missouri in 1917.

But some states — Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming — never adopted an individual income tax, instead relying on sales taxes, oil taxes or other sources. New Hampshire and Tennessee, which taxed income from interest and dividends but not wages, each ended those taxes within the past five years.

Alaska is the only state so far to impose a general individual income tax and then repeal it. Lawmakers eliminated the tax in 1980 while rich with oil revenues.

Massachusetts voters rejected an income tax elimination in 2008 and 2002. But those ballot measures were initiated by citizens, not lawmakers responsible for building the state budget.

Which states are trying to phase out their income tax?

A 2022 Kentucky law reduced the state’s income tax rate and set a series of revenue-based benchmarks that could gradually lower the tax to zero. It also expanded the sales tax to some services, such as personal fitness training and website design. But the revenue triggers aren’t automatic, meaning the General Assembly must approve each additional income tax rate reduction.

A Mississippi law enacted last year gradually reduces the income tax rate from 4% to 3% by 2030 and sets revenue growth benchmarks that could trigger additional cuts. It could take over a decade to eliminate the tax, if all the benchmarks are hit.

Oklahoma also enacted a law last year that would trigger gradual income tax rate reductions based on revenue growth, until the tax is phased out. But the state won't know until next year whether it's met the revenue mark to trigger the first tax-rate reduction.

South Carolina joined the trend a month ago, when Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed a law that could eventually phase out the individual income tax as revenues grow.

What does the Missouri proposal say?

Missouri's proposed constitutional amendment directs the General Assembly to eliminate the individual income tax through gradual reductions based on revenue growth. To spur that along, it gives lawmakers the authority to raise revenues by imposing the sales tax on “any goods and services” — sidestepping a constitutional ban on expanding the sales tax base that voters approved in 2016.

The legislature would have five years to decide which additional sales to tax without needing another vote of the people.

But some voters may not realize they are authorizing more sales taxes. The ballot wording asks whether to phase out the income tax and “modify” the sales tax — avoiding the words “increase” or “expand.”

The amendment, which was approved last week by the legislature, will appear on the November ballot, unless Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe sets an election sooner.

A businessman explains his move

Kehoe has made the individual income tax repeal a priority, arguing it will spur the economy while attracting businesses and new residents.

At a House committee hearing earlier this year, Will Spartin said he attended business college in St. Louis but located the headquarters of his beverage businesses in Florida because that state has no individual income tax. He would love to return to Missouri, but only if it makes financial sense, Spartin said.

“If Missouri moves in this direction, even gradually, it would be a meaningful signal to people like us that Missouri wants to compete for modern industries,” Spartin told lawmakers.

A retiree raises sales tax concerns

Retired elementary school teacher Sharon Wells, of suburban St. Louis, said she paid a few hundred dollars in state income tax this past year. She's worried her overall tax bill could rise if the income tax is replaced with a broader sales tax.

Wells pays someone to mow her lawn. She goes to a hair salon twice a month. She has periodic medical and dental visits and a car that needs maintenance. None of those services currently are taxed. But they all could be under the Missouri proposal.

“I think it’s a huge mistake,” she said. “We’re already paying far more than we have in the past for groceries, medicine, all kind of services. Everything has gone up.”

What does the data say?

A family earning between $49,000 and $78,000 annually would pay an average of $535 more in taxes if Missouri's income tax is repealed and replaced with higher sales taxes, according to an estimate by the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Those earning less would pay even more, the group said.

“Pretty clearly, this is going to be a tax increase for most people,” said Carl Davis, the institute's research director.

Other data suggest that income tax policies — though not the primary motivation — can play a role in attracting people to states. Texas, Florida and Tennessee all ranked in the top five for net interstate migration of federal income tax filers in 2023, while the higher-tax states of California, New York and New Jersey ranked near the bottom, according to an analysis of IRS data by the nonprofit Tax Foundation.

If Missouri's referendum is approved by voters, “it could embolden other states to accelerate their own planned income tax reductions,” said Katherine Loughead, the foundation's director of state tax projects.

Thirteen women and children from four families last week left Roj camp, a remote facility near the border with Iraq that houses relatives of suspected militants, on Friday and headed to Syria's capital.

An official at the camp at the time said that the families were expected to remain in Damascus for around 72 hours and then be sent to Australia.

In response to an Associated Press inquiry about their status, Syria's information ministry said in a statement that after the families left the camp, the foreign ministry was informed that "the Australian government had refused to receive them.”

They were turned back before reaching Damascus International Airport, the information ministry's statement said.

“These families are still awaiting a solution, which can only be achieved through coordination with the relevant international parties.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a news conference on Wednesday that “we are providing no support for repatriation and no assistance for these people.”

At a separate news conference in Beijing, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Wednesday said that her government has made “very clear that we are not assisting in their repatriation.”

Syria's information ministry said that the families, through a lawyer, had obtained passports that were delivered by an “individual” that it didn't identify while they were still in northeastern Syria in an area under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.

A Lebanese-Australian doctor, Jamal Rifi, previously told Australian media that he was helping to coordinate the repatriation effort. Rifi couldn't be reached for comment.

A previous attempt to return 34 women and children to Australia from the camp in February was turned back by Syrian authorities.

Former IS fighters from multiple countries, along with their wives and children, were held in a network of camps and detention centers in northeast Syria after the militant group lost control of its territory in Syria in 2019. Though defeated, the group still has sleeper cells that carry out deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq.

The larger al-Hol camp has now been closed down, and thousands of suspected IS militants previously held in Syria were transferred to Iraq by the U.S. military to stand trial there.

The moves came after fighting between government forces and the SDF in January. Government forces seized much of the territory formerly held by the SDF. Amid the chaos, many detainees fled al-Hol and some prisoners escaped from a detention center.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance.

___

Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia and E. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing contributed to this report.

Prodded by his son, Mattingly decided to give baseball another go, and he accepted a job over the winter as bench coach in Philadelphia, where he would be reunited with old friend Rob Thomson from their New York Yankees days.

But manage again when the Yankees great known as Donnie Baseball was about to turn 65?

“I don’t think I have the energy for that anymore,” Mattingly said in January.

Mattingly seemed candid about his future at the time because all logic and recent history showed that he was joining a heavyweight World Series contender in Philadelphia. Why even toss around the idea of ever filling out a lineup card again, especially with a high-priced, postseason-tested roster brimming with talent including Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Zack Wheeler?

Fast forward four months and the Phillies' season has come to this: Mattingly's last best shot at winning his first World Series ring after more than 40 years in baseball starts with managing one of the worst teams in the National League.

Mattingly is indeed the manager for the rest of the season, taking the interim job Tuesday after the Phillies fired Thomson — and openly flirted with the idea of replacing him with former Red Sox manager Alex Cora — with the stout belief that a championship team beats in the heart of this underachieving roster.

The job either comes with a perk or the potential for awkwardness with Mattingly also the father of his new boss, Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly.

“I know how competitive he is,” Mattingly said. “Him and I are a little different. He looks at things, he's a little outside the box at times, which I appreciate. It's helped me grow.”

Also give 11-year-old son Louis Mattingly the bulk of the credit for flipping dad’s decision in the offseason.

Mattingly — who wore a white pinstriped suit in the 1980s Hit Man poster that was a staple in many an '80s New York kid's bedroom — is off to a fine start in Philly.

Thomson, who led the Phillies to four straight postseason berths, including the 2022 World Series, might still have his job had Philadelphia regularly played as well at it did in a 7-0 win over San Francisco in Mattingly's debut.

“I’m going to watch our game,” Thomson said in a video call with reporters shortly before the game. “I really am.”

Thomson surely enjoyed the result — even if it perhaps came with a bit of frustration that the Phillies failed to play more consistent complete games throughout April.

Turner became the first Phillies player all season with a four-hit game. Jesús Luzardo, just two starts after the lefty allowed nine runs and 12 hits against the Cubs, tossed two-hit ball, struck out eight and walked none over seven innings. He teamed with two relievers for the Phillies' first shutout of the season.

The Phillies lost 10 straight games and 11 of 12 in Thomson's final stretch of an otherwise successful tenure. Mattingly kept the coaching staff intact — notably beleaguered hitting coach Kevin Long, who took most of the heat for the Phillies' woes — and third base coach Dusty Wathan was promoted to bench coach.

“I don't know if I'm a whole lot different from Rob, honestly,” Mattingly said. “I trust players, I believe in players, I like players. But I want us to play better baseball.”

Mattingly, who managed the Dodgers from 2011-15 and the Marlins from 2016-22, also didn't seem to mind he was Philadelphia's second managerial choice.

Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, made it clear Tuesday that Cora was his first choice to succeed Thomson. Dombrowski ran the front office in Boston when Cora managed the Red Sox to a World Series championship in 2018. A Philly reunion made sense on paper, though Cora ultimately passed.

“I came to the conclusion that if he took it, I would make a change. I thought he would take it," Dombrowski said. "Until Monday morning it was apparent from his perspective he wanted to take time with his family. He wanted to be a father first and foremost and so that’s what he had decided.”

The Phillies' woes stretch way beyond the manager.

From former All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm to second baseman Bryson Stott, the Phillies underperformed for a team with $284.7 million payroll. The Phillies are aging and the rotation was a disaster — which led to the decision to release Taijuan Walker — all part of a recipe for a team that used Tuesday's win to move to 10-19.

The Phillies, of course, have been here before, notably in 2022 when Dombrowski fired Joe Girardi after a 22-29 start and they went 65-46 the rest of the season under Thomson. The schedule works in Mattingly's favor to duplicate that run, with nine of the next 13 games at home, with only the Athletics (out of three other teams) holding a winning record.

Mattingly thought he was out. He's now all the way back in — and the Phillies' World Series hopes are firmly pinned on a manager who's never won one.

“This is not about how I'm going to do,” Mattingly said. “It's really about club.”

___

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

A March 2026 report from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found that 71% of public school teachers hold at least one side job— highlighting growing concerns about educator pay and workload.

For one San Antonio high school teacher, who asked not to be identified, long hours are just part of the profession.

“I would say the average time that I leave school… it’s between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. every day,” she said. “But last night I was here till 9:30.”

Even with those extended hours, she says her salary isn’t enough to cover basic expenses.

As the sole income earner in her household and with one child in college and another preparing to graduate high school, she found herself needing additional income.

“There are a lot of expenses that come with that,” she said. “If you are a single-income household, then you really need to supplement your income as a teacher because the pay salary is not enough.”

At first, she looked for extra opportunities within the school system. But eventually, she turned to driving for Uber on nights and weekends.

“Sometimes on the weekends, I would work Friday, Saturday night and just try to work as much as I could,” she said.

She also pointed to ongoing staffing shortages, which she says are forcing teachers to take on additional responsibilities without added compensation.

“We are becoming specialists without being compensated,” she said.

Looking ahead, the high school teacher stated that she hopes for changes that could ease the financial burden on educators and make the profession more sustainable.

“My hope is that we have representatives that really try to work together… to come up with just a livable wage so that nobody has to work a side job,” she said.

Here’s a look at the status of teacher openings for the larger school districts in the San Antonio area:

• Northside ISD reports 96 teacher vacancies out of roughly 6,000 positions.
• Northeast ISD has 88 openings.
• San Antonio ISD reports about 88 vacancies, though officials there say that number fluctuates daily.

Read also:

• Report ranks San Antonio affordable, but $90K income needed for comfortable living
• The number of child care deserts in Texas is growing

CHIRENO — Every day, Courtney Bush has to figure out who can pick up her kids.

It’s not an easy decision, even after wrestling with it for years. 

With no child care options or after-school programs in her rural East Texas town, Bush sometimes leaves work early. And when that isn’t an option, she calls her sister in Lufkin — which is about 34 miles away — or a friend in town. 

Bush grew up in ZIP code 75937, otherwise known as Chireno, a rural community of about 1,300 at the south end of Nacogdoches County. Her children now go to public school there. Chireno is one of 263 chronic child care deserts in the state, according to a new report from Children At Risk, a nonprofit that advocates for greater access to child care, especially for the state’s youngest residents. 

The report, released earlier this month, found East Texas is home to the most chronic child care deserts, ZIP codes that have lacked professional child care options for at least three years.

Children At Risk’s report has tracked child care deserts across the state. The lack of affordable, quality child care poses quandaries for Texas families — and the state’s economy. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation report estimated that the Texas economy loses $9.39 billion annually due to insufficient child care.    

Kim Kofron, the executive director of early childhood education for Children at Risk and one of the researchers who analyzed the child care desert map, believes two things cause East Texas’ predicament: it’s mostly rural, so getting operations up and running, and keeping them so, is difficult; and while there is a population of younger families living in rural East Texas, there aren’t always enough children to keep a center open. 

Child care, which often teaches children basic life skills as well as provides foundational knowledge in literacy, is critical to prepare children for kindergarten and the rest of their education. And more parents, moms especially, are leaving the workforce because they don’t have adequate resources. This is leading to a growing number of children in families who rely on state support.

Kid’s Castle Family Daycare and Preschool in Pflugerville on Feb. 28, 2022 Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune

Community members say there hasn’t been professional child care for younger children for more than a decade. Families often turn to friends and family to watch their children — a job that often goes unpaid and unregulated. 

Jacqueline Woodson, a grandmother in Chireno, has become her family’s go-to child care provider.

“It’s been generational, us having families take care of the kids because there was nothing in the area for child care,” Woodson said. “People have to go all the way to Nacogdoches (city) to put their kids in child care.”

Improving access to child care is difficult. State lawmakers have tried to help parents pay for it, but that’s only one part of the equation. Kofron said the state needs to truly look at how the system operates and find ways to smooth speed bumps for providers and to simplify the process for parents. 

Sherry Durham, the senior director of child care for Workforce Solutions Deep East Texas, doesn’t want to see regulations eased, because child care businesses deal directly with some of the most vulnerable Texans. But she does believe more can be done to tell providers about grant programs and mentorships that will help those people who want to open a child care center. 

Kofron believes the state is on the right track to begin addressing some of these concerns. Lawmakers in 2025 called for a task force to study the state’s child care landscape and come to the next legislative session in 2027 with recommendations for a path forward. Kofron hopes the new map will provide that task force with a foundation for those recommendations.

Child care deserts expanding 

Using data from the Texas Workforce Commission, Children At Risk has published a map of child care deserts every other year since 2017.

A child care desert, generally, is a geographic region where families lack access to regulated child care centers. Regulated centers can be large-scale, serving dozens of children in classroom settings, or they can be home-based operations that serve only a handful of children at a time.

Children At Risk has four classifications for child care deserts. 

The first is simply areas where the number of children who need child care is three times higher than the capacity of local providers. There are 413 of these across the state. 

The second is a subsidy desert, where the number of children who need a scholarship, which is state-funded, is three times higher than the available scholarships. There are 884 of these. 

The third is a Texas Rising Star desert, where the child care centers are not certified with the Rising Star program. Rising Star is a state program that enforces expectations for the quality of child care families receive. There are 938 of these.

And the fourth is a new classification this year: chronic deserts. These are areas where the need for child care has been three times higher than the available options for three years in a row or more. There are 263 of these. 

There are four regions in the state struggling the most with chronic child care deserts: East, Deep East, Northeast Texas and the Brazos Valley. Combined, these regions stretch from the Louisiana border to College Station.  

In the Deep East Texas workforce development region that includes Angelina, Nacogdoches and Polk counties, 52 of the 82 ZIP codes are deserts. Durham wants to eradicate those deserts, and she believes the way to do that is through improving communication. 

Ideally, she would have the time to establish better connections with rural community nonprofits and churches so they can spread the word about what resources the state currently has to offer. However, she’s new to the job and came at a time when workforce solutions were undergoing some changes in leadership and mindset. But she believes that improved communication is on the horizon.

“Texas Rising Star and the Texas Workforce Development Group can offer support in the beginning to establish child care,” Durham said. “Whether it’s a larger center or a smaller home center with maybe five or six children, the same support is available to both.”

Parents may leave labor force 

A lack of options in chronic deserts puts parents of young children in a precarious situation. Parents can either find a friend or a family member to watch their kids, or one parent can stay home. 

The first option only works if there is someone around who can take on an extra child or two, and it’s not guaranteed. The second option is the path many families take, but it comes at a cost.

For Bush, whose children are now 6 and 11, a lack of child care options in Chireno over the years led her to job hop in search of a flexible schedule. At times, she could rely on friends or family members, often when they had chosen to stay at home to care for their own children, but she always felt guilty for asking so much of them.

She even left the workforce for six months because she didn’t have any better options. The small family relied on a single income, which just wasn’t sustainable.

“I feel like everybody has to work nowadays in order to make it,” Bush said.

More Texas children are growing up in low-income households. And this is putting a strain on Texas’ social safety net. There were 106 new subsidy deserts in 2025 that weren’t there in 2024, according to Children At Risk, which means the need for scholarships outpaced the available funding threefold. 

Scholarships, also called subsidies, pay for part of the child care tuition for children who qualify. The child must be under 13, have working parents or parents in school whose income is below a certain threshold that is dependent on the number of children in the household. For example, the monthly income for a family with two children in North Texas must not exceed $5,216. 

Income levels aren’t the only rule that governs who gets a scholarship. The providers who accept scholarships for kids must follow several protocols that govern a variety of topics, including pick-up and drop-off rules.

Lawmakers in 2025 designated a historic $100 million to child care subsidies. The entire designation was eaten up by inflation costs and failed to provide any substantial improvement to the child care system. 

Without adequate resources for employees, Durham worries companies won’t choose to move to Deep East Texas. And she worries that young East Texans won’t be prepared for kindergarten.

Child care can help prepare kids for school

Young children typically have five years before they go to a traditional school and those years are exceedingly formative. 

“So if they live in a chronic desert for three or more years, that’s a majority of the child’s life in a desert,” Kofron said. “That is not only hampering mom and dad from going to work, it’s also hampering that child’s ability to get ready for kindergarten.”

Kindergarten readiness is a key indicator of a child’s success down the road. By the time a 5-year-old starts kindergarten, they should be able to speak clearly, recite their alphabet and correctly hold tools, such as pencils or scissors. They should also have some basic ability to regulate their own behavior. 

A daycare playground in Austin on April 6, 2020. Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

While parents can ensure their children have these foundational skills, studies have shown that high-quality child care can give children a big step up. This is part of the goal of Texas’ Rising Star program — to establish a standard of education for children aged 0 to 5 that prepares them for that first day of school. 

However, a growing number of counties lack child care facilities that are state-certified. There were 88 more rising star deserts in 2025 than there were in 2024, for a total of 938.

Improvements in South Texas

Despite the dire concerns registered by Children At Risk, there were some bright moments of success in Texas’ child care landscape.

Cameron, the Concho Valley and the Lower Rio Grande Valley saw the highest rate of providers being added to the Texas Rising Star roster. And 60 new providers were approved to accept child care scholarships in the last year, Children At Risk found, though the organization would like to see that number grow exponentially.

Plus, more home-based child care providers have opened across the state in the last year, which means there are more options for families seeking child care. There still aren’t as many providers as there were before 2020, but it is an improvement. 

In Deep East Texas, Durham said she wants to hear from those at-home centers that aren’t registered yet, like Woodson, who takes care of her family’s youngest members. Durham wants to connect them with more state resources and which might provide a clearer picture of what options are available in rural communities. 

Registering home-based centers could also give the state a better understanding of the region’s needs and make more informed recommendations for the future. 

Durham said she’s optimistic for the future. She sees the conversation around child care growing and believes there is a legitimate interest in finding solutions.

Kofron is excited to see what the task force assigned to investigate the state’s child care subsidy program learns. She hopes that the task force looks at her organization’s data to inform their recommendations.

She wants them to deeply consider how the state governs early childhood education and what can be streamlined. Finding ways to simplify the process for child care providers and the families they serve could do a lot to improve the state’s system. 

“And then it comes down to the funding,” Kofron said. “We have to make sure that we have enough funding in the system to give families the support they need so they can get back to work and support their families.”

KSAT set out to find out where to get them and how much they cost.

An online search showed several Home Depot stores in San Antonio carried the same ones CPS Energy handed out.

The KIDDE brand carries different types of alarms, and we found three of them at the hardware store.

The one CPS Energy handed out was for explosive gas and carbon monoxide detection. They cost $61.97 and feature both plug-in and battery backup options.

Over the phone, local hardware store Johnnie Chouke’s Home and Hardware said they also carry explosive gas alarms.

Here’s what the San Antonio Fire Department wants the community to know about the different types of alarms available for your home.

• Smoke alarm (smoke detector): Identifies smoke/soot particles in the air, usually via photoelectric or ionization sensors. These are installed on ceilings or high on walls, as smoke rises.
• Carbon monoxide (CO) alarm: Detects toxic CO gas (produced by poorly maintained furnaces, fireplaces, or fuel appliances). These are often placed near sleeping areas, roughly at knee height or higher, depending on the unit, as CO can fluctuate with air temperature.
• Explosive gas alarm (natural gas/propane detector): Identifies natural gas or propane leaks before a high concentration can ignite. These are typically plug-in units installed closer to the ground (for propane) or higher up (for natural gas) to identify leaks from stoves or furnaces.

Read also:

• CPS Energy board holds first meeting since North Side home explosions; KSAT pushes for answers
• Questions remain after North Side home explosions, nearly a week after it occurred
• CPS Energy distributes free gas detectors to Preston Hollow residents after home explosions

Amin Gemayel spoke with The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday after the first direct talks between Lebanon and Israel since the 1980s, as they explore what could lead to a security agreement or even the eventual normalization of relations. He is part of one of Lebanon’s strongest political dynasties that founded the Christian Phalange party, which held powerful positions for decades.

The 84-year-old Gemayel, who rarely speaks to international media, acknowledged that much has changed as Lebanese leaders again pursue talks with Israel and as a fragile ceasefire holds. The discussions in Washington have led to angry protests as the Israeli military invasion of southern Lebanon continues, and as parts of Beirut recover from a devastating Israeli bombardment early this month.

For one, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah had only been established during Gemayel's presidency and was far from the powerful armed and political presence it has since become. Hezbollah opposes direct talks with Israel and believes Lebanon instead should support Iran in its talks with the United States, saying Tehran has more leverage.

But Hezbollah has taken major blows, Gemayel noted, and he supports its disarmament. The group's military capabilities were significantly weakened by Israel’s strikes in Lebanon over the past two years. And the ouster of longtime backer Bashar Assad in Syria by Islamist-led armed opposition groups closed off much of the porous border used for transporting weapons.

Regional circumstances also have changed, Gemayel said.

“During my time, discussing a peace agreement with Israel was an unforgivable fatal crime,” he said.

Now he believes there is more openness in the region, and pointed to Syria’s direct talks with Israel as well as the Abraham Accords, where a handful of Arab countries, notably the United Arab Emirates, established diplomatic ties with Israel.

The deal with Israel in the 1980s crumbled quickly

Gemayel was Lebanon's youngest-ever president in 1982 when he was sworn in, at 40 years old. The country was in the middle of a devastating 15-year civil war, occupied by both Syrian and Israeli troops.

He decided to enter U.S.-brokered direct talks with Israel, via a foreign ministry official, and reached an agreement in May 1983 that included ending the state of war that had existed between the countries since Israel’s inception in 1948. Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon and Lebanese troops would deploy there.

Despite U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s backing at the time and the Lebanese parliament voting overwhelmingly in favor for the agreement, it never went into effect. Gemayel blamed Syria and its allies in Lebanon, which were critical of any talks with Israel from the start, as well as Israel itself.

“Israel, though we had finished the negotiations and reached the stage of signing, tried to impose an article outside of the framework of the agreement, which was the simultaneous withdrawal alongside the Syrian army in Lebanon. So the Israeli military wouldn’t withdraw unless the Syrians would,” Gemayel said.

“It gave the Syrian military a veto to the agreement ... and a public atmosphere of doubt that (then-Syrian President Hafez) Assad and his crew created.”

But now, Gemayel said, Lebanon's leaders should pursue a long-term peace deal. Even an armistice, like the one signed in 1949 to bring calm to tense frontier for 18 years, could be a good step forward, as long as it keeps the country in one piece.

Lebanon's president seeks a step short of full normalization

President Joseph Aoun has said he is seeking a deal similar to the 1949 agreement, not a full normalization of relations with Israel.

The move by Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to enter into direct talks with Israel was met with both wide support and criticism in the deeply divided country. The officials have said the negotiations are the only way to secure the withdrawal of Israeli troops and bring about long-term calm.

“There is an opportunity for the Lebanese government to go into negotiations to reach a solution that achieves peace, security, and stability in Lebanon,” Gemayel said.

“That would also satisfy the feelings of Lebanese who yearn for the bare minimum of calm, peace, stability, and an end to the war."

During this latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which began two days after the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, over 2,500 people in Lebanon have been killed and over one million people displaced.

Israeli troops remain in large swaths of southern Lebanon and continue to clash with Hezbollah fighters despite a truce being nominally in place. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

Lebanese have largely been critical of Hezbollah’s decision to launch rockets into Israel on March 2, but they have also been horrified by Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion.

Gemayel said the situation remains complicated, especially in a “boiling region” suffering from serious security and economic repercussions from the Iran war.

“We have to see how far we can go,” he said. “We trust General Aoun to enter negotiations as far as they go while maintaining the interests of the country and the unity of Lebanon. And he knows exactly how far he can go in negotiations.”

___

Associated Press senior producer Malak Harb in Bikfaya, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

America's most famous horse race says more than 125,000 mint juleps are consumed at the annual two-day festival at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky. According to its website, that requires about 10,000 bottles of Kentucky bourbon, 2,250 pounds of freshly harvested mint and 475,000 pounds of ice.

But you don’t have to be there in person to enjoy this classic cocktail. The julep — a simple mix of sugar, water, fresh mint, crushed ice and bourbon — is accessible and easy to recreate.

First, a little history

Mint juleps have been drunk at the Kentucky Derby since it began in the late 19th century, but they became its signature drink in the 1930s. That's when the Derby created a commemorative cup to serve them in, and people began sneaking them home as souvenirs, says Martha Dalton, co-founder of Never Say Die bourbon.

“Instead of kind of fighting against that, they embraced it. And so from then on, (the mint julep) really became completely synonymous with the Derby," says Dalton, whose company is named after a Derby-winning racehorse said to have been revived with a shot of whiskey as a foal.

The julep’s roots, she says, are in ancient Persia, where sweetened rose water tonic called “gulab” was used for its medicinal properties. It spread to medieval Europe, where alcohol was brought into the mix, and on into the American South, where there was an abundance of mint and bourbon distilleries.

Why does the drink maintain its Southern charm?

“Every sip is slightly different,” says Angelos Bafas, bartender and co-founder of Cato bar in London. The bar is named after Cato Alexander, the 19th-century Manhattan bartender believed to have popularized juleps.

“The ice dilutes and the aromatics of the bourbon open up as the day proceeds,” says Bafas.

How to make one at home

For a traditional mint julep, Bafas says, stirring the ice is key to getting the right amount of cold and dilution. Keep stirring until the outside of the cup turns frosty.

“People tend to forget that water is an ingredient, and it’s actually one very active and important ingredient when it comes to juleps as it allows the bourbon to shine through. And also it allows the drink to be more palatable,” he says.

Plucking some mint from his homegrown plant and brushing it lightly against the side of the cup, he adds that the mint should be slapped (a light tap) not muddled (mashed).

“The mint has to release the delicate aromas,” says Bafas, explaining that muddling “can give you this kind of grassy very chlorophyll flavor.”

Variations

Bafas also suggests adding a few drops of aromatic bitters to “give a bit of flavor and to bring some body to the game.”

If you want to get creative, there are plenty of twists on the classic mint julep. Bafas makes a London Julep, which uses slightly less bourbon and adds a serve of elderflower liqueur for a sweeter, easier introduction to the drink, with a quintessentially English stamp.

He also suggests a highball julep, created by adding a bit of soda. “It’s technically a mojito made with bourbon, but you know, it’s based on the DNA of juleps,” he says.

Recipe for a Cato Classic Mint Julep

Single Serve

Ingredients:

2 oz bourbon whiskey

0.5 oz filtered water

0.5 oz simple syrup

3 dashes Angostura bitters

10 fresh mint leaves

4 drops of mint tincture (optional)

Crushed ice in a metal cup

Directions

Pour the whiskey into a julep cup, lightly slap the mint leaves to release their aroma, and add them in. Stir briefly, then add the remaining ingredients and crushed ice. Stir until the cup turns frosty on the outside, then top with more crushed ice, garnish with a fresh mint sprig, and serve with a straw.

The trick then is to take your time and make your drink last longer than the race record of 1 minute 59.40 seconds set by Secretariat in 1973.

The vote was 13-11, with all Republican senators voting in favor and Democrats opposed.

Warsh is a former top Fed official but has also been a sharp critic of the institution and Powell’s leadership. He has called the inflation spike to 9.1% in 2022 the central bank’s biggest policy mistake in four decades. A vote on his nomination probably won’t take place until next month, but he could be confirmed by the time Powell’s term as chair ends May 15.

The Senate Banking vote is the first of two key events surrounding the future of the Fed’s leadership. Also Wednesday, Powell is presiding over what will probably be his last meeting of the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee. At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Powell may indicate whether he will remain as a member of the central bank’s board of governors after his term as chair ends.

It would be unusual for Powell to stay, but doing so would deprive the Trump administration of an opportunity to appoint a new member to the board. Powell may choose to stay if he sees it as necessary to protect the Fed’s independence, which has become part of his legacy as its leader.

Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and chair of the committee, said Warsh is “battle tested” and added that, "It is incredibly important that we break the bind of Bidenomics on households across this nation.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, criticized the banking panel for voting on Warsh's nomination. Doing so “will bring the president one step closer to completing his illegal attempt to seize control of the Fed and artificially juice the economy,” she said, citing Trump's effort to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and investigate Powell.

The Fed on Wednesday is widely expected to leave its key rate unchanged at about 3.6% for its third straight meeting, defying Trump’s calls for lower rates.

Warsh has called for “regime change” at the Fed and could alter many of its practices, including the economics models it focuses on, how it communicates with the public, and how large its bondholdings will be in the long run.

Those changes could affect financial markets, but otherwise won’t necessarily be visible to the general public. But Warsh has also advocated for additional interest rate cuts, which could potentially lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans. He will face barriers to implementing those cuts anytime soon, however, largely because the Iran war has caused a spike in gas prices, pushing inflation to a two-year high of 3.3%.

The Fed typically keeps rates elevated, or even raises them, to combat worsening inflation.

Most of the other 11 members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee have indicated they would prefer to wait and evaluate where inflation and the economy are headed before making any changes to rates. It could take time for Warsh to build up enough influence to push for rapid rate cuts. He will also replace Stephen Miran, a member of the Fed’s rate-setting committee who was appointed by Trump last September and is the most consistent advocate for rate reductions at the central bank.

Warsh also faces questions about his independence from the White House, a key issue that dogged him during a Senate Banking hearing last week. On Wednesday, Warren said, “Mr. Warsh is a Trump sock puppet who is so cowed by the president that he could not even say that Trump lost the 2020 election.”

Last December, Trump called for much lower interest rates in a social media post, and added that “anyone who does not agree with me will never be Fed chair!” And just last week he told Fox Business that he expects rates to head lower, “when Kevin gets in.”

Warsh denied at his hearing, however, that Trump had ever pressured him directly to cut rates.

Silent Tactic opened at odds of 13-1 on the morning line. His exit means Great White is in.

“You can’t run in the Kentucky Derby and not be 100%,” Casse said at his barn at Churchill Downs. “It’s very, very slight. It’s very slight, so that’s the good news. The timing’s poor, but it’s not a big deal and that’s the most important thing.”

Casse compared the horse’s ailment to a fingernail separation, which is painful and enough to lead to him and owner John Oxley to make the decision to scratch Silent Tactic more than 72 hours before the race.

"It wasn’t a tough decision," Casse said. “It’s not tough because we’re always going to try to do what we feel is best for the horse, Mr. Oxley and our entire group.”

The most difficult part for Casse is this means jockey Cristian Torres will have to wait to ride in the Kentucky Derby for the first time. Casse said the call to skip the Derby was made early to allow preparations to begin to run Silent Tactic in the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16.

“Today we start preparing for the Preakness,” Casse said. “And the quicker we made the decision — we could’ve held on for another day or two — but then it would slow down our chances of getting to the Preakness.”

The timing is beneficial for those around Great White, who was first on the also-entered list and was initially set as a 50-1 long shot.

"We’re just delighted to have confirmation that we did get in and we draw in so early," trainer John Ennis told The Associated Press. “It’s only Wednesday, so everybody’s thrilled and over the moon.”

The big, and still growing, gray colt is coming off a fifth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 4.

“He didn’t need to be on the lead,” Ennis said. “We kind of thought he’d run big in the Blue Grass, and he kind of disappointed. He was flat the week prior, of the Blue Grass. He was kind of quiet himself and lacking in energy.”

It has been an uncertain week for Ennis and his stable, not knowing if Great White would get to the starting gate on Saturday.

“It can be tough mentally in your mind to straighten things out and get things squared away,” Ennis said. “It's not easy when you’re kind of sitting on the fence like that.”

Jockey Alex Achard will make his Kentucky Derby debut aboard Great White, who by all accounts is doing well.

“The horse is fit and healthy and strong,” Ennis said. “Yes, he has to improve, but it’s the Kentucky Derby and if you’re not in, you can’t win.”

___

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

The NCAA released a brief statement Tuesday in the wake of an ESPN report that cited unnamed sources saying a decision to add eight teams to the bracket is a mere formality that's expected in May.

“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time,” the statement said.

Earlier this month at the Final Four, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the committees would, in fact, return to discussing the expansion once this year's tournament was over.

The tournaments have been at 68 teams since 2011, when four play-in games were added to the beginning of the first week of play. The new format would add eight more at-large teams and take eight more teams out of the main bracket for play-in games.

“People can criticize the NCAA all they want, but they put on a championship and an event like no other,” Michigan coach Dusty May said Wednesday. “If more young players and coaching staffs could have an opportunity to experience March Madness, then I’m for it. The traditionalists in me says, ‘No, let’s keep it at 64,’ and it’s slightly tilted toward keeping it as it is, but I could be easily persuaded.”

The expansion isn't expected to generate a lot more income because it will only add games early in the first week. The current TV deal runs through 2032 and could be tweaked slightly.

Regardless of finances, the expansion would give power conferences more chances to place teams in the bracket — a growing concern as those conferences seek more power and control over college sports in the era of name, image and likeness compensation and the transfer portal.

___

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Michigan, contributed to this report.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

José Contreras Diaz, 30, was arrested and quickly deported from the Rio Grande Valley to Honduras earlier this year while his wife was pregnant. His family had immigrated to the U.S. when he was 8.

He is currently in Honduras and is expected to return to the Rio Grande Valley later this week and reunite with his wife and his infant son, according to his lawyer.

But in a statement on late Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said: “DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country. The end result will be the same — he will not be able to remain in the U.S.”

According to MS Now, a cable news channel formerly known as MSNBC, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Contreras, who worked as pool technician, during a routine check-in appointment with immigration officials. His DACA was current at the time of his arrest,the report says.

Since returning to office, President Trump’s administration has cracked down on immigrants, including many DACA recipients.

From January 2025 to November 2025, at least 261 DACA recipients have been arrested — 75 of them in Texas. And between 86 and 174 DACA recipients have been deported, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (The agency gave different figures to two different Democratic members of Congress who requested the information).

Created by the Obama administration in 2012, the program allows qualifying young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to receive renewable work permits and protection from deportation as long as they don’t commit any crimes.

The first Trump administration attempted to scrap the program before the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the move. Immigration officials in the current Trump administration have argued that DACA does not protect immigrants from deportation.

Contreras is not the first DACA recipient to be deported and allowed to return.

Last month in California, U.S. District Judge Dena M. Coggins ordered immigration officials to facilitate the return of 42-year-old Maria de Jesús Estrada Juárez, a mother and DACA recipient who was deported in February. Immigration agents arrested her during an appointment at an immigration office after she applied for her legal permanent residency.

Stacy Tolchin, who represents Contreras and Estrada, had written a letter to ICE, arguing that deporting Contreras was illegal because his DACA status was still valid at the time of his arrest, according to the MS Now report. Tolchin attached Coggins’ ruling in Estrada’s case, which said that deporting Estrada was a “flagrant violation” of DACA protections.

One San Antonio mom of four said she almost became a statistic, but made it out alive in time.

She said the father of her children began abusing her roughly five years ago.

“Mental and like emotional abuse, and this last year just got bad with substance use and that’s when the physical started,” she said through tears. “I’m just thinking like, ‘Why would you want to hurt me? I’m the mother of your kids.’”

KSAT is concealing her identity for her safety.

Now that she’s safe at the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter, she realizes how severe the abuse truly was and that her life was at risk.

“I have learned so much about my situation since being here,” she said.

The shelter is run by Family Violence Prevention Services, which just secured a $50,000 grant to create a Domestic Violence High Risk Team.

The grant came through the Texas Council on Family Violence, which awarded the total $492,000 grant to 10 different teams through the state.

Domestic Violence High Risk Teams exist all over the country, including eight preexisting in Texas, this new funding will help create new teams in San Antonio and New Braunfels, run by Family Violence Prevention Services and the Crisis Center of Comal County, respectively.

Although every team across the country is anchored by an advocacy agency, a local law enforcement leader and a district attorney’s office, San Antonio’s team is going much further.

Health Departments for the City of San Antonio and Bexar County are becoming involved, along with top healthcare CEOs, Child Protective Services and even batterer intervention programs.

This ensures the team involves more than just operations, probation and parole.

The most unique part of San Antonio’s team, however, is that the other cities and unincorporated Bexar County will be involved. This includes Universal City, which reportedly has the county’s highest domestic violence index outside of San Antonio.

Before the team sends reports to the state, it will have an abuse survivor review the drafts so that they can provide input on whether anything is missing. And each member of the team’s voice will carry equal weight.

“The beauty is the collaborative response,” said Marta Prada Pelaez, Family Violence Prevention Services President and CEO.

Pelaez admitted the system needs a lot of work and that sections of the system still work in silos. She believes the team can help fill those gaps.

“Every piece of the system claims their gap,” Pelaez said. “There’s consensus and responsibility and ultimately accountability.”

She said that when working together, it helps take away potential finger-pointing.

“Everybody’s signing an M.O.U.,” she said, “so it’s a very organized, standardized way to work.”

Pelaez appointed a coordinator from the shelter who will contact high-risk survivors and bring those cases to the team.

The goal is not just to save lives, but to establish trust with survivors.

The mom of four in the shelter said she has experienced problems with the system in the past.

“That’s why I didn’t want to go anywhere,” she said. “But everyone has been nothing but good to us since we’ve been here.”

She said she is thriving at the shelter, becoming fully independent and is grateful to see a structured Domestic Violence High Risk Team falling into place for San Antonio.

“Honestly, it makes me feel good thinking about all the women who go through situations like this,” she said, “and there’s people out here who care. Don’t be scared to ask for help.”

The state is set to evaluate the new team in August, and could choose to award another grant so that the work may continue.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic violence, there is so much help for you. KSAT has a list of resources on its Domestic Violence webpage, which also explains how to identify different types of abuse.

If it’s an emergency, text or call 911. For wrap-around services, including the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter, call Family Violence Prevention Services at (210) 733-8810.

You can also contact the Bexar County Family Justice Center, which also provides wrap-around services at (210) 631-0100.

Read also:

• Domestic violence survivors program in unincorporated Bexar County reports increase in clients
• New Comal County crisis shelter to open in June with increased security after fire in 2022

Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it summoned the Russian ambassador to its offices in London to inform him of the “reciprocal action.” The tit-for tat moves reflect spiraling tensions between Moscow and the West.

“This behavior is wholly unacceptable, and we will not tolerate harassment or intimidation of our diplomatic staff,’’ the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The move came after Russia last month expelled a British diplomat over spying allegations that the U.K. rejected as “complete nonsense.”

Russia’s top domestic security and counterintelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, said the British diplomat had sought to gather “sensitive information” about the Russian economy in “unofficial meetings” with Russian experts. The diplomat was ordered to leave Russia within two weeks.

Russia and NATO member states have carried out multiple rounds of mutual expulsions of diplomats since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sending diplomatic relations to their lowest ebb since the Cold War.

At Tuesday’s state dinner honoring King Charles III and Queen Camilla, U.S. President Donald Trump said that during a private meeting earlier in the day the British monarch had agreed with him that Iran should never be allowed to have nuclear weapons.

“We’re doing a little Middle East work right now … and we’re doing very well,” Trump told the audience. “We have militarily defeated that particular opponent, and we’re never going to let that opponent ever — Charles agrees with me, even more than I do — we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon."

While many Britons would agree with the president’s sentiment, the comment triggered mild consternation among pundits in the U.K.

In Britain, you see, this just isn't done.

By convention, people aren't supposed to relay private conversations with the monarch. That is partly because the king has to remain above the political fray, but also because the sovereign doesn’t have the ability to wade into a public debate and correct the record if he's misquoted.

“Generally, as a matter of protocol, I think I would expect discussions between heads of state to be sort of behind the scenes, in those closed meetings, for those to be sort of kept private,” said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London. “And, you know, this was something that the U.K. government wanted to avoid.”

There had been a fair amount of jitters before the king’s trip to the United States, which comes amid Trump’s very public frustration with U.K. Prime Minster Keir Starmer over his failure to support U.S. actions in the Iran war.

Like all royal visits, this is a carefully choreographed diplomatic event carried out at the request of the U.K. government, which hopes that warm relations between the king and Trump, who seems to love all things royal, can help repair the rift.

But Trump is an unconventional leader who has a penchant for breaking protocol, and there were concerns about just what he might say or do.

At least in this case, the king’s comments seemed clearly within the bounds of existing U.K. government policy.

“The King is naturally mindful of his government’s long-standing and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement designed to provide context to the president’s remarks.

Prescott said that “in a sense, this was always the issue, just what Trump would do or say — would he put the king in an embarrassing position,’’ Prescott said.

“You always had that sort of issue of what he would post on social media," he said. "And I think, you know, this could have been much, much worse.”

Before the state dinner, Charles gave a speech to a joint session of U.S. Congress. The king received repeated standing ovations during the address, which celebrated the longstanding bonds between the U.S. and Britain while nodding to differences over NATO, support for Ukraine and the need to combat climate change.

Now, from the U.K. government’s point of view, the trip is shifting to safer ground as the king and queen leave Washington behind and head to New York, where the focus will be on the city’s creative industries, rather than politics.

The most difficult part of the trip may be over, Prescott said.

“If this is the only controversy arising out of this phase of the state visit, I think overall this has been an enormous success for the king and the British government, because the king was able to make some quite pointed remarks in Congress and it hasn’t really yielded any sort of negative reaction from the president.”

“In a sense,” he said, “you get the feeling that the king (has) rather charmed Washington with his speech to Congress and, you know, his very witty speech at the state banquet.”

Deputies arrested Gerardo Fabian Hernandez, 30, on a charge of possession or promotion of child pornography, and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said he believes more victims may be out there.

“The case is extremely weird,” the sheriff said Tuesday night.

This all began on April 22, according to BCSO. A man called the office and said he received text messages containing explicit content involving minors from an unknown number.

The caller later realized this number was from a man he had met earlier that day. The caller said he exchanged numbers with a man who ran out of gas.

“This suspect was going to be reimbursing the (caller) for the money that he spent on the gasoline,” Salazar said.

After days of investigation, BCSO was able to identify Hernandez as the subscriber of that cellphone number.

Investigators identified at least three victims in the child sexual abuse material. Salazar said the sheriff’s office believes that two are still minors and a third, believed to have been a minor when the videos were recorded, may now be a young adult.

BCSO said it appears that Hernandez’s motivation was to find living situations where he had access to children.

Salazar said there could be additional victims.

Anyone who believes they may be a victim or has any information about Hernandez should call 210-335-6000 or email TIPS@bexar.org.

Read also:

• San Antonio elementary school teacher charged with continuous sexual assault of child, police say

“We will continue to insist that compliance alone is not enough; we must also report the figures to the public in the interest of transparency,” said Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid.

Indonesia began implementing a new government regulationat the end of March banning children younger than 16 from accessing digital platforms that could expose them to pornography, cyberbullying, online scams and addiction.

Hafid said that young people in Indonesia spend up to eight hours a day online.

Not all social media and digital platforms immediately complied with the regulation, which affects some 70 million children and young people in Indonesia.

TikTok became the first platform to report measurable progress in compliance when it said it deactivated 1.7 million accounts belonging to children under 16.

The country’s large population likely "explains the platforms’ reluctance to accelerate compliance with this regulation,” Hafid said.

Seven of the eight platforms classified as high-risk, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live, have committed to restricting children’s access to their services.

Only Roblox, the gaming platform, has yet to agree to block access for children under 16. The company did not immediately reply to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

YouTube announced its commitment to restricting access for younger users three weeks after the restrictions took effect, but has not yet specified how many accounts belonging to children were identified and suspended.

“We remain focused on protecting the community and will continue working closely with the Indonesian government to support a secure digital future for the next generation,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Restrictions on social media access for children under 16 first began in December in Australia, where social media companies revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children.

Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to follow suit.

Some other countries — including Spain, France and the United Kingdom — are also taking or considering measures to restrict children’s access to social media amid growing concern that they are being harmed by exposure to unregulated social media content.

Hafid believes there are still challenges in implementing the regulation, and the Indonesian government has said it would allow platforms to determine their own methods for account verification.

“We understand the technology will continue to evolve rapidly. However, the platform is responsible for determining the best and most appropriate technology for its needs,” Hafid said.

Critics have highlighted the practical challenges of enforcing the rule. Reliable age verification often requires collecting sensitive personal data, prompting concerns over privacy and data security. Some children will find a way to use fake identification, such as using their parents’ account, said Nenden Sekar Arum, executive director of the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network, or SAFEnet, a digital rights group.

Arum said that is why the government needs to oversee the user identity verification methods employed by each platform to ensure consistent compliance.

“The core problem is not the presence of children in the digital space, but how that digital space is shaped into a safe ecosystem. And how to ensure that those who are actually making this ecosystem harmful are held accountable. That is what needs to be addressed,” Arum said.

It was more than four decades ago and Mills, the first female prosecutor working in the state attorney general’s criminal division, secured a successful verdict in a murder trial. Yet a newspaper headline focused on a more trivial angle: “The prosecutor wore pale powder blue.”

“That wasn’t the first time someone underestimated me. And it certainly wasn’t the last,” Mills, now running for U.S. Senate, wrote in a recent memo to campaign donors.

The message is one the two-term governor is returning to frequently as she seeks the Democratic Senate nomination to take on longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Despite having decades in public office and the support of the party establishment in Washington, she's back to being the underdog ahead of the first Democratic primary debate next week.

Mills' top opponent in the June 9 primary, military veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner, is drawing bigger, more enthusiastic crowds. He has raised more money than Mills, and has flooded airwaves with ads since entering the race last summer.

Mills argues she is the strongest candidate to face Collins in a race that is crucial to Democrats' effort to win the Senate. Her smaller, more intimate gatherings help her better connect to voters, Mills says. Their May 7 debate is scheduled to be the first of five, and Platner's past controversies will undoubtedly be a focus. She's leaning on her vast experience, while Platner has served no higher than the planning board in a small town.

Speaking after a Portland rally in support of Planned Parenthood, Mills noted she co-founded the Maine Women's Lobby, which has pushed for gender equity since the 1970s, and that she has been fighting for reproductive rights for years. Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsed Mills earlier this month.

“He’s been nowhere on these issues,” Mills said of Platner. “He’s never walked the walk.”

Establishment vs. new face

Mills has a long track record of success. She’s been Maine’s first woman district attorney, first woman attorney general and the state’s first woman governor. In the Senate race, she is endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

But it's not clear that what has worked in the past will work in this year's Democratic primary, when the party is divided over whether establishment candidates or new faces offer the best way forward. Platner is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, and other progressive leaders who say Democrats' 2024 losses prove the party needs a new direction.

Age also has surfaced as a factor. Mills, 78, has said she will only serve one term if elected. Platner, 41, argues voters should elect a senator who will stick around in Washington, where it often takes years to gain seniority and influence over policymaking and funding. Age is a double-edged sword in the race, as Maine has one of the oldest median ages in the country and many thousands of older voters, but Democrats have grown increasingly wary of older candidates since Joe Biden's aborted run for a second term at 81 years old.

“I’m really torn, I want the person who can win,” said Karen Tilbor, 79, who described herself as a supporter of Mills as governor but said she's unsure how she’ll vote in the primary. She said she thinks “many more young people” will vote for Platner.

While Platner has held large-scale rallies and events around the state, Mills supporters say the governor doesn't need to pack theaters or hold rallies because she already has the widespread name recognition and voters largely know her positions and personality.

For voters like Denham Ward, 79, that's important.

“She has got supporters who have known her for a long time, who know what she can do,” Ward said. “She's a known commodity for the state and has an organization that I think can take on Susan Collins.”

Emily Cain is a former Maine state lawmaker and former executive director of EMILY’s List, a group that supports female Democratic candidates and is backing Mills. She said the question ultimately facing primary voters is: “Who do you think has the best chance of beating Sen. Collins?”

Maine supported Democrat Kamala Harris for president over Donald Trump in 2024, but Collins has served for decades by winning as a moderate in a blue state.

“If it’s just about who you like better, or who makes you feel better, then that is different than who you think can win in the fall,” Cain said.

Political liabilities

Even Mills supporters like Cain hesitate in declaring that she holds the upper hand in the Democratic primary.

“I think the governor has a path to victory,” Cain said. “I think it’s going to be up to her, her team and her supporters to get across that finish line.”

Mills argues that Platner, who has courted controversy since entering the race, has political baggage that makes him the riskier candidate to send to the general election.

There have been lingering questions about inflammatory comments Platner made in old online postings, which he has since disavowed but that Mills highlighted in an attack ad where women described his statements as “disgusting.” He has been dogged by questions about the skull-and-crossbones tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol that he said he got during a night of drinking when on military leave in Croatia. Platner has since covered up the tattoo.

Mills also faces challenges. Some liberal voters have criticized her opposition to a voter referendum to create a red flag gun law in the state. The referendum ultimately passed.

Separately, Mills has fashioned herself as an opponent of Trump, a position that may be helpful in much of Maine but could turn off voters in rural parts of the state. Trump won the presidential vote in the Republican-leaning 2nd Congressional District three times in a row.

Platner has centered his campaign on affordability issues such as housing and healthcare and focused his ire on billionaires and what he calls “oligarchy.”

On a recent Saturday, he was joined at a rally by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who told the crowd of hundreds that the country needs major change.

Mills, meanwhile, spent a recent Friday visiting with small business owners in Cape Elizabeth and South Portland, coastal communities just south of the state’s largest city of Portland.

The events were not designed to attract huge crowds, and they did not. One consisted of her chatting with a handful of patrons at a lunch restaurant and another of her speaking with the owner and staff of a floral shop. They attracted about five to 10 people each.

But some of the voters who were there said Mills' experience in office could benefit the state.

“Janet Mills has a ton more experience at many levels of government and I think has the best chance to hopefully give Maine a little bit of a leg up in terms of getting federal funding for us, and some federal recognition,” said Shelley Stevens, 51, who owns Fiddleheads, the florist in Cape Elizabeth. “It's just very pragmatic for me.”

___

Kruesi reported from Providence, R.I.

The program, born in the grief of one of the nation’s worst mass shootings, teaches students how to identify warning signs among their peers and urges them to report any red flags to an anonymous tip system or a trusted adult to head off any violence.

Since that first class in a Columbus church, the program, “Say Something,” has been presented to thousands of students nationwide. Nearly 395,000 tips have been sent in, ranging from threats of school shootings and suicides to drug use and bullying. One tip last year led to the arrest of an Indiana student who threatened a shooting at her school.

“It’s been very successful,” said Hockley, whose son Dylan was among the 20 first graders and six educators who died at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012. “Having had direct experience of both of my children being in a school shooting and my youngest one dying, I feel very compelled to honor that legacy by doing all that I can to prevent future acts of violence and school shootings.”

Trainers with Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit founded in early 2013 by Hockley and other relatives of the Newtown victims, have traveled to all 50 states to show students how to spot signs of potential violence or self-harm — which can include threats on social media, an obsession with weapons or behavioral changes — as well as the importance of speaking up before something bad happens.

Shootings are on students' minds

For students who have grown up in an age where mass killings are often in the news and whose schools regularly run lockdown drills, having a way to take action can be comforting.

“School shootings are definitely very scary, and they do run through your head as a high school student,” said Addison Hunt, a 17-year-old junior at Hanover High School in Hanover, Massachusetts. “But I think being able to have these outlets where you can report things definitely makes me feel a lot safer.”

On a recent afternoon, a “Say Something” instructor took Hunt and her classmates through the program in the auditorium of the school, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Boston.

Keely Rogers, a 28-year-old former high school music educator, explained to the group that research has found that nearly all school attackers showed warning signs beforehand, most commonly on social media.

“You are going to become the eyes and ears of your school through social media, right?” she said. “Your teachers and staff don’t follow the same people as you. They can’t keep an eye out. They can’t keep everyone safe.”

In a slideshow she pointed to an Instagram post, pulled from a real tip to the group’s reporting system, that said, “Don’t come 2 school tomorrow if you wanna live.” Rogers said someone reported the post within three minutes and action was taken.

Ava Khouri, Hanover’s senior class president, said one of the program’s key points, for her, was not to worry about what others will think about you if you speak up.

“I think that definitely students are wary to bring these issues up to adults and administration in the school, because they’re worried they’re either going to be made fun of for tattling or getting someone else in trouble,” she said. “So I think that this program definitely gave light to the fact that you’re not a tattletale if you’re helping someone and you’re helping others.”

Both Hunt and Khouri said they had reported troubling behavior to parents and educators before learning about the program.

A tip leads to an arrest

Trained crisis counselors staff the “Say Something” anonymous reporting system 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, referring serious situations to police and school officials. The most common tips are concerns about bullying, drug use, harassment and self-harm, according to Sandy Hook Promise.

Every once in a while, the system receives an alarming tip that is immediately passed on to law enforcement.

Last year in Indiana, among many examples, someone used the system to report that a student was planning a shooting at Mooresville High School, near Indianapolis, on Feb. 14. That's the anniversary of the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The student, 18-year-old Trinity Shockley, was arrested Feb. 12.

The tipster, a friend of Shockley, said Shockley was obsessed with the Parkland shooter and had access to an AR-15 rifle, according to a police report. Authorities said Shockley’s social media postings included one that said “Parkland part two. Of course. I’ve been planning this for a YEAR.”

Shockley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced in November to 12 years in prison, though her lawyer insisted that Shockley would not have carried out the plan, local news outlets reported.

Sandy Hook Promise believes that its program and reporting system prevented a shooting in Mooresville, as well as in other communities, and has also stopped suicides.

“So it’s bittersweet,” said Hockley, the co-founder, “because I wish this had existed before Sandy Hook.”

And the Orlando Magic are in position to pull off a stunning upset.

Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs are through to Round 2 after eliminating the Portland Trail Blazers in their Western Conference quarterfinal series on Tuesday night and finishing off a five-game ousting.

The Spurs join Oklahoma City (4-0 winners over Phoenix) in the second round. San Antonio awaits the Minnesota-Denver winner. The Thunder could see James in the second round; James and the Los Angeles Lakers have a 3-1 series lead over the Houston Rockets going into Game 5 of that matchup on Wednesday.

Also Wednesday: The eighth-seeded Magic take a 3-1 series lead into Detroit for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal, while Toronto goes to Cleveland — with the winner of Game 5 in that series set to emerge with a 3-2 lead.

Tuesday recaps

— 76ers 113, Celtics 97 to get within 3-2 in series. Boston falls apart late.

— Knicks 126, Hawks 97 for a 3-2 series lead. Jalen Brunson broke out.

— Spurs 114, Trail Blazers 95 to win series 4-1.

Stories of note

— NBA moves closer to lottery changes

— Rockets' Kevin Durant out for Game 5

— Jones enters guilty plea in gambling case

— Edwards (knee) officially week to week

— NBA going through bids from Europe

— Pat Riley says Heat will be ‘aggressive’

— Taylor Jenkins set to return to Milwaukee

— AJ Dybantsa formally enters NBA draft

— Donovan steps down as Chicago's coach

— Warriors brace for possible Kerr departure

— Some news, notes going into the postseason

— Heat equipment manager needs transplants

Awards watch

Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics has won the NBA's Executive of the Year award, his second time receiving that honor in the last three seasons.

Other awards being announced this week are the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year on Wednesday and the Hustle Award on Thursday.

A breakdown on the awards handed out to this point:

— San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.

— Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.

— San Antonio's Keldon Johnson topped Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, getting 63 first-place votes.

— Boston's Derrick White was revealed as the Sportsmanship Award winner, as selected by the league's players. Indiana's TJ McConnell — who got more first-place votes than anyone else — was second.

— Atlanta now has back-to-back Most Improved Player winners, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker taking that trophy this year. Dyson Daniels won for the Hawks last year.

— Dallas' Cooper Flagg edged fellow former Duke player Kon Knueppel of Charlotte for Rookie of the Year.

Among the announcements still to be scheduled:

— Most Valuable Player, which will be either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.

— Coach of the Year, which will be either Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.

Wednesday's games

7 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Orlando at Detroit (Prime)

7:30 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Toronto at Cleveland (ESPN)

10 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Houston at LA Lakers (ESPN)

Thursday's games

7 p.m. EDT — Game 6, New York at Atlanta (ESPN)

8 p.m. EDT — Game 6, Boston at Philadelphia (Peacock/NBCSN)

9:30 p.m. EDT — Game 6, Denver at Minnesota (ESPN)

Betting odds

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (-115) are favorites to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+400), Boston (+550), Cleveland (+1500), New York (+2000), the Los Angeles Lakers (+2800), Denver (+3000) and Detroit (+5000).

Orlando, even with a 3-1 series lead on Detroit, is at +25000. Minnesota, even with a 3-2 series lead on Denver, is at +35000 after injuries to Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards.

Key dates

— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

Quote of the day

“He should get Executive of the Year for not making a move." — San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama, on Spurs general manager Brian Wright and how the team has stayed the course.

Stats of the day

— Boston has wasted leads of 13 or more points in four of its last six home playoff games, going back to last season. The Celtics in that scenario — up 13 or more, in Boston (not the bubble), and in the playoffs — were 66-3 in such games between 2002 and May 2025.

— Teams are shooting .450 from the floor so far in Round 1, on pace to be the worst-shooting conference quarterfinal round in the NBA since 2019 (.447).

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Sixteen cities across the United States, Mexico and Canada will be hosting the 2026 World Cup in June and July. On average, July is the hottest month of the year for the contiguous U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and it’s only gotten warmer since record-keeping began in 1895. Wet bulb globe temperatures, which factor humidity, wind speed, sun angle and more, could exceed 90 F (32 C) in the afternoons in the Texas cities of Dallas and Houston and Monterrey, Mexico, research shows.

“Almost all of the host locations, 14 out of 16 of them, experience levels of extreme heat, which could be potentially dangerous to players, match officials and possibly spectators,” said Donal Mullan, a senior lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast who lead a paper last year examining the heat risks of this year's host cities. Some stadiums have the advantage of being fully covered, reducing the risks.

Exposure to heat, amplified during exertion, can lead to nausea, dehydration, headaches, stroke and, in extreme cases, death. Worries from some that millions of people could be exposed during the tournament were amplified in March, when record-breaking temperatures hit large swaths of the U.S. And with global temperatures rising because of pollution from burning oil, gas and coal, scientists have warned that staging soccer tournaments in the summer is getting more dangerous.

The 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar was moved from summer to winter because of the threat of extreme heat. Last year's Club World Cup experienced a heat wave that sent temperatures soaring into the 90s F (32s C) and above in many areas. Following the event, the soccer players' global union warned that extreme heat would likely be an even bigger problem at the next two men’s World Cups. The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

This year, host cities, stadiums and FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, are working to protect players and spectators by conducting heat risk assessments, enhancing shade, cooling zones and water access, stationing medical teams during events and more.

Some plans are still being finalized, but here’s a look at what to expect inside stadiums and at outdoor events:

Protecting athletes and FIFA personnel

Players will get 3-minute hydration breaks midway through each half, regardless of weather conditions, FIFA said. Other welfare plans include allowing teams the usual of up to five substitutions, a minimum of three rest days between matches, and staff and substitutes will have access to climate-controlled benches at outdoor matches. Climate conditions are factored into the match schedule.

“Outdoor matches during the hottest parts of the day have been strategically limited, kick-off times adjusted in certain markets, and matches expected in warmer windows prioritized for covered stadiums where possible,” FIFA said.

The federation has also created a Heat Illness Mitigation and Management Task Force made of medical and operational experts. Ahead of the games, they are finalizing heat-risk alert systems, coordinating stadium medical action plans and other standardized guidance.

Heat messaging, activating extreme heat plans and medical personnel

Officials will be monitoring weather conditions and be prepared to activate extreme heat plans if they determine that temperatures are too hot. If activated, plans will include sending out public safety messaging on how to protect yourself from heat and how to recognize signs of heat exhaustion and stroke.

If Canada's federal agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada, issues an official heat warning, for instance, the city of Vancouver will add more temporary drinking fountains, handwashing and misting stations outside to complement its multilanguage heat awareness campaign.

Along main tournament and festival routes, volunteers will also be providing heat safety information to attendees and workers.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said it will be disseminating heat safety and proper hydration information leading up to and during the games. It will also be launching a heat dashboard for the public with near-real-time data on heat-related emergency room visits in the county.

New York City will be prepared to send out notifications in 14 different languages to its 1.5 million public warning subscribers, as well as international visitors on the Everbridge app and WhatsApp channels.

Educational campaigns are helpful for promoting hydration, use of shade and more, but research shows passively disseminating information doesn't always have the intended effect, said William Adams, assistant professor in kinesiology at Michigan State University who researches exertional heat stress among athletes. It requires a more active approach, but that isn't really feasible with large events like this one, he said.

Medical personnel will also be stationed and available in FIFA Fan Festivals and around several stadiums during matches to manage heat-related illnesses, including at the Toronto Stadium in Canada and the Dallas Stadium in Texas.

At Dallas' outdoor events, all medical professionals will have access to ice and ice immersion bags, and the city’s festival site — where people can watch live matches — will also have two medical stations in climate-controlled locations.

Increased access to shade, water and cooling stations

Cities and stadiums will be increasing access to shade, cooling areas and water for spectators and workers.

In addition to being ready to implement its heat and smoke response plans if necessary, the Seattle Office of Emergency Management in Washington State is exploring using air-conditioned buses, tents and water misters at fan fests and matches.

In Vancouver, there will be shaded seating areas at all the various tournament events and locations around the city.

Volunteers and workers at outside events in Dallas will have mandated rest and hydration breaks. And officials will be working with volunteer organizations to hand out water.

These combined efforts hope to reduce heat‑related illnesses and help minimize strain on local hospitals during the tournament.

Stadium coverage and cooler hours

Some stadiums are covered, such as Canada’s BC Place Vancouver stadium that will host seven games. It is “one of only four 2026 World Cup stadiums which are fully covered so players and fans will not be exposed to weather conditions while inside the stadium,” the City of Vancouver said in a statement.

The Dallas venue has air conditioning and is also enclosed, “so we don’t anticipate any weather-related issues inside,” said Tim Ciesco with the Arlington Police Department.

In Santa Clara, California, all matches will be played in the evening, when weather conditions are cooler.

Elliot Arthur-Worsop, founding director For Football for Future, a group focused on creating environmental sustainability in soccer, said the tournament's organizers have a responsibility to keep people safe. “That’s a social contract that exists between the fans and football governing bodies,” he said. In a climate report they published ahead of this year's games, they found heat and other climate risks will intensify in most stadiums hosting games in 2050.

“By the next time the World Cup comes back and is awarded in this part of the world,” he said, “it will have to be structured differently and adapted.”

___

Associated Press writers Graham Dunbar and Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Six people were aboard the 145-foot (44-meter) ship, called the Mariana. Divers on April 21 recovered one crew member's body from the overturned ship.

“The decision to suspend the search is an incredibly difficult one that is only made after very careful consideration of all available information,” Cmdr. Preston Hieb of the U.S. Coast Guard Oceania District said in a video posted on X. “From working and communicating with the families, I know how devastated they are by this outcome.”

The search by sea, air and land lasted more than 100 hours and covered an area larger than the state of California, he said. Agencies from Guam, Japan and New Zealand assisted, looking for an orange, 12-person life raft.

The Coast Guard identified the six crew members who were aboard the Mariana as Frederick L. Nosek Jr., Landon Delos Reyes, Jose L. Ramirez, Mohammed A. Rahaman, Chet R. Brochon, and Vincent B. Agulto. Their ages and hometowns were not immediately available.

It also was not immediately known which crew member had been found dead.

“We offer our deepest prayers and ask for God’s comfort and strength to surround their families and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in Saipan posted online Wednesday.

The diocese also expressed “profound gratitude” to the Coast Guard and all of the international and military partners in the search. “Thank you for your bravery and your service to our islands,” it said.

Community members held a shoreline vigil for the crew last week, near the 13 Fishermen Memorial Monument honoring the victims of a capsized vessel during a typhoon in 1986.

The suspension of the search came two weeks after the crew notified the Coast Guard that the ship had lost its starboard engines and needed assistance as Super Typhoon Sinlaku battered the Pacific island chain. The Coast Guard lost contact with the vessel the next day.

Heavy wind hindered initial search efforts, but the overturned ship was eventually spotted April 18 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Pagan, one of the islands that make up the Northern Marianas, which is a U.S. territory.

The Coast Guard said debris included a partially submerged inflatable life raft was spotted about 110 miles (177 kilometers) from the ship.

“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of the Mariana crew, as well as the entire Saipan community,” Hieb said.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku battered the Northern Mariana Islands, causing wind damage and flooding.

Work Location: Detroit, MI

Description

The Client Experience Manager leads a high-performing team of Client Experience Account Managers and a Digital Solutions Planner to drive client satisfaction, retention, and revenue growth. The Manager is responsible for overseeing all aspects of client support, building scalable processes, and fostering a culture of excellence. This role blends leadership, customer engagement, project management, and data-driven strategy to ensure clients receive exceptional service and measurable results.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team that focuses on the client experience through advisement of result-based solutions, execution of campaigns and recommendations for optimization and future growth.
• Develop, implement, and refine workflows that streamline pre- and post-sale processes.
• Establish best practices for client deliverables, including reporting cadence, onboarding, and project management.
• Foster team growth through training on campaign strategy, optimization, and industry trends.
• Track and analyze team KPIs to measure impact and identify areas for improvement.
• Partner with Director of Digital, Digital Sales Strategist and Account Executives to develop and deliver compelling, data-driven presentations using tools like Claritas.
• Support revenue growth by building retention strategies and strengthening client relationships.
• Collaborate with leadership to align client experience strategies with organizational goals.
• Travel for market visits to support client retention and business growth.
• Design and deliver training for Account Executives on Ad Operations processes and data-driven reporting.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of account management experience, preferably within media or digital advertising.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience managing direct reports.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to juggle multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, both pre- and post-sale.
• Proven ability to think critically, proactively solve problems, and adapt to change.
• Strong digital acumen and understanding of marketing trends.
• Ability to train, coach, and inspire team members and sales partners.
• Detail-oriented team player with excellent interpersonal skills.

Additional Information:

Graham Media Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, GMG will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

Contact

Kim Jakubowski, Director of Sales Strategy

kjakubowski@grahammedia.com

Before and during Tuesday night’s Game 5 at Frost Bank Center, the Spurs Jackals leaned into Avdija’s chipped tooth by waving around small tooth props and turning it into an unexpected in-arena joke. (In case you missed it, Avdija chipped a tooth in Game 3 during a collision with De’Aaron Fox.)

“The Spurs Jackals showing love to Deni,” the Jackals said in an Instagram caption.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Spurs Jackals (@spursjackals)

Avdija, for his part, didn’t bite on the distraction, continuing to play through the noise while focusing on the action.

The Spurs Jackals are a group of superfans that launched this season with support from Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. The group’s approach is inspired by global soccer-style supporter culture, particularly in Europe, where coordinated chanting and singing throughout matches is common.

As for the Spurs, they beat the Trail Blazers 114-95 on Tuesday night.

San Antonio advances to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2017, when they defeated the Houston Rockets before losing Kawhi Leonard to an ankle injury and then getting swept by Golden State in the conference finals.

The Spurs will face the winner of the series between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves lead that series 3-2, with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday.

Read more: Wembanyama’s double-double powers Spurs past Trail Blazers and into Western Conference semifinals

“The Mariachi Brothers” and Musgraves will perform at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels from May 3-5, according to the venue’s website. The band will take the stage at 8 p.m. on those nights, followed by Musgraves’ performance at 9 p.m.

Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18; Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14; Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, 12; and their parents were released from ICE custody in March with assistance from lawmakers and politicians.

>> Two teen brothers in Texas mariachi band are released from ICE custody amid bipartisan criticism

The family was detained on Feb. 25 following a routine check-in with immigration officials.

However, the situation didn’t garner attention until lawmakers and politicians took to social media to slam the family’s detention.

The family had entered the country in May 2023 through the CBP One app, a President Joe Biden-era application process for asylum seekers.

The teens are members of the McAllen High School Mariachi Oro band, which has visited the White House, performed at Carnegie Hall and won eight state championships.

According to the Gruene Hall’s website, each of the three concerts is sold out.

The Texas Tribune contributed to this report.

Read also on KSAT:

• Teen mariachis and family from McAllen released from ICE custody
• McAllen ISD family detained by ICE, high school mariachi student separated from family, relative says

Around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, San Antonio mother Malorie Lytal spoke in front of a July 4 flood committee, made up of Texas state lawmakers, on behalf of her daughter, Kellyanne Lytal, who died at Camp Mystic due to the floods.

The hearing began at 10 a.m. with an apology from Co-Director Edward Eastland to the multiple families directly affected by the tragic floods that killed 27 children and counselors.

His apology was followed by hard criticism from the committee, including Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), who suggested the Eastland family should remove themselves from the Camp Mystic organization.

“Y’all will not be an operator next session (or) next season if I can have anything to say with that,” Perry said.

>> Texas Senator suggests Camp Mystic reopen without Eastland family

Lytal has two daughters, and her oldest was Kellyanne. She was 8 years old when she died at Camp Mystic.

Texas Rangers notified Lytal that her body was found, but she claims she never received a call from the Eastland family regarding her missing child beforehand.

“Her beautiful life was stolen from us,” Lytal said.

Lytal and her family were Camp Mystic alumni. She first attended the camp in 1995 and stayed in the Twins One Cabin.

She dropped off her daughter, Kellyanne, at Camp Mystic on June 29, 2025, and specifically requested that her daughter stay in the same cabin she had stayed in 30 years earlier.

“I never knew signing that Mystic application was signing Kellyanne’s death certificate,” Lytal said as she started to tear up.

Lytal said she had multiple conversations with her daughter, Kellyanne, about protection and safety days before her first camp visit.

“She asked me specifically about rainy days and thunderstorms,” Lytal said. “I always reassured her that counselors would be trained to help her and that leadership would know what to do in any time of emergency. I believed that, I trusted that, and I was wrong.”

As tears poured out from Lytal’s eyes and surrounding families inside the state Capitol, she said Camp Mystic provided an unsafe environment that “knocked on wood with its safety standards and rolled the dice with our daughter’s life.”

Memories were spoken from Lytal’s perspective inside the cabins where she claimed three counselors cared for her.

A testimony on Monday claimed some cabins during the 2025 summer, where the floods took 27 lives, had two counselors, which was unheard of, according to Casey Garrett, who investigated Camp Mystic.

Lytal believed the counselors were inexperienced, but did not blame them during her testimony.

She aimed the blame towards Camp Mystic and the Eastland family.

“No logical-minded parent would have ever allowed their children to attend Camp Mystic if they knew all the red flags where leadership had cut corners to maximize profits,” Lytal said.

Lytal remembered the terrain of Mystic and said her daughter, Kellyanne, was a short walk away from higher ground towards the recreation hall, and a few steps from a staircase leading to the second floor.

“Kellyanne had places to go to survive, but she was left in a death trap,” Lytal said.

Lytal made eye contact with the Eastland family, whom she said she’s known her entire life, and said, “I am heartbroken that you have not only destroyed our lives, but that you’ve destroyed your own. As well as taken away every beautiful memory and magic of Mystic that many have held so dear in their hearts.”

“The deaths of our daughters have been nothing more but an inconvenience to Mystics’ rush to reopen camp,” Lytal said.

She hopes her daughter, Kellyanne, is smiling and dancing in Heaven along with the 27 other campers and counselors who died during the Hill Country floods.

“I will wrap my arms around you, and I will never let go,” Lytal said as state representatives and senators wiped away tears at the end of her testimony.

How we got here

Roaring floods through the Guadalupe River killed more than 100 people in Kerr County on July 4, 2025.

Twenty-seven of them were on Camp Mystic grounds.

The all-girls, Christian camp has been under harsh scrutiny for a lack of emergency procedures and not properly training college-aged counselors who were in charge of multiple young girls, some as young as 8.

Monday’s hearing on April 27 laid out the flaws Camp Mystic overlooked and how the camp could have prevented the tragedy.

Camp Mystic is currently seeking approval to reopen this summer.

However, last week the Texas Department of State Health Services gave the camp 45 days to correct its emergency plans after finding deficiencies across 22 separate categories in its current safety procedures.

Tuesday was the last day of the scheduled hearing, according to the Texas House of Representatives website.

Camp Mystic coverage from this week on KSAT:

• Texas Senator suggests Camp Mystic reopen without Eastland family
• Camp Mystic’s communications were a ‘failure’ during Hill Country floods, investigator testifies
• Was Camp Mystic’s flood response a crime? Former DA weighs in on what criminal investigation could look like

A poll conducted by Texas Public Opinion Research from April 17 to 20 and published Tuesday found Talarico leading Sen. John Cornyn by three percentage points, 44% to 41%. The Austin Democrat leads Attorney General Ken Paxton by a margin of five percentage points, 46% to 41%. Both results fell within the margin of error of +/-2.5 percentage points. The survey included 1,865 likely general election voters. TPOR is a nonpartisan public opinion research group directed by Democratic strategist Luke Warford. 

In a separate poll, the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin found Talarico ahead of Cornyn by seven points, 40% to 33%, and of Paxton by 8 points, 42% to 34%. The Texas Politics Project surveyed 1,200 registered voters from April 10 to 20 and produced a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.

No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, and in recent cycles, polls have routinely offered rosy projections for the minority party that are not borne out in November.

Still, Democrats are hopeful that President Donald Trump’s flagging approval ratings, paired with backlash from Latino voters over the economy and the White House’s immigration policies, will create an environment more akin to 2018, when Democrat Beto O’Rourke came within 3 points of unseating GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cornyn and Paxton are competing in a May 26 runoff to be the Republican nominee for Senate and take on Talarico, who won a competitive primary of his own in early March. A handful of polls throughout the cycle, some nonpartisan and some sponsored by Democrats, have found Democratic candidates with narrow leads or within the margin of error in hypothetical general election matchups.

Closely watched by politicos around the country, Texas’ Senate contest already features the most expensive primary on record, with most of the money coming on the Republican side in support of Cornyn. The Cook Political Report considers the seat to be “likely Republican,” but the messy Senate Republican runoff, Talarico’s fundraising prowess and a wave of Democratic overperformances in special elections have both parties eyeing the race with heightened interest.

Cornyn and his supporters have argued the longtime senator would be a stronger general election candidate than Paxton in a cycle in which the national environment is expected to be tough for Republicans. Both polls published this week found little variance in how the two Republicans perform in hypothetical matchups with Democrats.

In both scenarios, Talarico’s support is heavily powered by voters of color, college-educated Texans and independents. 

Among Black voters, TPOR found, Talarico leads Cornyn by 51 percentage points and Paxton by 56 percentage points. Among Latino voters, Talarico leads Cornyn by a 32-point margin and Paxton by a 27-point margin.

Independents broke heavily for the Democrat in both matchups: Talarico leads 51% to 29% among the group against Cornyn, and 53% to 28% with independents against Paxton.

The TPOR poll also found that more voters had a favorable impression of Talarico than those with unfavorable views — 41% to 34%, with the rest saying they were unsure. Meanwhile, Paxton and Cornyn are underwater by 10 and 15 percentage points, respectively, the two lowest favorability marks among all candidates in the survey.

The Texas Politics Project similarly found independents, voters of color, women, college-educated voters and voters under 65 breaking for Talarico over either Republican. Talarico had a net positive favorability rating of +10 percentage points — with 18% of voters saying they had no opinion of him — while both Paxton and Cornyn were in the negative by 9 and 12 points, respectively.

Most polling of the Republican runoff has found it to be a neck-and-neck contest or Paxton leading by single digits. A TPOR poll of the runoff, conducted April 6 to 7, found Paxton up by 8 percentage points. 

Beyond the Senate race, both polls found Republicans leading in other statewide contests, including the high-profile race for governor. 

In the TPOR survey, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott led the Democratic nominee, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin, 48% to 43%. Abbott led Hinojosa by 6 points — 44% to 38% — in the Texas Politics Project survey, with 13% of respondents saying they had no opinion.

The TPOR poll found that while Hinojosa is leading with both Latinos and independents, Abbott has stronger support than Cornyn and Paxton among those groups.

Paxton’s decision to run for Senate opened up the attorney general seat for the first time in over a decade, drawing crowded Democratic and Republican primaries that are both being decided by runoffs. On the Democratic side, Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson is facing former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski. In the Republican runoff, voters will pick between Galveston state Sen. Mayes Middleton and Austin U.S. Rep. Chip Roy.

The TPOR poll asked voters whom they would pick between the Democrat and the Republican, rather than measuring each hypothetical general election matchup. It found Republicans leading the attorney general race, 45% to 39%.

And the Texas Politics Project poll found Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick ahead of state Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin in the lieutenant governor race by just four points, 35% to 31% — though nearly a third of voters said they did not have an opinion on the race. Goodwin will face union leader Marcos Vélez in the Democratic runoff election next month.

Inflation and higher prices were voters’ top priority, the Texas Politics Project found, with 18% of respondents putting it at the top of their list of pressing issues facing the country. Political corruption, the economy, war in the Middle East, “moral decline,” and immigration took the next top spots.

TPOR-April-2026-TXSEN-pollDownload

Bongos, rare antelopes known for their striking stripes, have been declared critically endangered due to poaching and diseases. There are fewer than 100 mountain bongos left in the wild, according to the Kenyan government. Many were sent to Europe in the 1980s after a major rinderpest disease outbreak killed thousands.

The returnees arrived from Dvur Kralove Zoo in wooden crates at Kenya’s main airport and were received by the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Tourism Minister Rebecca Miano, who hailed it as a “homecoming of the majestic bongos.”

It's the third such return in recent years, with the previous one in February 2025. After a period of quarantine and acclimatization, the bongos will be sent to the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, which houses 102 bongos, before being released into the wild.

The conservancy runs a national recovery plan for the mountain bongo in collaboration with the government and plans to use the four bongos to interbreed and strengthen the gene pool.

Kenyan-raised nature explorers and filmmakers Jahawi and Elke Bertolli told The Associated Press that the bongos will bring genetic variation that is critical for their conservation, adding that the species plays a key role in protecting the forests that are vital to Kenya’s water supply.

Czech Republic Ambassador Nicol Adamcova said the relocation reflects a long-standing partnership between the Czech Republic and Kenya in conservation and a shared commitment to protecting endangered species.

Mudavadi said such milestones show what can be achieved when policy, science, and collaboration come together in pursuit of a shared conservation goal.

During a board meeting on Monday, trustees voted 5-1 to approve the revised policy. The vote comes after a special investigation report released earlier this month by the TEA recommended that Morath appoint a conservator to oversee the district’s implementation of its cell phone policy.

In a statement released Tuesday, the district states Morath will make a final decision on a conservator.

District officials also said there was confusion about when the revised policy would take effect.

In Monday night’s meeting, trustees said the new policy will take effect on May 25. The board will address the date at its next meeting with an anticipated correction to May 29, which is the last day of the 2025-26 school year.

Original: The North East Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Monday night to comply with the Texas Education Agency’s guidance on student cell phone use, approving modifications to its existing policy following a state investigation.

Trustees voted 5-1 to approve the revised policy, which switches to a bell-to-bell ban starting May 25. The motion passed with modifications after board members agreed to waive portions of the district’s local policy to align with TEA requirements.

Board President David Beyer cast the lone dissenting vote.

The vote comes after a special investigation report released earlier this month by the Texas Education Agency recommended that TEA Commissioner Mike Morath appoint a conservator to oversee the district’s implementation of its cell phone policy.

Background

The TEA opened an investigation into the district’s implementation of a new state law that mandated districts in Texas implement a policy banning personal communication devices by students on campuses during the school day.

In August, the NEISD Board of Trustees revised its policy regarding communication devices. The policy required students to turn off and store their devices out of sight during class. However, students could use their devices during non-classroom periods, passing periods, lunch, as well as before or after school.

In November, the TEA sent a corrective action plan to the district, requiring them to adopt a policy that it said would be legally compliant with the law.

In January, the board voted to keep its current policy in place.

Read more: TEA recommends conservator to oversee NEISD’s cellphone policy